Spaghetti Squash Ideas??

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aunienue
aunienue Posts: 416
I just bough my very first spaghetti squash. Any low-cal ideas of what to do with it?

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  • emma1488
    emma1488 Posts: 175
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    Just use it instead of pasta or spaghetti....
    I made like a vege tomato sauce dish and mix through the cooked spaghetti squash to give it some body....its nummers:) with less calories
  • AndreeT
    AndreeT Posts: 191
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    Hi there,

    We tend to eat Spaghetti squash at least oce or twice a week. Usualy replace pasta with it but I recently seen a recipe for Spaghetti squash pizza. I don't have the recipe with me at work but it's defenitely worth searching online for. Sounds delicious!

    Good Luck!
  • sonjavon
    sonjavon Posts: 1,019 Member
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    I use spaghetti squash instead of rice or noodles in stir fry.

    I've also mixed it with shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, yellow squash, some spiced, egg whites and parm cheese and made a "casserole side dish" with it.

    It's good with some garlic, butter and a touch of sour cream.

    Really and truly - the possibilities are endless...
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    How to cook spaghetti squash

    1. Buy spaghetti squash -- don't be tricked by imitators such as the butternut squash.

    2. Cut squash in half lengthwise, this is my least favorite part for one of two reasons: 1. I don't think I have a good enough knife to be cutting through the squash, one of those pumpkin carving knifes would be key here. 2. There is no strong man, or person for that matter, readily available for me to pass this task off to (note to self: increase weight on chest press)

    3. Once you get it cut open scrape out the seeds from the middle (oh yeah did I mention to pre-heat the oven to 400?... do that).

    4. Lay the squash halves skin side up on a baking sheet and cook for 30-40 min (skin will start to look slightly translucent)

    5. Remove from oven, let cool for a bit. Here's the fun part, somehow in the process of cooking this squash the meat of it turns into this amazing stringy noodle like mass when scraped out with a fork, hence the name spaghetti squash.

    6. You can eat it just like spaghetti
  • Hopey1994
    Hopey1994 Posts: 307
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    Great post! I just bought one this weekend and am completely lost on what to do with it...haha! The garlic and butter sounds good. :)
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    Just Googled a few Squash Pizza recipes that AndreeT had mentioned as I had never heard of it and it sounded interesting. I'll post a few here.:drinker:

    SPAGHETTI SQUASH PIZZA CRUST

    Ingredients
    3 cups cooked spaghetti squash

    2 eggs — beaten

    2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

    Cooking Instructions
    Preheat oven to 400°F-200°C

    Squeeze the excess moisture out of the cooked spaghetti squash with paper towels. Mix the squash, eggs and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella together and press into the bottom of a pie pan. Bake for about 10 minutes.

    Remove the pan from the oven and spread the tomato sauce, vegetables or other pizza toppings and the remaining cheeses over the crust. Sprinkle with oregano and basil and drizzle the olive oil over the top. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.

    Nutritional Facts
    SPAGHETTI SQUASH PIZZA CRUST by Avera

    Servings Per Recipe: 1

    Servings 8
    141 Calories
    10g Fat (63.7% calories from fat)
    9g Protein
    4g Carbohydrate
    0g Dietary Fiber
    78mg Cholesterol
    167mg Sodium.
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

    1 spaghetti squash (about 2-1/4 lb. - to equal 3 cups cooked squash)
    3/4 lb. bulk Italian sausage
    1-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
    1 medium green or red sweet pepper, chopped
    1/3 cup chopped onion
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    1/4 cup sliced black olives
    1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, crushed
    1/8 tsp freshly ground black papper
    2 cups diced tomatoes
    3/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
    3/4 cups shredded parmesan cheese
    1/4 cup snipped Italian parsley

    You can either bake the squash - puncture it with a fork and bake at about 375 for approx. 1 hour or till tender when pierced with a fork -- or microwave the squash. I prefer the microwave method, as it's faster.

    Halve squash crosswise; remove seeds. Place cut sides down in rectangular baking dish. Add 1/4 cup water. Cover with waxed paper (leaving a corner open to vent) and miicrowave on high 13-15 minutes or until squash is tender when pierced with fork. Rearrange squash once during cooking.

    In a large skillet cook sausage, mushrooms, sweet pepper, onion, and garlic until sausage is no longer pink. Stir to break up sausage, then drain the fat.

    Preheat oven to 350 F. Scrape pulp from squash (about 3 cups). Wipe out baking dish and coat with nonstick cooking spray. Spread half the squash in dish, add half the sausage mixture and half the olives. Sprinkle with seasoning and black pepper. Top with half the diced tomatoes and half the cheeses. Top with remaining squash, sausage, olives, and tomatoes.

    Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley. Makes 6 servings.

    www.sparkpeople.com has a great Nutrition calculator
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    lol whew, once I get on Google I get a bit obsessed but hope you enjoy what I found out there!:wink::tongue: :laugh:

    Becca:heart:
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    Hi there,

    We tend to eat Spaghetti squash at least oce or twice a week. Usualy replace pasta with it but I recently seen a recipe for Spaghetti squash pizza. I don't have the recipe with me at work but it's defenitely worth searching online for. Sounds delicious!

    Good Luck!
    AndreeT,
    thanks so much for the idea, would love to have you post anything else you have recipe wise when you get back home when you get a moment. Thanks for the chance for me to get a bit of Googling in :laugh: on the topic, had never heard of the pizze or casserole or Lasagna ideas before.

    Becca:flowerforyou:
  • beccasetsfire
    beccasetsfire Posts: 135
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    My sister taught me this:

    -once you get it cut open and scrape out the seeds
    -wrap it in saran wrap
    -stick it in the microwave for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the squash, it more or less steams itself
    -scrape out the insides with a fork
    -add sauce
    All set!
    Comes out pretty good this way and no stove required .

    *i try to use the stove less in the summer cause it heats up my entire apartment lol
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    My sister taught me this:

    -once you get it cut open and scrape out the seeds
    -wrap it in saran wrap
    -stick it in the microwave for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the squash, it more or less steams itself
    -scrape out the insides with a fork
    -add sauce
    All set!
    Comes out pretty good this way and no stove required .

    *i try to use the stove less in the summer cause it heats up my entire apartment lol
    Thanks, I like the plastic wrap/steaming idea! I'm with you on the oven in the Summer!!:sad: :laugh:

    Becca♥
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    bump
  • viliberty1957
    viliberty1957 Posts: 194
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    bump
  • iguanaliz
    iguanaliz Posts: 95 Member
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    You can also stab the whole squash a few times around (make sure you cut deep enough to fully pierce the shell), put it in a microwave safe dish with a bit of water on the bottom, cover with plastic wrap and pop it in the microwave for 10-20 minutes, depending upon the size. When it's soft, take it out and let it cool. Then you can cut it in half and scrape out all the goodies. No upper body strength or Halloween knives required!
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    :flowerforyou:
  • lacbusybee
    lacbusybee Posts: 5
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    Thanks for the recipes. I love spaghetti squash. I'll have to use one of those recipes.