Anna's Table: Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

If there is one thing I love more than Mexican food, it is Italian food- specifically pasta with a hearty meat sauce. However, as we all know, it is not the lightest most healthiest meal for you. Therefore, I thought of a way where I could have my cake and eat it too (so to speak).

I decided to make spaghetti squash. One cup of it adds up to only 42 calories and only 10 grams of carbs! So much better than pasta because you save about 33 grams of carbs and 179 calories. I topped it off with my dad's "secret" meat sauce (don't worry, I'll share the recipe with his permission) and added roasted vegetables on the side. Oh, and a nice glass of red wine!

Ingredients for the Meat Sauce:
- Jar of marinara sauce (I used Organic Tomato Basil Marinara sauce. It is low in both sugar and calories and added a nice flavor)
- Ground Turkey, defrosted
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Oregano and Basil to taste
- CINNAMON (it adds the perfect sweetness. I don't measure it exactly, I just add it throughout the cooking process)
- 1tsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup water

Directions:
- Pour the oil in a large pan on medium heat, and then add the ground turkey. Brown the turkey, and the salt, pepper, and cinnamon. On another burner, empty the jar of marinara sauce and cook on a low heat. Add the water. Once the turkey is browned, add the turkey to the sauce, as well as the oregano and basil. Continue to stir the sauce (keeping it on a low heat). Do this for 3 hours so that the turkey can soak up the sauce.

Ingredients for the Spaghetti Squash:
- 2 spaghetti squashes
- Cooking Spray
- Pepper
- Oregano

Directions:
- Cut the squashes in half and take out the seeds (this is easily done using a fork). Lightly spray the halves with cooking spray and sprinkle pepper. Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Take out and let cool for 10 minutes. Then, using a fork, scrape out the insides. You'll notice that what you'll get resembles a thin pasta! Do this to all for halves, and voila, you have your healthy and delicious spaghetti. Put all the scrapings into a serving bowl and mix in pepper and oregano.

I paired this dish with a melody of roasted vegetables (green and red peppers, sweet onion, broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, and kale). Add the meat sauce on top of the squash and you've got yourself a healthy, filling, and nutritious dinner!