Having a baby and being responsible for another human being (other than making sure the man has hole-less underwear and there’s shampoo in his shower) really makes you think twice about what you put in your mouth. I’ve never been much of a health nut, or at least I do not think I am. I have always loved salads and vegetables (except peas and beans) so I have not had to make any huge changes in my diet in my quest to be healthier.
What we have done is plant our own vegetables during the short Midwest summers, and I have been trying to buy organic as our small grocery budget allows. This past week I found spaghetti squash on sale at our local grocer and recalled reading somewhere that to cut carbs in your diet, you can use the vegetable as spaghetti. Sounded like a no-brainer to me, so I loaded the squash in my cart and off I went.
I started by cutting the squash in half – note to self, invest in a machete – and the I took out the seeds. I placed the squash rind side up on a baking sheet and baked it at 375 for 40min. In a saucepan I drizzled some olive oil and sautéed some white onions (fresh from our garden), yellow peppers and fresh crushed garlic. I added some hamburger and browned it and then I added some tomato sauce, water, salt and pepper and let the beef simmer over medium heat.
Here is the part where I think I messed up. I scraped a kitchen fork around the edge of the spaghetti squash to shred the pulp into strands, and mixed it in with the meat and sauce (like I always do when I make spaghetti bolognese) but the squash soaked up alot more of the liquids than spaghetti usually does. Luckily I always have a backup of pasta sauce, so I just added that and heated it all through.
I dished up and we sat down to eat…and it was not good. The squash did in no way resemble the taste or texture of spaghetti, which is what my information source led me to believe. I also used way to much squash and it was overpowering the taste of the meat and sauce.
Luckily the garlic bread I made as a side was fantastic – french loaf cut in slices, topped with butter, garlic salt and grated Parmesan, broiled for about 5min to add the perfect crunch. But now I can say that I’ve tried it, didn’t like it and stick to good ol’ spaghetti!