Spaghetti with Garlic & Mushroom Sauce

Okay, this is my first day of trying to pack a HEALTHIER vegan lunch. I just had my cholesterol checked and I was expecting to get a really low number back. Well, I didn't. In fact, it was the highest it has ever been in my life, even higher than it was when I was eating meat, dairy and eggs. I hadn't realized how many bad carbs and how much fat was in my current vegan diet, and I didn't realize that THOSE things could affect the amount of cholesterol that my liver produces. I guess I was just stupid. I figured if I wasn't eating any cholesterol, then mine must be low. WRONG! From now on, I am going to concentrate more on foods that are good for me, and my cholesterol level. Things won't have to just be vegan, they will also have to be somewhat healthy. For my first attempt, I am going to try and turn one of my previous lunches, which really wasn't that healthy, into something that's better for me.

First of all, I've got spaghetti. Previously, I used regular old pasta, which is full of refined carbohydrates. This time, however, I used Barilla Plus Pasta, which contains better carbs, more fiber, protein and omega-3 fatty acids. I'm as much of a sucker for slick marketing as anyone else, but reading up on this, and seeing what people had to say, I think it is a healthier choice if you are going to be eating pasta. (4/7/06 UPDATE: Well, I obviously was suckered in by all the charts and graphs on the box explaining how much healthier the pasta was because someone was kind enough to point out to me that this pasta is NOT VEGAN. It does have egg whites in it. I can't believe I didn't catch that. I have looked at every other ingredient list on every other box of pasta I have ever bought and this is the first time it has had egg whites in it. I wasn't expecting it. But stuff like this happens. I wasn't paying close enough attention. So next time I will just be using whole-wheat pasta) The sauce just came out of a can and I added some fresh mushrooms and a bunch of fresh minced garlic (which can help lower your cholesterol level) to it. Now that I think about it, next time I will just whip up the sauce myself from scratch with a can of tomato sauce and a can of tomato paste and all the spices. I could save myself from eating a bunch of sugar that way. I wish I had done that this time, but I didn't. DANG IT! Live and learn, I guess. At any rate, this should be healthier for me than my last spaghetti lunch because of the reduction in refined carbs and increase in fiber, protein, and essential fatty acids (and more garlic!).

I have a salad again this time around, so there's not much change there, except that this salad looks a whole lot better than the last one. It's just some red leaf lettuce and baby spinach leaves with some fresh mushrooms, onion and mandarin orange slices. I did kick my dressing up a notch by adding flax seed oil to my usual mixture of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and sesame oil. As far as I know, these are excellent fats. I assume if you're gonna' be eating salad dressing, you want it to be made out of something like these guys.

I removed the bad carb filled garlic toast that I had last time and replaced it with some steamed vegetables. I also removed the chocolate chip cookie that I ate last time and replaced it with an Apple Pie Larabar, which of course, is just made out of uncooked, unprocessed raw fruits and nuts. Don't get me wrong, I will still have to cook up batches of chocolate chip cookies, brownies and such every now and then. I have just got to stop packing them in my lunch every single day.

Over all, I think this meal is quite a bit healthier than the previous spaghetti lunch. I haven't been vegan that long (just a few months, I was vegetarian for about a year before that) and I guess I was still in that stage where I was just basically trying to replace all the junk I was eating before with vegan versions, but they were still pretty unhealthy, according to my cholesterol levels. Luckily, my tastes have changed, and continue to change, from my omnivore days. I totally kicked the cheese addiction after a couple of weeks. I really don't even try to fake it anymore. So luckily, I know that eating BETTER will be easy. I mean, I'm sure this lunch will taste just as good as, if not better, than the previous one which was a lot less healthy.

Comments are welcome as I try to quit eating so much junk food. If you have any helpful tips or know of some top-secret ingredient or product that can replace something not-so-good please shout it out.

Well, that's about it for Thursday. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everybody has a great day. See you on Friday!