Category: Food

Best Eggplant Parmesan is with Tomatoes!

I know, eggplant parmesan has marinara sauce. That’s not what this is about.  I get a 1/2 share of a CSA.  It’s a local co-op of farms, and you sign up to get a weekly box of fruits and veggies (and other stuff, if you choose to purchase those shares). I get a 1/2 share, because I am single and the amount I get from that is more than enough.

Last week, we get eggplant, which is such an awesome one to get in season.  They were on the small side, but I really wanted to make eggplant parmesan. Its a great dish, and I can container it for lunch for the week.  I went on pinterest and found this great recipe.

Best Baked Eggplant Parmesan

I LOVE this recipe for so many reasons.

  1. It uses 1/2 panko and 1/2 traditional breadcrumbs, which creates a great mixture
  2. It calls for fresh mozzarella.  This makes it sooooo much better than bagged shredded
  3. It recommends fresh parmesan
  4. It also calls for fresh basil

Because I worried about having enough eggplant, I had to find a way to “beef” it up.  I realized I had gotten beefsteak tomatoes in the CSA too, and the recipe had instructions for breading and baking the eggplant on a sheet in the oven.  It’s really similar to a baked version of a fried green tomato.  Eureka!  I did one sheet full of eggplant, and one sheet of tomatoes.

I also used an oven-roasted marinara that I had made prior, which was also full of CSA veggies.  That recipe is here:

Oven Roasted Marinara

I didn’t have any tomato paste to add, and wished I had, after I tried it over pasta, but when I added it to this dish, it came out glorious. I add a quartered bell pepper and a quartered jalapeño pepper to the veggies I roast. I then add 1-2 cans of tomato paste when I throw everything in the processor.

 

 

I will forever make my eggplant parm this way.

Have Taco Bowl, Will Travel

I wanted to go more vegetarian, for my lunches this week.  Taco salads seemed a nice fresh option, so the only challenge was really how to package the parts of the salad. I didn’t want the lettuce getting soggy, and did want to be able to prep everything for the week, at the beginning of the week.

There is very little prep, and the packaging I attempted, seems to be working well.  There is plenty of room to make this vegan or to add meat, so variations are easy to make.

Because there is a recall on romaine, I didn’t want to take a chance on that.  For that reason, I used 1/2 spinach and 1/2 lemon arugula.  That is working well, although I do need to cut it up more. Finely cut romaine would make this wonderful, although the spinach and arugula are laden with nutrients, so I won’t complain too much.  Because everything is pretty much optional and can be substituted with any other suitable ingredients, I will not put optional by any ingredient.

This recipe was aimed at making 4 servings.

On to ingredients:

  • Spinach – 4 cups
  • Lemon Arugula – 4 cups
  • Uncooked rice – 1 cup  (I cook in rice cooker)
  • Black beans – 1 cup
  • Green bell pepper – 1/2 large pepper, diced
  • Black Olives – 1/2 cup, sliced
  • Avacado – 1/2 medium, diced
  • Shredded Mexican cheese – 1/2 cup – 1 cup
  • Salsa – 1/2 cup (desired heat)
  • Sour cream – 1/2 cup (desired light, non-fat or regular)
  • Tortilla chips – about 5-6

Steam rice, and prepare rest, while rice is cooking. Wash, cut and package the spinach and arugula into containers, which will be used as the salad bowl.   In ziplock bags add about 2 tbsp of black beans, 1/4 of the diced green pepper, 1 tbsp of black olives, 1/4 of the avacado, and 1/4 of the cheese. Once the rice is cooked and cooled down, add 1/4 of the rice to each bag.  In a small portion container, spoon about 2 tbsp of salsa, and then about 2 tbsp of sour cream on top of the salsa. Put about 5-6 tortilla chips in a ziplock.

Take 1 salad bowl, fixings bag, salsa and sour cream “dressing” containers, and chips bag, with you. Work, or play, as long as you can keep the items refrigerated they should be fine to go anywhere with you.

Simply dump the fixings bag into the lettuce bowl, and dump the salsa and sour cream on top. Crush the tortilla chips in their bag, and then dump on top. You now have an awesome salad, for lunch or dinner, on the go.

The prep is so easy, you’ll want to make this again and again!

Miso Ramen Lunch Bowls

I post on this blog in a completely random fashion, but since it’s the new year, I decided to post a new “recipe”.  Recipe is in quotes, because you can probably find at least 20 variations of this on Pinterest.  I started there, in an attempt to find what I wanted to make, but then just decided to take some from each and make my own.

