Sunday, September 23, 2012

Squash the Carbs

Who doesn't enjoy a nice plate of spaghetti, I know I sure do! Although I can tell you the one thing I don't like about spaghetti is the fact that it is packed full of unwanted carbs. Back in high school I ran in track and field and the night before every meet the team would have a spaghetti cookout night, basically carb loading for the meet. So not only would my mother cook spaghetti or some type of pasta every other night but I also had my coaches trying to get me to carb up, which is never the best approach to loosing weight. Carbs are mistaken for being the one food that will boost your energy levels almost instantly, but there are many other healthier food options that will give you instant energy and also help maintain your energy levels.

My take on carbs is you just have to play it smart. I strive to eat clean carbs like sweet potatoes, brown rice, or steel cut oats. Those types of carbs are the good carbs that your body will process for energy, just remember to keep all carbs in moderation because abusing carb intake will just result in stubborn weight staying around.

Now onto the recipe! You will need a spaghetti squash, olive oil, and whatever else you desire for your spaghetti squash noodles. Now take your spaghetti squash and cut it in half vertically. Now that you have it halved you want to take a spoon (I used an ice-cream scooper) to scoop out the insides and the seeds. Don't scoop too hard, treat it like you're cleaning out the inside of a pumpkin.


Now that you have your squash all cleaned and ready to go, take some baking paper and line your cooking sheet with it. Take your olive oil and drizzle about 1 to 2 tsp on the inside of the spaghetti squash, then place the two halves open side down and bake for 45 to 60 mins at 375 F degrees.


Once the time is up take your squash out and let it cool for 10 minutes. Then you want to take your scooper again and start scraping at the inner sides of the squash. You will begin to notice noodle like pieces pulling up as your continue to scrape. Hollow out both halves of the squash and place in a serving bowl where you can add whichever other ingredients you wish! I made one serving just plain with sautéed mushrooms mixed in and another one with organic marinara sauce on top.



Spaghetti squash is super delicious and good for you! Plus it has minimal carbs since it is a vegetable. This is just another healthy food alternative that I make sure is a part of my everyday clean eating routine.

4 comments:

  1. Yes! I've been wanting to try spaghetti squash, and now I will with your recipe! I love spaghetti, but also hate all the unwanted carbs it comes with. When I try this recipe, after removing the spaghetti squash from the oven and scraping the noodles out, I might try adding the noodles to a skillet and adding herbs to flavor it up a bit. Thanks for the recipe!

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    1. Yay! You are very welcome for the recipe. I can't get enough of spaghetti squash and the best part is that one squash will make up to 5 servings. This meal is great for a family dinner or great for your own meal and then you can save the leftovers for the rest of the week since spaghetti squash seems to last and taste just as good as a leftover. And your rendition of the recipe sounds amazing, I might have to try that as well next time because I am always sautéing veggies on the side anyways.

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  2. Wow. Very interesting. This would be great for kids, too, to almost trick them into eating healthy food. Very smart post. Most people tend to think "loading up on carbs" is good for a workout, but in reality I just get tired after eating a big bowl of angel hair or a ton of bread. I think switching to healthy carbs makes a HUGE difference in weight loss, and energy levels. Love the recipe. Would like to see more recipes that incorporate healthy carbs, such as brown rice. I know a lot about what foods are good for you but not much about how the heck to make these foods, so thank you.

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    1. Thank you, and yes it would be great for kids since they never want to eat their veggies. I completely agree with you on the whole carb confusion and how to approach it the best possible way. I am actually starting a personal challenge for myself this Monday and I will be experimenting with carb cycling. Basically you stop your carb intake for a certain number of days so your body pulls its nutrient and energy from your stored fat. I just did a recent post about my upcoming plans for this challenge and I included links to some articles about carb cycling. Be sure to check back for further recipes cover healthy carbs.

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