What's on your plate?

Pasta and veggies - good? or not-so-much?

Are Empty Calories Sneaking Onto Your Plate?

No, really. What is on your plate tonight? Being vegan doesn't necessarily mean that everything you eat is healthy. I find myself choosing poorly ALL THE TIME.

My bugaboos are pasta and tortillas. If I'm planning a meal of beans and rice, I find myself thinking "hey, let's roll that up in a tortilla, eh?" (There's an extra 200 calories or so!) Or, if I'm having pasta for dinner, the amount of pasta far outweighs the amount of veggies - not good choices at all. The next thing you know, I'm cursing at the bathroom scale and my husband thinks I'm nuts!

While these choices are fine once in awhile, it's so easy to fall into a habit of making bad choices on a regular basis - especially when you have job, kids, and extra curricular activities pushing you to choose quick and easy over the healthy choice.

So I've made a promise to myself to try to eat mindfully, to be aware of how I cook the food (do I really need to use oil?), how much of my plate is filled with carbs vs vegetables, and most importantly, to listen to my body when it says "OK, I'm full now".

Tonight's meal: Pasta & Veggies

Pros:
A heart-healthy topping of crushed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and herbs with sauteed fresh green beans, mushrooms, onions, and garlic.
Veggie to Pasta ratio 50/50
Appropriate serving size

Cons:
Durum pasta rather than whole wheat
Veggies sauteed in olive oil, rather than water

Overall, not bad, but there's plenty of room to do better next time. No oil. More Veggies. Better pasta choice... you get the picture. They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step to fixing it!
;-)
Thanks for listening,
Sheila.