I'll add that many 'annuals' will freely reseed; Madagas. spinach (vine), my Hyacinth bean pops up everywhere all on its lonesone, maypops and such. While not high in calories they do return on their own. And yes save those seed of crops that don't return naturally like corn. I'm in the S/E US so we have very different climates but the same problem with nut trees. We grow pecans and various oaks here that produce an edible nut but like ya say they can take decades to come into thier own. This is not so with fruit trees like figs, apples, pears, orential persimmons and all. They may take up to 5 years to really start doing their thing but thats not such a long wait. I sincerly hope we are in the forefront of a revolution and what we start will be of use to the furture generations. Thats the way I have to think on things here as I being a 40 guy will barely see the results of what I'm starting now. Mike

The link below provides some preparation ideas for these. They can be purchased in the Asian foods section of the grocery store or at an Asian specialty foods store. There's also a picture of the noodle package on the link. Here is a link that might be useful: Yam Noodles-buyin' & cookin' them.

I don't know about "healthier" than pasta, but certainly lower in calories. Squash is pretty inert, it doesn't have much "nutrition" in the way of vitamins or minerals. I've tried it, didn't like it. It was easy to overcook when sliced into strands and then it got mushy. Squash has little taste anyway but it was lost with a strongly flavored sauce. If you want to eat squash with pasta sauce, I think that's fine, I wouldn't go to the bother to prepare strands.

I lost 40 pounds last year and the most important thing I learned was portion control. I ended up using a lot of frozen meals - Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, Honestly Good, etc.They are good, and there are a lot of choices now, and the calorie and fat counts are reasonable. And they are more interesting and tasty than most of the meals I would make myself I know some of you will snarl and post a few snarky comments, don't waste your time. I found these to be much more cost effective, filling and kept my daily calorie intake at about 1450 calories. I cut WAY back on meat, and used a lot of meatless meats, since I also needed to cut back on fat and cholesterol. One egg a week, max. Buying ingredients and not using them is so wasteful, and I can't afford to throw away food/money. I made my own breakfast - oatmeal or my own egg, cheese muffin or PB&J on toast. Lunch, at work, was a frozen meal, or some soup. I used the frozen meals for dinner. It was usually about six when I got home, I don't like to eat late. When my DD and her family moved it, it was a bit harder, since I was doing most of the cooking initially but I did it. I found a smartphone app called "My Fitness Pal" really helped. I've used it for about a year and a half and now I'm pretty comfortable with the portion sizes and do a pretty good job day by day. Good luck. This post was edited by momj47 on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 23:54