This was my plate. Uh, and bowl. And personal squeeze bottle of dressing. Cauldron of wine not pictured. I know it's a shitty BatPhone pic, but you can kind of see how the base is basically...mashed squash. Which was fine by me. I'm not fussy, as long as it's covered in meat. Story of my life. Yes, I realize this is a rather...ROBUST serving size. That is how I roll, SKIMMERS. I've never been much for portion control. I totally ate it all, and it was damn good. 
This was Ava's plate. Uh, no shit, right? I am not (YET) forcing Tosc to eat from a pink butterfly lunch tray, although if he keeps up with this picky shit I will strongly consider it. Anyway, Ava proclaimed that she didn't want any of the squash, so I just mixed hers up with her meat sauce and covered it in parmesan cheese. SHADY. Slash effective. She ate it. She ate this whole plate of food, actually, AND an orange sherbet push-up. Apple, tree, etc.
Tosc's plate looked just like mine, except he had bread and ranch. You guys. HE ATE IT. He even LIKED it, and suggested that we use chili and cheese/onions next time instead of meat sauce. I practically burst into tears! I'm getting a little misty now, just thinking of it! I think the key was not to position this meal as some kind of...pasta stand-in. Keep expectations low, that's my motto. That, and "cover it with meat."
/squashweek
16 comments:
I think keeping expectations low is the only way something like that is going to work out.
Glad everyone liked it!
i have been dating my boyfriend for 11 months and have ONLY ONCE in that entire time coerced him into (willingly) eating a meal that did not contain meat.
i could serve him dead beetles, but as long as there was also meat, he'd be cool.
I recently heard about a recipe called "meat stuffed meat." I thought of you. :)
"cover it with meat." funny - also, *gag*
Hm. I must have cooked my on low for not all day. Oops. Sorry!
I am glad you still liked it.
Artemisia-dude, it is MY CROCKPOT. I guarantee it. Even on the low setting, it just overcooks EVERYTHING. Bah.
Yay! It looks yummy, even if it wasn't pseudo-spaghetti. Must try this! And find out if my crockpot is also on the "overcooks everything" side of the scale.
I am not really a fan of sauce on spaghetti squash. I really like it with butter and parmesan cheese, but that kind of defeats the purpose, eh?
My new-ish crock pot also overcooks everything so I set it to run for way less time than reccomended.
On another note - I ONLY cook my spaghetti squash in the microwave because I cannot be bothered to wait an hour for it to cook in the oven. I put the whole squash (un-cut) in a dish, stab it a few times, and cook for like 7 - 10 minutes depending on the size of the squash (I usually rotate once halfway through).
It should be soft-ish to the touch, but not mushy otherwise it won't get stringy as you discovered. And voila - cut it open and make into fake spaghetti.
Okay, this sounds like a SpSq dish that will possibly rival the bacon-cheese-butter one. Must try, except my crockpot ALSO overcooks. Though it doesn't help that I am asking it cook something for nine hours and change. At that timespan, I basically need to put my food in a hole out back and toss a few hot rocks in. Slllllow cookin.
Culinary Q of the day: why is it that no other family members, many of whom are home during the day, are able to turn on the crockpot unassisted at a more reasonable cooking time?
/squashweek HAHAHAHAHA.
Our crockpot overcooks everything too. This bodes well for making things like pulled pork, that I want to fall apart. Not so much for roasts and such. It doesn't seem like my stew should be boiling when I get home, after being on low all day.
This may be too late, or the microwave may be anathema (skimmer ...), but you can cook a whole spaghetti squash in the microwave in 10 minutes, I think. You stab it a few times with a knife first, let it sit a few minutes, and then cut open and shred. Fooled my husband into thinking he had baked spaghetti.
Or, perhaps I should have read the other comments first, and noticed that the microwave version had already been recommended ...
Am totally trying the microwaving idea - and covering that shit in meat. I think there's at least a 60% chance my husband and son will eat it.
I love that you hid the squash in Ava's food. I get away with putting all kinds of shit in my kids' food using the stick blender. I love that thing.
Lauren is correct, microwaving is the quick and dirty way to get strands of spaghetti squash. I think if you like it that's one thing, but it will never ever be pasta and that is that. I have tried every pasta substitute there is and honestly? Just cook the damn pasta and let the chips fall.
But if it's more orange veggies you want, my two faves are:
1. butternut squash halved, seeded, roasted, scooped out, mashed with butter and Asiago cheese, and roasted until you have some brownage.
2.sweet potatoes peeled, cubed, oiled, tossed with Jamaican jerk seasoning and roasted until soft.
Hmmm...I do not trust the squash, but this looks good. Also, we somehow own 4 crockpots, so I feel obligated to try this recipe.
I hate portion control. I eat until I'm not hungry, end of story. :) My mom was the same way, too. She was this little little woman who could demolish half a pizza by herself.
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