My goals, for this meal:

  1. I wanted a miso soup, for my work week lunch meal
  2. I wanted it to have noodles, whether ramen or rice noodles
  3. I wanted it to be portable. Soup is a pain to transport to work.
  4. I wanted the prep to not be an all day endeavor
  5. I wanted the ingredients to be simple enough, that I wouldn’t have to buy 50 ingredients and never use 47 of them again

So, I picked out the ingredients, that I wanted in my soup.  I then figured I could just add hot water at work.  That way, I’m just prepping containers for the week, with all the fillings. The broth can be made right at the end.

First, the ingredients list. You can certainly add and remove, based on what you like.  I also note the 1 switch, that will take this from vegetarian to vegan.

  •  Ramen noodles – pull out the noodles, and ditch the high sodium seasoning packet. I did not use a name brand, but found one in the Asian aisle of Wegmans, which was a little narrower than the name brand squares of dried noodles
  • Eggs – hard boil and shell one for each soup container. To make this recipe vegan, nix the egg, and bake some tofu. I didn’t want to do a lot of cooking, so I didn’t include tofu, but it would be a great addition or substitution
  • Shitake mushrooms – I picked out 2 for each day, in the bulk section, instead of getting a whole container
  • Scallions (green onion) – a small bunch will do
  • Corn – a small can (8.75 oz) is more than enough.
  • Miso paste – I also get this from Wegmans, in the Asian section. It’s in a clear tub.  When I got some for this recipe, I found that there was a red and a white. Seems they are fermented with different things, which give it a corresponding view. It looks like this: https://www.wegmans.com/products/international-foods/asian-foods/miso/soybean-paste-shiro-miso.html
  • Wakame seaweed – Also in the Asian section. In a bag, and looks like dried flakes. It balloons up in water! https://www.wegmans.com/products/international-foods/asian-foods/soup/soup-seaweed-instant-wakame.html

See the picks below, to see how I assembled the bowls.  I got ziplock medium bowl shaped containers, which worked really well.  On the bottom of the container, I placed 2 chopped up shitake mushrooms, a hard boiled and peeled egg, 3/4 TBSP of miso paste, 1-2 TBSP of corn, and approximately 1 TBSP of diced/sliced scallions.

 

Then I placed a piece of wax paper on that, to separate the “wet” ingredients from the “dry” ones.  That is simply the dried noodles and the wakame seaweed.  Keep in mind that the seaweed is an acquired taste.  It also will blow up, and can consume your bowl, if you add too much.

Finally, I used a hot water machine, in the office copy room, to fill up my soup (after removing the wax paper, of course.  Make sure to put the lid back on, and give it a couple of minutes, so the noodles can get noodle-y.  Now that I’ve tried the recipe, I will say that it is pretty great.  The hot water isn’t as hot as I would like. I may need 1 secondary container for microwaving water, so I can get it more thoroughly hot.

Check out all that wakame!

I’m looking forward to having this for my work lunches for the week.  I just need to figure out hotter water, to steep and prepare the soup.  Definitely a keeper.

 

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Salad – The Lazy Way

I found this recipe on Pinterest:
http://www.thepinningmama.com/buffalo-ranch-chicken-salad-recipe-paleo-whole30-compliant/

and thought it sounded fantastic.  Because I had a lot going on, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time with the prep.  I did these swap outs, and it made the whole recipe incredibly simple. The result was fantastic, and there was more than I needed for a week’s worth of lunches.

  • 3 cups chicken breast, shredded or chopped
    • Substitute = 3 cans of chicken in water
  • 1½ cup celery, chopped
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • ½ cup green onions, chopped
  • ¼ sweet yellow onion, finely diced
    • Substitute = 2 small containers of mirepoix instead of the above veggies
  • ½ cup mayonnaise {homemade if you are Paleo or Whole30}
  • ¼ cup Franks Hot Sauce, original
    • Next time I will add more – It has flavor, but not much heat or kick with this much
  • 1 Tbsp Ranch Seasoning Mix {use this one if you are Paleo or Whole30}

Just follow the recipe, to mix the mayo, redhot and seasoning separately, so it will mix with the chicken and veggies well.

That’s it!

