Baked Sriracha Spaghetti Squash with Turkey & Kid/Puppy Training
This Baked Spaghetti Squash recipe is healthy with ground turkey. But if you can make it your own by adding what ever ground meat you like.
Always Puppy Training
My conversation with Mom last week ended up with her asking, again, when Todd and I were going to have kids. Like every Mom I know, there’s joys at being a Grandmother that can never be explained. I understand this happiness and it’s never a bad thing to yearn to hold a Grand-baby of your very own. But the topic of her birthday and Christmas came up and I had to kindly remind her that there’s no way for Santa to deliver in time. And of course, we’re always practicing. 😉
As we were talking about kids, I was thinking about puppy Lexi and the joys of being puppy-parents. If kids are in our near future, we’re certainly ready for it thanks to the training our dogs have put us through.
Guilty puppy thief. Oh, my poor flip flop.
Baked Spaghetti Squash Recipe
Chewed sandals, bitten socks and anything that resembles a dog-toy has had it’s fair share of puppy slobber on it. Sierra has been extra patient with puppy Lexi tackling and biting her ankles. And lips. And ears. Poor Sierra can’t get an afternoon of rest because this monster puppy is relentless at getting someone to play with her. Now that Lexi is becoming the tall Ridgeback her genes have determined for her to be, we’re having to clear anything from the edges of the tables. She’s just starting to discover her size and strength.
The owners manual that came with Lexi never said anything about 8 hours of playtime and missing shoes. And her middle name is now “no”. It’s Lexi no, Lexi No, Lexi NO!
Oy, the joys of puppyhood. But here’s the bright side of it all: when we do have kids of our own, we’ll be well prepared for kid training thanks to our dogs dysfunctional behavior.
We’ll teach our kids to “sit” very well. If they mis-behave in public, we’ll draw onto our Cesar Milan spirit of “pssshht!” and on command, make them sit.
When they turn to their terrible two’s, we’ll have plenty of training harnesses to tie them to and keep them from running like wild horses in public. We’ve seen all your crazy, hyper kids terrorize stores in public. We would never let that happen. That what lead collars and body harnesses are for, right?
Isn’t that the strategy to all this kid raising? If so, then we’re way ahead of you all. Well, I think we are. With raising three dogs now under our belt, training little kids should be a cinch. That’s until they ask for an iphone, a laptop and a new car. Or get a girlfriend/boyfriend.
Oy again, there really should be a reliable training manual for newbies.
In the meantime, enjoy this quick and healthy dinner of baked spaghetti squash and turkey. My love of spicy foods is evident and when I have a chance, I’m always reaching for my homemade sriracha hot sauce. This is a great meal to warm up the house, to satisfy bellies and keep it exciting with a kick of spice.
If you’re not keen on spicy food, then you can easily omit the hot sauce. The combination of spaghetti squash is wonderful as-is and best of all, it’s quite healthy.
During these cooler days, it’s nice to warm up the house with oven cooking without having to eat anything heavy or starchy. This baked spaghetti squash recipe is perfect and satisfying.
have a great week,
diane
Baked Spaghetti Squash with Sriracha and Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash (4-5 lbs.- 1.75-2.25kg)
- 1 pound (454 g) ground turkey
- 1 onion , diced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil , divided
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Fish Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Sriracha or hot sauce, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 375°F. Oil a sheet pan with first 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Slice spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. (Use the tip of the knife to first pierce and get the cut started. Once you get the first cut started the rest of the squash should slice easily.) Scoop out the seeds and strands, then place cut side down on the prepared sheet pan.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the squash flesh separates easily into strands with a fork. Finish loosening and removing the “spaghetti” from the shells and set aside.
- In large pan, heat remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and garlic, cook until translucent, about 1 minute.
- Add ground turkey, cook for about 5 minutes or until brown. Add fish sauce and sriracha/hot sauce. Combine evenly.
- Continue cooking turkey until it’s fully cooked, then add spaghetti squash.
