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Upcoming family spaghetti dinner - need ideas.

JanetLynnJudy
JanetLynnJudy Posts: 173 Member
in Social Groups
My SO and I are invited to a spaghetti dinner & garlic bread birthday dinner this Saturday at his family's house. I'm working very hard lately to stay on diet, but we still want to go celebrate with them. In the past I've been able to make accommodations that allowed us to fully enjoy the day, but also not go too far off diet. At a family barbeque, for example, we brought a vegetable tray and romaine lettuce (to wrap our hamburgers/hotdogs in) and these were things that everyone could enjoy and it was no big deal. With this upcoming dinner I want to bring a healthy side that will be on diet and fit with the dinner so that everyone else can also enjoy. Also, I'm thinking it may be nice to bring something like roasted zucchini (maybe with peppers and/or mushrooms) because I could just put the sauce on that and skip the noodles and everyone else could have it as a side. I also thought full fat ricotta cheese would be a nice thing to bring too. I do not want to bring anything like spaghetti squash because that's not a dish everyone could enjoy. Do anyone have any ideas or recipes of something I could bring to help myself and that also everyone else would enjoy and would fit with the dinner?

Replies

  • Citrislazer
    Citrislazer Posts: 312 Member
    Hmmm... Steamed green veggie dish? My family likes it when I bring this to gatherings. First, I steam fresh green beans, snow peas, and asparagus. I have a microwave veggie steamer to make it easier. Then I toss them all onto a big stoneware serving plate and mix the veggies around. Next I sprinkle on salt, fresh cracked pepper, and add some square slices of butter around the tray on top of the veggies. Then I sprinkle on some bacon bits, grate some parmesan cheese over all of it, and pop it in the oven on low to melt the butter and cheese. Once the cheese and butter has melted it's ready to serve with tongs. You can make this dish as healthy as you want by the amount of butter, bacon bits and cheese you use. I enjoy pasta sauce on top of my green veggie dish.
  • BlessedWith3
    BlessedWith3 Posts: 152
    How about spaghetti squash? You can take it plain and you can eat with the sauce or it is really great just tossed with pesto and shredded parm. Also bring some cooked Italian sausage.
  • shar140
    shar140 Posts: 1,158 Member
    I think the roasted veggies are a good idea. What about a big salad as a side?
  • kiramaniac
    kiramaniac Posts: 800 Member
    A Caesar salad would be a great option. Also a Caprese salad.
    Meatballs? Some Italian style sausage?

    Here's one I've made that was a nice Italian option.
    http://imgur.com/a/tsyma
    You could also use fresh mozzarella balls (boccacini I think they are called) and wrap each in prosciutto. Then bake in some sauce. A friend made them like that once as an appetizer.

    But a Caesar salad or Caprese salad would be my top picks.
  • JanetLynnJudy
    JanetLynnJudy Posts: 173 Member
    Great suggestions. Thanks so much. They actually called my SO tonight and mentioned that they will also be making spaghetti squash (they know about our diet and have talked with us about it a lot last time they visited)! This is very thoughtful of them! It's great to have supportive family. I still want to bring something though.

    Thank you kiramaniac for mentioning prosciutto appetizers because for some reason I didn't even think about that and I could probably substitute pepperoni too. The meatballs, Italian sausage, roasted vegetables and salad ideas are great too.

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