Happy Thursday! As I continue out into the "real world", I am trying to master cooking a few good meals. I'm a "domestic goddess in training", if you will ;). My goal is to cook 1 new recipe every week, and this week it was spaghetti squash! This recipe was insanely easy and when compared to normal pasta it is incredibly easy! 1 cup of spaghetti squash averages around 40 calories whereas 3/4 cup pasta noodles averages over 150 calories.

How can you look at that and not want to eat it? Seriously.

Spaghetti Squash Recipe

What you'll need:

1 spaghetti squash (2-3 pounds will easily serve 3-4 people)

Frozen vegetables

Pasta Sauce

Pepper to taste

How to:

1. You can cook your spaghetti squash either in the microwave or in the oven.

 1a. If you wish to cook it in the microwave, take your knife and poke holes all around it. Place it in a microwave safe dish and cook in the microwave for 4-5 minutes per pound of spaghetti squash. If you spaghetti squash is 2 pounds, cook for 10 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, rotate the spaghetti squash. When it is ready, the spaghetti squash will easily collapse if you push on it with a spoon. If it does not easily fall in, pop it back in the microwave. When ready, slice the squash in half and pull out all seeds in the middle. (This is similar to removing seeds from a pumpkin.)

 1b. If you wish to cook it in the oven, cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out all seeds in the middle of each half, similar to how you would remove seeds from a pumpkin. Preheat the over to 375 degrees, and place the squash on a cookie sheet. Cook in the over for 40-45 minutes. When it is ready, the spaghetti squash will easily collapse if you push on it with a spoon. If it does not easily fall in, cook it for a few minutes longer.

2. While your squash is cooking, prepare what you want to go in the pasta. I chose to use frozen broccoli, peas, and green beans.

 2a. Boil water on the stove

 2b. Once boiling, add in your frozen vegetables

 2c. Return the water to a boil

 2d. Once the water is boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover your vegetables for 3-5 minutes

 2e. Drain the water from your vegetables and return them to the pan

 2f. Add the pasta sauce of your choice and keep on low heat until ready to add spaghetti squash.

 ****I like to use Ragu's Roasted Garlic Parmesean****

3. Your squash will be HOT! Wait 5 minutes for it to cool down.

4. Using a fork, scrape the inside of the squash out to reveal all the "noodles". Place these into a bowl.

5. Add veggie and sauce mix to your squash "noodles" and pepper to taste!

Enjoy!

Have you guys tried spaghetti squash? What did you think of it?