Spaghetti Squash Bake

Hello my fellow frozen weight loss warriors. It be cold, hey? It is 29 degrees, right now here in Prescott. Brrr. I am sitting by my fireplace, trying to thaw out and wake up. I am having a brain dead morning and I have a migraine firing up so please to forgive if this post makes little or no real sense. :P

Last night, I made a spaghetti squash bake for dinner. And, if I do say so myself, it came out pretty yummy. My husband didn't go anywhere near it. He won't even try new foods. He decides it is gross, just from the name and that is that. But my son loved it. He inhaled over half the casserole dish full. I ate a pretty nice sized portion, myself.

This took a little doing, but it wasn't complicated. And you could make it faster by using jarred sauce. Which I would have done, had I had it on hand. But since I didn't, I made my own.

As I assembled this recipe, I calculated the total calories in all ingredients, added it all up and then divided to get calories per serving. The entire pan of this stuff came out to 868 calories. Four servings would be 217 per serving. Three servings, 289 serving and two huge eat like a field hand and gobble like a hog servings are 434 each. Not too bad. Even tho I didn't eat a full half the pan, I counted mine at that calorie rate, since I am all about rounding up. :D Spaghetti squash is 23 calories for 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup weighs in at two ounces.

Okay, here is the recipe. This is really flexible, add meat or veggie protein or veggies, different herbs and so forth to suit your own tastes and nutritional needs. (Just remember that with changes, you have to calculate calories.)

One spaghetti squash (I had 32 ounces of squash strings after nuking and shredding.)
1/2 cup-ish finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
8 ounce package of sliced mushrooms
4 T. tomato paste
1small can tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes with juice (I think next time I am going to drain the diced and use extra tomato sauce, instead, the juice makes the sauce a tad watery after baking.)
1 ounce shredded 2% cheddar cheese
Herbage of your choice
Cooked meat, fowl, veggie burger or crumbles, if desired

Preheat your oven to 375 and lube a two quart casserole dish with Pam.

In a large saute pan heat a little Pam, then add onions, garlic and mushrooms. Salt lightly to make the 'shrooms give up their moisture and cook until the onions are slightly transparent and the liquid from the mushrooms has pretty much cooked down. Add tomato paste and stir it all together. Then dump in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Stir well, then add herbage of your choice. I used a little more salt, some black pepper and a little oregano. I prefer basil but I didn't have it on hand. Let your sauce cook for a while, stirring now and then. Taste and adjust seasonings to your own preference.

While your sauce is simmering, bake or nuke your spaghetti squash, shred it and place it in a large mixing bowl. Add your sauce and stir it all together gently and transfer the whole business to your casserole dish. Level it off and sprinkle the top with the cheese. Toss it in the oven and let it bake until it is all bubbly and hot and the cheese is gooey.

Chow down.

Here is a pic of my dish, from last night.

I am embarrassed to have you see the handles on that dish! It is clean, but the handles have a baked on build up that just won't scrub away, any more. *face is red*

It is chilly, chilly this fine, sunny morning. A little warmer than mornings have been, lately. It was on the upper twenties for a low. Downright balmy. :P

I think I have more to talk about but my head is really ramping up and I am starting to have trouble thinking and typing. So, I'll catch up with you all, later. *kisses*