Spicy Smoked Sausage Alfredo Bake

IMAGE FROM 101 Cooking For Two

Spicy smoked sausage alfredo bake — pasta and smoked sausage come together with a creamy, cheesy sauce in this quick and easy weeknight dinner.

How to Lose Weight in a Week: 3 Tips To Win Recommend Article Article Comments Print ArticleShare this article on FacebookShare this article on TwitterShare this article on LinkedinShare this article on DeliciousShare this article on DiggShare this article on RedditShare this article on PinterestExpert Author Vanessa Jones When you want to know how to lose weight in a week, it helps to begin with understanding how your body works on a diet. Some believe starvation is a great way to lose weight. It does help, but has limitations. Once your body is deprived of nutrients for some time, it reacts by going into starvation mode. Under these conditions, unsure about availability of nutrients in the future, your body attempts to conserve energy sources. It safeguards every bit of fat stored in your body, preferring to sacrifice protein for energy production instead. This interferes with your plans of how to lose weight in a week. This is also the reason why carbohydrate depletion has limited effect in sustaining weight loss. In the long-term, protective defense mechanisms will conspire to conserve fat in the face of prolonged calorie restriction, preventing weight loss. Crash diets are not very successful for this reason. Deprived of vital nutrients like minerals and vitamins along with calories, the body's metabolism locks down in a concerted effort to preserve energy resources in the form of fat. How to lose weight in a week? You must do three things. Eat Healthy It is important to eat a balanced, healthy diet even when you're planning to lose weight rapidly. This is because when you try to blindly reduce calories, you'll not only provoke your body into taking defensive measures to store fat but also throw other things like hormones and metabolism out of balance. Using a weight loss calculator, compute the number of calories you'll require daily to meet your energy demands. This will vary depending on how old you are, whether you're male or female, how much you weigh, and how active you are. Aim to achieve a calorie deficit. This doesn't mean you should starve yourself entirely. That's counter-productive. Instead, consume fewer calories than your ideal requirement so that your body is forced to seek the remaining energy from burning up stored fat. Muscle Building Muscles are like a furnace inside your body. They constantly burn calories for energy. The more muscular you are, the more energy your body will burn off. 5 kilograms of muscle require 350 to 500 calories daily to maintain. This means your muscles are burning off the equivalent of 2.5 pounds of fat every week - even if you're at rest, doing nothing! Muscle building requires resistance training and isometric exercise. You can do this at home or at a gym, and by lifting weights or practicing other weight loss workouts using exercise equipment. This helps build muscle while you lose weight quickly. Include More Protein In Diet Proteins are harder to digest and consume more energy to break down. They also drive your body to use fat for energy, which helps you lose weight. Adding one gram per pound of your body weight in your daily intake is a good measure. If you weigh 100 pounds, add 100 grams of protein to your intake every day. This is sufficient to build and repair muscle. By combining these 3 approaches, you'll quickly figure out how to lose weight in a week. Vanessa has been writing about fitness and health for a long time. To learn more about how to lose weight in a week click here 3 Ways To Lose Excess Weight Recommend Article Article Comments Print ArticleShare this article on FacebookShare this article on TwitterShare this article on LinkedinShare this article on Delicious1Share this article on DiggShare this article on RedditShare this article on PinterestExpert Author Vanessa Jones Okay, here's a small experiment to try. In a random poll of folks you meet today ask them two questions. 1. How do you feel about your body? 2. What about your weight - do you want to lose, gain or maintain your current weight? About 4 out of 5 will complain about how much heavier they are than the ideal body weight for their age and height. While others will talk about the bulges they want to get rid off. Most folks will also want to lose the excess weight that they think they are carrying. These will include people you think are in the ideal weight category or stick thin. The obsession with losing weight it seems is an universal problem of the modern world. There are basically 3 ways to lose excess weight. One is strict diet control. Watching every calorie you consume will automatically translate into weight loss. When you consume less number of calories than you normally burn off, you will naturally lose weight. Changing what you eat can also contribute to weight loss. Eating more protein and less processed carbs, more fresh produce and less sugar will help in your weight loss journey. It is both Math and Biology working here. So, eat healthy and cut calories by around 500 calories from your normal dietary requirement and you will be well on the way to weight loss. This simple change will work for those who have to just lose about 5-10 lb excess weight. However, if you carry a lot more of excess weight you will need not only clean eating habits, strict dietary control and something more. Junk and processed food need to be completely eliminated from the equation if you seek a permanent way to lose weight. Another way to lose weight is to lead a more active lifestyle. If you are a couch potato simply adding a morning walk will help shed the excess fats and pounds. If you already walk, then add half hour of jogging or running to your schedule, increase the speed of your walk or include cardio or strength training. Just move more. If you find yourself sitting for more than half hour, get up and walk to the water cooler to grab a glass of water. That brings to us to hydration. Drink plenty of water to keep the metabolism working in peak condition. Apart from diet, cleaner eating and exercise is there a good way to lose weight? No. But you should get evaluated by health professional to find out if you have any health condition that is preventing your best efforts at weight loss. Proper evaluation should reveal any problems. But, don't blame it for you lack of progress in the weight loss. Get advice from diet experts on a proper diet for your body type. Hire a professional to help you in the gym and to tailor the right kind of activities for you to lose weight. A simple evaluation by professionals about your eating/exercise habits will reveal any lacunae. If you are consuming 3 cups of ice cream while staying well within your calorie limit you may still not be losing weight because those calories come from junk food. You have to eat more natural and fresh foods as these don't just supply vital nutrients but need calories to digest them too. So, in effect you are actually burning even more. Sugary stuff don't need any effort from your body to digest. You may also be underestimating your calorie intake. So, do it the right way by getting professional help. Vaness Jones is an avid fitness enthusiast. She has been writing about weight loss, fitness and health for decades. She is all about healthy and safe ways of losing weight. To know more about calorie restricted weight loss - go to 1200 calorie Diet

INGREDIENTS

• 16 ounces dry pasta
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 (12 oz) fully cooked smoked sausage, any variety

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook pasta according to package directions until just al dente; drain.
2. While pasta cooks, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Stir in flour.
3. Whisk in chicken broth until smooth, then stir in half and half.
4. Add salt, pepper, cayenne, and red pepper flakes and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in Parmesan cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella until cheeses are melted and smooth.
6. Slice sausage into 1/4 inch pieces and add to the sauce, along with the chopped parsley and cooked pasta. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
7. Preheat broiler. Pour the pasta mixture into a lightly greased, 9x13 inch baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
8. Broil for 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and golden.