Pasta and Margarine alternatives

I'm a pasta-holic and the way I love it is with Margarine.  If anyone else has struggled through this, any alternative sauces?  I throw in veges to cut down on the pasta which throws some water in which I notice helps me some with having less margarine (because it's still glossy and a little pool at the bottom).  Any suggestions of alternative butter/margarines that taste good?

Any alternative sauces besides jarred pasta sauce (I dont like chunks of tomato)

Thanks -- hope someone else out there also struggles with the love of pasta with margarine 

I've never had it but I like pasta with olive oil and a bit of garlic and parmesan. Also I make my own marinara sauce and pesto too. Maybe you could try putting some broth on it instead of the margarine :P

I really like pasta with a little (tiny!) bit of olive oil and some really good balsamic vinegar.  The vinegar gives it a really nice, complex flavor.  You could also probably use a low fat or italian dressing as a sauce.  Also, as a fellow pasta junkie, I highly recommend trying spaghetti squash.  I really hesitated to try it (I'm not a huge squash fan), but it really is super yummy, and has lots of vitamins that aren't in regular wheat pasta.  It's also about a quarter as many calories per cup than regular pasta, so you might be able to save enough calories that you could eat it with margarine.  

Great ideas!  The broth I think will give me the flavor I really want.

 

I always hear about spaghetti squash (The texture makes me nervous).  How do you make it? It's worth a shot! 

I usually cook spaghetti squash whole in the oven for an hour at 375 degrees.  Then I let it cool for a few minutes, cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and then take out the "meat" with a metal spoon.  It kind of naturally separates into strands, but you can help the process along with a fork.  And don't worry, I was nervous about the texture too, but it really is good, not smushy like other kinds of baked squash.  

I meassure my whole wheat pasta then boil it and when it is almost done I toss in at least that much veg mix if not more. Then I add fat free italian dressing to it. It makes a nice treat.

Well, I like Tofu Shirataki noodles for a pasta substitute, but whole wheat isn't bad.

As for sauces, try a low fat/fat free cream of mushroom broth for the sauce?

Olive oil and dried herbs help a lot.  Once you get used to it, you will not go back.

ive been hearing about this shirataki noodles...do they really taste alot like regular pasta? and what do you make them with?? because i am thinking of buying them but i dont want to go out of my way to get them if they taste like cardboard! lol

It really depends.

They don't taste like regular pasta, especially plain, but if you put them in sauces etc. they taste more like pasta.

Some people hate them, others love them.  Personally I love them.

P.S. Make sure you rinse/dry them really well before eating.  The fluid they're soaked in has a weird taste.