pasta suggestions

megsmom2

My partner eats lower carb than I do, so we buy the Dreamfields pastas so we can both enjoy them. It tastes great, you'd never know its a lower carb product. I wish our stores would carry the Dreamfields lasagne, though...I love lasagne, but don't want to make a whole big pan just for myself.

TheWinman

Yeah, those "miracle noodles" taste like crap.

Whenever I see the name miracle in the product name, a red flag always pops up in my brain.

cutie2b

Honestly, the flour in Europe are less refined and more protein packed. American flour used in pasta and bread (even whole wheat) is the cast off of ultra refined wheat. When you use hearty flours with higher protein/fiber content things end up harder - that's why European bread feels harder, denser, and stiffer. The same for the pasta - better and more nutritious flour. So when you go to the store look for packages with the highest fiber/protein content.

Also, pasta isn't hard to make. The dough can even be frozen. I know you don't want to make your own, but generally, pasta is flour, eggs, water - knead until your arms fall off. (Great upper body workout!)

Thanks, I did not know that about European pasta. It does make sense though. I have thought about making my own pasta, I should at least give it try some day.

There's lots of good tutorials on making your own pasta online. You don't need a pasta maker, just a rolling pin and a knife to cut it into strips. Just google for some tutorials. That's what I did, and it really isn't as hard as you would think, but my arms were sore after all that kneading.

TheWinman

Honestly, the flour in Europe are less refined and more protein packed. American flour used in pasta and bread (even whole wheat) is the cast off of ultra refined wheat. When you use hearty flours with higher protein/fiber content things end up harder - that's why European bread feels harder, denser, and stiffer. The same for the pasta - better and more nutritious flour. So when you go to the store look for packages with the highest fiber/protein content.

Also, pasta isn't hard to make. The dough can even be frozen. I know you don't want to make your own, but generally, pasta is flour, eggs, water - knead until your arms fall off. (Great upper body workout!)

Thanks, I did not know that about European pasta. It does make sense though. I have thought about making my own pasta, I should at least give it try some day.

There's lots of good tutorials on making your own pasta online. You don't need a pasta maker, just a rolling pin and a knife to cut it into strips. Just google for some tutorials. That's what I did, and it really isn't as hard as you would think, but my arms were sore after all that kneading.

This should be real interesting, I already make a mess of the kitchen when I cook anything. lol

entropy83

Ronzoni smart taste pasta is what I occasionally eat, I am not really into pasta or high quality/fresh pasta, but this is sufficient for me.

Serving Size: 2oz (56g) Dry Uncooked
Servings per Container: About 7
Amount Per Serving
Calories 170 Calories from Fat 5
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0.5g 1%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 40g 13%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Sugars 1g
Protein 6g
Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0%
Vitamin D 25% • Calcium 30%
Thiamin 35% • Riboflavin 15%
Niacin 20% • Folate 30%
Iron 10%

SuffolkSally

Can you get the Seeds of Change brand over there? I used to hate wholewheat pasta, but their semi-wholewheat version is great and so is the spinach variety. I now actually prefer them to white pasta. I too have started weighing my portions and find I can have a good filling pasta meal whenever I want, I was just using too much before

kassied09

I recently started making my own pasta and it is really easy and fun. I would suggest you trying that- you can end up trying SO many different varieties and getting some veggies in, too. I made whole wheat spinach pasta and planning on trying beet and carrot next. You can't really taste the veggies and allows you to use less flower...so more healthy! Let me know if you are interested in instructions.

stacie48

I have been using pearled barley as a substitute for rice and sometimes pasta. It is much lower in carbs. Trying it is like a fake out and healthy for you. Best of luck to you.

SLippi

sing4me4you, Good idea with the Barilla multigrain. I have seen it but have been hesitant to try it out. Barilla is my normal pasta brand.

Definately worth a shot, I love pasta and Barilla is my go to brand. Recently tried the multigrain and it's pretty good. I normally hate change but if I remember correctly 50% multigrain and 50% regular barilla so it will help ease the transition to healthier pastas.

TheWinman

Just a suggestion Hungry Girl has a pasta noodle swap and it is Tofu Shirataki, see nutritional info below, I have had tofu before and it matches what you put with it. I have not tried the noodles b/c they are not sold near me but you can buy them on line. Good luck and if you try these let all of us pasta lovers know if it is worth the swap.. Happing pasta-ing... P.S. I think they are sold at a store"Whole Foods"

Nutritional Info:

Serving Size: 4 oz.
Calories: 20
Fat: .5g
Carbs: 3g
Protein: 1g
Fiber: 2g


Protein: 1g
Fiber: 2g

Thank you, I will have to give that a try also. There is a whole foods about 30 minutes from me.

