It’s so freezing indoors and out here, so it was nice to have a big bowl of warmth for dinner 🙂 Tonight we made Alton Brown’s tomato sauce and served it over spaghetti squash – my favorite! I am SO. FULL. right now of squash and tea that I don’t think there’s any room for the dessert I had planned.
The husband was supposed to roast the squash this afternoon so we would just have to re-heat it, but when we got ready for dinner I asked him “Where’s the squash?” OOPS! He is SO forgetful that I just can’t believe it sometimes. But luckily I wasn’t too hungry, so we just decided to roast it then. After cutting it open, we microwaved on high for 5 minutes to help it along and then put it in the oven for 30. No big deal after all.
Here’s a link to Alton’s recipe that we modeled ours after.
And here’s what we used:
- 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 medium celery stalks
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 oz dry sherry (1/2 in liquid and 1/2 to de-glaze)
- 2 tsp Splenda
- Oregano and rosemary to taste
- 2 tbsp capers
We pretty much followed his method – reserving and reducing the tomato liquid, broiling the solids, etc.
Topped with 10 grams freshly grated parmesan cheese!
This was about 10 oz of squash for about 75 calories. Now I love whole wheat pasta for certain dishes, but just compare the same volume of pasta here – it would probably be nearing 350 calories for the same amount! In my opinion pasta is suited for delicate gourmet toppings and spaghetti sauce just needs a BIG pile of something to deliver its goodness.
All mixed up:
With hot tea:
Total dinner calories: ~325. (I ate another 1.5 oz of squash when I was scrapping the other half for leftovers! I LOVE squash!!!!!!!!!!)
Speaking of leftover squash, I really want to take this for lunch tomorrow, but I’m having the rest of the butternut squash for lunch!! Not sure when we’ll finish this guy up because I have a few meals out this week. Perhaps Friday dinner?
Snacks
Around 3:30 I had a huge pear and a little tea cookie, followed by some graham sticks because I wanted to keep munching!
It’s strange how I’m so hungry around 4:00 everyday I’m at work but when I get home for dinner I’m rarely hungry. I always want to keep eating when I finish my afternoon snack but never have trouble at other meals. I’ve noticed that hunger comes in waves like that too. Or maybe it just takes a while for the snack to reach my bloodstream.
Recap
Total Wednesday (I just wrote Monday because it feels like one with the first day of work!) calories: 1651.
-566 thru AM workout and long lunch walk
= net of 1084.
I might have a chocolate, but honestly my stomach doesn’t need anything else tonight! We’ll see. I think I’d rather just brush my teeth and get in bed. Tomorrow’s planned meals are a little heavier, so I might just “save” these calories for then – a little less one day, a little more the next. All about balance, right!?
Serena says
Hi Kath and everyone else. I am really tempted to join Calorie King, but it looks like the nutritional database is available for non-members (i.e., free). It's hard to tell what the paid membership is like without signing up, so I'd love to hear from people who have joined whether they're glad they joined and how much they use it. Thanks!
Becky says
Well this seems like the appropriate time to tell you that you inspired me to try spaghetti squash! I roasted it this weekend, but with New Years and all I didn't have time to eat it until tonight. Yours looks really good, like noodles….mine turned into mush(I could kinda see the strands, but mostly mush). I think I might have roasted it too long-would that make it mushy? I sort of forgot the oven was on and it was probably in there for about an hour. It still tasted good, expecially with the pomodoro sauce I made(you would hate it, it was full of onioins!)
I also made some foccocia bread tonight. Between yours and Jenna's blogs, I am certainly getting some cravings and ideas! Thanks for the inspiration!
Becky says
Serena-
I use SparkPeople (www.sparkpeople.com) as my nutritional database. Its completely free and there is a great community network. as well as tons of articles and info. You should check it out.
Kath says
Serena,
We I can certainly respond to this one!! 🙂 The calorie database is available to everyone. What the membership gets you is
1) A terrific food diary where you can log your food and exercise to any calorie goal you set, enter in recipes to get nutritional information, save meals to easily add to your dairy each day (I have my oatmeal breakfast saved so I just push a button and it's entered it), log glasses of water consumed, etc. In my opinion this is the best food diary out there. It's fast and user friendly.
2) There's also a great community. I've been on CK for almost 2 years now and have made many friends (and met a few in person when vacationing in their hometown!). There is a whole world of blogs on CK (how I got started blogging) too. They are private to the community.
3) There's also a ton of message boards and lots of people who are trying to get healthier.
I have to admit, I mostly just use the food diary now that this blog is taking up a lot of my time, but I don't know if I would have been as successful at weight loss without CK.
Kath
Edited to add: I believe you can do a free trial at CK too to try it out.
Also, I really like the Sparkpeople site but I find the food diary to be way too time consuming for someone like me who eats mostly homemade food. But if you're just ballparking your meals, it would be a great option.
Kath says
Becky,
Well spaghetti squash is kind of like mush. It's hard to separate each "noodle" as most of them clump together. The more you can fork through it the more spaghetti-like it is. I got lots of chew out of mine tonight, so perhaps you did cook it too long? It just needs to be fork tender. Ours was 5 minutes in the microwave and 30 in the oven and it was a HUGE squash.
Glad you liked it overall – and EEWWWWW about the onions!! But that's cute you remember my aversion 🙂
VeggieGirl says
spaghetti squash + tomatoes = fantastic.
Serena says
Thanks, Kath and Becky, for the responses – such great info! I'm going to check out both sites tonight!
Katie says
Hey Kath,
Do you happen to know how many calories are in the sauce? Thanks!
