While many people avoid pastas and breads to limit the amount of carbohydrates they intake, these aren't foods that should be ignored altogether. Eating pastas and grains is necessary to maintain a healthy diet and achieve the energy you need to get through the day. So indulge in a bagel or a bowl of angel hair once in a while without feeling guiltyyour body will thank you for it.
Pastas
Mama mia! While pasta can prove to be a quick, easy to prepare and filling meal, there are loads of pastas to choose from. Look for old standards like spaghetti, linguine, lasagna noodles and fettuccine. If you are looking for long, thin noodles, try vermicelli or angel hair pasta. For smaller noodles try macaroni, fusilli, penne or rigatoni. Try stuffing pasta with cheese meat and sauce by using large hollow noodles like manicotti, cannelloni or ravioli. Kids will love pastas in fun shapes like farfalle (bow tie), rotelle (wheels) and rotini (corkscrews). Those that are health conscious should look for whole grain pastas, spinach pastas or sun dried tomato pastas. Give a pasta kit with sauce and seasoning as a gift. Or if you are feeling really adventurous, try making your own pasta.
Grains
Grains encompass a wide variety of foods available on the market. The great thing about this is it allows you to mix up your source of grains each day without feeling like you're in a food rut. The best grains are whole ones like barley, brown rice, couscous, quinoa, spelt and rye. Look for whole wheat or seven grain breads, tortillas and crackers. For breakfast try oatmeal, whole wheat cereal flakes or muesli.
Refined grains are still part of the grain group but don't provide as many vitamins as whole grains. Refined grains include white bread, white rice, cornflakes pitas and pretzels. Just because refined grains don't contain as many nutrients doesn't mean you should cut them from your diet all together. Instead, make sure that at least half of all the grains you eat are whole grains.
