I know, I know you are saying no food is zero calories — but let me tell you about the little known super fiber pasta and how Mama Kelly and I got to taste a very yummy dish made with it this past weekend.

Its called Konjac Pasta. Its made from water soluable plant fiber and is used mainly in Japan. It is a powder that can be used as a thickener (five times more thickening power then corn starch) and made into any pasta shape. It contains no protein, no fat, no sugar. One serving contains 3 carbohydrates and 3 grams of soluable fiber.

There is a brand of pasta I had read about on the Hungry Girl site a few months ago about a pasta with only 10 calories and found it listed on Amazon, but the reviews there said it smelled a lot and the company would not ship east of the Rockies. But last week I picked up a book on ultrametabolism and they talked about the super fiber and when I looked it up, found that it was not only in the 10 calorie pasta I read about before, but that another company offered in a lot of different shapes and the powder form and it HAS no smell to deal with (which was a pleasant surprise). So not only is it no calorie (or even if you count it as 10 for the carbs that is almost nothing) but it is really good for you since we all need more fiber in our diet.

I placed an order right away for the fiber powder and the pasta (small penne shape) and it was delivered within 3 days. The minimum order is for 20 packets of pasta (each packet 2 servings). It comes in plastic packages and is moist, it needs to be refrigerated, (not frozen). By itself it is tasteless but added to anything it absorbs the flavor of what its in. The company website gives lots of reviews, recipes and explains how to use the powder form of the fiber and the pasta.

I made a Hungarian Ghoulash recipe from the Light Fix It and Forget It crock pot book (which I’ll post later with some variations we came up with too) - for only 90 calories a serving (I used ground turkey instead of beef and splenda brown suger instead of regular brown suger so probably even less caloreis). I rinsed the pasta in a colander (no precooking required) and put a small amount in a bowl with a tiny bit of the ghoulash on top and my friend, Mama Kelly, and I tried it — it was good — chewy, its not regular pasta — but definitely worth having to add to a recipe, so we decided to add the whole packet to the pot and let it simmer for a little bit to absorb the flavors.

Now something even more amazing was how filling it was. I had skipped breakfast (I know not a good thing to do, but I figured I’d be having a nice big lunch since Mama Kelly was over for a visit). We went out shopping at Fashion Bug for the big 40% off sale and we ended up going to the craft store and a few other stops at the same mall, so by the end of it I was over the top starving. We got home and I still had to cook! So I whipped up the ghoulash in a large frying pan (rather then use the crock pot) and sat down with my bowl of about 300 calories worth. As we chatted about what we could add to ghoulash recipe for variations and other ways to use the miracle super fiber pasta — I realized I wasn’t hungry and looked in my bowl and I had only eaten about half. Now this is shocking! Because when I get that hungry it usually takes two or three days for me to recover, I can eat tons and not fill full, even a big bowl of popcorn won’t do it. So I decided to cover the bowl and put it away and see how long I lasted feeling satisfied. About 3.5 hours later I was a little tiny bit hungry and decided to finish the rest of it. It was very satisfying and I was full. About an hour later I decided since I only had 300 calories for the whole day (plus 100 calories for nonfat cream in a large coffee) I really should eat more so I made myself a bowl of air popped plain popcorn (measured 100 calories worth). I couldn’t finish it!!!! I left about half uneaten in the bowl. I have NEVER done that. If I have calories I can eat — I eat every last drop, especially if it’s something I like. I don’t know if this was just some weird off day for my appetite or not, but I really think it was the pasta that was so filling.

I brought a small amount in for one of my coworkers to try (who is also dieting) and she liked the ghoulash but wasn’t fond of the chewy texture of the noodles (she doesn’t like eating eggs either or other what she calls chewy texture food). However, since the noodles and fiber are tasteless and both made of the fiber I told her I’ll bring her in some of the fiber powder when I open the bag and she can try adding that to some recipes. That way it will have the same fiber benefits as well as probably the same “fullness” affect with less food as the pasta did.

Mama Kelly and I agreed the pasta would be best in a dish with substance (chunky veggies and meat stews or soups or chunky tomato sauces). In just a light broth soup they would require to much chewing and probably not enough flavor to make it worth it.. Mama Kelly said she would like to try them with recipes that are for scallops and I think that would work too. I sent her home with three bags.

I really liked the ghoulash recipe (and even hubby ate some and liked it!), so I’m going to make more this week using TVP (texturized vegetable protein) since I still have a lot of it from when we bought a big bag a few months ago. I have a jar of no salt added tomato sauce and the seasonings so it won’t take long to make a nice big batch for the week without going shopping for anything extra.

I can’t believe this fiber power and pasta isn’t more well known. I don’t care that it’s a bit chewy, it adds a lot of substance to a dish making it much more filling and satisfying and since its tasteless it doesn’t alter the flavor of the dish at all I plan to use it a lot. To have something that is filling and zero calories is like a diet miracle to me. I do, however, realize it’s not going to be for everyone.

Rating: 3.5 halos

FYI: All the reviews are done for FREE, to learn more about the ratings or to arrange for a review, see Lady Rose’s Reviews.

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