This one was the product of leftover spaghetti squash and some fresh ground beef I was separating and storing from my weekly grocery trip. I just got this vision of a Mexican inspired comfort meal.  

The flavors were dead on but there was just nothing to hold every thing together. Which is all right by me but you may be expecting a more traditional ooey gooey type of casserole.

I made this one just for me. It was an afternoon experiment. The husband wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole (he’s like that with all of the my spaghetti squash meals). The toddler had a few bites of the beans and corn but he’s not a fan of the squash texture either. As I always say, oh well, more for me! Now I have lunches for the week!

This is exactly how I made it, have fun!

• 8 oz lean ground beef (at least 90%)
• ½ of a sweet onion diced
• Taco Seasoning (entire recipe)
• 2 cups (310g) of prepared spaghetti squash
• 1 can (15oz) Black Beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can (15oz) sweet corn drained and rinsed
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 green pepper diced
• ½ ounce tortilla chips crushed
• 2 oz fancy shredded Mexican cheese blend
• Non-stick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Brown the beef over medium heat with the onion and taco seasoning. Set aside.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread the squash along the bottom of the dish, top with black beans, corn, cooked beef, diced peppers, tortilla chips and then cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve!  

I should say I love having a day now and again that I can experiment freely in the kitchen without worrying about pleasing anyone but myself (and the toddler but he’s WAY easier then the husband!)

So my experiment was a lightly sweetened Asian style salmon stir fry-ish type of meal but instead of serving it over rice or noodles I went with spaghetti squash. It was great! Even the toddler liked it. I actually got him to eat salmon as I think the small pieces weren’t intimidating and they had a light sweetness to them. He also loved the peas, but the squash, not so much. That’s ok, 2 out of three “aint” bad. ;~P

• 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp (21g) honey
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 2 slices of sweet onion diced (about 100g)
• 1 1/3 cups (170g) frozen peas
• 8oz salmon fillet cut in strips
• 2 cups (310g) cooked Prepared Spaghetti Squash

Whisk the soy sauce, honey, water, ginger and cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Warm the onion and add the frozen peas. Cook for a minute or two allowing the peas to defrost. Add the salmon and cook for 3-4 minutes only stirring about every minute. If you stir more, the salmon will break up too much. After the 4 minutes pour the soy sauce mixture over, stir in and cook for one minute. It will thicken and just coat everything.

Separate into two servings and scoop over warm spaghetti squash.

My WWPs may be off on this one. When I use the nutritional information for dishes with a lot of “free” veggies my calculations come out a but high. I’d love to hear what you guys calculate.

I LOVE when it’s just the toddler and I for dinner. I get to experiment freely without trying to please someone who has completely different taste then I do.

Anyway, I had this idea of mini turkey meatballs. I thought they would be fun for me to make and easy for the toddler to eat. Originally, I was going to do a sweet and sour but I didn’t have enough ingredients so I went with what I had in the pantry.

I’m going to be honest, while cooking, I was debating posting. The prep was a bit shaky, the meatballs stuck, I needed to add more water. So, I figured, hey, worse case scenario I have lunches and I post a new idea tomorrow.

Then… I took a bite.

Oh my word, it was delicious! The combination of spaghetti squash, broccoli, and cream of chicken soup was awesome and the turkey meatballs WERE fun. Best of all, the toddler LOVED them. He didn’t eat the squash but he asked for seconds on the meatballs and broccoli!

• 8 oz lean ground turkey (I used 93% but you could use 99% lean)
• ¼ cup quick oats (20g)
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried chives
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• 1 can Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup (98% FF and low sodium) (10oz)
• Water
• 1 bag (16oz) frozen broccoli
• 3 cups cooked spaghetti squash
• Non-stick cooking spray

Combine the turkey, quick oats, egg white, onion powder, chives, parsley and thyme. Form into ½ oz meatballs. It should make about 19.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Brown the meatball. Be warned they may stick. When you add them to the pan let them be while they get a crust. Then roll them a bit and allow them to crust on the other side. You don’t have to brown them evenly you just want a nice crust on a side or two.

In a small bowl mix the cream of chicken soup with a can of water. Add the soup water mixture to skillet, watch out its going to be hot. Bring the soup to a boil.

Add the bag of frozen broccoli. The soup will be your gravy so if you want it thinner add a splash more water (I added about ¼ more of the can). Bring back up to a boil then cover and reduce to simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes until broccoli is cooked.

Scoop meatball, broccoli soup mixture over a cup of spaghetti squash and serve!

I have to confess this video isn’t my favorite. First of all, no toddler, he was napping. Plus I mess up a bit, run out of things to tell you and misspell “delicious” (it’s really time consuming to fix so I’m leaving it in there) and the husband distracts me in the end. However, even with all that, I really wanted to post one for this week and I REALLY wanted to share this recipe with you.

Need help cooking the Spaghetti Squash? Click here to see my demonstration!

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 large tomato cut into chunks (or 2 plum tomatoes)
• About 4 cups baby spinach leaves
• About 2 cups cooked spaghetti squash
• Salt & Pepper
• Parsley for garnish (optional – just makes it even prettier!)

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until just turning brown.

