Spaghetti Squash Adventure

Hello all!

Two things:
(1) I swam a mile today!  I know it might not seem like that big of an accomplishment to some people, but to me swimming 32 laps (which equals a mile) is a reason to be proud! :)
(2) I cooked spaghetti squash for the first time tonight for dinner.  I've had it at restaurants and seen many pinterest recipes using it.  I must admit, I WAS a bit nervous to cook it because it seemed complicated.  It was decidedly NOT that complicated and my first attempt was a success.

Since I've conquered the spaghetti squash beast, I thought I'd share what I did.  It was fairly simple, delicious, and points friendly.

We start with a spaghetti squash which looks like this:

I got mine for 79 cents/pound at a local produce market, but you can get them anywhere produce is sold. I also procured some "fixins" to go WITH my spaghetti squash.  I used tuna, peas, sauteed onions, Brummel and Brown spread (my fave), and Parmesan cheese blend.

I pre-heated the oven to 350 and cooked the spaghetti squash for 45 minutes. I poked a few holes in mine with a knife because I had read some horror stories about squashes blowing up in microwaves and ovens. After 45 minutes, it wasn't soft at all.  So I upped the temp to 375, cooked it for about another 30 minutes and it as very soft (my knife went straight through).

While the squash was baking, I sauteed the onions until they were soft-ish then added the peas and tuna until all was well blended and warm. I also used a little Tabasco for taste.

After taking my squash out of the oven and testing it to be sure it was soft, I promptly cut my squash in half, mine looked like this.

You need to remove the seeds and middle pulp. Don't start scraping the sides yet (that's where you'll get the nice noodle shaped strands).

After you remove the pulp you can start scraping out the strands with a regular old fork.  It should look like the pictures above when you start scraping. I sprayed the same skillet I used earlier with cooking spray and sauteed the spaghetti strands for a few minutes.  Mine turned out a little crunchy, so I might try sauteeing longer next time.

After sauteeing it, I added 2-3 tablespoons of Brummel and Brown and about a quarter of a cup grated Parmesan cheese.  Then I mixed in the mixture of tuna, peas, and onions that I had cooked earlier.

Finished product!  It was truly delicious.  I ate two big bowls and did not feel guilty at all!  I even have leftovers for lunch tomorrow! :)  Like I said before, mine was a little crunchy (still delicious), but other than that I consider my first effort a success!

Until next time!
BK