Skinny Italian: Turkey "Manballs" and Spaghetti Squash

Every now and then i get a huge craving for spaghetti and meatballs. My aunt and uncle make some really yummy authentic Italian sauce, and they spoiled us before we moved back to Houston by sending us with a whole case! We have primarily been using the sauce for pizza, but one of those spaghetti and meatball cravings hit me this weekend and it hit me hard! I think it may have something to do with the fact that it has felt like winter the past couple of days here and warm chewy pasta sounds amazing!

In my attempt to eat a little healthier, i thought i would swap the spaghetti squash for the pasta and still get to enjoy the sauce and meatballs. The husband even likes spaghetti squash so that's a bonus as well (since he isn't always a fan of my healthy concoctions and substitutions). Spaghetti squash has about 40 calories and 10 grams of carbohydrates for 1 cup, where pasta has 240 calories and 45 grams of carbohydrates per cup. There are other "noodle alternatives" that i have tried and also heard of. After reading about Tofu Shirataki noodles in the Hungry Girl cookbook, i gave them a try.

I figured for only 40 calories and 6 grams of carbohydrate (for the WHOLE bag), they were a win win. Not so fast...The verdict: They stunk, they were slightly rubbery and they were expensive. I much prefer the squash noodle alternative vs the fake stuff!

This is a pretty easy meal to put together, just slightly time consuming, so it was perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

1. Roast the Squash
First preheat the oven to 350, then grease a cookie sheet with baking spray. I then cut the squash in half and punched holes in it with a knife. Then place each half face down on the cookie sheet and bake for an hour.

2. Make the Spaghetti
Once the squash is roasted, use a pot holder to hold the squash in your hand. Take a fork and simply pull at the fleshy part of the squash. It will easily break off in noodle form. Spaghetti-fy both halves and place the spaghetti in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Make the Meatballs
I used 1 lb of 93% lean ground turkey, but you could also use ground beef or ground chicken if you prefer.

I put about 1 cup breadcrumbs, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp oregano, 1tbsp garlic powder and 1 tbsp herbs de province.

Combine with your hands and form into meatballs. Hubby made the meatballs, he calls them "Man Meatballs" thus we only have six meatballs this batch.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until fully cooked.

4. Heat the sauce.

5. Make your bowl.
Add some veggies. I enjoyed my veggies salad style this meal.

6. Enjoy your guilt free "Spaghetti" and Meatballs!