Clean Eating Spaghetti Pie + Weekend Recap

Monday, April 14, 2014


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:

24 comments :

  1. Man oh man girl! You had a very busy weekend :)

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    1. I knowww right? I should have double checked to make sure my car was in the parking lot this morning... haha

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  2. I like the idea of spaghetti squash, but the last couple times I have made it, it's still super crunchy after cooking forever. I might have to try one more time for this recipe though!
    I LOVE that your mom totally demolished that wall! Go mom!

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    1. Oh weird I've never had that problem? Is it cooking at a high enough temperature? Mine is always more watery than I would like, and I usually slice up zucchini really thin into "noodles" for spaghetti replacements too!

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    2. I am totally going to give it another shot! You have inspired me. I love buffalo chicken stuffed zucchini. I am definitely going to try it as a noodle replacement!

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  3. Look at you being all handy-woman like and totally getting things done, I love it. Also, I eat spaghetti squash often and never considered dong it as a "pie" - you have given me an idea for next week. XOXO

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    1. "getting things done" used loosely haha. I cause a little more harm than good in these situations sometimes..

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  4. yum! I love spaghetti squash and what a cheap meal :)

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    1. Thanks, Ursula! I always try to keep is cheap!

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  5. Spaghetti Squash is a new favorite at my house! I'm going to make this!!!

    Look at you.. getting your renovation on! Call HGTV... We got a CONTENDER!

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    1. Hahahaha my parents could have an HGTV show! I could have a 30 second cameo for that 10 minutes I picked up the hammer. I'm better at bringing lunch and encouraging haha!

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  6. Visiting from the linkup. That casserole looks delicious! Do you think it would be good without meat as well?

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    1. Definitely! I would replace the turkey with some hearty veggies like eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes...oooh you have given me a new idea ! Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. That is so cool about your friend's documentary (and also cool he survived, how terrifying!). I also love that you included pricing in your recipe - I always wonder how much some of this stuff costs!

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  8. This looks so yummy! Will definitely add to my list next week!!

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  9. Wow! What a difference that wall being taken down makes. It looks so bright and big in there! Can't wait to see more photos!

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  10. Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. I stumbled this post!

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  11. Yum! I love spaghetti squash, and spaghetti squash casserole, but have never made it into a pie. Great idea and thanks for sharing the recipe!

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  12. I love love love spaghetti squash, but so rarely ever make an actual recipe with it. Usually we just cook it up, I add parmesan cheese and salt and pepper and we eat it like that. So good! I really would love to try your recipe using it! YUM!
    Thanks so much for sharing with us at Delicious Dish Tuesday! We'd love for you to add a link back to one of the hosts so your readers know where they can find other amazing recipes like yours! :) Can't wait to see what you share with us next week!

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  13. That looks so good! I'm definitely going to have to try the spaghetti pie! I really love the wide variety of your posts!

    BaileyAnne

    BaileyAnneStyle.blogspot.com

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  14. Ohhh, I just bought 2 spaghetti squash the other day and was trying to figure out what recipe I wanted to use! Will definitely be trying this one out! Thanks!

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  15. I've never heard of spaghetti pie but now I need to try it! Yum!

    And yay for the renos. How exciting!

    Thanks for linking up for MMG :)

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  16. I know I'm about 2 yrs late! I saw the pic from the rice noodle dish and had to come check it out. Looks soooo good!

    Go mom go!! Demolish that wall!

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Love to hear your thoughts and opinions, let's chat!