Pasta pasta!

One of my chefs in c-school scolded me for plating way too much pasta on a plate -- he complained that American's relationship with pasta is WAY out of wack. At dinner this evening, I measured out 4oz of dry pasta out of the 1 lb box, it looked too meager. So I cooked up 8oz and....ate about half. Too bad the box says 2oz dry is a portion, and the USDA recommends a serving size of 1oz.

Funny, I never weighed out pasta before, always kinda made the whole box and whatever left overs there were, there were. I know in college when I was hungry, I could eat a full 1 lb box of pasta (cooked, of course) -- that's 8 portions, or 16 according to the govmint! Still, 1oz? It doesn't really indicate if that is a side dish size or a meal size. My stomach & mind are set for 4oz as a side dish, 8oz as a main. When I think of what I expect in a restaurant setting, this is actually on the smaller size (or if we're talkin' Olive Garden, REALLY tiny.) Regardless, I think the move is a) be more mindful of pasta portion size and b) start buying up every brand of whole wheat pasta and see if any are good. Worst comes to worst, I got pasta attachments, I can make it if none work out...

I think ending the day with a bit more than a small amount of sweet desert last night didn't help a good night's sleep, and I woke up a second time pretty exhausted. I almost set up for weight liftings, but realized I felt so low-energy, it would take twice as long for 1/2 the result. Just focus on sleeping tonight and doing it right tomorrow.

No appetite came to me for a while for  breakfast, and I left the house at noon before I was hungry for lunch. Had two nibbles out and about, one packed and one healthy enough. Held me over to a proper dinner time.


AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10:15am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Made a double batch, so Edie could have a new batch of "noisy ice cream" in the freezer.

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, granola bar, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK 2:45pm, whole wheat spinach tofu empanada, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5


DINNER: 6:15pm, baby spinach with baby carrots, shrimp and roasted brussel sprouts with angel hair pasta, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I wanted a heavy meal because of my lack of a proper lunch, but limited myself to 4oz of pasta with extra brussels and extra shrimp. Hopefully cravings won't come and bite me on the butt...


EVENING SNACK: 8pm, potato chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
....chomp!


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, small bit of dark chocolate
.....CHOMP! A bit of Mast Brothers chocolate left over from a gift. Really weirdly bitter and fruity, not my cuppa tea.


EVENING SNACK: 10pm, left over pasta, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
.....CHOMPITY CHOMP CHOMP! I think that was another 3 or 4 oz down the hatch...