Since the downward spiral of the economy, I’ve started actively making lunches at home. Actually, it had nothing to do with the economy and more to do with my waistline. I’m the kind of person who will eat what is before them--so if you put a huge plate of food in front of me - I’ll eat it. I tried Weight Watchers and although I didn’t have much success it did teach me portion control. So now as a Single Serv, portion control is in the front of my mind whenever I buy something - a package of meat or veggies or carbs - I look at the calories per serving and decide if it’s worth it. Worth is measured by how full it will make me feel or how it will satisfy whatever craving I have. When I go to make my lunches, I measure out exactly one serving of each food. I know this sounds control freakish - but it actually works! Not only do you lose weight, but you start to realize what a normal portion is. Besides, it’s much cheaper than Nutrisystem or any other food delivery service - and since you make it you know what’s going into it.
Anyway, enough of my Jenny Craig moment. one of my favorite places in NYC to grab some delicious ready made food is Todaro Brother's in Kips Bay. That got to be a pricey habit at $6.99/lb for some penne pasta salad. So I decided to make my own version:
Perfect Pasta Salad:
- 1 to 2 servings of pasta - I used whole wheat
- 1 c. halved grape tomatos
- 1/2 c. olives packed in oil
- extra virgin olive oil
- grated cheese*
- Cook the pasta. I’m not a pro at this - I make it different each time - this time I boiled the water then threw the pasta in for about 8 minutes.
- Toss the pasta with the other ingredients. You only need 1-2 tsp. olive oil.
* Add some truffle cheese (or any cheese) and truffle salt. I have a small obsession with these fungi.
You can put anything in this salad you want - but the best part is that it’s cheap and perfect for at least 3-4 days worth of lunches. Serve with some veggies and one serving of your favorite protein and you’ll find that you’re more satisfied at 4 pm than you would be if you ate Lean Cuisine.
Enjoy!
2 comments:
I love it! I've been making my lunch too these days. One trick I use when I'm packing my snacks for lunch is something I learned from Chalene Johnson-yay Turbo Jam!
Put all of your snack foods into single serve portions in those little zip loc baggies. That way there's no more "feed baggin'" those chips or nuts.
Yah I weigh/measure everything out. Even just at home for snacking it's a good idea to measure out one serving of your favorite snack. It's all about re-training your stomach to what a real portion is.
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