Spaghetti night

amymeenieminymo
amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
edited September 27 in Food and Nutrition
We generally have spaghetti once a week because it is cheap, quick, and easy and I almost always have the ingredients in the house even if I haven't made it to the store. The problem is, I am so sick of it. Last night I had to dump out the second half of my bowl because I literally almost threw up (sorry for the TMI) that's how sick of it I am.

Can someone give me a recipe to change it up or something? I've tried using different noodles, I don't know why but sometimes different noodles can help, lol. Most of the time even though my husband has sauce, I put a butter spray on mine, but I'm sick of that too. How can I change up our spaghetti night but still have it be the easy go-to meal for the week?

Or, does anyone have a recipe for a different staple meal, that's just as quick and easy as spaghetti (and healthy :)

Replies

  • BastaConLaPasta
    BastaConLaPasta Posts: 76
    When you say, spaghetti - do you mean pasta and butter? or are you doing a sauce?
  • Dkittery
    Dkittery Posts: 82
    Sometimes I add chicken into the sauce (after it's cooked) or hamburger and I use different noodles. My kids love the hamburger, I love the chicken. :)
  • Tic_Tac_Toe
    Tic_Tac_Toe Posts: 33
    Maybe change the sauces and add more veggies??
  • RoniDoll
    RoniDoll Posts: 262
    use polenta instead of noodles :)
  • lexlundin
    lexlundin Posts: 9
    I have the same problem with cabbage rolls.
    I use to think that I would never get sick of them. Well I did and it was a staple part of my diet.
    Got to switch back to curry chicken once again : (

    Oh yea, Meat sauce is also good on mashed potatoes. I eat that quit a bit.
  • kaitimae
    kaitimae Posts: 727 Member
    Try a spaghetti bake! Make whatever noodles you like (any kind, doesn't HAVE to be spaghetti), and then in a big bowl (or the noodle pot after you drain them), mix in a jar of sauce, 16 oz. of cottage cheese, some mozzerella (however much you would like, I usually do a couple cups), some parmesean if you like it too. I also love to add a few handfuls of spinach!!!

    Mix all that up and pour it in a greased 9x13 pan, and sprinkle a little more mozz on top so it gets melty when you bake it... I do 350 for however long it takes for the cheese to melt... half an hour?

    We call this "lazy day lasagna" in our family. =)
  • Daisy_May
    Daisy_May Posts: 505 Member
    Last time I wanted to change it up a bit I tried it with no yolk egg noodles, added a little fat free sour cream and laughing cow cheese to the sauce while it simmered. Added a little extra lean ground beef and made it into sort of a lazy lasagna, it was SO good! and even less calories then my normal spaghetti because of the egg noodles, and it was twice the serving!
  • nelster
    nelster Posts: 19 Member
    My husband prefers baked spaghetti. It is just your regular spaghetti with sauce recipe, cooked and ready to go, but then baked in a pyrex dish for 30 min or so. I use wheat pasta because it is healthier, sometimes I use pesto instead of tomato sauce, and I put shredded cheese on most of it (I leave part of it cheese-free for me.) I like to bake it until it is just a bit crispy on the edges and it kind of tastes different, although I am not sure why! I also sometimes mix up a raw egg, some cottage cheese or sour cream, and then mix it in with the pasta which kind of adds a bit to the pasta, like lasagna I guess.
  • mammado11
    mammado11 Posts: 26
    Have you tried making your pasta and adding light ir fat free italian dressing to them? I do that and add sliced cucumbers! You could also add cut up tomatoes, olives...

    A quick meal I make is Taco Pie

    Unroll 2 packages of crescent rolls onto cookie sheet, bake 1/2 way @350. While they're in the oven prepare 1 1/2 lbs of taco meat. The leaner the meat the healthier, once it's done add a small can of tomato sauce and cook until warm. When the crescent rolls are done spread taco mix over crescents and top with shredded cheese and bake until crescents are browned. Then slice it up. You can add olives, chopped lettuce, sour cream, salsa.... My family loves it!
  • R_is_for_Rachel
    R_is_for_Rachel Posts: 381 Member
    pesto!
  • BastaConLaPasta
    BastaConLaPasta Posts: 76
    Okay, some of my favourite pasta recipes:

    Prawns, basil, rocket, chilli, lemon, black pepper and cherry tomatoes roasted in the oven.
    Peas, fetta and mint
    mushrooms sauteed in a tiny bit of olive oil with thyme and garlic
    anchovies "melted" in tinned tomatoes and topped with rocket, spinach and parmesan
    pesto/ pesto and strips of grilled of chicken
    black olives, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves
    roasted zucchini, eggplant, peppers, msuhrooms
  • mommacool
    mommacool Posts: 138 Member
    Pasta Broccoli!! Family favorite. Here are the ingredients I copied from my recipe on MFP. This is for a big recipe, but you can halve or quarter it.