Ala says
haha that onions comments cracked me up :p
Karen says
Hi Kath – I've been looking for a great, simple tomato sauce, but I am a little picky (although I do like onions very much!) If I were to eliminate the sherry, the capers and the Splenda, do you think the taste would be "off?" Why is sweetener necessary in tomato sauce?
Thanks again for inspiring me to develop my culinary skills and capturing your productions with such beautiful pics…mouthwatering! And, thanks for the good entertainment with your fun/funny narratives. This is hands-down my favorite blog!
Nicole says
Hi Kath! I've yet to invest in a scale (I should work on that, I know!) so I often look online for the caloric value of certain foods – mostly fruits and veggies that I'm not 100% sure about and don't come prepackaged with a helpful label! Anyway, I know you use CalorieKing, but like you said in your last video post, even CK had the value of a "large" sweet potato wayyy off. How should we scaleless people know when to raise an eyebrow at what we read online?? thanks!!
Sara says
Looks great as usual! I have never tried spaghetti squash; you've inspired me to pick some up on my Friday evening grocery trip.
Serena: I use www.thedailyplate.com and I LOVE it, I can't say enough great things about it! Check it out 🙂 You can upgrade for a fee but I am using the free featires and find that they are everything and more that I need!
Amanda says
Hi Kath!
Long time reader, first time writer : )
You're fab, by the way. Totally inspirational and real and I appreciate all the time and devotion you give to the blog and to us, the humble readers!
Get to the point Amanda!
I'm a long-time lover of spaghetti squash but always hurt myself when cutting it open. I usually ask the boyfriend to do it but sometimes he's not around at "roasting time". How do you cut yours'? Any secrets?
Thanks again, you're a rockstar!
Amanda
Annie says
Hi Kath. Your dinners always look so good!
I just had a question about protein, but am not sure if you could answer it. I have always heard that when you are working out, your body needs more protein, and I noticed that you dont eat all that much. Is that a personal preference, or just somtimes how your meals fall?
I was just wondering what your opinions were, seeing as you work out so much, but dont always eat protein at every meal.
Thanks for being so committed, you really are an inspiration.
Kath says
Katie,
The sauce was about 185 calories for my whole half. That's including 60 from the olive oil the husband used. I would have used much less (1 tsp total instead of a tablespoon) and that would have reduced the calories significantly.
Karen,
You could certainly leave those out and add whatever flavors you like!! Balsamic vinegar or red wine would both make great additions. As would fresh basil. The splenda is totally optional but probably brings out the natural sweetness of the tomatoes.
Here's another tomato sauce we made (my mom's recipe) from fresh tomatoes in the summer -it's FABULOUS!!!!! I prefer this recipe to tonights, but we wanted to try something with canned tomatoes. https://www.katheats.com/?page_id=294
Nicole,
Just buy a food scale! There are some really cheap needle ones you can use for things. I found that lots of produce was off (because it's so big these days) but most produce is really healthy anyways so it's less of a weighing concern than say, peanut butter. Calorie-count.com is another good database to check numbers against if something seems off on CK.
Amanda,
Here's my secret: I go find my husband and make him do it!! Seriously, if you put it in the microwave for 5 minutes and then let it cool a bit it will soften a little and make cutting easier. On Roni's Green Light Bites page (in my links) she has a video of how to cut a butternut squash – put knife halfway through, press through and down, and then turn and do the other side – and I use the same technique when cutting huge things.
Annie,
Good question. I don't eat a lot of protein because I'm more of a whole grains/fiber person. I've found that my body just needs carbs. Some people I know (through calorieking so I know what they eat) thrive on eggs and cottage cheese. It's just personal preference. According to my nutrition class this fall, Americans get WAY more than enough protein in our diets and there is no need to worry about getting enough or taking supplements. My CK diary generally shows me getting about 15-20% of my calories from protein, and the recommendation is 10-30%.
Off to the gym at 5;35 – I'm late!!
Kath
Sarah says
Kath—I just wanted to point out something about the protein. I had always followed that belief that protein is overdone for everyone, but its definately not like that for every person. Plenty of people still fall short on the protein in their diets, and I was one of them. After upping the protein, I definately got more energy and my hair/nails became shinier/stronger.
I know you didn't mean that people don't need to worry about protein, but I just wanted to make sure that everyone realized they need to look at their own personal diet rather then looking at statistics of how much protein Americans are consuming. Same goes for fat, calories, sugars, and so on…
(p.s. this dish looks amazing! I never thought of pairing the squash with a sauce, and I'm definately going to give it a try and pick up the ingredients when I go shopping today…:)
Kath says
Sarah,
Very true – everyone is different. I do know people who are very happy eating 30-40% of their calories from protein. Plus, it's satiating. I prefer to fill up on fiber, but protein is known to delay hunger as well!
Happy Thursday,
Kath
Karen says
Thanks for the ideas for making tomato sauce, Kath. Your mom's recipe looks super with all those fresh tomatos. Now of course the challenge is to find some locally produced/deliciously fresh tomotos in the midwest this time of year. Of course, the absence of a real good tomato is probably why I am craving some homemade sauce in the first place!
Emily says
When I cook spaghetti squash I just throw the whole thing into a 400 degree oven for 30-40 min, THEN CUT IT and place it cut side down on the cookie sheet for 10-20 minutes (depending on size of squash!). This helps alot!! Just use a pot holder when you cut it so you dont burn yourself! YUMM!
Annie says
Thanks for the answers Kath and Sarah!
bev says
I made the Alton sauce ( with yours ) . It took a little long so I think I try this one. It was really good with the spagetti squash .