So whole wheat pasta isn't completely evil after all

I had sworn off whole wheat pasta after a particularly unhappy dinner where I was eating it and wondering if I had accidentally boiled the box. Maybe it was a particularly vile brand. Tonight I made the "Worth Every Penne" recipe I promised to review in my last post, and it really was pretty great, desipte the following mess-ups and modifications:

• Forgot to buy bacon. Somehow thought the recipe included olives. Used a couple of the olives to supply some saltiness and cooked everything in olive oil instead. Didn't really miss the bacon, but did end up reaching for the salt shaker when I was eating the pasta.


• Cooked 12 oz. of pasta instead of 8 oz., and had only about 1 cup of cooked chicken on hand instead of the 3 cups called for in the recipe. My result was a little more noodley and less meaty than the recipe intended.


• My grocery store had no fresh mushrooms in stock. I bought dried mushrooms and reconstituted them according to the package directions.


• Had some fresh basil and oregano so I added a little of each with the cheese at the end.

I don't think I'll ever like whole wheat pasta as well as white, but in this recipe it worked fine, because there was so much going on. I think the recipe would have been more filling if I had used the right amount of chicken, but it was still a pretty satisfying dinner, and it looked like something from a restaurant. Next time I'd make up a big salad to go with it, because an hour after eating, I'm already contemplating going out for a walk and an ice cream cone.

P.S. For those of you who liked my list of reasons to lose weight, check out this list from "Journeying to Lose 200 Pounds" -- lots of great inspiration there.