Healthy Eats: Spaghetti Squash & Meat Sauce

I'm currently trying to jump start my healthy eating/living lifestyle again as spring is right around the corner. You know how they say summer bodies are made in the winter? Yeah well, this winter was a little too long and cold in my opinion, so eating indoors was one of my favorite hobbies. So spring will have to do for prepping my body for bikini season! First off on the menu, Spaghetti Squash! I was so pleasantly surprised how this came out and I love how it's relatively guilt free because you're substituting a veggie for a pasta. Once you realize the versatility of this sneaky little veggie, the possibilities are endless!

 

What You'll Need:

1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed (more on that below)
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Any ingredients you need to make your favorite sauce. Mine include:
1 jar spicy tomato and basil sauce

1 can small tomato sauce (Hunts)

lean ground beef (you could use ground turkey too)

spices (basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano and a pinch of sugar to cut the acidity)

Start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees.

So the hardest part of this dish will be trying to cut this sucker open!! I have a pretty nice knife set we got from D's aunt and uncle last Christmas (thanks Aunt Pat and Uncle Joe!) and even then I had to really work this thing! If you have a samurai sword, great! If not, put some elbow grease into it. I actually have a little trick where I cut a sliver off the side of the squash so it will lay flat on the table as I cut it. That may work for you too. Once you cut it in half, you need to scrape all the seeds and gunk out, much like when carving a pumpkin. Hint: Use an ice cream scooper like I did. Super easy.

Put both squash halves on a baking sheet, and brush on EVOO and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to your liking. Stick that in your oven and bake for 45 min -- 1 hour, or until tender. I liked mine more "well done" so I went the whole hour. And while that's in the oven, take that time to make your favorite sauce. I made a meat sauce (seen below) but you can really make any kind of sauce you want, including ground turkey, meatballs, veggies, or meatless.

Once your squash is completely roasted, take out of the oven and scrape the inside of the squash with a fork. You'll see like magic, spaghetti like strands will form. Continue scraping the squash strands and remove them and place in a large bowl. If you want to get fancy or creative, you could even keep them inside the squash and serve it a bowl.

Plate it and serve with your sauce. 

And a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese if you're feeling naughty ;) I opted out because I'm trying to be good. But then I added a piece of garlic bread.....so scratch that!

Voila! Spaghetti Squash and meat sauce. A lightened up version of your favorite pasta staple.

Anyone else loving on the spaghetti squash right now?

How else do you prepare this dish -- please share with me! 

xo Steph