what's for dinner tonight {spaghetti squash}.

spaghetti squash. ever had it? so so good. i became a huge fan of it while i did weight watchers for a few months to get rid of excess poundage i put on while in seminary... you know, staying up until 3 am to finish papers and eating to stay awake.

enter: spaghetti squash.

i know some of you may be thinking: what the heck is she talking about?! well, let me tell you. a spaghetti squash is a long oval-shaped yellow squash that when cooked becomes stringy almost like noodles. you should be able to find spaghetti squash at any local grocery store... nick and i just bought ours from an orchard where we picked apples recently. they are a staple at farm stands and farmers markets this time of year... a perfect fall meal :) it is a great substitute for pasta for the health conscious or for those who are trying to lose weight. a bunch of my girlfriends and i got on a spaghetti-squash-kick once we discovered it's goodness. we made it alllll the time. it's a fairly easy cooking process, and kind of fun to watch it turn into a spaghetti consistency.

the first time i made it for nick (who thinks anything without meat is just not a meal), i was a bit nervous. i offset it a bit by making a meat sauce to serve it with... and thankfully my not-picky-likes-to-eat-healthy-husband loved it. it's one of our favs. here's a step by step post on how to cook a spaghetti squash. we serve ours with tomato sauce, but that is entirely up to you.

{disclaimer: i desperately wish i had thought to take pictures of each step to share with you... but alas, i did not. this process is really easy, so don't be intimidated!}

spaghetti squash

* 1 spaghetti squash
* 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
* ground turkey, fresh garlic or veggies to add to the sauce, if desired
* 9x13 pan filled halfway with water

- preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- begin by slicing the spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise.
- using a large spoon (i use an ice cream scoop), remove seeds and "guts" from inside the squash.
- place each half in your 9x13 pan, face down in the water.
- bake for close to an hour, depending on the size of your squash and how hot your oven gets. the outer skin may brown, but it won't burn your squash. periodically you can pull your pan out (be careful of the hot water!), flip one half over and check to see how tender your squash is.
- by taking a fork, you can start to pull at the squash until spaghetti-like-strings form... if it pulls easily away from the rind and is tender, it's ready to serve.
- serve topped with your fav tomato sauce. sometimes i sautee ground turkey with some onion and garlic and add that to the sauce... sometimes i add spinach or mushrooms for an extra serving of veggies!

serve with a salad and some bread and you've got one healthy (and delicious) meal. yum.

enjoy!