Pinterest Recipe Review: Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Hey there Seedlings!  Megs here with a recipe review for you!  I saw this spaghetti squash casserole pinned on a friend's Pinterest board and I HAD to try it.  We enjoyed it for dinner tonight and I can say it was a wonderful success!  I made a few tweaks to the recipe, as I am sensitive to all nightshade foods (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers), so I made substitutions for the tomatoes.  This is a truly satisfying and delightful casserole with much less guilt than a typical spaghetti casserole would bring to your life!

Here are the tweaks I made to the recipe (linked above):

• Sauteed carrots, garlic, kale, and zucchini with a bit of water and set aside

• Sauteed one chicken breast (cut into smallish, bite-sized pieces) with a few pumps of olive oil from my Pampered Chef mister/spray and combined with veggies
• Cooked the spaghetti squash  in the microwave (about 10 minutes per side) with fork holes for ventilation
• I didn't have mozzerella, so I substituted low fat shredded cheddar for that part of the recipe

For the sauce, I blended the called-for cottage cheese with the parmesan cheese (topped the casserole with a sprinkle of cheddar instead of putting the parm on top) and also included 1/2 an avocado and 1/4 cup low fat alfredo sauce in the blender (the sauce was AMAZING!!!!)

• Combine all ingredients (including spices) into the 9x13 pan and mix well
• I topped with Panko breading, then cooked for 40 minutes with a few minutes on broil at the end

This was incredibly awesome!!!!

You could easily prepare this recipe dairy and gluten free by switching out the breadcrumbs and using cashew cream and almond or soy cheese in place of the cottage cheese/dairy.  It's not a dish I would put on the menu for a week night due to the cooking time involved.  Overall, it was a definite win.  

Here are the down-and-dirty stats:

Total dishes dirtied in cooking process: 1 frying pan, 1 casserole dish, 1 blender pitcher/blade, 1 plate for the microwave, several knives and spoons and a cutting board

Total time start to finish: About 2 hours, but I was doing the two-year-old mommy dance in between steps so that could be shorter if you are able to multitask better than I am :)

Leftovers/meal potential: High.  This was incredible fresh, and I am looking forward to having it in days to come as the sauce soaks even further into the casserole

Estimated cost per serving: 68 cents (less if you omit the meat)

Who ate it?  I ate it (and loved it).  The two-year old decided to pass (she's just learning to like vegetables, and is sick, so I wasn't surprised).  The picky eater husband initially said, "I hate spaghetti squash!" but he ate his entire serving without making faces, so that's a win.