My husband is involved in a weight loss challenge. He came home one day and told me everyone at the office (and by office, I mean mortuary) is doing it, so he is. That's great. At least he will have very fit funeral directors who don't want to become clients sooner than they have to.

Moanalua Mortuary staff

Here's the challenge: the person to lose the most weight in 30 days wins the kitty, which is now at $300. As a former competitive athlete and then Division I coach, Claus is a health nut, so he added his own personal incentive. He'll give the winner an additional $100 out of his own pocket, if that person keep the weight off for six months. But, if in another six months from that, the person has gained back weight, he or she has to return the $100.

As he was telling this to me, I walked back to the kitchen for a fourth bowl of soup. "Gee. Maybe I should invite you to join the challenge?" he joked.

"Are you counting how much I'm eating?" I said, with raised eyebrows.

<Red alert! Red alert!>

He wisely read the signals. "Oh, of course not. Four bowls. That's including mine and Olivia's bowls, I mean."

SOUP RECIPE

Hey, soup is healthy. If they all ate this, they would probably lose weight. I should therefore like to share a very easy, very tasty, very clean recipe for aforementioned soup. Got it out of Sunset magazine two years ago.

Japanese-style one-pot supper

Prep and cook time: 20 min

Makes 4 servings

3 oz dried bean-thread noodles

5 c low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 c Mirin or cream sherry

1/4 c soy sauce

1 T sugar

3-5 thin slices ginger

12 oz boned, skinned chicken meat in 1" chunks.

1 small red bell pepper, thin slices

4 oz snow peas

4 oz button mushrooms, sliced

8 oz firm tofu, cubed

3 green onions, cut

Sriracha for flavoring

1) Soak noodles in boiling water until soft, about 5 min. Drain.

2) In 6 qt stockpot or 12" frying pan with sides at least 2" high, bring liquids to boil over high heat. Then reduce heat and simmer 5 min.

3) Arrange noodles, chicken, veggies, tofu in separate piles in the pot. Cover and simmer about 5 min without stirring, until chicken is no longer pink in center. Cut one to test. Serve with a side of Sriracha.

I liked it. It doesn't get any easier than that. And it felt healthy. I used ham instead of chicken, as you can see in the photo. I tend to do a lot of substituing when I cook, based on what I have in the fridge. I also don't mind having less meat than this (or any) recipe calls for, since I try to lean towards more vegetables and fiber.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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