Since starting this blog, I have developed a routine. At some point during the day, I make my final decision on what I’m going to cook and post it to various places, letting anyone who might be interested know. I get home from work and start cooking. After dinner and clean-up, I write and post.

I got distracted last night. We rented “Julie and Julia.” Have you seen it? I got totally caught up in the movie! Of course, I related to the idea of blogging about food. But even more, I connected on an almost spiritual level with the love of creation the movie portrayed. That is what draws me to the kitchen every night. I connect with my ingredients, their textures, their taste, the transformation they undergo as I try to make the sum of their parts greater than the individual components. It is the joy of success as I watch my wife and son take the first bite and breath in deeply as their eyes role up.

And so, this entry comes more than 12 hours later than usual. I hope you like it, because we certainly did!

Carbonara sauce, is really very simple. Most start with the same ingredients: pancetta (Italian bacon), onions, eggs or egg yolk, Parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano, and often, heavy cream. Can you say fat and cholesterol! So yet another challenge to healthy eating confronts me. Can I do carbonara in a healthy way? Absolutely! In addition to lightening the ingredients, I added broccoli and mushrooms. I also considered spinach and may well try that next time.

This version makes 4 servings. For my Weight Watchers friends, each serving works out to about 7 points.