A Healthy Alternative!

I am going to try and do this once in a while for those of you who sometimes just don't see how you can substitute delicious foods for healthier ones without really sacrificing flavor. I know I am definitely one of these people, but slowly I am coming around to the realization that you don't have to sacrifice 100% of the great taste of the foods you love, just because you are making them healthier.

Today's Meal will be an alternative of your typical spaghetti with tomato sauce. The tomato sauce in itself doesn't have to be incredibly bad for you. Take for example a simple sauce that consists of tomato sauce, garlic, olive oil and onions. Tomatoes contain an antioxidant called lycopene, it is also found in ketchup. Antioxidants are great for our body, the problem I find with very tomato-y sauces is that they taste too acidic, to solve this I often take a PINCH of a sweetener, its not killing you, but it does usually handle the acidity problem. All in all you can truly add some other spices as well such as basil, parsley etc, these are great for you too!

Now when it comes to the actual pasta, this is the part where it can get carb filled. Sure you can opt for the whole wheat pasta, but in all actuality, this isn't a whole lot better than the regular pasta! I would like to introduce to you, or remind you if you already know of this, to spaghetti squash. This vegetable is an awesome alternative to regular spaghetti and is pretty delicious too might I add :) Here are a few simple steps to make this dish happen for you!

1. When you purchase a spaghetti squash (yes its called that), be sure that it looks good all the way around, no bruising etc. It should also be a nice yellow color. Like bananas, if it is green, it is probably not quite done yet :)

2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

3. Wash the squash as you would any other vegetable and dry it completely.

4. Slice the squash in half long ways and scoop out any of the pulp that is inside the little pocket, this can be done with a spoon easily :) This always reminds me of taking the seeds and pulp out of a pumpkin before you carve it haha What an imagination I have!

5. Once you have completely removed all the stuff inside and it looks clean and ready to go, drizzle a little olive oil over the cut side of the squash and sprinkle some salt and pepper as well to your liking.

6. Place the squash cut side down onto an oven safe dish and let that baby cook! This can take anywhere between 35-40 mins give or take a few minutes depending on how big of a squash you are dealing with.

7. When the squash is tender enough where you can stick a fork into it easily, then it is done. Now you want to flip the squash back over so you are seeing where you originally "gutted" it and with a fork, scrape out the inside of the squash. This is the actual squash that you are going to eat! It should look rather stringy just like spaghetti :)

8. Serve this with your favorite sauce of some salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese, whatever you like!

There you have it, a healthier alternative to your everyday spaghetti dish, without sacrificing the flavor.

xox