I heart spaghetti squash.

I was at the grocery store yesterday morning when I noticed a lovely pile of various types of squash calling my name. They were saying, "Hey Ariel, I know it's like 90 degrees out, but we think you should take us home and cook us anyway!"  I stood there for a minute and decided, what the heck, I'm gonna bake me a squash!  So, I bought three beautiful squash: 1 butternut, 1 acorn, and 1 spaghetti squash.

I've never cooked a spaghetti squash before, but one of my friends posted about how amazing it is on Facebook the other day and I instantly had flashbacks of eating spaghetti squash with butter, salt, and pepper on a cool Fall evening with my family. My momma used to make it all the time. So, I was craving it and decided to take a stab at coming up with a new dish for my family.

I present to you my spaghetti squash vegetable medley. Seriously, this was love at first bite. Even little Landon Drew chowed down on this!



What I used (but think of the possibilities!):

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 zucchini
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• Handful of sliced mushrooms
• 2 cloves of diced garlic
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional, but oh so tasty)
• Dash of Italian seasoning
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Sprinkling of shredded parmesan cheese

How to bake the spaghetti squash (I'm sure you can also just microwave it, but that kinda creeps me out for some reason):

• Chop that bad boy in half (tougher than it sounds) and scrape out all of the seeds and gooey insides (like a pumpkin).
• Put face down in 1/2 inch of water in a glass baking pan.
• Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork.
• Once done, let it cool for a few minutes then shred all of the spaghetti squash goodness out with a fork.

Now, we could just smother this with butter and S&P and eat as is, but I stepped it up a notch with the following:

• Saute chopped veggies and garlic in a little bit of olive oil until tender.
• Poor in chicken broth, white wine, Italian seasoning, and some S&P.
• Let this all simmer together for a couple of minutes and then toss in your shredded spaghetti squash.
• Poor that goodness out on a plate and top with shredded parmesan cheese.
• Eat with a side of chewy garlic bread.

This makes for one super filling and healthy meal that tastes divine! Serious!

Now I'm off to go eat the leftovers! YUMMO!

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PS - I totally slept off my attitude from Saturday and I'm back to my old self! I just hate hate random bad days. Those of you who commented totally lifted my spirits, too! Thanks!