Spaghetti Squash Casserole

by mynewpantrychallenge

Wow! It’s been WAY too long since I posted anything! Life suddenly got crazy once the holidays rolled around, but that’s no excuse. I will try to post at least one new recipe or money-saving idea each week from now on! My newest is for spaghetti squash casserole. I think I may like this one even more than the cauliflower pizza I posted about last time. So yummy and so healthy … and really economical. My entire family loved it. My 2 year old even wanted seconds! If you are a fellow Take Shape for Life or Medifast client, this will fit the requirements of your lean and green meal for the day (makes 4 servings, but you’ll come out a little short on your veggies, so add another veggie serving to your meal). Enjoy!


Ingredients:
4c cooked spaghetti squash (1 medium-large spaghetti squash – about $4-5)
8oz low-moisture part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese (on sale for $1.99)
2c sugar-free salt-free tomato puree (canned): or make home-made (I actually used sugar-free spaghetti sauce, which I bought on sale 3/$5, so this was about 75 cents worth)
12oz cooked 95-97% fat-free ground beef or ground turkey ($3-4)
2 healthy fats (2tsp of olive oil added to the sauce, for example)
Italian seasoning, salt & pepper to taste


To cook squash: 

With a knife, cut a big X on the front and back sides of a spaghetti squash. 
Microwave until soft to the touch (about 10 mins). 
Open, scrape out the seeds, then scrape out 4c of the cooked squash with a spoon.

To prepare: 
Put 4c of spaghetti squash on the bottom of a casserole dish
Add 4oz of the cheese
Layer on the 12oz of ground beef
Pour the sauce evenly on top of everything
Layer the rest of the cheese on top
Cook at 475 until the cheese is brown (about 30mins)

**It’s a little watery at first- let it cool off so the sauce can thicken a bit before you eat it.
Makes excellent leftovers- better than right out of the oven**

Total cost was about $9-10, which comes out to about $2.50 per serving. Honestly, you’d never know that you were eating mostly vegetables. Lasagna is normally my favorite food in the world, and this totally filled the craving for that. We will be eating this one again!

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