There Will Be A $5.00 Charge For Whining: Cheesy Spaghetti Squash

I have to say that out of all the food I miss in my low glycemic lifestyle, I miss the humble the potato the most. This is not to say that I don't allow myself to indulge in a potato now and again...it's just I don't include them as part of my everyday eating. They tend to do wacky things to my blood sugar...believe me.

I have been known to have a bit of a potato problem (a-hem) in the past. There are others like me. You know who you are. A bit of potato hash for breakfast, an order of hot crispy fries for lunch and some good ole homemade mashed potatoes for supper. That sounds like a reasonably balanced day to me.

So I abstain for the most part. I love sweet potatoes so that has been a nice bonus. They are lower down on the glycemic scale.

So why am I talking (and drooling over) about potatoes when I promised a recipe for Spaghetti Squash? One of the recipes I've missed the most is the Hashbrown Casserole. Cheesey. Potatoey. Goody.

This recipe puts aside the potato in favor of Spaghetti Squash. This winter squash is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only does it make a nice substitute as a base for your pasta sauces, but the recipe below makes me miss Hashbrown Casserole just a little less. The health benefits of all winter squashes are fantabulous. This is a good article that helps us common folk understand just a little more.

I think it's time to share this recipe, don't you? I got it off the Weight Watchers website. You can refer to the original to get all the particulars...I only strayed slightly.

First of all, you need to cook your spaghetti squash. I don't mess around. I poked holes in mine and put it in the microwave. Many recipes have you cutting the thing in half and putting it in water. Here is a good tutorial on 3 different ways to cook one.

While my spaghetti squash cooked, I chopped up one whole onion.

Just a minute. To my Little Bro and Baby Sister: Yes. This is the cow butter dish from Mom's house. No. I did not steal it. She gave it to me of her own accord. 'Cause she loves me best. Okay. Back to the task at hand. This is my butter dish. Isn't she cute?

I took just a tablespoon or so of buttah and melted it up in my cast iron skillet.

While my buttah was melting I grabbed a few spices. I love thyme and red pepper flakes just seem to give everything a kick. Plus, I saw it in original recipe for spaghetti squash and thought, "Why not?"

I added a little bit of both spices to my cooking onions and sauteed until I liked the look of them.

Spaghetti squash comes with seeds. If you take a fork and kind of scrap out the seedy part you're good. Use the same fork and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. If you've cooked it long enough it should be easy to do. If not, go back and nuke it some more.

My bowl. My squash.

You can use whatever you have for the next step. Well, technically, not whatever you have. These are dairy products...don't try anything too funky. I used nonfat Greek Yogurt (plain) and some shredded Swiss Cheese. The Swiss cheese had been hanging out in my freezer. I found it a few weeks ago at a markdown price of .99. Yippee! You can betcha I snagged a few bags. I think the original recipe uses sharp, which sounds divine!

I added 1/2 cup of each, plus the sauteed onions. And then mixed away.

I put the whole thing in my just lightly oiled casserole dish and sprinkled a little more cheese on top.

I put my casserole in a 375 oven and cooked it for about 25 minutes.

Oops. Forgot a step. I did lightly salt it before putting it in the casserole. I feel like I need to play show and tell. This is my salt shaker (I have a pepper that has a black lid.) They were a present from my Mom-in-law. If you push the top center poof....