Spaghetti Squash "Pasta"!

If you haven't figured out yet, I am a huge fan of creating healthy Italian inspired meals!

Here's how I made my spaghetti squash pasta dish:

Start out with one whole spaghetti squash:

Preheate the oven to 350 and stick the whole squash in on a baking sheet:

I let the squash bake for a bit before cutting it, since it was WAY too hard at first :) so when it is partially baked, pull it out of the oven and slice it in half and put it back in the oven:

I put it in cut side up, but I think you can do it either way. 

When the squash was getting close to done, I started to heat up a skillet with olive oil and some seasoning for the "pasta" fixins:

Tonight's was fresh green beans and chicken meatballs:

As those are cooking up, I took the spaghetti squash out and started shredding it!

I shredded both halves and got so much "pasta"!

For the sauce I used some fresh pesto from the refrigerated section at the store:

I threw about half of the container in the skillet with the meatballs and green beans, and that was that!

This came out so great! The feeling of eating a big plate of pasta with out the bloated feelings later! 

And did I mention the spaghetti squash was only 99 cents?! A lot of bang for your buck! We had lots of spaghetti squash left over.

What I also love about this meal is it can be done multiple ways, so look out for my recipes for leftovers!

Winner Winner! Chicken Dinner!

Here's a healthy Italian style chicken dinner!

My portions will make a hearty dinner for two :)

Start by peeling up four small squash:

Once that's done start heating up a skillet with olive oil and red chili flakes:

After it has gotten nice and hot, add the peeled squash "pasta" and veggie of your choice (mine was broccoli!):

While those start cooking up I get out two skinless chicken breasts:

I don't know why that's upside down? Hehe

Anyway, I throw them into a separate skillet with olive oil, some Mrs. Dash and fresh ground pepper:

I like when the chicken gets I little brown on the outside! Cooking each side as needed:

When they are getting close to done add a little sauce of your choice (mine was plain diced tomatoes in garlic and olive oil) to your "pasta":

And Winner Winner!

This meal was filling, delicious, and fiancé approved! I grew up with Italian food, so it has always been my favorite so I am glad to be able to make some healthier options :)

What about you?!

Zucchini "Pasta" With Ground Turkey Sauce!

Craving a pasta dinner, but don't want to have the heaviness of noodles? 

Try my zucchini "pasta"!

First I took about 4 or 5 zucchini and shredded them with a veggie peeler:

After they were all peeled I threw them all in a heated pan with olive oil and red pepper flakes:

Stir occasionally:

As the zucchini was cooking, I started up some ground turkey:

As the turkey was cooking I added some broccoli, which would soon be part of the sauce:

Once the turkey and broccoli start cooking up I added some sauce (bought it at Trader Joes):

After everything was all cooked up I topped the zucchini "noodles" with the ground turkey sauce:

Delish! All the satisfaction of a pasta dish, but more veggies packed in! 

This dish was still filling, but without the bogged down feeling of a ton of pasta! 

You can mix it up with any type of sauce, or do it vegetarian style!