Clean Eating Spaghetti Pie + Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekends? We survived a weekend of kitchen renovations..and ate a delishhhh spaghetti pie made with spaghetti squash zomg.

Servings: 5

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 80 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash ($3.00)
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons oil (coconut or olive)
• 1 lb lean ground turkey ($3.00)
• 1/2 cup natural chicken broth
• 1 cup clean (sugar-free, natural- I used a garlic basil sauce from Trader Joe's) tomato sauce ($1.50)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced ($.80)
• 1/2 large onion, diced ($.50)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese ($1.50)
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon Basil 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Chop your spaghetti squash in half long-wise and scoop out the ribs and seeds in the middles. Put the two halves on a baking sheet, cut side up (so they are sitting on the round sides) and brush the oil onto the inside of the cut halves. Heat in the oven for an hour.

While the squash is cooking, start cooking the ground turkey in a large frying pan on the stove over medium high heat with the chicken broth and seasonings (Italian seasoning, basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder). Once the turkey is browned and most of the broth is absorbed, add the onion, green pepper, and garlic and lower the heat to medium. Heat for about 5 minutes. 

Add the tomato sauce to the mixture and heat for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly (I may or may not be a super obsessive stirrer and the excessive stirring may or may not be totally unnecessary).  Remove the mixture from heat.

Remove the spaghetti squash from the oven and allow to cool about 5 minutes. Once cooled a little, use a fork to poke at the edges and scoop the innards (the spaghetti-ish stuff) out of the spaghetti squash. Get as much of the "spaghetti" scooped out as possible, there should only be a really thin skin left. 

Combine an egg with the "spaghetti noodles" until the egg is completely mixed in. Pat the "spaghetti" down around a 9x9 round pan (you can use a square pan too), making sure to press it up around the edges too (see pic below). Evenly spread the meat mixture on top of the spaghetti squash. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top and heat for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Slice up and enjoy!

Sooo this weekend was jam-packed. My parents came in town and totally demolished the kitchen and hung the cabinets- now that I can see what it's going to be I'm ZOOO EXCITED

Before (remember how there was a wall there? If you follow me on Instagram you know that my mom knocked the wall down with a hammer BY HERSELF):

After:

I got in on some of the action (construction goggle swag):

I took a little break from getting in the way of helping with renovations to go see one of my good friends from home's documentary premier at the Cherry Blossom Festival- yall my friends are going places! It was so amazing and inspiring- after college Wesley taught in Japan for 2 years, and had gone back to see his students graduate the day the tsunami hit. He was missing for a week, and thankfully survived, but unfortunately not all of his friends did. He made this documentary telling the story of volunteers who rallied around the town of Tohoku (Tohoku Tomo means Friend of Tohoku). It was such a powerful reminder that no matter what your skill set, you can always serve others. It was also interesting to see how the recovery process is going years later. Check out the documentary website and go like their Facebook Page! Here's my friend and his crew doing the Q & A session:

Linking up today with Monday Morning Gossip, Much Ado About Monday, Fluerty and Fit , A Change of Pace, Delicious Dish Tuesday