Alternative to Pasta

Alycyn1980
Alycyn1980 Posts: 62 Member
edited September 21 in Food and Nutrition
Hi All

I am looking for something that I can switch with pasta. Never realised how many calories were in pasta until started in this site - I was probably having my daily allowance of calories for the day in pasta alone!!!! I have cut way back but I was wondering if there was something else that I could used that was just as filling and can be used in a variety of ways BUT has less calories in it.

All ideas appreciated :smile:

Thanks:flowerforyou:

Replies

  • tim_fitbuilt4life
    tim_fitbuilt4life Posts: 301 Member
    Switch to Whole Grain Pastas.
  • shelly_lee2000
    shelly_lee2000 Posts: 10 Member
    Have you ever tried spegetti squash. You cut the squash in half and bake until pretty tender. Then scrap squash out it will look like spegetti. Then just eat it with marina sauce and parm cheese. Its really good and alot less carbs and calories.
  • veronicann
    veronicann Posts: 2 Member
    spaghetti squash I love it and a nice change as well
  • Magenta15
    Magenta15 Posts: 850 Member
    i eat pasta often, but i always measure out a serving size and bulk my sauce with ALOt of veggies. always whole grain pasta. and I usually measure and pack away the rest right away for lunch so that im not tempted to eat more.

    same with rice, brown.
    Quinoa yum.

    spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti.

    but as long as you measure and allot it into your calories, and bulk it up with veg, and a brothy soup or veggie side salad, there's nothing wrong with a lil pasta here and there. :)

    ps one serving is usually about 300-400 calories. lol gosh i can't even imagine all the cals i used to eat in pasta before measuring. two heaping plates full! eek! lol
  • gingerje
    gingerje Posts: 3
    I could never flat out give up pasta -- LOVE it tooo tooo much. But I recently switched to whole wheat pasta which is (although the same amount of calories) half the carbs. Tastes good too!
  • aawh
    aawh Posts: 96 Member
    Have you ever tried spegetti squash. You cut the squash in half and bake until pretty tender. Then scrap squash out it will look like spegetti. Then just eat it with marina sauce and parm cheese. Its really good and alot less carbs and calories.

    I was just going to post this! I had some for the first time last night and it was awesome!
  • sarahliftsUP
    sarahliftsUP Posts: 752 Member
    Yes, yes, yes to the spaghetti squash! You just cut it in two and either bake it in the oven or nuke it if you are short on time. I usually bake it in the oven though after gutting it out (like a pumpkin) for 20 minutes or so.

    Then with a fork you just scrap it, and it will come out in little noodles. It's surprisingly very filling for half of the squash and super low on calories.
  • Oompa_Loompa
    Oompa_Loompa Posts: 1,099 Member
    Have you ever tried spegetti squash. You cut the squash in half and bake until pretty tender. Then scrap squash out it will look like spegetti. Then just eat it with marina sauce and parm cheese. Its really good and alot less carbs and calories.

    I was just going to post this! I had some for the first time last night and it was awesome!


    can you buy spegetti squash or do you have to make it from scratch?
  • nanmosta1
    nanmosta1 Posts: 55
    There is a tofu pasta. Try the refridgerated section of yourhealth food store. I get it at Sprouts MArket. iIt's like 20 calories a serving. It is a bit chewier then regular pasta but very good in soups
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
    You buy the whole squash. It's easy to cook, though.
  • TropicalKitty
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
    Have you ever tried spegetti squash. You cut the squash in half and bake until pretty tender. Then scrap squash out it will look like spegetti. Then just eat it with marina sauce and parm cheese. Its really good and alot less carbs and calories.

    I was just going to post this! I had some for the first time last night and it was awesome!


    can you buy spegetti squash or do you have to make it from scratch?

    Spaghetti squash is a veggie that the flesh inside comes out stringy like angel hair pasta. So you buy the squash, cut it, cook it, and scoop out the insides.

    It's yummy. So another vote in the pot for it being a great option. Although, I never really considered it to be exactly like pasta. Looks like it, but the texture is different. Yummy tho!
  • melbhall
    melbhall Posts: 519
    I know everyone is saying spaghetti squash...but it's true! I was scared to try it, but did this week and my husband even loved it. It was super easy to cook (just cut in half, scrape out seeds and stuff, place face down in a pan with water covering the bottom and cook at 350 for an hour...although I recommend cooking a bit longer). I then covered mine with homemade spaghetti sauce.

    I also have stopped eating regular pasta and have switched to whole wheat pasta.
  • TropicalKitty
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
    There is a tofu pasta. Try the refridgerated section of yourhealth food store. I get it at Sprouts MArket. iIt's like 20 calories a serving. It is a bit chewier then regular pasta but very good in soups

    They're called Shriataki noodles, or at least one type is. I also found them in the organic/veggie section of my norma grocer (Publix)
  • Oompa_Loompa
    Oompa_Loompa Posts: 1,099 Member
    Does it matter what type of squash you use?
  • lisalynn35
    lisalynn35 Posts: 250 Member
    Have you ever tried spegetti squash. You cut the squash in half and bake until pretty tender. Then scrap squash out it will look like spegetti. Then just eat it with marina sauce and parm cheese. Its really good and alot less carbs and calories.

