One of my goals for this year is to really master my eating. I think Gena over at Choosing Raw said it best when she talked about discovering our “eating identity”.  What I want to do is to figure out how I am happiest eating in a manner that has nothing to do with dieting and everything to do with eating in a sustainable and healthy way.

We all have things that we “can’t give up” as well as thing we can.  For me, I’ve already ditched soda, meat, milk, seafood, eggs, cheese, GMO foods and anything that has ingredients like cellulose or high fructose corn syrup.  I’m working on reducing oil in my diet, and not eating so many Gardein products in favor of “real” food.  I also have plans to eat gluten free for at least two weeks to discover if I can tell a difference in how it makes me feel.

So what are the things I feel like I just can’t give up? For me bread, pasta and wine are three things I just love. I’ve tried ditching them from my diet and what usually happens is that I do good for a week or two and then feel so deprive that I find myself eating large portions of pasta every night for a week.  With wine.  And bread.

So, rather than deprive myself, this year I’m going to be coming up with some healthy pasta and bread recipes that I can eat in proper proportions. By not depriving myself I’m hoping to avoid those periods where I completely fall off the healthy eating bandwagon for a week or more at a time.

Today’s recipe is a healthy pasta dish that can be made completely oil free if you desire.  One thing that you will want to keep in mind that to keep pasta oil free, it is best if you are planning on eating it right away as it can stick together if allowed to sit too long.  Still, even if you do choose to add oil to this dish it is still light and can easily be part of a healthy nutrition plan.

What about you?  Do you have a strategy to keep you on track all year?

Inspired by Vegan Yum Yum