Veganized Tater Tot Beef Enchilada Bake

I found this recipe on Pinterest, for Tater Tot Enchilada Bake , and was able to veganize it pretty easily.  This recipe is incredibly easy, delicious and not hard to make vegan.

Here are my alterations. Note that anything I changed, I put a –> for what the change is.:

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef –> 2 packages of Trader Joe’s Meatless Beef
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ pack taco or fajita seasoning (about 2 teaspoons) –> 1 package of Trader Joe’s taco seasoning (use 1/2 a package first time, as this will make it quite spicy.  You may not want a whole package, if you don’t like a lot of heat).
  • 2 cups tater tots (enough to cover dish)
  • 1 can enchilada sauce –> Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce (1 bottle)
  • 1 cup Mexican blend cheese (or mozzarella) –> Trader Joe’s Soy mozzarella shreds
  • ½ cup sliced black olives
  • Scallions or cilantro to garnish
  • salt and pepper to taste

 

 Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Sautee the 1 onion, in a large skillet.  I do medium chop (using vidalia chopper) with olive oil
  3. Add 2 packages of meatless beef, and break apart, mixing with onions.
  4. Add taco seasoning (start with less, you can always add more) and enchilada sauce
  5. Pour into a greased 9×13 casserole dish
  6. Top with tater tots
  7. Top with cheese shreds, olives and cilantro
  8. Bake for 30-45 min

Enjoy, and share!

Eggplant Mushroom Marinara

Since I have this uber healthy marinara, I figured an eggplant parm type of recipe would be good.  It’s something between that, a ziti and anything else you want to compare it to.
The ingredients:
 
 Set the pasta to boil, while prepping the rest.
Spray a casserole dish, and line with 1/2 the sliced eggplant.
I highly recommend a mandolin for slicing.  They are fabulous, and slice veggies way better than I ever could.  Season the eggplant with garlic powder, pepper, Mediterranean seasoning and/or any other preferred seasonings.
 
Layer with thinly sliced portabellas.  Season again.
Layer with thinly sliced tomatoes (mandolin), and season.
 
Spoon/pour 1/2 marinara.
 
Tear up 3 slices of mozzarella and put on top.
 
 
Pour the partly cooked pasta, for next layer.
 
Repeat with one more series of eggplant, seasonings, mushrooms, seasonings, tomatoes, seasonings, sauce and mozzarella.  Sprinkle parmesan on top and cook in oven at 350, for about 30-45 min.
Check the pasta to make sure it is fully cooked.
Had this for dinner and it is nom nom nom good!  Looks like I’m going to be eating well for lunch this week.

Tomorrow Is Not Good Enough, Yet It Comes

Sunday and Monday I got hit with, what I realized by Tuesday was, a lupus flare up. It basically consisted of nausea, dizziness when I stood, and walking more than 20 feet left me winded, as if I had run a marathon.

Friends, family, people online were all saying the same thing. Rest. You can make the marinara sauce tomorrow. You can do your plans tomorrow. What I heard was, you can live tomorrow. I don’t want to rest. I want to do the things I planned.

Once I realized it was a lupus flare, I was actually able to deal with it better and able to see the forrest through the trees. It was not knowing what was causing it, that was so damn frustrating. Just non-descript it-could-be-nothing-but-you-know-it’s-something-and-you-can’t-do-anything-but-sit-and-wait-while-the-day-passes-you-by.

Well, I eventually got to make my uber healthy marinara on Wednesday. I got the idea from pinterest, which was from this site:
http://www.frugallivingnw.com/frugal-homemaking/how-to-make-roasted-marinara-sauce/

Here are all my veggies:

 

 The appeal of this recipe, is that you just throw everything in a casserole and bake/roast it

 
All nice and roasted
 
 Once done, you put it in a blender and voila, marinara.
 
 
Probably could use more tomatoes and less other veggies. 
Great on tilapia, excellent with mozzarella grilled cheese. 

Also got myself back to the gym today. It’s hard to not have the whole week’s routine, but the bottom line is that not going at all will be no progress. Going at all is progress. I saw a pinterest pin that said something like that. I liked it. It’s an easy excuse to say that Monday and Tuesday got screwed, so I’ll just get back to working out next week.  That mentality is so easy to let take over, and so detrimental to making progress.  1/2 a week of exercise is stellar compared to no working out.  One day of going for a walk is fantastic, compared to not walking at all.  That’s the bottom line.  Waiting til tomorrow may not be what I would choose, but eventually it will come and I will do something.  I will do what I can.

