{"id":1021,"date":"2010-12-31T21:53:04","date_gmt":"2010-12-31T21:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=1021"},"modified":"2010-12-31T21:53:04","modified_gmt":"2010-12-31T21:53:04","slug":"whole-grain-pasta-new-food-for-a-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/whole-grain-pasta-new-food-for-a-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Whole Grain Pasta: New Food for a New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Pastas Pass the Taste Test<\/span><\/h3>\n

The new year is a good time to try new things–especially if they’re healthy and not hard at all.\u00a0 Here’s a great idea from Lauren and Pete, recent Whole Kitchen participants:<\/em><\/p>\n

The next time you’re buying pasta, STOP.\u00a0 Instead of automatically grabbing the spaghetti or penne you always buy, take a few seconds to peruse labels and muster up some courage.\u00a0 How about introducing your family to whole grain pastas, which have a lot more nutrients than traditional pastas.\u00a0\u00a0 There are lots of alternatives at the store these days, like those made with brown rice flour, and they easily pass the taste test, even when presented to picky eaters.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pete is experimenting with the Barilla brand of whole grain pastas.\u00a0 The company offers one that is 51% whole wheat, as well as the new Barilla PLUS\u00ae line, a multigrain pasta with ALA Omega-3.\u00a0 The whole wheat option is \u201ca little heavier and more chewy than plain white pasta,\u201d said Pete, but it offers a healthy 6 grams of fiber. For a sauce, he \u201cdoctors up\u201d Prego Heart Healthy sauce or uses the organic Cabernet Marinara sauce by Muir Glenn.<\/p>\n

Barilla PLUS\u00ae is an interesting blend of semolina, lentils, chickpeas, flaxseed, barley, spelt and oats. It has almost twice the fiber of traditional pasta as well as 10 grams of protein.\u00a0 Pete likes the Barilla PLUS\u00ae because it doesn’t seem as \u201cheavy\u201d as the whole wheat option.\u00a0 In fact, most guests “don’t even notice the difference between Barilla PLUS\u00ae and normal plain pasta,\u201d he discovered.<\/p>\n

Lauren recently took the pasta challenge, experimenting with a pasta bar that had a couple new sauces alongside two or three different choices of pastas, just to prove there isn\u2019t anything too out of the ordinary with pasta that has a little color or a slightly different texture.\u00a0 Her “bar” turned out to be a good way to elicit comments and start a conversation about the benefits of eating complete grains and other types of flour.\u00a0 She shares one additional piece of advice:\u00a0 Be strategic and limit choices to healthy options. When white pasta is available, those looking for the familiar may gravitate to that choice. When it\u2019s not an option, it won\u2019t even be missed.\u00a0 Remember how our taste buds can happily adapt to healthier foods<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Lauren's
Pasta Fun! Lauren's Pasta Bar <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Want more new for the new year?\u00a0 Try our Whole Kitchen cooking classes<\/a> and discover new flavors, new foods, new recipes, new ideas and a whole new way to get great, wholesome meals on the table, everyday.\u00a0 Next session starts January 13<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The next time you’re buying pasta, STOP. The new year is a good time to try new things–especially if they’re healthy and not hard at all. Find out how two ordinary home chefs are discovering and experimenting with some of the new, whole grain pastas–and finding that they pass the taste test, even for picky eaters. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2,10,14],"tags":[252,430,431,649,650],"class_list":["post-1021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-what-is-healthy-eating","category-healthy-cooking-basics","category-make-grocery-shopping-easy","category-new-ingredients","tag-good-brands-of-whole-grain-pasta","tag-pasta","tag-pasta-bar","tag-whole-grain-pasta","tag-whole-grains","masonry-post","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1021\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}