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Being diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes was a bit overwhelming for me, as I can imagine it probably is for just about anyone! I was worried that I would have a hard time finding food that was satisfying to me, kept my numbers in check, and that my family would actually eat so that I didn’t have to do twice the work.
I had pretty much given up on cheesy pasta dishes. But then I whipped up this little dish and it checked all of the boxes! Cheese? Check! Pasta (ish)? Check! Creamy goodness?? Check! And my toddler and husband actually really liked it too! Plus it all comes together so easily in a cast iron skillet. (If you don’t have one, you need one! I recommend THIS ONE)
Okay so, before you can make the actual recipe, we need to talk about cooking the spaghetti squash that it requires! For years, I dreaded any recipes that used it because cooking it seemed so time consuming. But then I found out about the microwave trick! It is so easy, and it takes minutes! CHECK OUT THIS POST to learn how to do it!
Okay, now on to the recipe!
Cheesy Spinach & Spaghetti Squash Bake
Ingredients:
- 1 decent sized spaghetti squash
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 4-5 cups spinach, chopped
- Small jar of sun dried tomatoes (Or you can use red peppers! But I like the tomato flavor myself)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 8 oz. of cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- You will also really appreciate a Cast Iron Skillet because it saves dishes and adds more flavor, but it isn’t mandatory!
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cook your spaghetti squash until tender, and prepare the noodles. (I love the microwave method I mentioned above!)
- Heat your olive oil in your skillet on the stovetop over medium heat. Add your spinach and sun dried tomato (or red bell pepper) and cook until spinach is wilted. Make sure to stir frequently!
- Add your garlic, salt and pepper, and cook until fragrant, stirring constantly so that your garlic doesn’t burn.
- Add the cream cheese and stir until melted.
- Add your spaghetti squash noodles and stir until everything is well incorporated. If you are using a cast iron skillet, you get to skip the next step! Yay you!
- If you are using a regular skillet, you will need to pour your mixture into a greased 9×13 casserole dish.
- Top your mixture with the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and bake for approximately 30 minutes. Your mixture should be bubbly and the cheese should be browning a bit on top.
Would you look at all of that gooey, cheesy goodness?? I am craving some right now!
If you wanted to up the protein content even more, you could always add shredded chicken to this dish as well! Even as it is, It was a definite hit for us!
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