All I've got access to around here is yellow squash, and that's ok because I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

Tonight we were supposed to have a "splurge" meal of spaghetti and meatballs with salad and garlic bread. Well, then my husband's granny asked the family to come over for lunch today. Lunch at her house involves a lot of butter, cream and fried food. There's literally NO way to eat at her house for fewer than 600 calories. You do NOT take food to the granny's house, so we can't just take a salad...it'd get ugly in a hurry.

So we want to still go on with the spaghetti option...but instead of meat, try to use the squash cut up into chunks in the sauce and served over the noodles, rather than meat or meatballs.

If I saute the squash a little before the sauce is added, will this work? I think it'll be great...but then again I could live off of squash if I had to. The husband isn't so sure...

I make a huge pot of sauteed squash along with carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers and tomatoes with sauce and serve it over spaghetti SQUASH. I sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top. It's absolutely delish. I've got it in my fridge right now.

So I don't see why you can't serve it over regular spaghetti. But I sure wish you'd try the spaghetti squash. You can eat loads of it and it's low cal and nutrient rich. Good stuff.

I'll look for it next time I get to go to a big store....spaghetti squash just isn't available where we live. I can get yellow squash regularly, but that's about it... I'll keep an eye out!!!

I think it would be good, but maybe you could save your meatball/spaghetti splurge for another night, and eat a big salad or other light meal, since your big splurge will be grandma's home cooking!

My husband and I talked about spaghetti, in general, last night. He's on week three of his "new life," which involved watching calories, exercise and all. Before he wouldn't have thought twice about eating at his granny's and then pigging out on spaghetti....but he is this time. It just FLOORED him that he easily eats more than 1,000 calories in spaghetti. HE could actually afford it (he's eating somewhere around 2,500-2,700 calories a day), but I actually can't. That's the case with a lot of things these days.

We could switch it with something else, but he's of the opinion that he has to give up things he likes and eat "gross" stuff to lose weight. I want to show him that he CAN eat spaghetti with sauce and have it NOT be gross, even though there's not any meat in it.

May never get the chance again to convince him "healthier" doesn't mean "yuck" when it comes to this meal...so I'm taking it!!!

I hear ya! My husband doesn't have a weight problem, but he's a lifelong type 1 diabetic, so I have also been on a quest to ease him to the healthy side too. He is pretty good about eating what I fix, whether it be oatmeal and berries or a healthy dinner. Spaghetti is one of his vices too - he can eat the hugest portions of it - unreal. On nights when I don't cook, that's what he will gravitate toward - easy to make and he loves it. He's on an insulin pump, so he can eat carbs, but geesh, no one needs to eat that much pasta!

Hope your squash sauce turns out well! Let us know.

My squash-spaghetti was EXCELLENT! Ate leftovers for lunch today even. Sauteed the squash, some onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms and garlic in a pan with a little light, cholesterol free butter until they were sorta soft, then dumped in sauce (I don't make my own yet...working on it), let it simmer a bit while I cooked the pasta.

It was great. My husband didn't even miss the meat. I definitely want some more of it!!

Sounds yummy! Glad it turned out well.

A tip for when you do - make plenty and freeze in small portions (say 1/2c, depending on how many people/servings you use and how often). It's fabulous to pull out, thaw quickly, and use on lots of things.

Julie, I've never frozen squash or mushrooms for that matter. I figured with the high water content that the consistency would be altered too much. I take it that you've done so with good results. Can I ask you for how long you've left it in the freezer for???

I was talking about the sauce! I assumed she meant a marinara-type sauce, but I could be wrong. I can't imagine freezing mushrooms, but I've heard of freezing squash (mainly butternut-type, but I believe people on 3FC have said they froze spaghetti squash too).

Okay. Then we're on the same page about not freezing mushrooms and squash.

I think Mindi incorporated the veggies and made it into the sauce. Anyway, I think she used bottled marinara. I could be wrong...

Yeah, that's what I meant. I thought she was using a bottle marinara but considering making her own.

Yeah, I cheated and used the jar stuff. I really want to learn to make my own, but have simply been too lazy thus far...

Mindi all that I do is saute my veggies - the zucchini, peppers, onions, mushrooms, then I add a few cloves of crushed garlic. Then I add a can of stewed tomatoes. Sometimes I'll add a can of diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes. Then I add in some crushed red pepper and onion powder. I might throw in some red wine at times. Then I let it simmer for about 20 minutes. That's it. Very simple. If you like you can add oregano or basil or any other spices that you like. So I guess by using the canned tomatoes (which I adore), I kinda take a shortcut as well. Which I'm all for!