In the Kitchen with … Branden and Brittany Moreau: ‘Zoodles’ pack flavor, protein

They spent their shifts on their feet, cooking or baking for other people. And their schedules were largely opposite.

She went to work in the wee hours. He worked a lot of late nights. By the time they headed home, the husband-and-wife chef and baker weren’t in the mood for making any meals. They would eat out three or four or more times per week, often picking up fast food for themselves and their two sons.

Burgers. Fries. Pizza. Chicken nuggets.

When Branden Moreau did cook at home, it was comfort food.

“Mac-and-cheese always happened. That would be something to look forward to. It’s not good for you,” he said, pausing for emphasis. “At all.”

He’ll still make his spicy gourmet version of macaroni and cheese on what he and his wife Brittany Moreau call “cheat nights.” But more often than not, dinner these days focuses on vegetables and lean protein prepared in the couple’s home kitchen.

Since they changed the way they eat just more than a year ago, they’ve – mostly – traded pasta for quinoa and zoodles, or “noodles” made with spiralized zucchini. They’ve given up fast food, vegetable and canola oil, sugar, white flour and most products containing gluten. Instead, they use agave nectar, honey and coconut and olive oils. They eat home-cooked meals.

And they’ve lost a combined total of more than 100 pounds.

‘New Year’s thing’

The weight started coming on in culinary school. Branden and Brittany, both now 29, met at Le Cordon Bleu in Portland, where they partnered on projects – pâte à choux, baguettes, cakes, cream sauces – and, she said, “where we ate lots of butter and gained lots of weight.”

He started school at 140. By graduation in 2006, he weighed 230.

She started school at 175 pounds and ended the two-year program at about 190.

But the pounds kept creeping on. After eight years and two children, she weighed about 240 pounds, maybe more.

“I’ve always been bigger in general,” she said. “I knew I was heavy, but I didn’t want to know how much I weighed.”

The couple pursued their dreams of working in restaurants and found “it was super-stressful,” said Brittany, who worked at Twigs in Spokane, then managed a bakery in downtown Seattle before becoming a baker at Salty’s on Alki.

He worked at Place Pigalle at Pike Place Market.

They moved back to Spokane in 2012 when she became pregnant with their second child. She took some time off to stay home with their sons, now ages 3 and 7, while he worked at Manito Tap House, then No-Li Brewhouse. He would come home late and work irregular hours. His schedule, he said, “depended on who called in or what happened that day.”

When she went back to work as a baker, she would rise super-early.

“We were both working really hard, and we ate out all the time,” she said. “We just didn’t make time for ourselves, using the kids as excuses.”

He said, “You’ve been cooking all day. That’s the last thing you want to do (after work). It’d be more convenient for one of us to pick up food on the way home.”

So they ate: “Lots of carbs,” she said. “Lots of fat. Hardly any veggies. Lots of protein. Just nothing good for you. No balance.”

He said, “I don’t know how we did it so long.”

They were both probably their heaviest during a trip to Hawaii in 2012. A photo from the beach serves as their joint “before” picture.

Brittany had tried to lose weight in the past, starting and stopping diets several times. “It’s overwhelming counting calories,” she said, “especially knowing how far I had to go. Taking it a pound at a time is the best you can do. It’s basic math: calories in versus calories out.”

In fall 2014, she started making changes and was encouraged by what she saw. By Christmas, she had dropped about 20 pounds and wanted to keep losing.

“We talked one day and said we can’t live like this anymore,” she said. “We were basically sitting around and wasting our lives and eating lots of food and eating unhealthy.”

They resolved to exercise and eat better in 2015. “It was a New Year’s thing,” she said.

‘Food was first’

Last January, the couple started on the paleo program, a strict diet centered on vegetables, nuts, fruit and meat. Dairy, sugar, legumes, grains, salt, processed oils, coffee and alcohol are off-limits.

“Food was first because it was our biggest problem,” she said. “We were pretty strict about it.”

Brittany limited herself to 1,200 calories per day.

As the weather warmed up in March and April, they began going on neighborhood walks, trekking 2 to 4 miles at a time. She also worked out at home, parking a compact elliptical machine in front of the television in the living room and using it until it became broken beyond repair.

In September, they got Fitbits to monitor their activity with the goal of taking 10,000 steps every day. In November, they joined a gym.

It was difficult at first. But, Branden said, “You get to the point you don’t feel good without it.”

Today, they warm up with cardio, then lift weights, alternating legwork with arm workouts. And they share the treadmill in their living room.

Even on rest days two days a week, they still do cardio. They want to make it to their 10,000 steps.

“It’s a complete lifestyle change,” said Brittany, originally from Marysville, Washington. “You have to change the way you think about food and what’s healthy and what tastes good. It’s a lot of trial and error and reading your body to figure out what works best for you.

“We actually go grocery shopping now. We don’t necessarily count calories. We were. But now it’s about portion control, clean eating and healthy decisions.”

Eating dinner together is easier now that Branden works consistent hours. He got a job last spring as the director of food services at Rockwood at Hawthorne retirement community. Brittany works there, too. She’s been a baker for Rockwood since 2014.

The couple still go out to dinner, but only “once every couple of weeks,” Branden said. And, “There are some times when we have a cheat meal.”

Now that she’s more active, Brittany has upped her intake to 1,400 calories per day.

“I’m not starving myself,” she said. “I feel satisfied because of the whole food I’m eating during the day.”

They’re no longer doing the paleo diet, but the Moreaus still stick to some of the lessons they learned from it: eating mostly vegetables and lean protein such as chicken and seafood. They allow themselves lentils and yogurt. Other go-to ingredients are spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, eggs, almond and coconut flours, oats, vinegar, low-sodium broth, avocados, apples, bananas, coconut milk, kale and zucchini.

Having a spiralizer helps. They got one last fall to make zoodles.

“We really do enjoy cooking at home now,” Branden said.

“It doesn’t need to be a chore,” Brittany said.

He dropped to 185 pounds, and now hovers between 190 and 200. He’s working on building muscle and looks forward to almost-daily workouts with his wife. “We enjoy it so much,” he said.

Brittany got down to 150 pounds in early February, when the couple posed for an “after” picture at their gym. But she really wanted to lose 5 more pounds.

She hit her goal of 145 pounds on March 15.

“Now,” she said, “I’m the healthiest and happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”

Zoodles with Coconut Green Curry

By Branden Moreau

1 (13.5-ounce can) reduced fat coconut milk

3 tablespoons green curry paste

1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 yellow onion, julienned

2 small zucchini, spiralized

2 cups broccoli florets

10 to 12 prawns (5 or 6 per person), peeled and de-veined with the tail removed

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 cup baby spinach

1 bunch cilantro, chopped, with a few full leaves reserved for garnish

1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes, or more or less to taste (optional)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 medium carrot, peeled and shaved and julienned

1 bunch cilantro, chopped, with a few full leaves reserved for garnish

Simmer coconut milk and green curry paste in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until reduced, stirring occasionally – especially at first – to combine.

Meantime, in a large wok, melt coconut oil. Add onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add zucchini and broccoli, and continue cooking, stirring or shaking occasionally.

Add prawns to curry mixture and cook until thoroughly cooked. Add corn starch to curry and stir until well combined. (Mixture will begin to thicken.) Pour curry-prawn mixture into wok with vegetables. Stir in spinach and cilantro. Season to taste.

To serve, spoon vegetables, curry and prawns onto plates. Top with carrots and full cilantro leaves.