Sunday, March 14, 2010

Taking On Healthy: Spaghetti Squash, Spaghetti

Tonight I'm making a dish my mother taught me to make called Spaghetti Squash, Spaghetti. It's a great step in my endeavor towards healthy eating and controling my diabetes so I'm completely on board. Thought I'd show everyone here how to make it. It's so easy, easy, easy!

First you find a very cute little boy to help you and then you pick out a pretty yellow spaghetti squash. I'm making this recipe in bulk so I can freeze some meals for later. Your family will most-likely only need one.




Levi is showing you that you need to cut the squash long ways with a big knife


Me cutting them open and deseading them just like a pumpkin.



Levi wanted to try eating some raw... He didn't like it much. LOL


Then you place it in the microwave for about 12 minutes. It's done when the outside is kind of soft. Let it cool for a minute or two before you continue because it's REALLY hot! :)


Richard took over cutting open the rest of the squash while I worked on the cooked ones.



Once it's cooled, start shredding the inside of the squash with a fork. It's amazing how much comes out of it. It's like it just keeps going and going.



When it's all finished it should look like just an empty shell
(Throw that away)


Here is how much I was able to get from one large squash. This would be enough to feed our family for one meal.



Now I make the spaghetti sauce. I used the Hunt's Zesty & Spicy sauce, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, garlic, Italian and oregano seasoning.


In case you don't know how to quickly peel fresh garlic, here is what you do...
Get a big knife and lay it on a clove. Then, smash it pretty hard with your hand held flat.


The smashed garlic just slides out of the outter layer.


Then, chop it into small pieces.


Now, open your sauce cans and dump the content into a tall soup pan. Next,brown your hamberger meat and drain the grease into one of your empty cans. You don't want the grease to stay in your food. I always use a pretty lean meat so I don't have too much grease. (remember I'm cooking bulk that's why my picture shows a lot of grease.)


Next, I dump in my garlic, Italian and oregano seasonings, drained meat, and simmer the whole thing for about 10 minutes. (I use a lot of seasoning when I'm cooking with dried, not fresh herbs.)




Then, I portion out the squash, top with the spaghetti sauce and wrap the dishes to freeze. I just happen to have these handy little microwave dishes I saved when I was eating the Weight Watches meals to get my blood sugars under control. Richard was so sweet to help me and together we finished this project in no time at all.



Now, I don't care how healthy something might be, if your kids/family won't eat it, it's not something that's going to stick. So, here's the proof that this meal is yummy... Just look at that smile! I'm pretty sure that our family will never cook spaghetti again with pastey flour noodles. We are hooked!


YUMM....:))

2 comments:

kd416 said...

wow,, that is all ? 12 mins in a microwave cooks it?? :)

Tracy Waring said...

Yes, about that works in our microwave. We do have a bigger mic so it might take a bit longer if yours is smaller. But it it very easy to do and yummy!!