Add the tomato. Sprinkle with a bit of salt. Top with the spinach leaves and cover for about 2 minutes. The spinach will cook and reduce down.

Uncover. Break up the spinach with a wooden spoon. It will start to clump together once cooked.

Add the spaghetti squash a little at a time and stir in. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Serve!

So a few days ago, I started experimenting with it again. Why only use it as a sauce or chili base?

Here’s a new idea you may not have thought of…

• 2 egg whites
• ¼ cup whole wheat flour (30g)
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• About 1 ½ cups of cooked spaghetti squash
• About ¼ cup finely diced red pepper
• About ¼ cup finely diced green pepper
• About ¼ cup finely diced sweet onion
• Salt & Pepper
• Non-stick olive oil cooking spray

Whisk the egg whites and flour in a large bowl to make the base batter.

Grate garlic into the batter.

Add the remaining ingredients and sprinkle with Salt and Pepper. Mix well coating everything in the batter.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Using about ¼ cup of the batter, plop on the skillet and flatten it a bit with a spatula.

Cook for about 3-5 minutes a side until the cake no longer sticks to the pan and becomes golden brown.

Batter makes about 8 cakes as pictured.

P.S. yes I dipped mine in ketchup!

But I digress… back to the recipe.

This idea proves a little cheese goes a L-O-N-G way. You will feel like you are indulging in a sinful dinner when really you are eating a healthy satisfying meal that is super low in calories.

Here a few comments from the original posting of the recipe on my weight loss blog.

Kim – “I LOVED it and so did my 21 month old!”
Sandy – “I made this today, it was so good!! My daughter thought it was better than Lasagna with noodles!!”
Deb – “I literally just tried this & OMG !! It is amazing !!”

• About 2 cups Homemade sauce (or your favorite red sauce)
• 1 medium zucchini thinly sliced (I used the slice setting on my cheese grater)
• About 2-2 ½ cups cooked spaghetti squash
• ½ cup fat free ricotta cheese
• 3 oz fancy shredded mozzarella cheese
• Ground pepper
• Dried parsley flakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a casserole dish, smear a little of the sauce on the bottom to prevent sticking then begin layering zucchini, top with a bit of squash, dab on ricotta (I crumpled the best I can to cover the area), sprinkle with a bit of the shredded cheese, add some sauce repeat until you are out of ingredients.

This image shows my complete first layer. Notice I just dab the cheese and sauce. It will get your fingers dirty but it’s worth it in the end!

Repeat the layering until you are out of ingredients. Be sure the save a bit of mozzarella cheese for the top. If you use fancy shredded cheese it tends to go a bit further.

Sprinkle the top with some ground pepper and dried parsley. Bake uncovered for at about 45 minutes until zucchini is tender.

During the baking process there will be a lot of water, no pasta to soak it up. About every 10-15 minutes use a turkey baster to remove some excess water.

This recipe it even better double baked! You can easily make it ahead and then pop it back in the oven. Just like traditional lasagna, it’s better the next day!

You will be able to get 6 servings like the one pictured above.

Here are two shots, before and after baking.

The husband is not a chili man so I get tons of leftovers that I freeze for work lunches. I use cheap plastic containers and freeze! Then when I bring to work, I don’t bother putting them in the fridge, by lunch they are almost defrosted. I pop them in the microwave and viola! Lunch!

I should note: I lost my notes in my mess of a kitchen so this is from memory.

• About 3/4 cups dry black beans
• About 3/4 cups dry red kidney beans
• About 3/4 cups dry pinto beans
• 2 and ½ cups of your favorite broth/stock (I used thanksgiving turkey stock)
• 15oz can of pumpkin (no one will EVER know)
• 2 – 15oz cans of diced tomatoes with chilies
• 1 – 15oz can of diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• Sweet onion diced chopped
• 2 peppers (1 green 1 red) chopped
• 1 medium zucchini chopped
• 15oz can of sweet corn
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 1 medium Spaghetti Squash (about 2lbs)

Rinse the dry bean and place in a large pot over high heat, with enough water to cover them. (I did not soak them overnight). Bring them to a boil, continue to boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let then site for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven for 450 degrees

Drain the beans, return to the pot. Add the broth, pumpkin, diced tomatoes (use 2 cans of plain and 1 can with chilies if you want it milder), and spices. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer.

While simmering, line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Drain the can of corn and dump the kernels on one end of the cookie sheet and the veggies on the other. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin. Roast for about 25 minutes in the preheated oven.

Add the roasted veggies to the simmering beans. Cover and simmer for a few hours. Since using dry beans, I let it cook for about 6 hours on the low. If you used canned beans the cooking time will be cut down drastically.

When just about ready to serve, pierce the skin of the Spaghetti Squash a few times with a fork and pop it in the microwave for about 12 minutes. Let it cool, then cut in half, scoop out the seeds and scrap out the flesh.

Place about 3/4 of a cup of squash in a bowl and top with the chili! YUM!

Now this makes a huge pot of chili, I’m estimating at least 10 servings. As you can see it’s a A LOT of lunches! And that’s after I ate a bowl!

Also notice the headless husband and laundry. ;~) I didn’t realize it was back there!