benvenuti, introduce yourself here!

MarriedToItaly

Hi everyone (no one at the moment)... oh! wait! There's one new member! Hi YOU!

Well, I'm already experiencing technical difficulties trying to get my super cool logo and banner to show up. Just imagine this group looking cooler than it is.

Introduce yourselves when you join please!!

-M

mitchyinge

Piacere! Di dove sei? I am in the UK, haven't been to Italy since last Pasqua when I was on holiday in Palermo. I run so it goes without saying that I love pasta! Ci sentiamo presto I hope x

fruttibiscotti

Salve. vivo in Canada. Seguo una dieta a basso contenuto di carboidrati chiamato LCHF. non ho mai smesso di mangiare nel modo italiano e ho perso peso allo stesso tempo

Semifredo

Ciao ! I'm Joanna and I have been living in Milano for 2 years now

MarriedToItaly

Salve! I looooove the pasta too. I've recently switched over to whole grain pasta (must to my husband's dismay)... but if you get a good brand, you can hardly tell the difference. At least those are more complex carbs than the white pasta.

I've heard of LCHF, but come funziona with pasta dishes? Or do you just reduce the pasta intake? I'm working on that. I try to limit our pasta lunches to 3-4 times a week.... which sounds like a lot, but if it were up to my husband it would be every day. (That's in winter - in summer we do a lot of salads).

Anyway, welcome both of you!!
Let's hope this thing works!
-M

MarriedToItaly

Hi, Joanna! Look at your little bar thingy! That's great progress!
Welcome, you can teach us a thing or two I'm sure.

mitchyinge

I always lose weight in Italy, so much lovely fresh food especially fruits and vegetables and salads. Apart from the French gli italiani are the slimmest Europeans!

mitchyinge

I draw the line at brown pasta! Isn't it bad for la tua pancia?

MarriedToItaly

oh my goodness... there are many things that are said to be bad for the pancia. Then, of course, there's the fegato. LOTS of **** is bad for your liver, apparently.

No, the whole grain pasta is quite nice really... the gluten free stuff is nasty.

It depends a lot on where you are in Italy. The freshness of food is amazing, yes. But here in Emilia the traditional quantities of pork and Parmigiano-Reggiano are SHOCKING. I'm in rural Italy, where it's considered good to have a little meat on your bones. I suspect it would be easier in a city...

ah well

fruttibiscotti

Because of the LCHF diet, I only eat pasta on special occasions, vacations, etc. and when I do, it is very high quality pasta made with farro from Italy, or homemade gnocchi or homemade fettuccini, etc. I really don't miss the pasta though, because I am an excellent home cook. For example, if I eat breakfast, I will make Eggs Milanese (poached eggs, on a bed of asparagus fried in butter, with a few drops of white truffle oil and a sprinkling of parmigiano reggiano). Or eggs a la Diavola, eggs fried in tomato sauce and mozzarella. I must confess, I usually don't eat breakfast, and just have an espresso. For lunch at work, I have high quality cold cuts ( prosciutto di Parma, salami finocchiona Toscana, cured cinghiale, etc), as well as high quality grass fed cheeses (mozzarella di buffula, burrata, Pecorino Toscana, grana padano, etc). For dinner, options seem endless - love to have greens fried in olive oil (like rapini, kale, broccoli, etc), and I eat all sorts of meats (free range, grass fed, pastured, etc). I have learned how to use a julienne cutter to make spaghetti out of zucchini (zucchini noodles called "zoodles"), and I can make delicious lasagna with egg plant and or zucchini instead of noodles. I also discovered that shucked oysters can be used as a substitute for ravioli - it's really delicious and very healthy. There are so many italian recipes that are low carb or no carb, like veal saltinboca, bracciole, porchetta, chicken or rabbit cacciatore, etc. Have you ever looked at the writings of Apicius? He was a chef during the ancient Roman Empire, as it provides a good example of what our italian ancestors used to eat. They cooked with lard and olive oil galor. The food prep was very fatty and full of meats and green leafy veg. My diet is not too far off theirs. And of course, like them, I have my glass of red wine with supper. Salute, e buon apetito! Cin cin!

MarriedToItaly

That all sounds delicious! Question... do you have a husband or partner? Is this person on board with the diet or do you eat separate things?

One of the biggest hurdles for me is dealing with preconceptions my dearest hubby has about what is a healthy diet. Unless I want to make separate meals... it's tricky to avoid certain things.

coccodrillo72

Hi everyone, this group is a great idea (and by the way, I like your blog, M!)

I'm italian, living in Italy, veg*n in a vegetarian family and getting fit - sort of - so I guess it's possible ;-) Well, my diet is not exactly the standard mediterranean diet but fortunately there are a lot of traditional italian recipes that are either vegetarian or vegan, especially in the rural culinary tradition - our grandparents used to eat a lot of legumes and very little meat.

MarriedToItaly

Salve Coccodrillo! Thanks for reading my blog! I have fun with it. It's also a coping mechanism. Italia can get me down sometimes.

Vegan? Vegetarian? Oh my... yeah, my suoceri would die if I went vegetarian. But yeah, it's true - there are a lot of "poor" farmer dishes from the agricultural history of Emilia that are meatless. (And usually way yummier in my opinion!).

Benvenuti, stay in touch!
-M

coccodrillo72

Vegan? Vegetarian? Oh my... yeah, my suoceri would die if I went vegetarian.

Yes, tell me about it! My family members in Emilia Romagna, when I told them 20 years ago - when it was a less common choice than today - were worried sick, asked me what happened like I was terminally ill. No more zampone, cotechino or bollito? And what about prosciutto? And tortellini? You can't have a Christmas without tortellini here in Emilia, as you know... Yeah, that was a strange Christmas indeed :-)