Spaghetti Squash Shrimp Scampi

On my journey to eating better and exercising I have discovered spaghetti squash. Spaghetti Squash is awesome. I started with a recipe online, then decided I could make it better, and here we are!

You’ll need:

9×13 baking pan (I used glass, probably doesn’t make a difference)

1 spaghetti squash, cut in half

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I am in LOVE with EVOOs)

Various Seasonings (I used oregano, basil, garlic salt, and parsley)

salt and pepper

Shrimp (cooked, detailed, deveined)

red, green, and yellow bell peppers

onion

chicken sausage

Scoop the guts out of the squash. Season the two halves with salt and pepper. Place cut side down in 3/4 cup of water in the baking dish. Bake at 375 for 40-45 min.

While the squash is baking, finely dice about a 1/4 cup of each pepper, and little bit of onion. Slice up one chicken sausage. I usually use Aidells, but the Kroger brand is good too. Sorry my amounts aren’t exact… I just wung it.

When there’s about 10 minutes left on the squash, drizzle a little bit of EVOO in a medium sized skillet, add the peppers, onion, seasonings (to taste), sausage and shrimp and saute on medium-low heat.

Remove the squash from the oven. Hold one half in one hand with a hot pad and scrape the meat out of the squash with a fork into your skillet. You can scrape all the way down to the skin. One squash will yield quite a lot. It fed me for 4 meals.

Mix everything together in the skillet and viola!

PS: you don’t need to use anymore than 1-2 tbsp of EVOO, the squash has plenty of its own juices.

Enjoy!

General Tso’s!

Wow I’m bad at this, haven’t posted in weeks…. Sorry! This one will make up for it though. This is Awesome.

General Tso’s done LOW CAL! What?!?! That’s right you heard me. I’ve been on a healthy kick lately, trying to lose a few pounds and get in shape. I LOVE to cook but I don’t always eat the healthiest things. Since I basically live on pinterest these days, I get most of my recipes from there.

That’s how I stumbled across the Takeout Makeover. Yep, that’s right, all our favorite wonderful delicious food that sooooo bad for us, REDONE. This recipe for General Tso’s chicken is only 236 calories, has 7g of fat, and 28g protein. Boo yeah, win for me.

I made a few little adjustments and substitutions but it turned out great!

• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1″ chunks
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch, divided
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp plum sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• scallions, sliced
• 2 tbsp white sesame seeds
• optional: 1 tbsp dried thai chilies

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Toss chunks of chicken with 2 tbsp corn starch
3. On a cookie sheet, spread chicken chunks into a single layer
4. Bake chicken for 12-15 minutes, until cooked through
5. In a medium saucepan, combine garlic, ginger and chili oil, saute for 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, broth, vinegar, honey, tomato paste and hoisin sauce
6. Simmer mixture on medium heat for 4-5 minutes
7. Dissolve 1 tsp of cornstarch in ¼ cup of cold water
8. Add cornstarch to sauce mixture, stirring
9. Continue to simmer sauce for another 3-4 minutes, until it begins to thhicken. Toss cooked chicken with sauce, coating thoroughly
10. Serve chicken with 1 tbsp sesame seeds and scallions

I’m lazy and got some Uncle Bens 90 sec microwavable rice to serve it on. Turned out great! If the sauce gets a little too thick, add a little more chicken broth.

Enjoy!!!