Spaghetti Squash: Cooking, Preparing, and Dehydrating

Americans are the superheroes of mindless eating. So it's no surprise that Supermarkets spend millions of dollars on marketing stratagems to help consumers part ways with hard-earned dollars. I am a fairly educated consumer, BUT, I am a self-admitted sucker for grocery store marketing gimmicks. 

For instance, you know that elevator music playing in the store?  The tempo is designed to lull you senseless; making you feel relaxed and spend more time in the store, thus spending about 29% more than planned. 

Soft, focused lighting and handwritten signs in the produce section also sells more - about 30% more!  The first thing consumers see is a dazzling array of colors. Fresh food that says "eat me!"  And I hear what that food is saying, and I buy everything in sight. 

I can't even imagine how much money I have spent over the years on produce, only to throw it later in the compost pile rotten because I never got around to doing anything with the stuff!  Fortunately, one vegetable "experiment" that I learned to use successfully is spaghetti squash. 

Spaghetti Squash

While I am currently a devout omnivore, I was a vegetarian off and on for several years, and even vegan during my pregnancy with my youngest child.   Pasta is a vegan food, but not what I consider very "healthy" due to processing.  A better substitute for pasta, IMHO, is spaghetti squash.  When first dehydrated and then rehydrated, the squash has a chewy texture closer to pasta noodles.  Additionally, the rehydrated squash absorbs some flavor from the sauce.  Yum!!

Spaghetti squash can easily be added to any recipe requiring pasta or a similar base - check out my other posts about building DIY meals using a simple five step formula to get the idea.  Use dehydrated spaghetti squash instead of ramen  noodles, rice, or potatoes!

Not sure how to cook or prepare spaghetti squash?  Never fear: I have a video for this!  Watch my Youtube video below.

Please feel free to leave your comments, including any ideas you have for spaghetti squash in recipes!