pasta dishes

I, too, am a huge pasta addict.

My favorite is getting some high quality pasta (whole wheat/gluten free, or buckwheat noodles) and putting broccoli, olives, carrots, and asparagus in it. Also sprinkle a little bit of parmesan cheese on top, and refrigerate it overnight and all the flavors kind of "set" and it's delicious the next day. I usually have about a half a cup to a whole cup of that.

Mmmm pasta. The trick for me is to always put greens in my pasta. For instance, I'm having pasta for dinner tonight and I added lots of steamed broccoli to it. Other times I add spinach to it. I know it sounds funny, but it's good! It fills me up, gives me lots of nutrition and I still get to have some pasta. Works for me.

I figured out how to make a macaroni and cheese bake one day, measuring out serving sizes of skim milk, reduced fat cheese, just a tiny bit of butter, some garlic salt, a little pepper, and a wee shake of panko for crunch. The texture was definitely a little off but it came out delicious, and I kick myself in the pants for not writing it down!

I do a fake chicken parm as well, with oven roasted b/s chicken breast and skim milk mozz, just a little bit of simple sauce (no meat, peppers & onions if I'm feeling ambitious, italian seasoning, and garlic). No frying, no breading, and I always do it with salad so it's no huge loss if I take the emphasis off of the pasta and put it on the chicken.

I know it's been mentioned, but it's so good it should be mentioned again- skinnytaste.com!! Pinterest has been really helpful, too!

As @Je SuisPrest mentioned skinnytaste.com I made the Cajun Chicken Pasta (without the cream cheese) over whole wheat pasta last night and it was awesome

Wow, if you like pasta, your going to love learning how simple it is to make. I don't buy specialty pasta at 6-7 dollars a pop, I make it at home for a fraction of the price. Once you've had fresh, you will never use dried again ( unless it's a shape you can't make because you don't have the equipment.

This is a good site to start with. Have a go at it. There are some good youtube videos as well.

http://www.pasta-recipes-by-italians.com/how-to-make-pasta.html

Jamie Oliver shows you the basics in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0XVDpPBHho

Recipe from Jamie
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/a-basic-recipe-for-fresh-egg-pasta

Anyway, have a go at it, most handcrank Italian made pasta machines run around 50 dollars, worth every penny in my books.
Good Luck

spaghetti squash! you can use it as a substitute for noodles in almost any pasta dish

I, too, am a huge pasta addict.

My favorite is getting some high quality pasta (whole wheat/gluten free, or buckwheat noodles) and putting broccoli, olives, carrots, and asparagus in it. Also sprinkle a little bit of parmesan cheese on top, and refrigerate it overnight and all the flavors kind of "set" and it's delicious the next day. I usually have about a half a cup to a whole cup of that.

same with that person, broccoli, olives, tuna, lemon juice
or broccoli, prawns, mushrooms, a little tiny bit of cream cheese
always with whole grain pasta

I have about a cup of my pasta preference, then generally top it with some type of sauce, basil leaves, sometimes vegetables, sometimes chicken, a little parmesan, and some pepper. Voila!

Chicken breast and broccoli over whole wheat penne in lemon pesto sauce. Yum!

abs diet for women chicken ala king kong. uses whole wheat pasta (about 2 oz serving), canned sauce and chicken tenders. Msg me if you want receipe.

Being Italian I'm a big fan of pasta, of course.
The classic one with tomato sauce always works. Steamed broccoli is my favorite.
Meat in the pasta is very rare. The so-called spaghetti bolognese (which btw do not exist in Italy and I lived 11 years in Bologna :explode: ) are an exception. We use the bolognese sauce on hand-made egg-pasta. In any case, I think I have it twice per year.
I never heard about chicken on pasta before I moved to the US
Seashell food is quite common instead and healthy. I will go for clams or shrimps.

If you want any original recipe, I'll be glad to share it with you! :flowerforyou:

Spaghetti squash! Or brown rice pasta (gluten free, low on the glycemic index). I either use store-bought tomato sauce or make it myself, but I like my sauce to be creamy, so I always stir in some nonfat Greek yogurt. Add some 99% fat free ground turkey, frozen spinach and broccoli, and mushrooms, and it's delicious and very filling!

I really like pasta too. I am not into the whole wheat pastas at all. I like the Ronzoni Smart taste it has higher fiber and somewhat lower calories than most of the dried pasta plus I like the consistency.

My favorite pasta is a take on Fettuccine Alfredo the recipe serves an army, 8 huge portions if that is what you want.

Broccoli 3-4 heads, most of stem cut off.. steamed still slightly firm
Asparagus 2 lbs, steamed until slightly firm

Stir fry in pam:
2 large zucchini quartered and sliced,
4 cups sliced mushrooms (at least one pound)
2 bunches scallions, cut in 1 inch pieces
3-4 bell peppers seeded and cut into strips or one inch chunks
garlic sliced thin I use 4-6 cloves
salt and pepper to taste

The above gets watery so when it is done I drain off most of the juice and save about 1/2 cup

Shrimp 2-3 lbs peeled, tails removed deveined cooked just until pink in the reserved juice from the veggies

Ronzoni Smart Taste Rotini, 1 box cooked aldente

For the alfredo sauce I use 2 packages of the Knorr Alfredo sauce Mix, I prepare it with 1 cup 2% milk and 2.5 cups water, I leave out the butter Cook as directed. Right before it is served add 1/2 grated Parmesan cheese.

Mix it all together and enjoy... for us it is about 460 calories a serving