Pastas: junk or good food?

[Yulia_R]

Hi mamas,
I need your opinion about pastas. I personally don’t eat pasta (I try to eat mostly raw and low carb diet), but my kids love pasta with cottage cheese and therefore, they eat it almost every day. I only buy organic wheat with spinach or brown rice pasta. But still I keep hearing that ANY pasta is a highly processed food and therefore, should be considered as junk. Is it true? What do you think?

Thanks in advance,
yulia

[mamadelbosque]

Pasta is *NOT* a highly processed food. At least, not the stuff made out of wheat. You can make pasta in your own home to prove it to yourself - its just flour & water, sometimes with a little egg & salt. If your against pasta, its cause' your against grains in general. I buy whole wheat pasta (spaghetti, linguine/fettucine, egg noodles, lasagna), and occasionally make it myself (mostly when I make pasta I tend to make ravioli or something slightly more fancy than just plain old noodles). Its not the greatest thing on the planet for you, but if you're OK with bread, then theres no reason you wouldn't be OK with pasta.

[Yulia_R]

I see. Makes sense. By the way, I wonder how to make whole wheat spinach pasta (I'd imagine blending water with spinach and then adding flour?). What proportions do you use to make pasta: how much water, flour, eggs, etc. How long do you cook it? Do you make ravioli with cottage cheese?

[LionTigerBear]

If you are okay with whole wheat bread, you would be okay with FRESH, whole grain pasta. However, regular commercial pasta has also been dried and then is reconstituted when you boil it, making it less digestible than fresh.

FWIW, when I used to eat pasta, I looked for the ones that incorporated artichoke, spinach, etc.

But, in general, I consider pasta a "treat" food: good for the soul, but not a healthy everyday food.

[cristeen]

Around here, pasta (and bread) are occasional treats. There are so many more healthful things that we can be eating that I can't justify having them even weekly. But then I try very hard to limit all grains.

That being said, making pasta is pretty easy. Even spinach pasta - the first step is finding a pasta recipe you're comfortable with. Then take the liquid component (water, eggs, oil, etc.) and puree it with spinach, and continue on with the recipe as before. It's really that simple. You may need a little less water or a little more flour to offset the water in the spinach, but it's not difficult.

[Thalia the Muse]

Factory pasta is not the same thing as fresh pasta -- for one thing, it usually doesn't contain egg, and it uses a different, higher-protein flour. But that said, most pastas have a short ingredient list: a good one should pretty much be durum semolina flour and maybe salt. They make the spinach pastas by adding spinach juice for color -- it doesn't change the nutritional profile or the flavor, it just looks pretty!

I have no problem with grains, philosophically or digestively, and I think pasta is a fine and tasty food -- especially when eaten with oil and cooked veggies, beans, seafood or meat, etc.

[vegmom]

honestly pastas are junk food. It does not matter if they are fresh or not. My children especially can get hooked on some nasty carb cravings wanting nothing more. There is more nutritive dense foods that kids should be eating then pasta.

My kids eat pasta about 1 month. If they do have it then I try to get Ezekiel sprouted grain.

[Pinky Tuscadero]

I try to avoid it but the kiddos love it. I usually reserve it for a night they are going to the grandparents. It's one food that she can't cook in the microwave! Anything else I send she ends up nuking, even though I ask her not to.
Other than that, we'll have it every once in a while if I am really pressed for time, or I'll make lasagna for a special treat. Not often though. I do consider it not very nutritious.

[rhiOrion]

I totally cooked pasta in the microwave in college

I wish making my own pasta didn't always result in such a mess. Do you guys use a pasta roller, or just a regular rolling pin?

I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner tonight, but you've just given me the idea of fresh pasta and alfredo sauce (I have plenty of milk and parmesan).

[Yulia_R]

Originally Posted by Pinky Tuscadero

I try to avoid it but the kiddos love it. I usually reserve it for a night they are going to the grandparents. It's one food that she can't cook in the microwave! Anything else I send she ends up nuking, even though I ask her not to.
Other than that, we'll have it every once in a while if I am really pressed for time, or I'll make lasagna for a special treat. Not often though. I do consider it not very nutritious.

Oh, here is another question if I may: why microvaved food is not good? I know that it's not good to be near working mv due to EFM, but does it really affect quality of cooked food? I keep hearing that some people try to avoid it (and I'm avoiding it just in case when it comes to cooking for kids), but my husband does use it a lot (to warm up food), even when it comes to kids food. Could you guys please help me with links about why it is bad to mv food?

