Secret Ingredient: Spaghetti Squash

Last October, a beautiful friend of mine- Jenna, mentioned Spaghetti Squash to me and practically changed my life...I'm not even kidding.  I LOVE Italian food, but always feel so guilty after.  Especially since you never just want the pasta- there's alwasy cheese to be added, garlic bread (with more cheese please),  calorie laden meatballs and let us not forget the vino.  Honestly, I had practically given up on Italian because of all this.  It just wasn't worth it to make on a regular basis, until spaghetti squash that is.

It's as simple as baking the squash, cutting it in half, removing the seeds and crusties and then just pulling a fork through it, so that it comes out stringy like spaghetti!  It honestly tastes like al dente spaghetti and is incredibly versatile.

                                            

We first tried it with spaghetti sauce and some yummy Oregano garlic toast.  I like to scoop my spaghetti on top of the toast, and this was the first time that I got to enjoy it and not feel bad!

We've also branched out to meatballs and other meats to change it up, and since meatballs are REALLY high in calories, the squash allowed me to enjoy them for once.

My new favorite snack is to cut up red onions, chives and bell pepper to toss into some spaghetti squash and mix with this new Kraft Asian toasted sesame dressing.  It tastes JUST like a cold Asain Noodle salad.  We also sautee chicken in the dressing and then add it to this very same salad to make it a more substantial meal.

Feel like some Mexican?  Add black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, diced onions, diced jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and you've got an awesome Mexican Salad! 

I would also use hot sauce and a little bit of fat free shredded cheddar.  Seasoned ground turkey would work well with this too.

There are sooo many different options, I could never name them all, so here are a few more that I wish to try:

Spaghetti Squash with Pesto Sauce

And-

Mexican Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

If only restarants would catch on to this! 

Let's not keep this secret a secret!!  People will thank you. I promise.