Monday Meals: Spags Squash

Now that we are very well acquainted with quinoa, lets explore a new substitute for things you love and eat all the time.

Spaghetti Squash! Yaaaay!

Spags squash is my favorite carb-void filler. It is easy enough to roast and then you can be fancy and make some thing delicious to go with, or you can be lazy and pour a jar of store bought sauce and it is just as delicious, and you can eat dinner before 10 p.m. Wheeee!

I prefer to roast it but it requires some he-lady knife skills.

How to Roast the Spags squash:
First preheat the oven to 375.

Then slice that monster in half, long-wise. It will be intense. So be cool.

Fun fact, my newest addition to my hand-scar collection came from me pushing too hard on the back of a knife. This is not a joke.

Once its cut, scoop the seeds out ala a Halloween pumpkin.

Once the oven is preheated put the halves in a baking dish (not a cookie sheet, something with a rim) - make sure you put them skin/rind side up (innards side down).

Then cook it for 35ish minutes (when it starts getting brown on top, you can call it).

How to nuke the Spags Squash:
If you are feeling SO.Lazy - you can microwave it and/or you can keep it whole when cooking.

If you keep it whole, poke a fork in it at least 10 times all over the place so it doesn't explode.

If you microwave it (which you can do whole or halves or quarters, whatever) - put a little bit of water (1/4 cup or less) in a cooking dish (I just use a bowl that is big enough to fit the piece I am cooking) and then cook it for about 5 minutes per half, or 10 minutes for the whole thing. It will be squishy when it is done.

Done Cooking?:
Use your oven mitts to flip one half over and take a fork to it to make sure the noodle-y bits come out easy. That's how you know it is donezo.

Then let it cool for a while otherwise you have a one-way ticket to ouchy-burn town. And then use a fork to scrape it and create your noodles.

Then you'll have noodles. Boom. Make this yum yum alfredo business. Or this taco-y version. Or just throw some jar sauce on it - maybe some protein if you are feeling crah-zey.

We're halfway through Lent! My breath apparently smells terrible from the lack of carbs in my diet (we self-diagnosed a little bit of ketosis), I am going to try to drink about a zillion times more water and chew some sugarless gum, but this party might end/change slightly for me if this butt-breath thing does not work itself out.