Ok well I've tried spaghetti squash but it didn't turn out to be a good substitute for me although I do like it and will use it for other dishes. What has made a good spaghetti stretcher is shredded zucchini that you blanche off in the pasta water in the last few minutes of cooking. It took my 1 cup portion of pasta and turned it into a 2 cup portion for just 40 extra calories. It was so fresh-tasting too without overwhelming the flavor of the dish. This will be my go-to trick for eating spaghetti from here on out! I am just amazed how good it was and that I could make the calorie exchange and love it!

Just typing this made me want to make it this weekend! I am so excited I can work spaghetti dinners into my plan and not have to scrimp on calories all day to make it happen! Whohoo!

Yum plus you get extra veggie nutrition. Thanks for the tip. I will be trying this.

Indeed. I use brown rice spaghetti or spinach spaghetti (this was super YUMMY) and add zucchini or any veg I can get my hands on to bulk it up.

This sounds really good, 4star. I'm gluten intolerant and the corn pasta is good but not very healthy

This probably sounds funny, but another trick I saw around the interwebs is to substitute chickpeas for the pasta if you're using a hearty red sauce. I would post a link to a recipe but I can't yet. That would provide a lot of protein! I plan on trying that soon. I bet using something like white kidney beans would be good too.

...and if you love mac N cheese.... you can lighten it up by adding cooked (I like boiled) cauliflower broken into pieces and well-drained. My family absolutely loves it! By the way, there is a vegetable shredder called a spiral slicer that takes carrots, zuccini, parsnips, etc, and renders them into long spaghetti like pieces. "Google" spiral slicer. A+ and thumbs up!

Sounds good, thanks for the tip