The next time you have a craving for pasta, but think you can’t have it because it is so high-carb, consider these recipe tricks.

Use green beans — also known as string beans or snap beans — in place of part of the pasta. Use veggies in place of part or all of the meat. You can feel good about this meal.

I wanted to get some heat-and-serve gravy at the supermarket. The first problem was finding the canned gravy section, since I rarely buy any. Once I found it, I remembered why I stopped buying the stuff. Many are very high in sodium, and most contain white flour and other ingredients that I try to avoid.

So I realized that if I wanted a healthy gravy, I would have to make my own.

Grass-fed beef is well-worth looking for, although not always easy to find. Many supermarkets don’t carry it, and the few that do charge exorbitant prices for it. This may change for the better over time, as more people demand their favorite stores to carry healthier options.

Once you do manage to get ahold of some of this rare delicacy, you need to handle and cook it carefully in order to get the most flavor from it. Here are my suggestions.

Potatoes are one of the most popular vegetables in the world. Some people don’t eat any other vegetables besides potatoes. If you find yourself in that category, I suggest you branch out and try some other veggies. There is a world of nutrition you are missing out on!

It is not wrong to eat potatoes, because they contain vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial nutrients. Unfortunately, potatoes are most commonly fried. This adds unhealthy fats and calories. Moreover, the most nutritious part of the potato — the skin — is usually removed. In order to retain their greatest nutritional value, potatoes are best baked or boiled, and served with the skins on.

If possible, get organic potatoes, to avoid pesticide residues in the skin. Wash them thoroughly. If you use non-organic potatoes, carefully peel off the top layer of skin and discard.

When I talked about basic soup stocks, I mentioned that having a good soup base on hand helps you in many ways. You can use it to whip up a great meal in just a few minutes.

This is a vegetable stock. If at all possible, use organic vegetables. If that is not an option, then use the best quality vegetables that you can get. Try to avoid veggies with obvious bruises, mold, or other visible defects. However, since they will be used to make soup, any bad parts can — and should — be cut away, being sure to get all the bad bits.

A great soup base is a blessing. Keep some on hand and you can have a wonderful, tasty, nourishing meal in just a few minutes.

This is a meat-based stock. If at all possible, use grass-fed beef. If that is not available to you, then use the best quality organic beef you can get.

The most flavorful stocks begin with bones and various bits of meat. Tough meat is fine, as it will be cooked until it almost disintegrates. The bones will give off gelatin, which will add a rich, smooth texture and flavor. If some of the bones are marrow bones, this will give even more flavor and nutrition to the resulting stock.

Try to keep many kinds of healthful foods and ingredients in your kitchen. With these, you can whip up incredible, fast and delicious meals and snacks.

You don’t necessarily have to have ALL of these items on hand, but the more of them that you have, the easier your cooking will be, and also the more varied and interesting.

I talked about pots and pans before, but it bears repeating: Use stainless steel saucepans and soup pots, and cast-iron frying pans, for most of your cookware needs.

It is very cost-efficient to buy quality tools for your kitchen. If you don’t already have them, you should invest in a sturdy blender, several good knives, cutting boards, trivets (to put hot pans on), oven mitts, a toaster-oven, and a coffee grinder or other food mill. If you think you will use them, add a food processor and a crockpot to the list.

You probably get the same junk mail that I get. The ones I’m thinking of right now are the food ads, particularly the fast food ones. Of course the pitchmen and women make these ads as tempting as they possibly can. The idea is to make you feel an artificial hunger for whatever they are peddling.

Make no mistake — the hunger is quite fake. The food on display in the photos is painstakingly created. You are meant to think the sandwiches, drinks, and side items are as beautiful in real life as the artwork. But these pictures are crafted by food professionals to be the epitome of temptation. The buns are specially baked for fluffy appearance, and the sesame seeds are glued on individually in the optimal pattern. The lettuce leaves are selected for loftiest appearance. The burgers are almost raw, being merely browned and then tinted to look cooked. This makes them look larger.