FOOD! My first food post! I love food. Since moving out on my own, I have, of course, had to become a little more resourceful with the way I eat, mostly in regard to that one complex question that ruins relationships: WHAT DO I WANT TO EAT? Truly, I saw something the other day that stated, “The definition of a relationship is two people asking each other what they want for dinner until they die.” This can only be described as “TRUTH!”

When I moved in with my boyfriend in August of last year, it tended to be a “fend for yourself” solution intermixed with the cutesy couples dinners we would cook for one another. Oh the frustration! When we both graduated from our respective Graduate Certificate programs at the end of April, we needed to find an alternative solution.

For years my parents have done something that I thought was rather smart and I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of doing it sooner! It resembles a weekly menu, but each week is slightly different so we were not always eating chicken on a Monday and or fish on a Friday. No, no, no! Here is how it works:

A = Chicken, B = Pasta, C = Beef, D = Turkey, E = Pork, F = Fish,  and G = Boogy-bears (or leftovers or whatever you want!)

Now, looking at that, you might be thinking to yourself, that’s 7 nights worth of food – how can I claim we don’t eat the same food on the same night of each week? Here is how that works:

We start off at the beginning of the month with A, and depending on what day of the week that is, we continue the letters until Saturday (or Sunday)! Then, the next week, we start on B, going until Saturday/Sunday again. Third week of the month starts with C, and fourth with D! It can also work if you just copy the letters diagonally on your calendar, moving letters backwards by one day each week! Let me demonstrate!

A   B   C   D   E   F   G

B   C   D   E   F   G   A

C   D   E   F   G   A   B

D   E   F   G   A   B   C

And the next month the cycle continues! And each night, you just have to come up with a recipe that you can cook with each protein/main ingredient and voila! You have yourself a monthly meal plan that doesn’t get repetitive or boring each night of the week!

So, in my case, D = Turkey is the hardest night of the week to plan for, and it has happened that we just collectively vote to eat something else on Turkey night because there are only so many ways to cook turkey (slow cooker being my favourite), BUT this past week we opted for Ground Turkey. Now, I am 25 years old, and I honestly cannot believe I had never had ground turkey before! And let me just saying, for the record, and in Capslock, IT IS DELICIOUS!!!

I have been a big fan of spaghetti squash for years now, something I’d never eaten while growing up (coming from a strictly meat and potatoes and casseroles family), but as someone from the Pinterest generation, and having dated someone for years who strove to expand my palette (pineapple pie and butternut squash), I grew to appreciate the unfamiliar. In the past, I cooked the spaghetti squash in the microwave, poking holes in the exterior skin after cutting it in half and scooping out the guts. In a microwave safe glass dish, I put a quarter cup of water in the hollowed out squash and placed the other half on top before microwaving it for 20-25 minutes. Then I would serve it just like spaghetti, with spaghetti sauce! Spaghetti without the carbs! GENIUS! I had also experimented with cooking it and then frying it in the pan with butter, garlic, parmesan cheese, and parsley, served underneath a chicken breast or some odd protein.

However, on the night in question, the night that forever changed how I feel about ground turkey, I did not opt for my tried-and-true methods. Instead, I used my years of cooking experience, and a little help from the internet, to create (drum roll please!) SPAGHETTI SQUASH LASAGNA!

Before I get too far though, the “lasagna” part of this dish is not lasagna noodles inside of a spaghetti squash (we’re going for less carbs here, not more), but is instead the replacement of the noodles WITH the spaghetti squash. Basically I hollowed out the spaghetti squashes (2 small ones = 4 squash boats) and added the ingredients on top, covering them with cheese and baking them in the oven for half an hour! I pre-cooked the group turkey with spices and added some pasta sauce, added some freshly chopped basil to cottage cheese and mozzarella, and just let magic happen!

Here is my recipe:

WAIT! Before I continue, I used approximate measurements for this recipe and so quantities in replication will depend on the size of your spaghetti squashes.

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground turkey
• spaghetti sauce
• cottage cheese
• fresh basil
• 1/2 med. onion
• spaghetti squash
• mushrooms
• salt & pepper
• garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. In large frying pan over med. heat, cook gr. turkey w/ mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt & pepper. Stir frequently. Meat should be browned, mushrooms soft, and onions slightly translucent.

2. Halve spaghetti squashes and scoop out seeds (discard), place open halves in Pyrex glass pan, set aside. (I didn’t, but I would recommend putting some olive oil and salt & pepper in the spaghetti squash boats prior to adding the rest of the ingredients, as the squash was a little bland. Lessons learned!)

3. Mix cottage cheese (I used the smallest no-name brand tub), chopped basil, and mozzarella cheese (leave some to put on the top of each halved squash boat) in a bowl. Spoon this mixture evenly into the bottom of the halved squashes.

4. Add spaghetti sauce to the cooked ground turkey, stir together and heat for 5 mins. (I used 2 part cans of 2 different sauces but you can ultimately use whatever sauce you prefer.)

5. Spoon ground turkey sauce mix into the squash boats over top of the cheese.

6. Cover squashes with aluminum foil (shiny side down!) and bake for 30 minutes.

7. Remove pans, remove foil, sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top of squash boats and replace in oven for additional 15-20 minutes. (Optional: after additional cooking time, broil for 5 minutes to create melty crusty cheese topping).

8. Remove from oven and set for 10 minutes to cool. Serve 1 boat per person (again depending on the size!)

You can use a fork and spoon to dismember the spaghetti squash and lift it out of the skin. The squash just peels away from the sides in little spaghetti strands. Then mix it together and cover it with more cheese (CHEESE!) before enjoying the greatest meal ever!

I am definitely going to repeat this meal, it was amazing! Please let me know if you’ve tried it, I’d love to hear what twists you put on the recipe!

Bon Appetit! TTYL