Spaghetti Squash Bake with Italian Sausage and Herbs

Oh yum!

I think I just made on one of the most delicious and satisfying dinners ever.

You know you’ve cooked up something good when your boyfriend asks for thirds!! Not seconds, but thirds!

I love me a good recipe. Especially one that is healthy, satisfying, and is free of glutinous grains and starches.

Most of my carbohydrate sources comes from more nutrient dense sources such as sweet potato, squash, pumpkin and some fruits. I’ve given up most glutinous grains and ‘white’ sources of nutrition-less breads. The one thing I can’t kick is oats. I love my oats. My favourite brand is Bobs Red Mill wheat free rolled oats. They are great for making homemade oat flour and using in baking recipes, or for a delicious and warming morning oatmeal.

Have you kicked the grains?

Are you still eating gluten?

I highly advise you ditch the gluten and start replacing your carbohydrate sources with more satisfying and nourishing squashes. Ditching white bread for whole wheat is a WHOLE other issue. Going gluten free includes ditching wheat too! And may I add….going gluten free doesn’t just require that you swap out your typical glutinous loaf of bread for a gluten free loaf. It really doesn’t work that way! Most of the gluten free breads are loaded with junk. So my honest advice, ditch the bread altogether!

It’s easier than you think! Especially once you try this recipe, you won’t miss the ‘starchy’ carbs. In fact, you just may beat the bloat and feel a whole lot better 🙂

Now onto the goodness…

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Spaghetti Squash Bake with Italian Sausage and Herbs
(recipe adapted from PaleoOMG.com)

Ingredients:
  • 1 large spaghetti squash
  • 1 pound italian sausage (turkey, chicken or pork will do) – source out organic/antibiotic & hormone free*
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 1 cup pizza sauce (homemade or store bought – no sugar added) – organic & clean ingredients*
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon chill flakes
  • sea salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3 eggs, whisked
  • (optional: add anything you like with pizza: veggies, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, etc)
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place spaghetti squash cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the skin of the squash becomes slightly soft and you can puncture it with a fork. Remove squash from oven and reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
  3. Remove threads from squash (using a fork, scrap down the squash to form spaghetti) and place in an 8×8 greased baking dish.
  4. Place a large pan over medium heat. Add italian sausage and onion. Break sausage up into pieces and cook until pink no longer remains.
  5. Add pizza sauce, dried herbs and spices and salt and pepper to the pan and mix well.
  6. Add sausage mixture to the 8×8 baking dish and mix well with spaghetti squash threads.
  7. Lastly, add whisked eggs to the baking dish and mix everything together well, until you can no longer see the eggs.
  8. Place in oven and bake for 1 hour or until the top of the mixture forms a slight crust. It will look as though the top layer is covered with cheese!
  9. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
  10. Optional – feel free to top with shredded mozzarella or chopped fresh basil.

Enjoy!

Guaranteed you’ll go back for seconds…and thirds 😉

To your Good Health & Abundance,

Samantha xoxo

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Immune Boosting Portobello Mushroom and Red Chard Saute with Spaghetti Squash and Pumpkin Pie Smoothie for Thanksgiving Meatless Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying a relaxing weekend full of delicious and nutritious food! It’s not common for us to over indulge during this time of year and that’s why I’ve got 2 delicious recipes that are perfect for thanksgiving! My (green) pumpkin pie smoothie is full of flavour, protein, healthy fats and minus all the unnecessary sugar and calories from Pumpkin Pie. You won’t even miss that pie slice on your plate this year with this yummy smoothie!

My immune boosting mushroom, chard and squash saute is the perfect side dish for your thanksgiving feast! Red chard is full of vitamin C, K, A, calcium, magnesium, fibre and protein! Paired with selenium rich portobello mushrooms, this delicious dish is great for the cold and flu season!

Immune Boosting Portobello Mushroom and Red Chard Saute with Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients
5-6 leaves red chard, chopped (kale, rainbow, swiss chard would also work well)
2 portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2-3 small tomatoes, I used LOCAL vine ripened
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red vine vinegar
1 tbsp water
1 tsp dried oregano
Pinch sea salt
Black pepper

Directions
Saute onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add garlic, stir. Add mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and any dried herbs. Add in chard, red wine, water, salt and pepper, stirring frequently until chard starts to wilt and mushrooms are cooked through. Serve over spaghetti squash.

Directions for Roasting Squash
Slice squash in half length wise and remove seeds. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper (drizzle with olive oil if preferred). Line baking sheet with parchment paper and bake squash rind-side-up for about 40 minutes at 375°F. Turn squash over, flesh facing up 10 minutes before done to slightly cook/roast inside. Using a fork, scrape the flesh lengthwise from top to bottom—the squash should “shred” loose in strips like spaghetti. Place on serving plates and top with mushroom and chard sauté.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

I used the old Vega whole food optimizer which is green due to its high spirulina content!! Otherwise, any vanilla protein powder will do and your shake will turn out orange, not green!! Either way, it’s delicious!

Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 Tbsp. Organic canned pumpkin pie
2 scoops Vega vanilla chai complete meal replacement
1/4 tsp. pumpkin spice, ground
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp. Grade B maple syrup
3-4 ice cubes

Directions:
Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Health & Abundance,

Samantha 🙂

 

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