Pasta Bowl
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I have thoroughly enjoyed the discussion in the comments on how many calories you really need. It’s definitely something that I’m still thinking about and trying to work out in my mind.
For the record, I have found that I’m still very nervous about getting over my allotted calories each day, but I’ve found that the more I concentrate on eating healthy, nutrient-dense foods, the calories aren’t as much of an issue. I’m getting full and still being able to enjoy snacks on fewer calories.
I was actually quite proud of myself last night for choosing peanut butter on whole wheat toast and an orange over the bowl of cereal that I really wanted for a snack. The cereal was healthy, too, but more calories. The orange and the peanut butter toast were just as satisfying and I still stayed within my calories – though, in the interest of full disclosure, I’d earned about 700 extra calories through cardio.
The food that Tina ate in her post on what 2147 calories looks like looked so good that I bought some flat bread for wraps at the store last week, along with the ingredients to make the pasta bowl she shared.
Let me just say, that pasta bowl was delicious! It was so good, I ate it two days in a row for lunch. I think I must have used less pasta than Tina did – I measured out one serving and it was plenty – because my calorie total only came to 282 on My Fitness Pal.
I used:
- Rozini Whole Wheat Pasta (2 oz)
- diced onions
- minced garlic
- diced zucchini
- diced tomatoes
- mushrooms
- fresh spinach
- artichoke hearts
I just boiled and drained the pasta and sautéed the veggies together with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. I used about a half-cup each of all the veggies except the onions and garlic(probably about a tablespoon of each) and I used one artichoke heart. I topped it with a tablespoon of reduced-fat feta. Yum!
This is probably going to go on my once-a-week lunch rotation. Tina used Italian dressing on hers. I’ll probably try that next time, but I’d used the last of my Italian dressing to marinate some chicken earlier in the week.
Have you discovered any new favorite dishes lately?
Do or do not. There is no try.
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
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