So here is my something for today:
Spinning 1 hr 1 min 544 cal
Abs and stretching 24 min 101 cal
Total 1 hr 25 min 645 cal

I can’t be too optimistic about a loss on the scale this week, but I finally looked back at my weight loss progress this year. I feel like I haven’t made much progress, towards my goal, this year. Lately, I have been yo-yo’ing a lot.  Turns out that since January I’ve lost about 26 lbs. That’s actually the pace I have been trying to keep. Here’s to another 24 by end of year, to get to 100 lbs down. That much closer to goal. Today, tomorrow, the next day. It will happen.







Hooray, Boo Hiss, and All That Hullabaloo

Note ~ I started writing this last Saturday, on the train ride home.  It took me a while to get back to it, as I have been pretty busy, but in the mean time more keeps happening.  Of course I want to write about all of it, so I will try to condense what I can into this post.

OK, so I was going to name this post “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” but then I thought to be silly with synonyms. 🙂

First thing is first.  I had a post called “All You Need is Sneakers and the Road”.  I had written it about going out for a run from my friend’s house in Jersey City, while staying there for the week.  When I was preparing another post on Friday, I accidentally deleted the sneakers post from the blogger app on my phone.  I am so bummed.  I was writing the new post, and left the app to go do something.  I saved the draft of the post I was writing before I left the app.  When I came back to the app, I was brought to a new draft.  I backed out to the lists of my posts, and went to delete the newest blank draft.  It didn’t delete, so I deleted it again.  It ended up refreshing and taking my second delete to delete the item, shifted in my post list being the sneaker post.

I know most people don’t care about something as technical as this, but if you use the blogger app on your iphone, I would not delete drafts or published posts from the app.  It is buggy and unreliable. The worst part is that, as far as I have seen, blogger does not offer a way to recover a deleted post.  Why wouldn’t they have a post trash can that would hold deleted posts for 30 days?  Seems like it would be a good idea to me!

Enough of that techno talk.  Time for the week(s) in review.  I rode the 40 miles in the Tour de Cure on Sunday, June 10th.  I really wasn’t sure how I would do, and was so pleasantly surprised that I was still in good shape after the ride.  Don’t get me wrong, when I finished I was a bit sore, and the free massage therapist was much appreciated.  But after I ate my 2nd banana and downed more water, I went to the grocery store and picked up some healthy eats for the train ride to nyc.  Got home, packed, cleaned up (necessities only), and got ready for a week out of town.  I was going to work at my firm’s nyc office, so I could work on geeky programming stuff with a colleague.  1 hour face to face with him is invaluable.  Imagine what we can do in a week!  I was all set to geek out to the max.

The train ride down on Monday included a 2 hour delay as we sat on the tracks, intermittently not moving.  I didn’t mind, because I was working anyway.  Once I got to Penn station, I walked over to the Path train and went to Jersey City.  Walked to my friend’s place and we went to get some dinner.  Tuesday morning I got up early and took my backpack, that I had brought with me in my luggage and prepared the night before, in to Manhattan, to the New York Sports Gym (NYSG) on Wall Street.  The awesome people at our ny office help me out with guest passes when I come down, so I can still get to a gym.  I worked out, and went in to the office.  Wednesday, I went for a run from my friend’s place, down by the water on the shore of Jersey City (not to be confused with the Jersey Shore).  She was at boot camp and as a nice little moment of fun, I unintentionally ended up running past her class on my run.  Got to see some great views, which is the fun part about running outside.

View from the ferry, one of the days on our way to work.  Lady liberty in the distance.  So cool.

Some friends from work and I went out for drinks Wednesday night, and I made the executive decision not to work out on the next morning. Thursday, I was going to try to meet a friend out, who couldn’t make it on Wednesday.  Unfortunately, I can’t control my work.  I ended up at the office, ordering thai food with a colleague, and working until about 10:30 at night.  I was still committed to working out on Friday.  I woke up in the morning, planning to check some work real quick and then go to the gym in Jersey City.  It is about a 20 min walk from the house.  Well, my wireless was not working right and everything was so slow, I wanted to throw things.  It took me 1/2 hour to check what should have taken 5 minutes.  I was determined, though, and ran to the gym, so that I could make the run part of the workout.  It’s pretty powerful how meeting your goal to just show up, to work out, can effect the rest of your day.

