It looks like spaghetti...sort of...

I still remember the first time my grandma fixed us spaghetti squash.  My sisters and I loved spaghetti and it really didn't taste that much different in a meat sauce, so we gobbled it up and sang the praises.

My children, however, are suspicious of everything.  If it is unrecognizable, they won't touch it...especially Elizabeth.  Just last night, I made potato salad that she refused to touch and then I caught her putting dirt in her mouth during our walk...

Makes me real confident in my cooking, people.  Real confident...

So you would imagine my surprise when I made spaghetti squash last week and both children ate almost an entire plate.  If you're watching your carbs, or counting your veggies, it really doesn't get much better than this.  I can't credit the recipe, since we saw it on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but I did add a few tweaks. 

One side note, if you have any tricks in cutting your squash in half, please let me know.  I swear, I almost went out to find the chainsaw, this puppy was so hard!

Start a pot of water with some salt and drop in your squash, cut in half.  For my family, I actually used two spaghetti squashes (what in the world is the plural of squash??  Squashes...squashi...)

Boil for 15 minutes - now, I have always baked my squash, but this was quicker and gave it a little different taste.  Depending on the size of your squash, you may need to go 20 minutes. 

I chopped up some Italian sausage and began browning it in a pan.  Once it's ready, add a jar of your favorite sauce and heat through.  You could also do browned hamburger or turkey.

At the same time, cut up your veggies and heat up a large saute pan with some olive oil.  Here's where you can choose...but I added onion, green pepper, carrots, celery, broccoli and asparagus.  I cooked them until the onions went clear, but the broccoli and asparagus were still crunchy. 

Then add in your sauce. 

Once the squash is cooked, remove it and spoon out the seeds and innards.  Then, take a fork and scrape out the "spaghetti."  

Combine spaghetti and sauce with vegetables in a 9x13 casserole dish and top with mozzerella.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes until gooey...

mmmmm...

The TV show didn't add the meat, but I thought that really gave it a good flavor...especially since it's all vegetables.  I would show you a picture of my children, but trust me...it wasn't pretty.  Spaghetti never is in our house.

Case in point...

Day 2 leftovers were phenomenal...enjoy!