Spaghetti Squash

If you're like me, you've heard of spaghetti squash, but have no real clue as to what it is, how to cook it or what it taste like. Well, since I'm not eating pasta for dinners (or really lunch either), I decided to give it a try. First, I researched what is spaghetti squash. Foolishly, I thought it was regular, yellow-squash that people somehow carved with a fork to make noodle-looking shapes. Wrong.

Spaghetti squash it's a type of squash, much larger than normal squash. Think the size of a cantaloupe or small watermelon. It is yellow and oblong. I purchased mine at HEB. There are several ways to cook it, but I cooked it by cutting it in half, length wise. (Okay, okay, my boyfriend cut it for me because this is a BIG boy!) Next, I scrapped all the goop out of there. Originally, I thought you were supposed to eat this goop, but after some trial and error and more reading, I found out it's not even the good stuff! Which, I was very thankful to read since it barely had anything in it and I thought I paid money for 1/5 cup of fake noodles!

Anyway, after you remove the strings and seeds. Place the two halves, open side up in the oven and bake at 375 for approximately 20-25 minutes. Remove it, let it cool and then begin using your fork to scrape the edges width wide. (You can do it length wise, but your noodles will be pieces vs. longer 4 inch-ish strands.). Here's what mine looked like when I started scraping it:

 

 

 After I scraped out approximately 4cups, I baked them for about 15-20 minute longer with olive oil on it. They were delicious in my shrimp spaghetti (rotel, shrimp, onion and broccoli mixture). Here's my final dinner:

 

 

 

1 cup of spaghetti squash + 1 cup of my shrimp spaghetti made a delicious and filling meal for only 292 calories! You cannot beat that. Enjoy:) 



Soup Weather

Earlier this week, I made homemade French onion soup for the first time. It was a simple and delicious recipe that I fell in love with last fall in Alaska. And I love any excuse to use my new bakeware, which was perfect for seving this great soup:

 

 

I love cooking and think great home cooked meals come from the heart. With that being said, I did not follow this recipe exactly. I rarely do!: 

 

 Instead of brandy, I used one cup of red wind (and drank the rest!). Instead of beef stock, I used veggie stock. I only needed  8 oz of cheese (or less). I used four, yellow onions and thought it was the pefect amount. I chopped them in 1 inch to 2 inch rectangles. I added garlic and pepper. I did not simmer for nearly as long as it recommends and I definitely did not broil anywhere near the length noted. Any time you broil, you have to keep an eye on it; it will burn very easily.

 

This recipe made four, healthy servings and reheated perfectly. If you're currently enjoying soup weather, I'd like to recommed this recipe. Please provide feedback if you added or changed anything else; I'd love to hear from you!