I won’t make any promises, but this is my personal strategy when I want to lose a couple of pounds but would never consider giving up pasta. Obviously we are all different and numerous variables contribute to our health and weight, but this works for me. A diet based on what I call my  little, little, lot recipes- a little pasta, a little protein and a  lot of veggies. It’s basically a version of what has been preached to us forever: portion control and everything in moderation, other than veggies, which you can eat as much as you want.  Super simple, light and healthy, but very satisfying and delicious. Here’s what I made for 3 in 3 Thursday (3 ingredients in 3 minutes) and it is a perfect example of a little, little, lot recipe. I ate a version of this for dinner 3 days in a row and I honestly think it shows! (when I am making  little, little, lot recipes and cooking just for myself, I can get 6-7 meals out of one bag!)

Whole Wheat Fettuccine with Spinach, Mushrooms and Garbanzo Beans

2 servings

1/4 of a bag of Al Dente® Pasta, approx. 3 oz.

6-8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

a bunch of baby spinach

3/4  cup of garbanzo beans, drained

1 Tbsp. olive oil

salt, pepper and grated cheese as desired.

Directions

Put pot of water on stove and bring to a boil. In the meantime, saute the mushrooms in the olive oil till caramelized. Add a little kosher salt to mushrooms. Cook pasta in the salted water. Ladle 1/2 cup of the pasta water into the skillet with the mushrooms. Add the spinach and the garbanzo beans. Drain the pasta and toss all together in the skillet.

Enjoy!

By the way, my sister just called and told me that she just saw our Whole Wheat Pasta featured in the April issue of Every Day Cooking with Rachael Ray. Exciting stuff for us! Don’t you think my little, little, lot recipes are right up her alley? Do you have a favorite Rachael Ray pasta recipe? Let me know.