When I go to an Italian restaurant, I often pass on most people's favorite pasta dishes and opt for a piece of fish or grilled chicken and veggies. I know that Fettuccine Alfredo can be up to 800 calories! Although it is delicious, the calories, saturated fat and carbs are through the roof. In addition, there is barely any fiber in the dish. Rather than give into temptation, I make my own low-fat, low-carb Fettuccine Alfredo that is sure to satisfy even the biggest pasta lover.

I replace the pasta with Shirataki noodles, which have only 20 calories per serving (pasta is 120)! Instead of cream, butter and full-fat cheese, I use laughing cow light spreadable cheese, low-fat ricotta and Parmesan to add extra flavor and protein. In order to add fiber to the dish, I throw in some spinach, onion and mushrooms. Spinach is high in calcium, which helps prevent osteoporosis.

Try my delicious, guilt-free Fettuccine Alfredo that is low in calories and fat, but full of flavor.

Festive parades, corned beef, cabbage, a night at the pub ... these may be the things you think of when you're celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Go ahead and have your fun, then incorporate a little green into your diet all year long ... and in a healthier way than green beer.

Fruits and vegetables in different color categories tend to have different nutrition profiles. Green fruits and vegetables are colored by chlorophyll. Cruciferous vegetables like kale, cabbage and broccoli have cancer-fighting indoles. Leafy greens and some green fruits contain eye-health-promoting lutein. Other greens are rich in folate, which helps prevent birth defects and some are good sources of calcium.

Try these four delicious ideas for some eating o' the green:

• Swiss chard is delicious when sautéed with a little minced garlic and olive oil.
• Mix broccoli raab (boiled or steamed until tender) with whole-wheat pasta, olive oil and sautéed onions and garlic.
• Add spinach, arugula or other dark leafy greens to an omelet.
• Peel and slice kohlrabi into wedges and arrange on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast in a 300-degree oven until tender. For extra flavor, squeeze a little fresh lemon or orange juice over the kohlrabi before serving.
  

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For some people, the word salad equals healthy. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. Take Wendy's Southwest Taco Salad for example -- it has 640 calories and 39 grams of fat. Or McDonald's Premium Southwest Chicken Salad, which has 430 calories and 20 grams of fat, and that's before you pour on the dressing.

But salad slip-ups aren't limited to fast food or other restaurants. People make plenty of not-so-healthy choices when it comes to the salads they make themselves. Divine Caroline shares 10 common salad saboteurs to watch out for:

• Bad choices. Skip the creamy pasta salads, gelatins, and other choices on the salad bar. Instead, load up with tons of veggies.
  
• Choosing lesser greens. Avoid the iceberg! It has little nutritional value, so opt for spinach, spring greens, or other dark greens.

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The leaves are turning, the days are shorter -- it's impossible to ignore the fact that fall is coming ... er ... make that already here. Despite the fact that it means the impending doom of winter is just around the corner, I like fall -- the colours, the clothes, the warm food and the selection of produce at my local farmer's market.

Mark's Daily Apple Recently counted down the top veggies for fall -- next time you go shopping, stock up on these:

• Endive
• Broccoli
• Brussel Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Celery root
• Onions
• Pumpkin
• Spinach
• Zucchini

Want to know more about these awesome veggies, including how to eat them? Head over here for more info.

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I have a favorite salad I make at home. It's healthy. It's easy. It's something you might want to add to your at-home menu.

It all starts with a bed of baby spinach leaves. Then I add a handful of red grapes, sprinkle on some shredded carrots, mix in some dried cranberries, and toss in a few shaved almonds. For a dose of good protein and a serving of essential omega-3 fats, I top with salmon, which is always a leftover from a previous dinner meal.

No dressing for this salad. The juice from the grapes and the moist fish do the trick all on their own.

Anyone who was scared off greens after the massive spinach recall two years ago might find themselves eating a big spinach salad soon. The FDA is allowing spinach and lettuce manufacturers to irradiate their products before they hit grocery store shelves. Irradiation, which is the process of exposing an object to radiation, kills dangerous bacteria like E. coli, salmonella, and listeria.

Irradiation won't sterilize the greens, but the FDA is hoping it will drastically reduce the risk of outbreaks like the one that killed four people in 2006. But critics wonder if irradiation is the answer. I worry that steps like this one will lull consumers into believing that the problems with our food safety have been fixed, and that it takes the focus away from farming and manufacturing processes that put us at risk in the first place.

It's not clear from the article whether irradiated spinach and greens will be labeled. Some people worry about the long-term health effects of eating irradiated foods, but the FDA assures consumers that there is no radiation left behind, nor does the process affect taste, texture, or nutritional value. What do you think?

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My little guy loves brown rice salads. He cannot wait to see what "chunks" I have included in my latest recipe. If your kids (or significant others!) are plain rice eaters, why not help them branch out a bit by adding some nutritious "chunks" to their rice.

You may be dealing with picky eaters, so start slowly, adding things you know they'll love. Some pretty safe bets:

• corn kernels
• sweet peas
• steamed carrots
• raisins
• slivered almonds

Now you've been successful, so push the envelope a bit and try:

• chick peas
• chopped spinach
• zucchini
• broccoli
• butternut squash

My husband recently met with a kinesiologist who told him that meat five days a week is fine, but for the other two dinners, he'd need to use beans as his protein. This isn't a huge problem for us, because we do eat a lot of beans and we do cook vegetarian some nights, but it did leave me wanting to find some new recipes to add to our repertoire.