Hi I am full blooded Italian mom has all the recipes in her brain-! I am originally from Manhattan,. NY okay so here is my suggestion I eat the Barilla whole wheat it's the only one I can stand closest to white you can get I have tried it all. On the shiritake I just can't do it, its okay but for me not again, I don't want to adapt my pasta fix to that extreme I sure other people can its not for me. Hope this helps

I learned to make my sauce from watching my Mom, but that was a choir in itself. 1)She did not have to measure anything, she could just tell when the correct amount of anything was added. 2)She added wine to her sauce and she was pretty drunk by the time she was done. LOL RIP Mom!!! I miss you.

neanderthin

Nothing wrong with white pasta and in Italy they do eat hard packaged pasta made from durum semolina, and funnily enough most of the flour is from Canada. Fresh pasta are for certain applications where hard pasta is not a good substitution, like lasagna, tagliatelle, tortellini, agnolotti, ravioli etc.

To make a basic pasta is real easy. Basically dump some flour on a work surface, (doesn't matter how much because the excess is just put back and used another time) hollow out the middle of the pile of flour and crack some eggs into the hollow with some salt, again the amount of eggs is irrelevant simply because your only going to incorporate as much flour as the eggs can handle to make a dough that starts to come together to the non tacky stage. Using a fork or your fingers mixthe eggs and start incorporating the flour from the edges until you get to that non tacky stage, and remove it from the rest of the flour. Scrape the excess flour away and nead the dough for about 10 minutes until it become elastic and pliable. cover in plastic wrap, put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.....it's ready to use. use can use a rolling pin and cut to shape or you can use a pasta roller, which are about 50 dollars. easy, peasy and tasty.

Real Italians don't eat whole wheat, so don't even think about it............

seamonkey789

You would probably have to get creative with your logging, but have you seen Zaza's pasta on etsy? They hand make theirs and it's fairly inexpensive

http://www.etsy.com/shop/zazaspastas?ref=seller_info

gia54

I replaced pasta with spagetti squash

ckish

Although I am not Italian biologically my Mom was raised in Chicago surrounded by Italians so it strongly influenced our home. I like to make homemade pasta and could easily eat it everyday. I just stumbled onto Ronzoni Smart Taste at Safeway only 170 cal for 2oz. Lowest cal count I've found and it tasted great. I do want to try shirataki noodles too but I couldn't find them at the store. Turns out they are in the refridgerated section. I try to pair the pasta with a great salad and savor every bite. I'd much rather give up dessert for an extra serving of pasta any day! In 1981 I met a guy who came over for dinner. I had made my favorite spaghetti sauce with meatballs, and all the trimmings. Turns out he hated spaghetti and munched down on a whole bag of potato chips while I did the final prep for dinner. He finally decided to at least taste it but I new the relationship would quickly end because there would be no way he could ever fit into my life. It turns out he had only had overcooked pasta topped with Ragu or a homemade grease laddened sauce. He absolutely loved it and was miffed that I let him eat a whole bag of chips so he was too full to eat it. We've been happily married for more than 25 years and still enjoy a great pot of sauce and freshly taosted garlic bread! And to think it all would have ended if he never tasted my sauce because I was ready to dump him.

wftiger

http://miraclenoodle.com/

I just saw that like 2 days ago. I haven't tried it, and it looks kind of expensive

This is not "pasta". It is yam bean. Some people use as pasta but note before you try, it it does not smell good and is rubbery. Buy just one bag at a time as I don't think many people actually like it when they try it.

You likely dont' need to order just check out Asian stores or if you grocery has a "hippie" section check there (health food). The brand I often see is Shiratake Tofu Noodles. But there are others. Just look for konjac noodles.

Just in case you are interested -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konjac

TheWinman

Although I am not Italian biologically my Mom was raised in Chicago surrounded by Italians so it strongly influenced our home. I like to make homemade pasta and could easily eat it everyday. I just stumbled onto Ronzoni Smart Taste at Safeway only 170 cal for 2oz. Lowest cal count I've found and it tasted great. I do want to try shirataki noodles too but I couldn't find them at the store. Turns out they are in the refridgerated section. I try to pair the pasta with a great salad and savor every bite. I'd much rather give up dessert for an extra serving of pasta any day! In 1981 I met a guy who came over for dinner. I had made my favorite spaghetti sauce with meatballs, and all the trimmings. Turns out he hated spaghetti and munched down on a whole bag of potato chips while I did the final prep for dinner. He finally decided to at least taste it but I new the relationship would quickly end because there would be no way he could ever fit into my life. It turns out he had only had overcooked pasta topped with Ragu or a homemade grease laddened sauce. He absolutely loved it and was miffed that I let him eat a whole bag of chips so he was too full to eat it. We've been happily married for more than 25 years and still enjoy a great pot of sauce and freshly taosted garlic bread! And to think it all would have ended if he never tasted my sauce because I was ready to dump him.

awesome story!!