WTC 1/ Freedom tower, on the way to the Path train at night.

Friday night, my friend and I went out.  Now I had earned a lot of activity, or activity points for Weight Watchers, this week.  The Tour de Cure and working out 3 times.  But this Friday, we went out after work and got some mojitos.  Then we went out to dinner.  We ordered tapas style, which can help, but still.  This entire week was breakfast, lunch and dinner out at restaurants.  How hard is that to control?!?!

 Who could resist REAL mojitos??  Not me!

Saturday, I got to Penn station and a nice lady at one of the shops gave me a bag of ice for my cooler.  I packed a wrap, some chobani, and healthy snacks.  The ride home was pretty smooth. 

 Healthy food can be more expensive, but it’s the price we pay to be good to ourselves.  p.s. a burger would cost the same and do so much damage.

Now coming back from this trip, I would have loved to be lazy and just lay on the couch.  I did for about an hour, but it didn’t last.  I went to get a mani/pedi (my nails were yucky), and then to a friend’s house for a birthday get together for a friend.

Sunday, I had my weigh in.  I lost 1.8 lbs!!  So shocked that after that week, I still lost.  I went to my brother’s to say hi to my mom and wish him a Happy Father’s day.  Then to brunch for another friends birthday.  Then to a house/apt warming.  Then to go shopping.  After that, clean and get ready for the week.

Well, now the fun starts.  I have been having some health issues.  It started about 17 days ago, when I was supposed to run back to back 5Ks.  Not to be tmi, but there is no way around it.  I had, what people on the Weight Watcher’s site call, TOM (time of month).  The problem is that it has not been “normal”.  I won’t go into detail, but it has been an issue.  Well, This last Monday, it reappeared.  I called my doctor’s office and they insisted that I come in today.  I was also told not to exercise.  I was encouraged to keep my feet above my heart, take 600mg of ibuprofen every 6 hrs and ice my abdomen.  Well, it’s been torture not to exercise.  I rely on that to lose the weight.  I rely on it to be active, to get healthy and strong, to de-stress, to up my endorphins, to challenge myself.  It’s been frustrating.

I had the doctor’s appointment this morning.   She did some tests, ordered more and more will be coming.  I also got put on progesterone.  I couldn’t go on estrogen because of the lupus.  I have some waiting to do, for us to find out what is actually happening, but the BEST NEWS in the world, is that she said I can exercise if I feel like it.  WOOOOHOOO!!!!!  So this girl is mowing her lawn today or tomorrow, going to the gym tomorrow (I miss you RAC!) and I am so bringing my running gear for camping this weekend.  I am going for a run at Hamlin and it is going to be glorious!

 Random pic of a really pretty flower that is growing the back of my yard, amidst the monstrosity of weeds taking over the area.

Without meaning to, I left out that Sunday I went to get a new bed.  It is coming in the next hour or so, and I can’t wait!!!

In case you didn’t know, I am an avid Pinterest lover.  I found a pin for chocolate covered strawberries that you soak in flavored vodka first.  These are mine, soaking in cake vodka.  I will be dipping them today!

That’s it for now!