    Mmmmmm! Spaghetti squash! She's right, scrape it out with a fork and it even looks like pasta.
  • inforsey
    inforsey Posts: 35 Member
    Quinoa... It's a yummy alternative.. and only has 100 calories per serving. It has a nutty taste and it cooks just like oatmeal. Plus I think it has more fiber in it than pasta and not a whole lot of sodium. I love it. It's my new favourite power food.

    (-:
  • AnnieeR
    AnnieeR Posts: 229
    We eat a lot of couscous and brown or wild rice instead of pasta. Also, baby new potatoes are a less starchy carb. We also switched to a half and half (whole wheat and white) pasta which we have on very rare occasion - my other half can't stand pure whole wheat.
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    I saw something called Notta Pasta in the store the other day. It was made from rice flour instead of wheat. It seemed to compare with regular white flour pasta in calorie count though.
  • dlrcpa
    dlrcpa Posts: 114 Member
    Try cooked pearled barley for a change. The calories are comparable but barley has much more fiber than regular pasta. It's a LOT more chewy in texture so you spend a lot more time chewing and may be satisfied with less.
  • TropicalKitty
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
    Does it matter what type of squash you use?

    Spaghetti squash is the name of the type of squash. So, yes, it does matter.

    http://blubberbegone.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/spaghetti-squash.jpg

    or

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_squash
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
    Does it matter what type of squash you use?

    It has to be a spaghetti squash if you're looking for the noodley appearance. They're roughly peanut shaped, a pale beigey-orange (or yellow, depending).

    However, slicing other squash (crookneck, zucchini), lightly steaming them and dousing them in a veggie-filled marinara is also pretty darned good!

    Here's an image & recipe link: http://catherinewalkerhart.blogspot.com/2010/02/yummy-spaghetti-squash.html
  • bbeland01
    bbeland01 Posts: 9
    I was going to suggest spaghetti squash too. It is awesome as pasta. Or sprinkle it with salt and pepper and parm cheese. Yum!!
  • TropicalKitty
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
    Does it matter what type of squash you use?

    It has to be a spaghetti squash if you're looking for the noodley appearance. They're roughly peanut shaped, a pale beigey-orange (or yellow, depending).

    However, slicing other squash (crookneck, zucchini), lightly steaming them and dousing them in a veggie-filled marinara is also pretty darned good!

    You just reminded me!

    Eggplant! you can use that as pseudo noodles too
  • peanut1967
    peanut1967 Posts: 52 Member
    Take less pasta. Just eat a salad as first dish before the pasta, this way you won't eat so much pasta afterwards, and/or do like hey do in Italy, where they eat pasta as one dish before the main coarse. Add a slim sauce with lots of vegetables, then it's okay I think. Try whole grain pasta (I don't like it that much, but they say you get used to it and like it even better after a while) you probably will be satisfied with a smaller amount of this.

    I just can't avoid pasta all the time (I have kids) so I have to find a way to make it a weightloss-friendly meal if I don't want to cook double meals...
  • LHuffman24
    LHuffman24 Posts: 175 Member
    I cooked a spaghetti squash the other night and have tons of leftovers. I'm thinking of making a stir fry with that instead of rice for dinner tonight.

    Anybody else have any ideas besides pasta sauce for the rest of the leftovers?
  • TropicalKitty
    TropicalKitty Posts: 2,298 Member
    I cooked a spaghetti squash the other night and have tons of leftovers. I'm thinking of making a stir fry with that instead of rice for dinner tonight.

    Anybody else have any ideas besides pasta sauce for the rest of the leftovers?

    I've sauteed it in olive/canola oil with a ton of garlic, onion, pepper. Nice n stinky. Then toss with parm, if you like parm.
  • Skinnytime
    Skinnytime Posts: 279
    Dreamfields is great. Very low carbs, but comparable in calories to regular pasta. I can't get past the texture of many whole-grain pastas. When I want pasta, I want the real thing. Dreamfields is the closest I've found.
    Miracle noodles Shirataki are okay in soups, but nothing like pasta. They are very rubbery. If you have to chew them, don't eat them. But they are great in broth.
  • Alycyn1980
    Alycyn1980 Posts: 62 Member
    Well thanks to everyone for their suggestions - I will definately need to look into the squash, not sure how available they are in the supermarkets here but will have a nosey :wink:
  • LHuffman24
    LHuffman24 Posts: 175 Member
    I cooked a spaghetti squash the other night and have tons of leftovers. I'm thinking of making a stir fry with that instead of rice for dinner tonight.

    Anybody else have any ideas besides pasta sauce for the rest of the leftovers?

    I've sauteed it in olive/canola oil with a ton of garlic, onion, pepper. Nice n stinky. Then toss with parm, if you like parm.

    That does sound stinky, but delicious! Maybe I'll do that tonight instead. Thanks for the idea.
    Well thanks to everyone for their suggestions - I will definately need to look into the squash, not sure how available they are in the supermarkets here but will have a nosey

    I haven't been having any trouble finding them at Wal-Mart of all places.
  • PoeRaven
    PoeRaven Posts: 433 Member
    I agree with everyone who said to switch to whole grain pasta. If you go by the portion size on the box, most pastas are about 200 calories per 3/4 cup serving. I don't think that's too bad. At least it's "do-able" at least once a week. :drinker:
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