What? No Pasta?

What's your first thought when you read the title?  Be honest.  Mine is "*@&*!, you've got to be @$%*&#$ me!" 

Check this out:  Tonight me and the Mrs. cranked out an excellent alternative.  Spaghetti squash!  What?  Trust me. 

If you are intimidated by the very mention of it, rest assured.  It's easy and it's really good.

<---Here's what they look like (thanks yahoo image search)

Here's what we did: 

1:  Cut a spaghetti squash in half the long way.  Scoop out the seedy stuff (it looks like the inside of a pumpkin).  Put the halves face down in a baking pan with about 1/4" if water and toss it in the oven for 45 minutes at 375F. 

2:  While that's happening, make some sauce (skip this step if you already know how). Brown up a pound of your favorite ground meat (unless you opt out of the meat department) and saute (in butter of course) a bunch of peppers, onion, and garlic.  Feel free to add whatever you would normally use in spaghetti sauce, you're the one eating it! 

3:  When the meat and veggies are ready, pour on the marinara (doesn't have to be expensive or flavored or have a brand name on it, the flavor will come from all the ingredients you're adding anyway) and spice to your liking.  I like oregano, so I use a lot of that. 

4:  Let it simmer and become more and more delicious.  When the squash is done, scrape the good stuff out of the middle with a fork.  It'll come out looking something like spaghetti, hence the name.  Mix all that in with the sauce and let it simmer for as long as you like. 

5:  Eat.  As an alternative, you can pour it all back into the baking dish, cover it with a layer of cheese and bake it until the cheese melts.  That's what we did tonight.  Fantastic. 

Bonus:  This makes a lot of food (we filled a lasagna pan to the brim and beyond) so there are several to-go lunches for me already packed in the fridge, which means I'll spend 6-8 bucks less at lunch for those days and won't be tempted by stupid chain restaurant garbage food.  Also, it's flippin delicious.  It's win/win/win. 

TSN