#mostly healthy

January 24, 2016

Let me preface this recipe by saying that I am a carboholic. I love all things pasta and bread! So, when I am thinking of eating healthier, the idea of cutting out carbs honestly just makes me sad. I am compromising though, and trying to eat pasta in a little bit of a healthier way by using whole wheat pasta instead of the regular stuff. I obviously want to eat better and be more mindful of the things I put in my body, but also, I don’t want to lose the little things that bring me joy (like a bowl full of pasta!). It’s a give and take game, ya know?

Most of the recipes we are using as inspiration come from Pinterest, because it is a gold mine of delicious food. We usually end up changing some things about the recipes to suit our needs a little better, but this was our starting point :

http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/05/italian-wonderpot/

Here is what we did:

Recipe 2: Italian Wonderpot

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups vegetable broth

2 Tbsp olive oil

14 oz. whole wheat fettuccine

8 oz. frozen chopped spinach

1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion

4 cloves garlic

½ Tbsp dried basil

½ Tbsp dried oregano

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

freshly cracked pepper to taste

2 oz. Parmesan cheese

1 sliced jalapeno

Here are the instructions the recipe gave with the modifications we added:

Add four cups of vegetable broth to a large pot. Break the fettuccine in half to make stirring easier later, and then add it to the pot. Also add the canned tomatoes (undrained), olive oil, frozen spinach, onion (thinly sliced), garlic (thinly sliced), basil, oregano, red pepper, and some freshly cracked black pepper, and the sliced jalapeno.

Make sure the ingredients are submerged under the liquid, place a lid on top of the pot, and then turn the heat on to high. Allow the pot to come up to a full, rolling boil over high heat then remove the lid and turn the heat down to medium.

Allow the pot to continue to boil over medium heat, without a lid, for 10-15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir the pot every few minutes as it cooks to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom, but avoid over stirring which can cause the pasta to become sticky and mushy. The pot must be boiling the entire time.