Spaghetti Squash: My Official Review

It's all over Pinterest.

It's all over the health blogs.

The reviews are so positive, it is almost unbelievable.

"I Love spaghetti squash!  Didn't even miss the pasta."

"My picky kids and husband ate it and didn't even know the difference."

"Turned out just as I hoped it would.  So yummy!!"

Hmmm.  I needed to check this out.  I was a little skeptical for a number of reasons.  I just kept thinking...those people who rate spaghetti squash CLEARLY do not love pasta (or anything carb-filled) the way I do.  And even thought I consider myself a pretty skilled cook (at all things "easy"), I will still expecting the squash to turn out looking like mashed potatoes, rather than the stringy "pasta" consistency.

So I bought one.

And researched how to cook it...

YIKES.  There are about 15 different ways.

After consulting my sister, who I consider an expert on all things healthy, and my mother-in-law, who was coming over for dinner that night, I decided to go with cutting it in half (easier said than done...)

Notice my lovely knife-skills with the uneven "halves." I'll just say, that's what I was going for...

Brushed it with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  A little roast in the oven for 45 minutes at 375 degrees, and I got this...

Yay!  Strings not mush!

I made a batch of chicken cacciatore (recipe below) to put over it.  For those who were a little leary of the spaghetti squash, and in case I needed a back up, I also made some whole wheat pasta.

Healthy eating is all about portion sizing.  I love my pasta, but the correct portion for me is 1/2 cup.  Now, I could have done some tricky photography and placed it on a tiny, toddler plate to make 1/2 cup of pasta look like it would be enough to satisfy my tummy, but that's what the "healthy" blogs do to fool you.

So here's a real comparison.  On a real plate.

1/2 cup of whole wheat pasta.  (I think there are maybe 15 spirals here...)

1 cup of spaghetti squash.

After plating up my meal and digging in here are my pros and cons.

Pro:  The taste was WAY better than I expected it to be.  Actually there wasn't much of a taste to the actual squash, it is more what you put on it or with it.

Con:  It was a tad crunchy.  I could have probably baked it another 5 minutes longer, but I didn't want it to be mushy.

Pro:  It really was easy to prepare.

Con:  It was NOT easy to cut in half.

Pro:  I can think of many ways to eat this and replace a lot of the pasta I was having before.

Con:  It is pricey when compared to pasta at the store.  The one spaghetti squash cost me over $4.00.  I can buy 4 bags of pasta for that.  Although...it did yield more "fruit" than I thought it would originally.

Pro:  I get 1 full cup of spaghetti squash vs. the teeny tiny 1/2 cup of whole wheat pasta!

Now that's a dinner!

Chicken Cacciatore (modified from Skinny Taste recipe)
- 4 chicken breasts, thawed
- 1/2 red pepper
- 1/2 green bell pepper
- 1/2 orange bell pepper
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 28 oz. can low sodium crushed tomatoes
- any mixture of Italian spices (I used, basil, oregano, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and a bay leaf)
- salt and pepper to taste

Place all of the above in a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours, or until done.

PS...I do not measure much, I just dump and pour.  Drives my hubby nuts :)