It’s a rainy Monday here in Texas! It’s been a really sunny, dry, and hot summer in Houston so this rain is pretty welcome by everyone. I love a good thunder storm and love rain storms, but the rain water accumulates like crazy down here and coming home from taking Mitch to the airport last night I basically had to drive through a rushing river. Pretty scary, but the car and I survived. I hope everyone had a good weekend! Ours was spent watching a lot of the Olympics (pretty much my favorite past time the past week or so) and spending some time together before Mitch went out of town last night for the week. Our baby glider came for the nursery/guest room and I love it! Can’t wait to get the rest of the baby gear organized and figure out what fun decor I need off of Etsy 😉
So, this casserole. I follow a few pregnant mom-to-be’s on Instagram and it seems like every single one of them makes The Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti as a freezer meal before baby is born. The recipe sounded amazing, but I wasn’t crazy about the ingredient list, so I set out to create a healthier version for our family. The main thing I needed to recreate was the cream of mushroom soup, which I posted about last week. I also didn’t want to use regular noodles, so I opted for spaghetti squash, and it turned out really well. I love a good lower carb spaghetti squash casserole and have a few on the blog already- like this one, this one, and this one. This casserole is creamy, cheesy, and so satisfying, especially as we head into fall and a new school year. I love casseroles because you can make them ahead of time and simply toss in the oven after a busy day.
As soon as I get a little more motivated, this will be on my list of casseroles to make pre-babies so we don’t starve those first few weeks:)
- 2 chicken breasts or 1 chicken breast and 2 chicken thighs
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1 serving of my Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup (on the blog) (equivalent to 2 cans cream of mushroom soup)
- 1/2 cup grated organic cheese of choice (1/4 for the casserole, 1/4 for the topping)
- 1 green bell pepper - diced
- 1/2 onion - diced
- 1, 4oz jar pimentos - diced
- 2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Cut spaghetti squash length-wise, de-seed and place face-down on a baking sheet
- Bake for 30 minutes then remove and let cool
- While the squash is baking, prepare other ingredients
- Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil
- Add the raw chicken to the water and let cook for about 25-30 minutes
- While the chicken and squash cook, chop the onion, pepper and pimentos and set aside and grate the cheese (if not already grated)
- Once the squash is done, create noodles using a fork, and add them to a large bowl
- Remove the chicken from the water and chop, then add to the noodles
- Add the pimentos, onion, pepper, cream of mushroom soup, 1/4 cup cheese, seasoning salt and salt and pepper to taste
- Stir to combine
- Add the mixture to a large casserole dish, top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese and bake in the 350 F. oven for 40-45 minutes, or until melty and bubbly
- Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes, and serve
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