Beating the Post-Pasta Belly Bloat

I think my life is officially pasta-fied. Noodles are one of my favorite foods. I like them in all shapes, sizes and colors. I don’t discriminate, I’m a noodle-lova!

Along with my tremendous love for all things carbohydrate comes a pretty hefty appetite and eyes that are much bigger than my stomach when a bowl of pasta is placed in front of me. I will eat and eat and eat when served a plate of spaghetti. I eat until the food cramps set in! Not good.

I recently implemented two actions when it comes to eating pasta to help me avoid the post-pasta belly bloat.

1. Eat the proper serving of pasta and add volume with vegetables

2. Use whole wheat pasta or Carba Nada pasta for added fiber and protein to fill up on less food

That’s it! Just two easy-peasy changes I’ve applied that have allowed me to enjoy my pasta dinners without requiring a post-dinner hour on the couch to digest.

Dinner

You’ll never guess what I had for dinner tonight. C’mon… use your noodle. 😉

Noodles!

Yep, pasta! While I boiled Carba Nada egg fettuccine pasta, I sauteed yellow squash, portobello mushrooms, and onion in a skillet with a dash of olive oil and steamed broccoli in the microwave.

Steamed Broccoli

Lots of Veggies

I added the veggies to marinara sauce and topped the noodles with the nutritious goodness.

Of course I cannot enjoy pasta without cheese, so I added goat cheese to the mix. It created a pinkish sauce, which I thought was awfully pretty.

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Veggies

Ryan and I worked up quite the appetite at the dog park with Miss Sadie tonight and wolfed down our pasta bowls.

Messy Bowl of Pasta

What is your favorite pasta dish?

BBQ Chicken Pizza = Great Use of Leftovers

I love it when leftovers lend themselves to the creation of a delicious meal that tastes completely different than the original dish.

The grilled BBQ chicken we had for dinner last night was great on its own and the remaining meat can be used in many different ways. I used a leftover BBQ chicken breast to create a flavorful BBQ chicken pizza for lunch today.

Leftovers in the Limelight

I first smeared a Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese wedge on top of a Joseph’s whole wheat pita. I added about a tablespoon of BBQ sauce on top of the cheese before topping the pizza with the sliced red onion and portobello mushrooms I sauteed last night.

After adding chopped spinach and the chicken, my pizza was ready for some heat! I microwaved it for 45 seconds and dug in.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I love regular pizza with marinara sauce and lots o’ cheese, but this BBQ chicken pizza did not disappoint. I will definitely be making this bad boy again. Hooray for leftovers!

Examiner

If you find yourself in the fast food drive through in the morning or think you don’t have time to make a nutritious breakfast, click here to read my latest Examiner article for ideas on breakfasts that take less than five minutes to prepare.

 

Breakfast Bomb

Not every random breakfast concoction I make is a success. Today’s breakfast would be a prime example of a breakfast bomb.

It wasn’t so awful that I didn’t eat the entire thing, but it wasn’t amazingly delicious either.

I started with cottage cheese and applesauce.

Cheesy Apple

I blended the two together with lots of cinnamon.

Cinnamon Apple Cottage Cheese

The flavor was great, but the texture was all wrong. I think it would have tasted ten times better if I would have skipped the blending.

I topped the cinnamon apple cottage cheese with Kay’s Naturals apple cinnamon protein cereal.

Kay's Naturals Protein Cereal

Added Crunch

The tasty little o’s definitely saved this breakfast mess.

While I was quite disappointed with my sorry attempt at a innovative breakfast, my mood remained positive because I was greeted with a wonderful little surprise when I opened the fridge to pack my meals to take to work today.

Who Doesnt' Love a Love Note?

I have one heck of a fiance! 🙂

Soft Serve Bananas

I am not the proud owner of a food processor. I want one, but haven’t decided which one I should purchase (recommendations welcome!) and my mom let me borrow hers until Thanksgiving.

Using my loaner food processor, I was anxious to make the soft serve bananas Gena blogged about, saying they would “change your life.”

Frozen Bananas

I started by placing chunks of two frozen bananas in the food processor.

I let them blend away for several minutes until the bananas were creamy and totally blended.

Soft Serve Bananas

I cannot believe how delicious this is! It honestly tastes like creamy banana gelato. I was so impressed.

When I brought Ryan his bowl he loved it and asked what was in it. He was shocked when I said that bananas were the only ingredient. If you haven’t already, you must try this!

What is your favorite healthy dessert?