Original post from November, 2008:
I love to eat. Did you know that, Dear Reader? It’s true. I love to eat.
Joe and I have long been curious about spaghetti squash, but we never ventured to buy one before. This week, we did.
Incidentally, we paid $5.63 for our spaghetti squash at the super chain grocery store we like to visit, and then found them for under $2 at the local farm store. Remember how I said to buy local? It really is cheaper.
Anyway, we bought an overpriced spaghetti squash, brought it home, and sat it on the dining room table.
We looked at it for a few days, not knowing what to do with it.
I researched and found a recipe at AllRecipes and then changed it all around to suit our taste. Joe liked it; I loved it.
I wished the recipe would have had yielded more because I wanted to eat it for the next several days.
We went back to the farm today and bought a peck of spaghetti squash. Do you know how much that is? Imagine a laundry basket filled with spaghetti squash. That’s what we got!
2018 note:
10 years later, this continues to be one of my favorite meals. I was worried about how we’d adjust it for my bariatric diet, but Joe figured out something that works really well and doesn’t detract one bit from the goodness that is the original casserole. Find those instructions below the recipe.
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- 1 large spaghetti squash
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 4 cloves garlic smashed with a garlic press or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning I think the Italian seasoning from The Pampered Chef is the best one out there, but you can use whatever you have.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes Italian-style, drained
- 2 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese shredded
Ingredients
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- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Cook the squash on a microwave safe plate in the microwave for 9 minutes (or until tender). Place the plate and squash into the freezer for 10 minutes or until cool. Then cut it in half (it will be easy to cut if it's been cooked long enough), remove the seeds, and shred pulp with a fork so that it resembles spaghetti noodles.
- Over medium heat, cook the ground beef in a medium skillet until it's evenly brown. Drain and mix in all the spices and tomatoes.
- Pour the meat mixture into the squash and mix well.
- Transfer to a 9x13 casserole dish and stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese. Mix well.
- Bake 20 minutes at 350. Sprinkle with another 1 cup cheese and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until cheese is melted.
This one is a little tricky to make bariatric friendly. We kept the ground beef totally separate from the vegetables. So, we cooked ground beef in a skillet with all the spices. Then we mixed the diced tomatoes with the squash but kept it separate from the meat.
To serve, Joe measured out 5 ounces of meat and 3.5 ounces of vegetables and topped it with 1/2 ounce of shredded cheddar cheese.
I mixed the beef with the vegetables on my plate.
This approach also made life a little easier with our picky children, as we could give them a serving of meat without it being "tainted" by the vegetables.
I’d love to hear your feedback! Come back and tell me what you think after you make this recipe.
© 2008 – 2018, Tara Ziegmont. All rights reserved.
I’m glad local is cheaper for you. Our farmer’s market is slightly more expensive than the grocery store, plus the gas for the drive (about 15-20 miles 1 way). Our co-op is cheaper though, even figuring in the drive to go and pick up.
The squash casserole sounds good.
I’m glad local is cheaper for you. Our farmer’s market is slightly more expensive than the grocery store, plus the gas for the drive (about 15-20 miles 1 way). Our co-op is cheaper though, even figuring in the drive to go and pick up.The squash casserole sounds good.
Mmmm. This looks so good. Unfortunately my husband hates squash! His mom tricked him with it when he was a boy – she told him it was spaghetti! He’ll never look at squash the same. I wish he wasn’t so picky!
Mmmm. This looks so good. Unfortunately my husband hates squash! His mom tricked him with it when he was a boy – she told him it was spaghetti! He’ll never look at squash the same. I wish he wasn’t so picky!
That sounds good and simple! I’ve always wanted to try cooking with spaghetti squash but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
That sounds good and simple! I’ve always wanted to try cooking with spaghetti squash but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Mmm never had spaghetti squash before but these recipe sound yummy. I will try to find a squash spaghetti on of these days.
Mmm never had spaghetti squash before but these recipe sound yummy. I will try to find a squash spaghetti on of these days.
Oh YUM! We had spaghetti squash ravioli last week, and I’m gonna print this out and give it to hubby and ask that he make it tonight! Yes, he’s the cook, but he loves spaghetti squash and I don’t think he’ll complain. 😉
Thanks for the recipe!
Oh YUM! We had spaghetti squash ravioli last week, and I’m gonna print this out and give it to hubby and ask that he make it tonight! Yes, he’s the cook, but he loves spaghetti squash and I don’t think he’ll complain. ;)Thanks for the recipe!
Yummy! Ive always been nervous to tackle this squash. Good thing my mother in law isnt, because its really good!
Yummy! Ive always been nervous to tackle this squash. Good thing my mother in law isnt, because its really good!
I love spegghetti squash. Only did one recipe though, and this one looks good too. Mine can be found under ‘meals’ in my cookbook blog. they are expensive… and for us the farmers market charges more almost all the time. 🙁
I love spegghetti squash. Only did one recipe though, and this one looks good too. Mine can be found under ‘meals’ in my cookbook blog. they are expensive… and for us the farmers market charges more almost all the time. 🙁
This sounds really good! I saw some spagetti squash the other day when I was at the store and I wondered what you’d do with it and now I know! I wonder if I could get my kids to eat this?? They’re not huge squash fans and either is my husband. Maybe I’ll try it and see…
This sounds really good! I saw some spagetti squash the other day when I was at the store and I wondered what you’d do with it and now I know! I wonder if I could get my kids to eat this?? They’re not huge squash fans and either is my husband. Maybe I’ll try it and see…