What's for dinner?

To lighten the mood a bit...

Last weekend when we were visiting my family, my sister graciously sent us home with some YUMMY produce from her garden. We hadn't ever tried a spaghetti squash before, so I have to admit I was a little unsure of it. I really like zucchini and yellow/summer squash, but I've never been a fan of the acorn or butternut squash.

So, my sister gave me some hints for how to cook it. Then, because I can't remember and I'm not a good cook (I need to have a detailed recipe spelled out for me), I started looking for recipes that were similar to what she'd told me. What I made was delicious! Jock and Kaylen liked it too - although not too surprising because they like most anything. And healthy too - substituting the veggies for the pasta! I didn't even know there was such a thing as spaghetti squash, but it really is very stringy and looks a bit like spaghetti when you run your fork through it.

Here's a picture (pardon the blurryness - I've misplaced my camera and I'm not very good with the one on my phone).






...and the recipe (from cooks.com):
BAKED SPAGHETTI SQUASH DINNER

1 spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise
1 lb. hamburger, extra lean
1 sm. onion, grated
Salt and pepper
1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 c. canned tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. basil leaves, crumbled

Boil halves of spaghetti squash face down in 2 inches of water for 20 minutes or until mildly tender. Break hamburger into small pieces and partially fry with onion, salt and pepper in butter. When cooled, remove inner shreds of spaghetti squash from both halves and mix lightly with hamburger and tomato sauce. Add basil; return mixture to spaghetti squash shells. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

(**Actually, I didn't fry the meat/onions in butter, just browned almost all the way done. I also didn't use basil or tomato sauce - used my standard Prego Traditional spaghetti sauce - that's what I had available in my pantry today.)

The three of us polished off 1/2 of the recipe, and saved the other 1/2 for dinner tomorrow. I'm sure we could have eaten more, but we didn't. I served it with fresh tomatoes also from Amy's garden - YUMMY! Enjoy!