Spaghetti Dinner for 40 Calories

Yesterday was a bad day at work. We received news that a coworker in another unit committed suicide. It was a shocking, heart-wrenching bomb to the office. Everyone was in shock and there was a dark cloud over the office. I didn’t know her well but I still wonder “Why?”. I cannot even imagine how her family must be feeling and the “Whys” they are asking. Something like this really puts life in perspective. Your own little annoyances, problems and dramas suddenly don’t seem that big a deal.

I work in a stressful, ugly line of work. As a result we have to become jaded and immune to the ugliness that we see. That doesn’t mean we don’t feel sadness and loss when something bad happens though.

You never know how to deal with a tragedy. What are the right words? What are the healthy feelings? All I wanted to do yesterday was go home and hug Michael and snuggle with my kitties. And cook.

First ingredient: Ice.

Second ingredient: Vodka.

Add a little sparkling water for zero calories:

End result: the perfect low calorie drink after a really, really bad day.

The Dinner Menu for Tuesday night was spaghetti and meatballs. But the twist is that we were making spaghetti squash instead of pasta. 1 Cup of Spaghetti Squash = about 40 calories.

The squash is actually pretty easy to make and it doesn’t take an hour to bake like I originally thought. Cut the squash in half and get rid of the seeds in the middle.

Place it face down in a pan with some water in it. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes. I believe we did it for 30 minutes and Michael and I agree it should have baked for probably 40 minutes.

While the spaghetti squash was baking, I made turkey meatballs.

We use lean ground turkey. Add some breadcrumbs, mayo, Italian seasoning and minced garlic. Mush it all up.

Then form the meatballs by hand.

The size doesn’t matter. It depends on if you want big or small meatballs. The only trick is to make them all the same size so they cook evenly.

Cook the meatballs in a skillet with some Olive Oil. Rotate them to make sure they brown evenly.

After the meatballs are brown, remove from skillet. Heat the spaghetti sauce and then add the meatballs to the sauce while it cooks.

By this time the squash was finished. Remove the “spaghetti” from the squash with a fork.

Top the spaghetti squash with the sauce and meatballs.

This dish is a fantastic alternative to high calorie pasta. Instead of it being 800+ calories, it’s more like 400 calories.

Dinner was good but not perfect. Next time we’ll bake the squash a little longer and the meatballs a little less. They were a tad on the dry side.

Michael and I ended the evening with Mad Men and House and then off to bed.

QUESTION: How do you use spaghetti squash? Any good recipes to share?