Whole Wheat Pasta... to eat or not to eat?

This is a question that comes at me a lot. Whether I'm making pasta at home with company or just my family, or whether I'm just talking food with friends: "What do you think about whole wheat pasta?"
What I really think about whole wheat pasta is that it's another easy way out for us (the American public) to think that we are eating more healthy. The answer is not to turn everything into whole wheat and cut out the things you've enjoyed in the past. Balance your diet. Control your portions. Make sure your diet consists mostly of whole foods. Personally, I don't like whole wheat pasta. I've had some in my pantry, and I gave it a try one time, even two times, and I found that to be too many times. It just didn't taste good to me. My kids didn't fall for it either. If it doesn't taste good to me or my family, then it's just not worth my time or my eating it!
But it's not only that I don't like the stuff, it's that I don't believe that whole wheat pasta is better for me than the regular kind. And the truth is, it's not. Darya at Summer Tomato backs up my argument very well. I love her food website! She loads it with tons of great food facts since she is also a scientist.
In the attempt to putting my own opinions on the matter aside, I did some further research on whole wheat pasta. I have heard the argument that it has its place and stands up well to very earthy sauces and ragouts with duck... hmmmm... I'm open to trying this out.
Also, I have read about all of the different kinds of grains that Italians use... they have a pasta grain that makes a black pasta. Still, this is far from whole wheat pasta, though! It's real Italian and you can bet that when and if I visit Italy, I will eat my way through all the pastas I see so that I can enlighten all of us.  
Which bring me to my ultimate question...
How many times do you see a real Italian recipe call for whole wheat pasta? I've never heard of any Italian Nonna serving her family a meal with whole wheat pasta. I've been into watching a lot of food network series, and my quote used to be... "Giada doesn't eat whole wheat pasta so neither do I!" Well, now Giada has a line of whole wheat pasta with her name on it. What's up with that? I can only attribute this to the fact that chefs (especially high profile ones) get a lot of pressure to cater to the entire general public. I don't know why she caved, but I still like her.
If some of you out there believe that you are adding extra whole grains to your diet through pasta and you can actually eat the stuff... then go ahead. But, unless you really love the taste of the whole wheat pasta, I challenge you to incorporate whole grains into your diet in a more substantial way.

Keep your pasta portion in moderation and enjoy it! If we (Americans) could learn to eat more different kinds of grains, and more things in moderation, we wouldn't have to think that we need to substitute whole grain pasta for regular pasta.  Some things are just best enjoyed as they should be, but in small amounts. So go on ... make some regular pasta! I treated my family to two different pasta dishes this past weekend. This is the recipe for the one that everyone loved... the other dish was one with a marinara sauce with roasted veggies added to it- also yummy, but this one won out!

Rosemary Lemon Butter Rigatoni with Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms

1 box of Rigatoni pasta (not whole wheat!)
4- 6 Tbsp. of butter
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 c. (or more) of white wine (good enough to drink)
1 very juicy fresh lemon
asparagus
1 box sliced white mushrooms (can sub. baby bellas, too)
fresh rosemary
1 bag of fresh organic baby greens
sea salt
 fresh pepper
good Parmesan cheese for grating

Boil a big pot of water, salt the water after boiling, and cook the rigatoni until al dente.
Set your oven to 375 degrees F. Break the ends off of your asparagus, toss them in a bit of light olive oil and salt and pepper. Place asparagus on a sheet pan in a single layer and roast in 375 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.
Melt the butter in a large pan on medium to medium/high heat and add the mushrooms and the garlic. Once the mushrooms have browned a little bit, add the white wine.
Cut your cooked asparagus into one inch pieces and add to the mushrooms. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Add some lemon zest and the juice of half of your lemon. On medium/low heat add the leaves of an entire sprig of fresh rosemary to the pan. Add your freshly cooked pasta and toss.
Prepare a large serving dish with a bed of fresh baby greens. Add a little crushed sea salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze the other half of your lemon over the bed of greens before adding the pasta mixture over the top. You now have a fresh spring pasta to enjoy and feel good about eating!!!  Grate some good, fresh Parmesan cheese over the top and you are ready to eat!!!      Mangia!!!

A New Year Reminder

It's the time of year when everyone makes promises to do something to improve themself or their life. This year, I am merely giving myself a reminder instead of making a promise. Let's face it: every time I make a promise to not eat something or to omit something from my diet (for my own good) I eventually end up compensating for what I am missing (or what I've deprived myself of) by overeating something else. Anyone else out there with me?
So I have fallen back on my mother's famous words: "Everything in moderation." I have taken that to "everything is OK in moderation!"
I am not a fan of fad diets, or diets of any kind for that matter. My only diet is the one with those previous words, "everything in moderation" and keeping food as natural as possible. (Except for when I give into that Chik-fil-A craving! I'm not perfect!)
Endeavor to live better this year by allowing yourself to have a little bit of everything in moderation. Get back to food basics and, in turn, a healthier you! Endeavor to live better this year by eating better. Eat and live more naturally. Here are some of my "back to basics" food tips for the New Year. I am constantly working on all of these myself. I'd love to know if you're a fan of any of these, or if you have a strong opinion about any of it, too!

• Stop looking at certain foods as being bad. Butter, cream, eggs, cheese, nuts and beef are just some of the foods that get a bad rap in our society due to high fat and cholesterol content. Unless you have serious cholesterol and/or allergy issues (and then you should be followed by a Dr.) these foods taken in moderation are good for you. And they are filling... naturally filling! This is a very good thing!
• Use real butter instead of vegetable oil spreads. It tastes so much better! When was the last time you poured some liquid vegetable or canola oil with added preservatives and other stuff on your toast? I didn't think so...
• Frequent your local vegetable stand or Farmer's market.
• Find a local farm (or as local as you can get farm) that raises their own grassfed cattle for beef. You won't believe the difference in the smell and the taste of the beef!
• Buy only free-range organic chicken. Again, you won't believe the difference in texture, taste, everything!
• If you're not convinced by the organic, free-range, and grassfed arguments in food then do your own reading and research on it. I find reading about food to be very interesting. I started reading up on these topics about 5 years ago and I can only get more passionate about it. I learn something new about what we eat all the time.
• Find out what the Slow Food Movement is all about.
• Get passionate about what "foods" your children are putting into their bodies.
• Make it a point to eat around the dinner table and try a new food on occasion.
• Enjoy good wine with your meal. Try different wines and find out what you like!
• Watch "Food, Inc." and form your own opinion on food policy in our country.

Food in it's natural state, or as close to its natural state as it can get, has the power to heal, nourish, entertain and bring us together! So make 2011 your year for a new attitude in food! Everything is ok in moderation!