Get Up and Get On

Well, last week I was all set to run two 5Ks back to back.  The first was on Thursday, for the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge, and the second was on Saturday, for the Golisano’s Stroll for Strong Kids 5K.  I used to walk the corporate challenge every year, and this was going to be my first time back in a few years.  I was so excited knowing I was going to run it.  Then my body intervened.
A warning to all men and those of the squeamish variety, you may want to stop here.  For those who are prepared to witness the gory details, read on.  By Thursday, I was having major issues.  On Weight Watchers, we call it TOM, or time of the month.  Mine usually lasts 3-4 days.  More than anyone needed to know about me, right?  Well, it turns out that women go through a lot with this one part of being an xy creature.  For some reason, my tom was on it’s 7th day and it was about 10x heavier than I have ever experienced.  This results in a lot of cramps, (blood clots, which are very painful), and a significant blood loss.  Being that it was still going so strong, I thought to call my gyn.  It turns out that she was on vacation, but the nurse practitioner advised me to take 600 ibuprofen every 6 hours, put my feet above my heart and ice my abdomen.  This would hopefully slow things down.
I informed her that I was on my way home to change for a 5K.  Her reaction was “Umm, you really can’t do that.”  Running will make it worse, as I was so happy to learn. (NOT)  So bummed as I was, I didn’t want to pass out on the course, or worse yet, have my pants mysteriously change colors as I crossed the finish line.  Yes, that would be worse.
By Friday morning. I thought it was done, but by the afternoon, I was back in full swing.  By Saturday morning, I was mainly in the clear, but so drained that I had to sleep in and miss the second 5K.  It sucks to sleep in, an action which seems so lazy, but my body just didn’t have the “juice” to get me going.  Grossed out yet?  Don’t worry.  I’m done with that stuff.
Next Sunday I have the Tour de Cure.  I have committed to riding 40 miles, and I am so excited.  I plan to go to the gym at least 2-3 times this week, so I can be warmed up and ready.  In order to have a good week, that typically involves good planning on my part.  Sunday is my day to do that.  Laundry in the dryer, bed stripped, groceries done, kitchen cleaned and prepped stuff for the week.
Here are some fun pics of the food prep.  I seriously could re-invent myself as a chef with no problem.  I did it once and I could so do it again.
Cut up the cantaloupe I bought last week.  So sweet and perfectly ripe.
Portioned out with raspberries on top.  Yum.
Some peanut butter chobani dip and strawberries.  I think I need some more portion containers.
Next, it’s on to spinach salads for the week.  Gotta build up that iron!  Above is my salad spinner.  I love how it folds up like that.  Isn’t that the coolest?
 
 Fresh spun spinach.  Now that’s some clean eating.
I baked one Wegman’s mojo marinated chicken breast, and one balsamic rosemary.  The mojo, I decided to shred, so it would be pulled chicken.  nom nom nom.  I split each breast into two containers (4 total), separate from the salad, so I can microwave it at lunch and have hot chicken on my salad.  So fantastic!
 
 Here are my 4 salads.  Spinach, sliced baby bella mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, broccoli, artichoke hearts, black olives, 2 with parmesan, and 2 with feta.  2 containers of light ranch, and 2 of fat free parmesan italian.
 
 
Well, I’m ready for the week, and I have no more room in my fridge!
When I went to go grocery shopping today, I was still feeling tired and I knew how easy it would be to go home and lay on the couch all day.  None of the above would be accomplished and I would be filled with self resentment.  What a way to live!  I had to reject that notion, for the reality of what I wanted for the week.  One of being able to grab what I needed/wanted, having my clothes all put away, my room clean, and everything in nice OCD order.  Much preferred.  Now I still have time to relax, and enjoy my evening.
Dinner for tonight will feature mahi mahi with pineapple mango chutney (Wegs), and steamed broccoli.

Carb Loading – No Bull

I have two 5K’s lined up for this week.  Tomorrow night is the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge.  Saturday is the Stroll for Strong Kids.  I am signed up to run the 5K and walk the 2 mile walk with my family, after.  Sponsor Me by Clicking Here!
 
So on to the carb loading bull.  “They” say you should carb load before a big cardio event.  Eat massive amounts of pasta and load yourself down! lol jk.  The reasoning is really that you will burn the carbs when you perform the event.
The flip side is that “They” say you shouldn’t carb load.  Eat a light meal the night before. Grilled fish and steamed veggies.  Lean protein an hour before the race or whatever you are doing.
Ironically, this week, I made pasta.  I was planning on trying out the spaghetti squash recipe idea.  I went on my lofty way last week and bought summer squash, thinking that is what is used, right?
Wrong!  When I went to look up a recipe for spaghetti squash, low and behold it is an actual type of squash unto itself.  Oh well.  Better luck next time. I had already grabbed asparagus, tomatoes, sliced baby portobelloes and artichoke hearts.  I ended up throwing the squash in with the other veggies and cooking them up with some frozen shrimp.
Since I didn’t have the elusive spaghetti squash, I opted for Barilla plus wheat angel hair pasta. It was on hand, so it would do just fine.
Here is the recipe I created. (WW recipe here)
First, I chopped up all the veggies.I mixed them in a bowl with some minced garlic, pepper, olive oil and other seasoning.
Then I sauteed them in a pan, while separately boiling water for the pasta.
Once the frozen shrimp was thawed, I took off the tails and cut them in 1/2
I coarsely chopped the tomatoes to add with the shrimp and pasta sauce, just before finishing.
 
Add a little parmesan and you’re eating good!
This recipe makes 6 servings and is 7pp.  I have been eating it for lunch this week and I feel as if I am eating like a king!  So yummy.
Hope you like it!