Wednesday, March 4, 2009

A Most Unusual Spaghetti Dish

So about two weeks ago I bought some squash I was planning to use for a vegan macaroni and cheese dish. I don't know much about squash, so I bought these two huge yellow things KNOWING that they would be enough for my family. When I got home, I excitedly began to cut off the ends only to find that the skins were about half an inch think and nearly impossible to cut through! Then I saw the little sticker pasted on the side of the squash. These were spaghetti squashes and the instructions said to cut them in half, oil a casserole dish, place them facedown on the casserole dish and cook them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. I didn't pay much attention to the fact that they were called spaghetti squash. I figured it was like butterhead lettuce. It doesn't take like butter, does it? I was so disheartened. I had been looking forward to this macaroni and cheese recipe for quite some time and now I knew I would have to plan something else for dinner. I dejectedly put the "spaghetti" squashes (is that how you say it plurally?) back in the bottom drawer of the fridge and saved them for a later day.

Today was that later day. I obediently followed the sticker instructions and thought I would make a pasta sauce and parmesan cheese topping to add to the squash. Yes, I knew my kids would probably complain about having to have a huge piece of squash covered with tomato sauce for dinner, but that's life.

When I opened the oven to test for doneness I poked the squash with my fork and what to my surprize, it magically separated into tiny spaghetti-sized pieces, like this...


(Oh, and here's what it looked like before I poked it with a fork...)


...and when we served it up on a plate...]


I felt so gleeful to know that this really and truly looked like spaghetti and that maybe, just maybe, my kids would think it was cool. I set the table, placing a quarter of each squash in a serving bowl, the spaghetti sauce in another bowl and the parmesan cheese in it's fancy green plastic container. You know the one. After the prayer, I told my kids that I would need to show them how dinner was to work. I grabbed a squash quarter, scraped the "spaghetti" onto my place, spooned warm spaghetti sauce over it, then told them they could add parmesan cheese if they wanted to. They each enthusiastically grabbed a squash, began scraping, covered it with sauce and cheese (the vegans among us used nutritional yeast instead of parmesan, as it gives foods a cheese-like flavor).....and LOVED it! All except one, that is, but six out of seven ain't bad! (The 17-year-old boy was decorating the gym for prom, so wasn't able to join us for dinner.) Here's what it looked like...


You can imagine how good it felt to be feeding my kids a vegetable main dish instead of white flour pasta! I never would have imagined that they would like it so much. And you know I usually like to show proof of how much they liked it by posting pictures like these...




(Can you guess which baby is which?)

Here's the simple step-by-step...

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: Cut your spaghetti squash in half, remove the seeds and lay the halves face down on a oiled casserole pan.

Step 3: Bake 30 minutes or until soft or to desired texture.

Step 4: Set your table with your favorite pasta sauce, parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast (Here's what that looks like, by the way)...


...fresh parsley and the like, and enjoy!

And now, for the daily feature - What I ate today (in case you care)...

Breakfast: 1 1/2 Homemade almond butter and raw honey sandwich on whole wheat
-a glass of almond milk

Lunch: Asparagus sauted in avocado oil and sea salt
-spinach salad with ginger miso dressing and pine nuts
-a baked potato with raw vegan faux sour cream and salt and pepper
-a slice of raw vegan lemon cheese cake

Snack: Fresh strawberry slush with macadamia almond whipped cream
-a few pieces of asparagus

Dinner: Spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and nutritional yeast

If you liked this post and would like to join me here on a regular basis via email or other reader, please...
Subscribe

(You'll be helping to pay for at least one of the nine kid's college tuition.)
OR... bookmark or share this post by clicking the little beauty below... Thank you for your visit!

18 comments:

Renee said...

I love spaghetti squash, it's really good as a "primavera" too.

Bethany Cox said...

who didn't like it? by the way you have several typos in this post...

Globe Trotters said...

All your vegan dishes look so yummy. And your morning breakfast of honey on bread has inspired me to re-introduce honey in the home :)

Jill @ Sneaky Momma said...

Thanks so much for sharing this. I'll bet my girls would eat it right up!
I made my first vegetarian chili the other day. YUM!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Bethany, Reid didn't like it. And I will reread to check for the typos! I sometimes think that blogging at midnight is not a good idea!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Okay Beth, so I reread and only found one typo! Give me some help here!

Tiffany said...

I love spaghetti Squash even with just plain with a little lime juice and salt and pepper mm so good! My dd loves it to, its always my hubby who I have to try and pursaude him to eat his veggie!

Camille and Luke said...

This sounds so interesting I think I'm going to try it! Thanks for all the great ideas! I love fining new dinner idea's on your blog! We eat healther every time! Thanks so much! Camille

Kristi said...

Just a tip - we put ours in the microwave with a little bit of water in a covered casserole dish! 15 minutes!!!! Perfect! Also, My hubby loves it if I mix it half and half with whole wheat spaghetti!

Tammy and Parker said...

I had spaghetti squash for the first time last summer. I'll be growing it in my garden this year!

Homegrown Family said...

We use this alot and last summer we grew a bunch of it along with butternut squash and summer squashes. It is very easy to grow.

Erika

Oh it is freezeable as well I froze quite a bit of it last summer.

EcOnomical Mom said...

I greatly enjoy your blog!! I have given you the Kreativ Blogger award. Stop by my blog to copy the award/picture

BarbaraJo said...

You really need to compile a recipe book .Your stuff is great!

Anonymous said...

Those boys look so cute when they are messy. Enjoy!

Bethany Cox said...

there were at least two.

Anonymous said...

very cute boy....I love spaghetti...

Patti's and Bobbi's Excellent Adventures said...

Hey Jenny! The spaghetti squash story was pretty funny. And I like that you always post that picture of the lemonade pitcher you took at my house!

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Bethany, the vegans among us are me, Joseph and Hyrum!