I agree with eating more to lose at times. I try to start the day with some protein, a bread and some fruit. If I don't eat some protein I seem to get hungry sooner. A convenient breakfast for me would be a frozen pancake or waffle, lite sausage links or a piece of ham and a piece of fruit. Sometimes an egg, two strips of bacon and toast. Many times I eat lunch for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. Lunch is a tuna sandwich on a roll with a salad's worth of greens on top, Sometimes a roast beef or turkey sandwich or a small burger or a Lean Cuisine meal. I don't care for processed meats. Fruits and veggies as needed for hunger. Dinner is standard meat,veggie and starch but portion controlled. If I eat potatoes, pasta or rice I skip the bread. If I don't, I have bread. Snacks are usually chewy granola bars, fruit and grain bars, fig newtons or occasionally a "good" cookie like oatmeal. I eat ice cream almost every day, but measure out 1/2 cup. For crunch I measure out dry cereal or pretzels. I use sugarfree jello sometimes and clear veggie based soups to fill up when I'm on a "can't stop eating binge". I "trick" my sweet tooth by using healthy choices. For example I will slice a banana on a hot pancake or waffle, sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar and add a dollop of whipped cream...banana cream pie thats good for me. For apple crisp I nuke a sliced apple sprinkled with a bit of cinnamon and sugar and top it with crushed honey nut chex cereal. I don't get enough dairy since I'm not a milk or yogurt person, so I take calcium. I do eat cottage cheese and cheese though. The little Babybell cheeses are a good snack at 70 calories each. That's pretty much how I eat and as long as I don't get carried away with restaurant portions or eating too much fat at one meal it seems to work for me. Anyway thats what I eat. Hope it helps.

No, you aren't alone! Our local mall was built when I was a teenager. I have NEVER been able to breathe in that building. I don't know what kind of air circulation system they put in, but it doesn't work well. Sometimes I'm in there for 5 minutes, sometimes an hour before I HAVE to leave. There are other malls with in half an hour or 45 minutes from me that I can walk all over in, but I can breathe in them, so it's easier to want to look around! As for the server, he needs fired! My thing is that everyone who works with food, be it restaurant kitchen or grocery store, non-register employees, or your local convenience store employees, and here I do include those who run register, as I know they all work deli!, should be required to take and pass the serve safe test. My son took baking and pastry in high school and passed his first try. Needs to renew it. He works in a convenience store as a shift leader, and those who work with him know they better follow the rules or listen to him b)*()&* at them! Tami

Quinoa most definitely IS a carb- however, it is a carb with a lot of protein (like beans and wheat germ). I am not a big fan of the flavor of quinoa so I havent tried the pasta. There are some really gnarly whole wheat pastas out there-- if you are averse to the taste or texture of whole wheat, two brands I recommend are de cecco and bio naturae. My local grocery recently started carrying both-- before that, I found them at the health food store. In the whole scheme of things, pasta is not the worst thing you can eat-- the key is portion control. I don't know about you all, but pasta is one of the things with which I can easily over indulge. A few healthy tips for pasta: 1. cook it al dente. Overcooking pasta increases its glycemic index-- meaning it is digested faster and spikes your blood sugar which can cause you to overeat. 2. ALWAYS serve a pasta with a protein-- chick peas, chicken, chicken sausage, lean beef, tofu. Protein satisfies your hunger the most effectively and helps you to be satisfied on a modest serving size. 3. Add fiber (and nutrients)-- whole grain pasta, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, beans, etc. all add fiber and nutrients to your pasta. The extra bulk helps fill you up faster and also slows digestion so that your blood sugar doesnt spike. 4. Start with a salad or antipasto-- and use an oil and vinegar dressing. This will keep you from filling up on pasta and the extra fiber and the acid slow down digestion. 5. Be mindful of the serving size -- cereal and pasta are two things we can easily overestimate the serving sizes. 1/2 a cup is a typical serving size but check the box. Restaurants often serve enough pasta for 4 servings. Oy! Serving pasta with a salad and protein really helps to keep the serving size in line. 6. Consider replacing the pasta in some of your meals with a veggie. Some people embrace spaghetti squash-- I really like using zucchini. I make a zucchini torte that is basically my old lasagna recipe substituting zucchini ribbons for the pasta. I prefer it to lasagna and everyone who has tried it has raved about it.

romy718, thank you--enjoy your pizza. :) Thanks, trailrunner, happy to see you back on GW. I wish more folks would post KAW threads--it's nice to compare recipes and methods. mgmum, thank you. It's nice to surprise the kids with something different. Casey, my favorite is pepperoni and mushroom, but the kids always want a plain cheese pizza in the mix. Before my grandson learned to appreciate tomato sauce, he would make his pizza black and white--mozzarella, onions, and ripe olives. Thank you, omelet. :) funkycamper, it's good to hear that other cooks have old favorites that look the same as mine. Now we want to see a KAW from you, when salmon is in season again. suzanne_sl, my copy was a wedding gift in 1978. Until I found the internet, it was my main source for any question about cooking. Now I mostly use it for favorite recipes--one of the red ribbons marks the pizza dough page.