You know those work days where things are a nonstop whirlwind from the moment you walk in the door? The days where you are lucky to down any sort of nourishment, and only at the risk of not meeting a deadline? Today was one of those days!
Luckily, I packed some snacks to hold me over!
Guess what runs in my family besides blue eyes and big brains…. Cholesterol problems 🙁 Which is why I was super excited to try out the Kardea natural cholesterol management bars! Today, I went with the cranberry almond Kardea:
The texture of the bar was slightly chewy with little crispy bits, which I was a big fan of. This bar curbed my hunger throughout the morning and it was definitely tasty, though the flavor was a little on the mild side. I am pumped to try out the other three flavors!
Post madness work:
After work, I made a beeline for the grocery store. FINALLY! I literally got a big smile on my face as I walked from my car into the store.
Why, hello healthy food! I have missed you! 😀
l decided to go with spaghetti squash for dinner tonight. I actually wasn’t planning on buying a spaghetti squash, but they had some tiny little squashes that looked like the perfect size. And by tiny, I mean a 1.5 pounder. Usually my grocery store only carries spaghetti squash the size of a small child!
First up, I halved the squash taking precaution not to stab myself 😉
Next, I scooped out the seeds and placed both halves cut side down on a cookie sheet that I sprayed with cooking spray, and popped into a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes (I like my squash to have a little “bite” to it).
Meanwhile, I browned a quarter pound of 95% lean ground beef that I seasoned up with black pepper, garlic salt, and red pepper flakes.
Then, I pulled out some Classico Fired Roasted Tomato & Garlic pasta sauce from the freezer:
I’m kind of obsessed with freezing things into individual servings. It makes life a zillion time easier in the long run! And for this exact reason, I froze up 1/2 of the ground beef I purchased today into single serve mounds:
When the sauce was defrosted, I added 1/2 a cup to the browned meat, then seasoned with black pepper, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, dried basil, onion powder, and a little bit of fennel seed (this makes it taste like sausage). Use whatever spices sound good to you!
In the meantime, I roasted up a huge pan of broccoli. This consisted of spraying a cookie sheet with cooking spray, tossing on the broccoli, seasoning with black pepper and garlic salt, and popping it into the over for 15 minutes. E-A-S-Y.
Once the spaghetti squash was done cooking, I used a fork to scrape out the flesh. For those who haven’t had spaghetti squash before, this is SUPER easy. Just be careful not to burn yourself! Half of the squash made for quite a LARGE plate (about 1.5 cups)!
I topped the squash off with the spicy meat sauce and added my broccoli:
And dinner was served!
In addition to the dinner I made, I was a SUPER productive foodie and also did the following:
I must say, I’m quite happy with all I’ve gotten done tonight 🙂
Stats on dinner: 293 calories, 29g carbs, 7g fat, 30g protein, 7g fiber
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My family gave me lovely cholesterol problems too ;) How nice of them haha. I loooovvveee spaghetti squash!
High cholesterol is in my family too! Last time I tested it, I had high bad cholesterol that was offset by the high good cholesterol! I probably should use a kitchen scale to portion out servings! :P
I LOVE the kitchen scale! I had no idea what a serving of meat looked like til I got one! Boy was I way off :)
spaghetti squash is so fun. you got some good stuff at the grocery store! :) i really need to try a kardea bar soon!
Your dinner looks delicious! I love that spaghetti squash can be a healthy alternative to pasta. I definitely need to try making this. :)
I love spaghetti squash! I hardly even make traditional spaghetti anymore. A tip for cutting it without slicing off a finger - slice off the end with the stem so you have a flat base. It makes it much easier.
I'm going to have to give those bars a try. I was also blessed with a wicked predisposition to high cholesterol. Added bonus, every member of my family that's ever taken cholesterol medication has had seriously negative side effects so I need to focus on natural cholesterol management as much as possible.
GOOD IDEA on the spaghetti squash!!
I love love love spaghetti squash. I end up eating it for days because I have small children squash here too. :)
I am going to have to give those bars a try!
Yummy! I've never made spaghetti squash nor have I ate it. A family member gave me one a couple days ago, and I was clueless as to what to do with it. I found this blog, and I will be trying out your recipe. Seems simple enough, hopefully it all works out!
Hi Erin! Thanks for checking out my blog! I hope you like the spaghetti squash as much as I do! Let me know how it turns out! :)