Ok -- I found a brown rice pasta smashers! Ingredients are : brown rice and water.

THAT'S IT! So it's on plan! I found it at Trader Joe's for $1.99 a bag. I'll be making it tonight. I also found a tomato sauce/gravy that has nothing but tomatoes and veggies and herbs (garlic, basil) in it!!! 200 cals per serving. No preservatives or additives!

So, it's pasta tonight! If I can find meatles meatballs and cheese (and both only have veggies in it), I'm doing pasta with a meatball (or 2 depending) and eggplant parm (neither of us has had eggplant before so I will just sautee and put in the oven to melt the cheese).

Is it wrong to be this excited????

I recently bought some of that and really liked it! Someone else said that Ian Smith has stated elsewhere that it was not allowed until P3, though However, I personally went ahead with it. It's STILL brown rice Though I do have to admit that serving for serving, I didn't find it as filling as brown rice in its natural form.

Really? I can't see why. It's brown rice and water!

Odd.

Anyway, I think I wound up making more like 3/4 of a cup each -- I was worried about making too much and going over. I mean, it's hard to measure 1 cup of cooked pasta when it's uncooked.

We had a hankering for Italian and I think this curbed it. Until my b-day at least (2 weeks). I am going off plan, then phase 1 detox for 2+ days again.

JENN - Not Fat Smashing myself, mostly lowcarbing or really quality carbing is what I call it. In any case, the story on the brown rice pasta, it has to do with the change in the composition. While it is only brown rice and water, by grinding it up, the brown rice becomes flour like. Anyway, that is the explanation - not sure myself if it makes sense. The same with people who try to substitute the oat bran for oatmeal, doesn't count "officially".

My philosophy is that I didn't gain this weight while eating oatbran versus oatmeal and I would say the same is true on eating a sensible portion of brown rice pasta versus a box of pasta with chicken cutlets.

I weight my uncooked pasta on a food scale, gives me the portion size when cooked. The food scale has really really helped me to get in tune with portion sizes, those fist, finger and thumb comparisons don't work so well for me.

One last suggestion on the eggplant, I love it so I slice it up, spray with Pam and roast in the oven (350), flipping it half way, takes about 30 minutes. Then I layer with waxed paper and freeze. I can use what I want. No one else in the house likes the stuff.

good luck with your plan.

Thanks Liza -- interesting.

I think we are going to keep using it. Sparingly, maybe once a week. But it has curbed our craving for pasta. PLUS -- you are totally right. We'll usually eat a BOWL of pasta and chicken cutlets all breaded *drool*

Um, where was I. Oh yes, Eating healthier is what it's all about!