Well, the first thing I realized is that there are a lot of bean recipes that include meat in them as well. After some searching, I found one that we were both really excited to try. And since my three-year-old loves corn, I thought the polenta would appeal to him.

Catalan sauteed polenta and butter beans is so easy to prepare it seems almost wrong. Using prepared polenta, baby spinach, canned beans, and onion, garlic and other flavorings, it is a well-balanced, healthy, vegetarian meal. Holler if you try this one -- I'd love to know how it turned out!

Yes, I've heard: white carbs are out, so you can't eat pasta. Well, that's not necessarily true. There are lots of good whole grain pasta options: whole wheat, quinoa, brown rice.

Our fave? Brown rice, as the taste and texture most resemble semolina pasta, especially if you use Trader Joe's brand or Tinkyada. So cook some up and toss with this wonderful recipe of curry sauce, spinach and scallops.

We always use whole fat organic yogurt, so we substituted that for the low fat, and I simply opened up a can of organic diced tomatoes instead of the fresh ones -- how's that for lazy? But healthy, nonetheless!

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Ever been caught with remnants of food stuck smack dab in between two teeth? Not so bad if you're alone and make this discovery. But when caught with a pal, in public, or while trying to make an good impression, a chunk of lodged spinach, while a healthy adornment, can be quite embarrassing. So, what should you do about this sticky situation? Good Housekeeping offers these options. Try to pick the correct solution -- then check your answer after the break.

1) Use a fingernail, a toothpick, a fork, or a matchbook to pry it out.
2) Cover your mouth with your napkin, then use your fingernail to work it out inconspicuously.
3) Politely excuse yourself to go to the bathroom.
4) Leave it until after the meal -- after all, you'll survive.

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An egg is an egg is an egg, right? That's what I thought until we started buying them from our CSA Farm: they are bigger, with huge yolks, and so full of flavor that it is hard to compare them to a store-bought egg. The farmer credits the grass in the chickens' diet, and if you've ever noticed the difference between grain-fed and grass-fed beef, you'll know this makes sense.

Because the eggs are so outrageously delicious -- not to mention a healthy source of protein -- we've been cooking with them more often, and we simply love this spinach frittata recipe.

So what makes this frittata so healthy?

• goat cheese cuts down on the fat and improves digestibility
• spinach -- the perfect leafy green, adding vitamins and minerals
• onion fights cancer and boosts the immune system
• sun-dried tomatoes provide lycopene and then some

Serve the frittata with a big, fresh, crisp and colorful salad of seasonal veggies and you've got one healthy dinner. Do you have a favorite frittata recipe?

Growing your own produce is an economical way to feed your family healthfully. As an added perk, pulling all of the weeds helps to burn a few calories each day.

If you haven't gotten around to planting a garden this summer, you're not too late. There are plenty of veggies that can still thrive even into the fall. Perhaps even into the winter, depending on the weather conditions where you live. Divine Caroline has a list of edible goodies that can be planted now and enjoyed in the coming months:

• Long-maturing crops such as carrots, cabbage, and potatoes can be planted now for regions with October frost dates, or in August for regions with November frost dates.
• Medium-maturing crops like broccoli, Swiss chard, and kale take about two months to mature. You can plant them now or hold off a bit longer for fall growth.
• Fast-maturing crops such as spinach, arugula, and leaf lettuce mature in about a month and can be planted as late as September. Plant some now and then plan to plant again for a second crop in the fall.

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What's in your freezer these days? If Lean Pockets make the list of frozen goods in your house, listen up. Nestle recently announced a recall of 200,000 lbs of frozen chicken that might have been used in the convenience food, which is sold in stores across North America. The recalls applies specifically to Spinach Artichoke Chicken Lean Pockets--they come in boxes of two pockets--with a best before date of November 2009, package code of 8144 544616 and establishment number of 8144 544616. It's believed that the perps hit stores around May 23rd.

The recall was initiated after two complaints were registered about the product to the USDA. It's believed that the chicken may contain bits of plastic.

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It's no mystery that vegetables are good for you. The list of reasons why spans far longer than the space provided between these margins.

That's why I decided to focus on one health benefit in particular: the apparent relationship between vegetable consumption and reduced lung cancer risk. Women's Health magazine reports that people who eat at least one daily serving of vegetables lower their risk of this cancer by as much as fifty percent compared with people who ate less veggies than that.

Because they are high in antioxidants, veggies are formidable opponents for carcinogenic free radicals and tobacco smoke, say folks at Women's Health. Keep your lungs healthy by adding broccoli, spinach, and other cancer-fighting vegetables to your daily diet.

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Some things just work better in pairs. Martin and Lewis, Hanz and Franz, Ramirez and Ortiz, Tom and Jerry -- all play very well off the other, creating a synergistic effect for laughs, baseball, and cartoon antics. But synergy of this kind can also be found in food; avocado and spinach seem to work better together than when eaten individually.

The high monounsaturated fat content in avocado helps you absorb more of the nutrients found in spinach when the two are eaten together. Specifically, you'll absorb about five times more lutein and 15 times more beta-carotene, making each of these healthy foods worth enjoying together.

For a tasty way to audition this healthy pair, try adding a half an avocado to the top of your next spinach salad.

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