    Broccoli - Raw, 6 cup, chopped 180 35 2 15 Ico_delete
    Barilla - Penne, 24 oz 2,400 504 12 84 Ico_delete
    Olive Oil - Extra Virgin, 5 tbsp 600 0 70 0 Ico_delete
    Sargento - Shredded Part-Skim Mozzerella Cheese, 1/2 cup 160 2 10 14 Ico_delete
    Private Selection - Grated Parmesean Cheese, 3 oz/ 1/4 cup 270 0 18 27 Ico_delete
    Garlic - Raw, 9 cloves 40 9 0 2 Ico_delete
    Add Ingredient
    Total: 3650 550 112 142

    In a big pot boil water for pasta. Cook Pasta, Add broccoli to the same pot with about 2 or 3 minutes left to cook on the pasta (depending on how al dente you like your broccoli).

    While this is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan and soften the chopped garlic (be careful not to brown it). After straining the pasta, toss the pasta and broccoli with the oi and garlic and the cheeses.

    Top with red pepper flakes if you like some spice. Great with shrimp, scallops, or grilled chicken. You can add other vegetables too. Also good with Asparagus!

    It is fast (15-20 minutes) and really good. My kids LOVE it!!
  • kateanne27
    kateanne27 Posts: 275 Member
    My family likes when I make shrimp or chicken alfredo, I change it up depending on what I have on hand, but I start with some diced onions and garlic sauted in a tiny bit of light margarine and make a roux by adding a little flour flour, add a some low fat low sodium chicken broth and some fat free evaporated milk, stir in some fresh grated (thats key for a smooth sauce) cheese of whatevers on hand, parm, moz, provalone. add some cooked shrimp or chicken and spinach, broccoli, asparagus, a can of diced tomatoes, or whatever I have and toss it whit whatever pasta I have on hand. goes over every time.
    I havent made it in a while because even tho I lightened the recipe up its so good its hard to stick to proper portion sizes, I also never measure otherwise I would give you a proper recipe.
  • BastaConLaPasta
    BastaConLaPasta Posts: 76
    alternative to pasta - rice. Boil, let it go cold. Chuck it in a wok, throw in some veggies, break and egg over it, mix it in to kind of 'bind' the rice. Serve with soy and sweet chilli sauces.

    otherwise - buy arborio or canaroli rice and do risotto.
  • BamBam1113
    BamBam1113 Posts: 542 Member
    I use spaghetti squash now instead of noodles but here's something I used to fix when I wanted spaghetti with a little extra oompf:

    Pizza Baked Spaghetti

    1 lb ground hamburger
    1 jar Ragu spaghetti sauce (whichever you prefer
    1 onion
    1 green pepper
    1 jar mushrooms
    2 bags shredded mozzarella cheese
    package of sliced pepperoni
    grated parmesean cheese

    1 - Brown hamburger and drain.
    2 - Saute onions (chopped) and green pepper (chopped)
    3 - Add onions, peppers, mushrooms, and beef to sauce
    4 - Heat sauce (I add some italian seasonings with it at this point and let it simmer for a bit)
    5 - Cook noodles
    6 - In a deep pan, put layer of noodles, then layer of sauce, layer of cheese, pepperoni, noodles, sauce cheese, pepperoni.
    7 - Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted
  • wheelieblade
    wheelieblade Posts: 323
    not sure about the calorie etc value but have you tried rice noodles?
  • Wuggums
    Wuggums Posts: 339 Member
    WooHoo BamBam! I'm also a huge fan of spaghetti squash - I use it in everything that I used to use pasta in.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    I use spaghetti squash with marinara sauce, chicken and a broccoli and cheese just for one mixed in.
  • heatherfrancis
    heatherfrancis Posts: 100
    I love spaghetti! thanks for the ideas! I really like the ideas for lazy bakes..
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    When you say, spaghetti - do you mean pasta and butter? or are you doing a sauce?


    Well I make pasta with sauce, but before I put it on (because my husband likes it) I take plain noodles for myself and put butter on them...and sometimes I just eat it with the spaghetti sauce on it.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    use polenta instead of noodles :)

    What is polenta? Can I get it at the regular grocery store?
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    Lots of great new ideas, thanks everyone!
  • otr12
    otr12 Posts: 632 Member
    We put spaghetti sauce in an egg white omelet.
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