[Pinky Tuscadero]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

I totally cooked pasta in the microwave in college

Ahhhh!! Don't tell me that!! She better be cooking it on the stove.
I once sent a package of sausage patties for her to cook for the boys, thinking she would put them in a frying pan. Nope. She microwaved them. Her cooking makes me crazy!

I don't have any links on the dangers of microwaves. I just don't trust them to be safe.

[rhiOrion]

Pasta is easier on the stove anyhow

I only cooked pasta in the microwave in college because I had no stove, and it was way better for me than the crap in the caf.

However, if you see this in her house, watch out! I bet I would've loved that in college

[Thalia the Muse]

rhi, I have a handcranked pasta machine. I'm not sure it's really any easier than a rolling pin, but it does cut pretty, uniform fettucini.

[lil_earthmomma]

Dried pasta makes me feel sick, every single time I eat it. Last year I finally said enough, and quit eating it. I cautiously tried fresh pasta not too long ago and LOVED it!!! It didn't hurt my stomach either! We still only have it as a treat (less than once a month).

As for lasagne, I am in love with my spaghetti squash lasagne. It is so yummy, and I like it better than traditional lasagne.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

Dried pasta makes me feel sick, every single time I eat it. Last year I finally said enough, and quit eating it. I cautiously tried fresh pasta not too long ago and LOVED it!!! It didn't hurt my stomach either! We still only have it as a treat (less than once a month).

As for lasagne, I am in love with my spaghetti squash lasagne. It is so yummy, and I like it better than traditional lasagne.

This is getting to be my philosophy on eating in general. I don't think you can do it if you are on a mostly SAD diet, but if you generally eat whole foods and generally prepare meals from scratch, I think you can eat something and notice how it makes you feel and reliably make judgements from that.

I also have come to believe that different people handle foods differently, for a variety of reasons. Therefore, something might make me feel good but make you feel bad.

Dried white grocery store pasta does not make me feel good. I always regret it when I eat it.

Fresh, homemade whole wheat pasta makes me feel ok. Not bad at all, but not divine.

The PP above says it makes her feel pretty good! And another PP said it was junk food (so I assume it makes her feel bad) even if fresh and homemade.

So, OP, I think you can ask yourself whether pasta is good or bad!

[mamadelbosque]

I have a pasta rolling machine (hand cranked - from Lehman's), which is about a billion times easier (IMO) than rolling it by hand - I can just get it SO much thinner SO much faster than trying to do it by hand. And... you can make & dry pasta too, lehman's sells little raks that you lay it overtop of to dry it on.

I just don't see how something thats so simple & basic to make can possibly be considerd junk - unless your just anti-grains in general, in which case OK.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

However, if you see this in her house, watch out! I bet I would've loved that in college

:

That is an AWFUL contraption!

And ... I mean, guys, is boiling pasta on the stove really so hard as to necessitate buying this plastic contraption to cook it in the microwave??

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

As for lasagne, I am in love with my spaghetti squash lasagne. It is so yummy, and I like it better than traditional lasagne.

Recipe? Please?? I LOOOOVE spaghetti squash, and SS lasagna sounds so good!

[lil_earthmomma]

Originally Posted by cristeen

Recipe? Please?? I LOOOOVE spaghetti squash, and SS lasagna sounds so good!

Ok here goes, (I don't use a recipe, I kinda just made it up!)

Meat sauce (I use lean ground beef mixed with spicy italian sausage meat, but any ground meat would work, or no meat at all!!!)
I add to the meat:
tomato sauce
big chunks of mushroom
diced onion
a ton of minced garlic
diced yellow pepper
any other veggies you want to use up (zucchini, egg plant etc.)

Other ing:
spinach
cream cheese
grated cheese of your choice
1 spaghetti squash

To assemble:
Split, scrape the pulp and seeds out and cook your spaghetti squash. When cool enough to handle, fork through the flesh onto a dish towel or papper towel. Squeeze out excess moisture.

Melt cream cheese and throw in spinach leaves till slighly wilted. You want enough spinach that the cream cheese isn't the main component, the spinach is. (Did that make any sense?)

In your baking dish, spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of your dish. Then lay out a layer of squash noodles. Then a thick layer of sauce, some cheese, another layer of squash noodles, spread the creamcheese spinach mixture on top of that, layer of squash noodles, meat sauce and the remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 min. Allow to stand a couple min before serving.
:

[Magali]

Bodum plastic?

delete