Spaghetti Squash with Bolognese Sauce (Paleo)

Pictures.

I need to remember pictures.  They probably won't be lovely but it would enhance this place a bit more.  I'll work on it.

When you visit this blog you will find a lot about food.  Yes, there are other aspects to homemaking.  I am not always good at them.  That's okay.  I am learning about getting better.  I also feel like I am coming out of the fog and no longer in just survival mode now with three little ones.  But certain areas still lack.  We have clean clothes.  That's a win.  But priority comes to eating.  People need to eat or the natives get restless.  Right now I am cranking out meals for three adults and three munchkins, three times a day.  Sometimes there are snacks but not very often.

My girls generally like spaghetti and meat sauce.  For some reason all of them have really liked tomato or tomato sauce type meals.  However, the carbs in pasta stick with me and I would like to move away from it as much as possible... even if I DO love it.  When I did my first round of The South Beach Diet I made some spaghetti squash.  I didn't come out very well.  Nope.  So much so that I never made it again.  But I decided to try it this last Sunday.  OH. MY.  So very good.  The sauce came together very well and this has turned into one of my favorite meals for fall when the squash is in season.

My husband and I loved this!  I probably ate a little too much and was totally stuffed until I went to bed.  There was no urge to snack.  It was just happy to my soul.  Granted it's not an actual noodle texture but I thought it got the job done for sure!  My two-year-old, Miss A, asked for seconds.  Nuff' said.  My 11-month baby ate hers all up.  My almost four-year-old is a skeptic when it comes to dinner.  She just wanted to eat the sauce.  But after awhile she warmed up to the new foods and ate it all up with minimal fussing.  It was a total win in my book with her!

I found myself in a pinch when I went to make this as I didn't have the right amount of tomato sauce.  As in, I didn't have any.  I did have tomato paste.  A 1:1 ratio of tomato paste and water worked nicely.  Also, I realized later that if I had added vegetable broth (I like Pacific's Organic Vegetable Broth) it would have kicked up the favor and nutrient value a bit.  I think I will do that next time.  I also cut the red pepper flakes down to 1/8 just in case.  Oh, I think mushrooms (chopped for me please!) would be a good addition to this sauce, too.

Spaghetti Squash with Bolognese Sauce (from Cavemen Gourmet)

1 spaghetti squash

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion – chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 15 oz can of organic tomato sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley – chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper

Directions
Cut your squash in half lengthwise. Clean out squash.  Once you halved the squash, you can either bake it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or microwave it. Let cool for a few minutes.  It’s incredibly fast and easy. These ‘noodles’ taste great and are so easy to make. They have a high water content so keep that in mind when you add sauces.  

In a dutch oven, saute the garlic, parsley and onion in extra virgin olive oil and stir on high heat until nicely golden.  Add the ground beef, salt and pepper, and cook on high heat. Make sure to constantly stir the meat so it breaks nicely and you don’t have large chunks of meat.  We’re making bolognese sauce here – not meatballs.

Once the ground beef is nice and brown, add the tomato sauce, oregano, rosemary and red pepper flakes.  Stir the mixture so that all of the ground beef and tomato sauce are evenly mixed.  Taste and correct seasonings (add salt and/or pepper if needed).  Lower heat and let simmer for an hour. 

After an hour, the bolognese sauce should be meaty and delicious with a slightly sweet taste from the sauteed onions and have a little kick from the red pepper flakes. For those Lacto-Paleos out there, feel free to top with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.