17 Words: 3 Pasta Grains Rice

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You might not think of pasta as an unhealthy meal, however many of these dishes are unhealthy. They may be made with heavy creams full of saturated fats, sauces made with a lot of oil and sodium, multi-servings of heavy cheese or a lot of fatty meat. There are different things that you can do in order to make unhealthy pastas healthier. The following are some of these methods.
Lower the amount of cheese or switch to low fat/fat free
Many pastas such as baked ziti, lasagna, stuffed shells and others have great deal of cheese in them. Cheese is full of calories and fat, much of which is the unhealthier saturated fat. It is also full of blood pressure-raising sodium. In addition, many pasta dishes have quite a few servings of cheese in it, and you could literally eat five or more servings of cheese in one meal. In order to help make such dishes healthier, you might want to lower the amount of cheese in it. Instead use other ingredients that are not as bad for you. Another option would be to switch to a cheese with a lower fat such as one that is low fat or has no fat. Even the low fat ones can add up, so be aware of that. Also be aware of how much sodium is in the cheese.
Look to healthier sauces
Many of us use sauces from jars. The sauces differ greatly in how good they are for you. They may have different amounts of calories, fat and sodium. Some of them may have saturated fat as well. You should read through the nutritional information on the jars and try to pick the healthier ones. There are some that have less oil and some that are even sodium free. Especially if you like a lot of sauce, this can make a big difference because you may have far more than one serving during your meal. If you are making the sauce yourself try to look for recipes that are healthier or modify your existing recipe.
If it is cream based, look to low fat or no fat options.
A lot of pastas use some sort of cream base. Again, many of these ingredients now come in low fat or no fat versions. You can try to switch those out to see if they can make a big difference.
Use healthier meats
Many people put meats in their pasta, including meatballs and the meat in lasagna. This meat is often extremely unhealthy and can give you a lot of calories and unhealthy fat. You can try to get lean meat. Some people will use turkey meat, which can be healthier. In addition, there are also imitation meats, which can be far lower is calories and fat.
If you eat a lot of pasta, you might want to consider how healthy it is. Consider the above tips to help make your pasta healthier.
Updated On: 03/25/2010 Published On: 03/25/2010 Great pizza restaurants in Broward County, Florida