mmmm Spaghetti Squash!

Spaghetti Squash! SO many have told me how they LOVE this stuff! How it is a staple in their diet, how they substitute it for real spaghetti!.. I've always been afraid of the stuff! A big hard rock that is suppose to resemble Spaghetti when you cook it!
So a couple months ago I bought one!
Not really sure how to cook it I went online and started looking up recipes. Well I was BOMBARDED with recipes! Which for some reason made it even more terrifying but also so much more intriguing! "what is this stuff!"
 So I did the most 'simple' thing I had herd...substitute it for your regular spaghetti and dress it just like you would the delish italian carb you normally eat! So there I sat, a nice plate of spaghetti Sqash smothered in  my fav tomato sauce ...my heart still racing from the loud noises I made banging the darn thing on the counter trying to pry the thing apart to cook it, and burnt fingers from scraping out the piping hot strands of squash when it was done baking. Lets just say I was waaay amateur at this thing! Well my first bite was ....disappointing, the stuff did not taste anything like the delectable stuff I call spaghetti (can you tell how much I LOVE spaghetti!)
To be honest it wasn't bad it just didn't taste as I expected! Or possibly hoped.

A few weeks after my Spaghetti Squash experience it came up in conversation and someone stated, its so good but it definitely can't replace real spaghetti its different in its own yummy way! Then the light bulb went on! I was only disappointed as I thought I would of found a substitute for my yummy yummy but carb filling spaghetti, but when I took that expectation out of the equation it was so good! So I went and bought another one! This time putting mushroom Alfredo sauce on it, it was good.

Although I still was not 100% satisfied or ready to join the "Spaghetti Squash Club"  and determined to love this stuff ( anyone who knows how I love to eat knows it kills me when I don't like something... so I eat it until I love the stuff! ) I started looking again for a recipe I could follow.  With knowing my previous experience of this I was prepared, open to ideas and my kitchen had endless possibilities. I found a recipe for lasagna spaghetti squash bowls! But I didn't have many of the ingredients so I turned the computer off and raided my kitchen for what ever I thought might be good in lasagna! After some creation and not a clue of how this might taste, dinner was served! My hubby loved it and even asked if I could make it again! :) yay me! Finally I LOVE spaghetti squash!! I am so happy I was able to create this meal! I love creating dishes off the top of my head with what ever I have I always have...my sisters called me crazy when I was little but I just have so much fun!

 So here it is!


Cut Spaghetti Squash in half, brush olive oil on and sprinkle with salt and pepper
bake your spaghetti squash. While that is baking roast some garlic.
Cut end off of garlic bunch brush with olive oil and bake with olive oil side down.

While those are baking, cut up a small onion and cook down with a tbsp of olive oil, I love garlic so I also added some fresh garlic. ( my tomato sauce had mushrooms in it, but if you have a tomato sauce that doesn't but you want mushrooms in it add them now) Once onions are transparent add some ground beef, and brown. When everything is all cooked up added your tomato sauce ( I used a mushroom tomato spaghetti sauce) Simmer.

Once your Spaghetti Squash is done and after it has cooled enough to touch scrape Spaghetti Squash from sides of the skin or  "bowl" as I like to call them. Keeping the Squash in the "bowl" mix in your roasted garlic and stir in some cottage cheese. then add your yummy tomato meat sauce and sprinkle with cheese on top.

I popped those lil guys back in the oven to melt the cheese on top and dinner was ready!