I = Italian

I'm Italian and always eating the Italian food I love can be fattening. If you love pasta and bread like I do, the only way to keep off the extra pounds is to exercise. As I previously posted, exercise is not my favorite thing, so I try to make my pasta and bread as healthy as possible. The best way to do that is by making it homemade.

Sauce

There are three different methods of making homemade sauce:

• The first is to buy a jar and add some extra spices, and voila, you have homemade sauce.

• The second requires more initiative. You have to open cans of tomato puree and tomato paste, add water and spices, and then let it cook until you have the perfect consistency.

• The third, for the over achievers, starts by growing everything in your garden. Your sauce is made by boiling the tomatoes and removing the skin. Then mashing them through a mesh screen in order to get all the tomato juice and none of the seeds. Next you cut your homegrown onions and peppers. Along with fresh herbs (basil, parsley, oregano and marjoram) from your herb garden. No one will think less of you if the last four ingredients are store bought: garlic, salt, sugar and red wine.

Pasta

There are a ton of different types of pasta. Everything from common spaghetti and rotini to the less familiar cavatappi and mafalda. What's the difference between buying from the store or making it from scratch?

• I found I couldn't pronounce and had no idea what 95% of the ingredients were on the store bought box.

• The ingredients to make homemade pasta, according to my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, are: flour, basil, eggs, water and olive oil.

Bread

I love it! I know it's full of carbohydrates, just like pasta, but I love it. Whether I eat homemade or store bought, it is going to be full of carbs and there is nothing I can do about it. Like the store bought pasta, there are going to be ingredients on store bought bread that will be a mystery to me. While homemade bread is going to require simple ingredients I understand.

The other option to make a pasta meal a little healthier is to eat whole grain pasta and bread. The bonus is you'll get much needed fiber out of it. If your like my sister, who said in her fiber post how much she didn't like whole grain pasta, you can take one of her commenter's great advice. Dafeenah suggested to mix half whole grain and half regular. That way you'll have some of the fiber, but not all of the bland taste. Great tip! Thanks, Dafeenah. You can check out her blog here.

My best advice: you should eat what you love and love yourself regardless of your size. You only have one life to live, you won't enjoy it as much if you don't have those two ingredients.