all i want for autumn is squash

I love carbs and I love starch. If I ever went on Atkins, I would be the crankiest bitch of all time. Since joining Weight Watchers, I've learned to minimize my starch intake, but I'm not going to lie, most of my meals involve pasta or rice or potatoes. Last night, I made the starchiest/best recipe of, perhaps, all time. I completely think that the whole Jessica Seinfeld Deceptively Delicious thing is bullshit, but after trying this pasta with squash, goat cheese, and bacon, I understand how she gets away with stuffing mac and cheese with butternut squash. The recipe tastes like some of the best, creamiest mac and cheese you've ever had with a bonus kick of sweetness from the squash and awesomeness from the bacon. I got it from Serious Eats which found it in Real Simple. I used rotini (Barilla Plus, if you care) instead of linguine and a little more chicken stock and garlic than the recipe called for. I am seriously counting down the days until I can make this again. It's 9 points, 8 if you dial down the bacon a little or use whole wheat pasta. Seriously. Make it tonight. You will not regret it.

fuck that cow

One of the many things I do not get about the Weight Watchers message boards is how people are always going on about Laughing Cow cheese like it's so great. Have they never had real cheese? Guys, don't trust a dairy product that doesn't need refrigeration! Laughing Cow tastes like plastic, as, in my experiences, do all low-fat cheeses. Fat is what makes cheese good. If you're going to eat something fat free, why would you eat cheese?

Here's what absolutely confuses me: all Laughing Cow products are at least one or two points per serving. Fat free cheeses are generally one point. For two points, you can have an ounce of goat cheese. Let me tell you: an ounce of goat cheese? Is a whole lot of goat cheese. It is 1/4 of a small package of the rich, delightful stuff. Next time you think about reaching for the Laughing Cow (that cow, by the way, is laughing at you for being such a sucker), why not try an ounce of soft goat cheese instead? It's great in a salad, delicious spread onto a Wasa crispbread and topped with tomatoes, and perfect in my favorite pasta dish of the moment.

Seven Point Goat Cheese Pasta

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp sage
1 oz goat cheese
1 cup Barilla Plus rotini

Instructions
1) Heat olive oil in skillet
2) Add garlic and saute until translucent
3) Add tomatoes and smash down until a sauce forms
4) While this is happening, make pasta
5) Add sage to tomato sauce
6) Toss pasta, sauce, and goat cheese together until cheese melts.

This pasta is ridiculously simple (it takes about 15 minutes to throw together), tastes incredible (the melted cheese does a great impression of a cream sauce), and fills you up for a reasonable amount of points. Let's see Laughing Cow try that!

smells like cupcakes!

There's nothing better in this world than figuring out exactly what you want to eat. Most of the time, I feel like I'm vaguely craving something, but unsure as to what, exactly, that might be. Once in a while, however, I manage to isolate my true desire and it seriously feels like a light bulb is going off over my head. I was lucky enough to have just such a moment today. On Saturday night, I went out to the venerable Sake Bar Hagi, where I ate a meal so decadent that I needed to walk from Times Square to the East Village afterwards. Today, I had a major food hangover (FYI: if you've been on Weight Watchers for a month, chowing down on greasy food might make your tummy want to die, just a little bit). This afternoon, I knew that I wanted something sweet...and I'm not talking fruit. I ran through the list of my usual suspects. Did I want a miniature whoopie pie from One Girl Cookies? Eh, not really. Was it a 100 calorie Three Musketeers bar I was craving? Not so much. Finally, as I was passing the bakery on my corner, I realized just what I wanted: a cupcake. Not a fancy cupcake, but a plain, sugary vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. I got one and it was a point splurge, but I swear to god, eating it on the stoop was one of the happiest moments of my recent life.

Listen. I believe firmly in giving in to your cravings. If you can't stop thinking about a cupcake, you should eat a damn cupcake. If you don't, you're going to eat a dozen different things that you don't want as much. This afternoon's cupcake was a point splurge, to be sure, but I could manage it and anyways, if you're losing weight for yourself (which I am), you should be able to do it on your own terms and your own schedule.

My other big craving of the weekend? Bolognaise. It's been cold in New York, and there's nothing I want more in the winter than pasta with a great meat sauce. The Weight Watchers recipes for Bolognaise look awful (guys, tomato paste is so rarely necessary and have at least seven points. Eh! We can do better! Because I love you, here's my recipe for six-point Bolognaise.

Ingredients
1 box Barilla Plus penne
1 tbsp butter
1 shallot, peeled and chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
7 tiny carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 lb. leanest ground beef
1 serving red wine
1 large can diced tomatoes
As much rosemary as you like

Instructions
1) Melt butter in saucepan
2) Add shallot, garlic, carrots, and mushrooms and saute until carrots start to soften, shallots are translucent, and garlic is golden
3) Add ground beef and cook through
4) Add wine and cook until mostly reduced
5) Add tomatoes and rosemary and continue to cook, stirring frequently until the consistency is appropriately sauce-like.

Makes 8 servings.