Pasta - big bowls and sauce overload

Pasta is favorite in our house. We have pasta based dishes at least twice a week. Now that whole wheat pastas are readily available at a very affordable price, it is both economical and healthy. The problem with pasta is that it's easy to eat too much of it. A serving is much smaller than most people realize and when we see it on the plate, it is easy to believe that tiny portion would never be enough!  We have a tendency to cook a big pot, pour it into a huge bowl, and sop up the excess sauce with lots of bread.
Since pasta is so family friendly, as well as vegetarian (and vegan if dried) friendly it is worth noting some easy ways to serve and make sure we aren't on carb or sauce overload.
If you are simply serving pasta and sauce, measure out the portion of sauce first and then add and toss the pasta a little at a time to coat. You will find you are only using the amount of pasta necessary to compliment the sauce.
If you are doing a vegetable and pasta mix, add the pasta to the vegetables and mix. Your vegetables should be  at least 2 to 1 in regard to pasta. If there will be a sauce in addition to the vegetables, either cook the veggies in the sauce or add the sauce after the pasta and veggies are mixed.
The best vegetables to add to a tomato sauce are ones that are hearty and hold their shape, like broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.
My favorites to add to pesto are spinach, artichoke, watercress, and asparagus.
Spinach is a great veggie for any kind of sauce.
Here are several easy, healthy sauce basics for pasta -
veggie broth and lemon juice - great for vegetable and pasta dishes -  you can cook the veggies in this broth and then add a little more of the liquids when adding the pasta to coat, season with a little grated parmesan or romano, black ground pepper, or lemon pepper - easy and light!
pesto - basically all you need are some basil leaves, olive oil and garlic. I also like to add a little lemon juice and zest. whip this up in your food processor, no cooking needed! (you can saute the garlic first if you like)
tomato - everyone has their favorite tomato sauce recipe - keep a light hand when adding sugar and salt. Look for other ways to sweeten, such as cinnamon, or spice it up a little  with red pepper flakes so you need less sugar for flavor. The heavier handed you are with the garlic and onion, the less sweetener you will need as well.
Use pasta the same way you do bread  for a sandwich - as the conduit for the other ingredients rather than the main feature, and you will find your family healthier and satisfied at dinner time!