Gluten-Free Goodness

Tonight, Mr. Ketchup and I will be attending our first international event for this school year!  I am so excited to be meeting some amazing people from all different types of cultures.  The relationships we have made with these students have been life changing, and I can hardly wait to see what is in store for us this year.

Well, with these events come food...lots of amazing food...except for when the university is hosting the event.  University events usually equal pizza.  I was already tempted by pizza once this week and am not looking forward to being tempted again.

My cravings for delicious carbs like bread and pasta led to me making a no-carb, gluten-free version of spaghetti this week.  It is probably my favorite recipe so far!

Except for avocado chocolate pudding.  That amazingness is in a league of its own.

Back to the spaghetti.  I adapted several different recipes based on what I actually had around the house (and what I actually remembered to buy while grocery shopping).

Mrs. Ketchup's Spaghetti
(this ingredient list is completely adaptable)

• 1 pound meat (I used a lot more, because I was lazy and did not want to thaw and separate the venison we had in the freezer.  Use whatever kind of meat you have around: venison, beef, pork, chicken)
• 1 clove garlic, minced (Mrs. Ketchup loves garlic, feel free to double...or triple...this)
• 1 medium onion, diced (I may have forgot onions while grocery shopping and substituted dried, minced onion, but don't tell anyone)
• 1 14ounce can tomatoes (The recipes called for Italian tomatoes and what-not, but I just used a can of off-brand stewed tomatoes)
• 1 8ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 cup beef broth (optional; I added this because I had a lot more meat than tomato products)
• ~1 tbsp oregano
• ~1tbsp basil
• ~1 tbsp Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
• ~1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 spaghetti squash

Note: Yes, I did put approximately next to all the seasonings.  I never measure when I season, so just add to taste.  Mr. Ketchup and I like our food spicy, so I probably used a lot more than 1 tbsp of Tony's and 1 tsp of cayenne

1. Brown the meat.  Time depends on what time of meat you are using (and whether or not you are lazy and don't let the meat thaw all the way)

Look at that yummy venison goodness

2. Add in the onion and garlic.  Cook until they are soft.

Did I say how much I love garlic?  I may or may not have added an extra clove in addition to these.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the squash).  Bring to a simmer.  Turn the temperature to low, cover, and let cook for approximately 30 min.

Sorry for the blurry picture.  Our dark kitchen is less than ideal for pictures.

 4. Take your spaghetti squash and cut it in half.  Scoop out the seeds and other stuff that you probably don't want to eat.

5. Now place the squash face down in a microwave safe container and cover, leaving a small hole for steam to escape.  Heat for 10 minutes on high, then let the squash rest for about 10 minutes.

6.  Time for spaghetti!  Take a fork and scrape out the "meat" of the squash.  It'll look like this...

  

7.  Place your cooked spaghetti sauce on top of your noodles and enjoy!  Mr. Ketchup gave a great review by devouring his portion.  I don't have pictures of the finished product due to the fact that we were both starving and impatient.

Speaking of pictures, I recently became a Blurb affiliate.  If you aren't aware, Blurb helps you create amazing photo books, something that I, as a newlywed, really enjoy.  I will be posting soon about using their Facebook photo book feature, and will follow that up with a $25 Blurb gift certificate giveaway!  Check back soon so that you don't miss out!