Sunday = Funday = Cooking Experiment Day: Spaghetti Squash Cassole

I loveeeee, nope, USED to love, pasta. Pasta dishes were my favorite. Now, I could not care less about pasta. I have no desire whatsoever to eat pasta. Just thinking about a pasta dish makes me feel icky and bloated and slow. Discovering spaghetti squash was seriously the best thing that ever happened to my diet. You can make ANY pasta dish imaginable with spaghetti squash. This has opened up so many possibilities for dinner.

So tonight's dinner was Spaghetti Squash Casserole. Yum, Yum and more YUM! This was definitely an experimental recipe, but it was delicious none-the-less. I will be trying this one again next week with some modifications, however.

Ingredients
Spaghetti Squash
Grape tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Basil
Parsley
Olive Oil
Mozzarella Cheese
Ricotta Cheese
Breadcrumbs

1. Bake the spaghetti squash at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.
2. While the squash is cooking, sauté onions, garlic and tomatoes. When finished, mix with 1 cup of ricotta cheese and flavor with basil and parsley. (side note: I never measure spices or seasonings...just dump 'em in as your little heart desires).
3. When the spaghetti squash is finished, rake it clean with a fork and mix it with the ricotta/onion/tomato mixture. Layer it in a casserole pan and top it with mozzarella cheese and a light layer of bread crumbs.
4. Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
5. Serve hot with grated cheese.

Nate enjoyed this one too (although, he was quick to remind me that the roasted mushroom and spaghetti squash recipe was still his favorite). However, this definitely needed a bit more tomatoes. I only bought 1 pint of grape tomatoes to split between this recipe and tomorrow's new veggie meal, but next time I make this I think I will use a can of diced tomatoes instead. Also - I totally flaked out when I made this and forgot to put the breadcrumbs on the top! Oops! Next time I guess! Both quick and easy fixes for this yummy meal.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole (minus the breadcrumbs...oops!) 

On another note...this may have happened last week. I have a serious problem. I think I could live on raspberries (the blueberries weren't all that bad either). Wouldn't be such a big problem if they weren't so darn expensive. We have started out plans for our garden this week and we are also looking into making a separate area for raspberry bushes come spring...so hopefully in a few years I can have all the berries I want! Hmmmm...raspberries....

On a training related note, today completes Week 4 of Hansons. So far, so good! This week's runs totaled 45 miles in all. I am getting used to the paces and learning that even when I feel like going faster, I need to stick to the plan. Faster on one day = bad news bears the next! This week also brought a few outdoor runs, finally! While I was out running 10 (pretty darn cold) miles yesterday morning...this is what this guy was busy doing...

He was actually completely under the covers and hidden. After my run, I went to grab the TV remote so I could do my post-run hip opener routine and foam roll I bit, and I found him in his "fort." He is such a bum...just wait Fenway...just wait till we start training together for cani-cross 2.0. There will be no more fort building/sleeping for you while I am out running then!