- Gently combine turkey and spaghetti squash until evenly heated. Add additional fish sauce, salt or sriracha hot sauce to taste. Serve warm.
Nutrition Information per Serving
Some of our Favorite Sriracha Hot Sauces
If you love Spaghetti Squash, you’ll probably love Spiralizing. Check out some Favorites for Spiralizing & Entertaining:
Nothing beats tried and true kitchen tools and products, plus a little bonus of some of our favorites for entertaining. Here’s some of the favorites:
The Classic! We’ve lost track of how many meals this one has made for us. Fantastic spiralizer.
Spiralize, peel, core, slice. All from the power of the KitchenAid stand mixer.
For those who love it simple. This great julienne peeler has seen a lot of mileage in our kitchen.
You had me hooked at Spicy Sriracha Mayo 2.5 years ago and I’ve loved you ever since. I shall try anything you say with Sriracha. =D
A Spaghetti Squash recipe AND a homemade Sriracha recipe?! Love it! And yours looks so beautiful! It’s funny you mention our “crazy, hyper kids” . . today was not my best day at the grocery store but I needed to grab a few things and then get the hell out of there. Hmmm, lead collars and body harnesses? I seriously might need that and a muzzle . . ๐
I love to use spaghetti squash when I am on phase 1 of South beach diet. I microwave it and makes my work so easy and simple. I serve it with store bought marinara and meat balls. I love your version too. I will try this soon.
I’ve never had Spaghetti squash. We usually prepare Hokkaido pumpkin, cause of it’s tastyness. But I like the structure of the scraped out squash. Got to try that!
ps. Must make this squashy sriracha thing. And must buckle down and make that sauce myself!
Here I’m hoping that having one baby under my belt will prepare me for puppy raising! The three-year-old just asked for a pet. For real this time. Like, “mom, I just have to have a pet, because else, I am all alone!” Why dontcha just sucker-punch me. And because I’ve already said “no” to the parrot idea, and because he thinks all cats are mean, puppy land, here we come! Will be checking the archives for tips and inspiration. Lord have mercy!
You have no idea how spot on you are! The best parenting book I have ever read is ‘How to be your dog’s best friend’ by the Monks of New Skeet. True Story.
Suuuuurrrre ๐ I could write a book on kids, and I too had a puppy before the monkeys and it prepped me a little but I still can’t get my kids to sit in the store or drink their water from a big silver bowl. The kids didn’t come with a manual, I tried to write one but they stole my post-it’s and wrote all over the bathroom wall (real) Seriously they are a ton of fun and true kid love will never be understood until you possess them (or they possess you) ๐ Shoot, keep training-that’s the best part!
Homemade sriracha – how did I miss that ?!
For me, when my 4th child was born, my Asian mom asked me when I will stop having kids! ๐ Either way, gotta love our moms. Beautiful post and recipe as always!
Your posts always bring a smile to my face! If I ever do have my own blog, this is my model! I love how you bring your “kids” into your posts. And your recipes and photography – top notch! So… if/when you do have kids and you find out you are having multiples, look no further. I can load you up with all sorts of info! ๐
Now that our kids are grown we’re back to puppies again! Our Ellie is 20 months old and one of her siblings is having puppies this week so we’ll be bringing home one of her nieces in January. The biggest difference I’ve found in raising puppies and kids is you just can’t put the kids into a crate when they are in your way! ๐
this recipe sounds so easy and looks so good!
even though my dogs are no longer puppies, they both will, every once in a while, randomly chew up a shoe or vomit up some rawhide onto the rug…I’m guessing to remind me how sweet and cuddly they once were, ha!
Great photo work. I too am diggin’ that wood surface. Is it the underside of something?
Huy- it’s the underside of an old wood tray we found at antique store for $15.
Spaghetti squash and sriracha?!? I want it now!
I haven’t made spaghetti squash in ages but now, I am craving it!
And I am craving that dark wood surface underneath the bowl – so pretty!