I have to give full credit to my friend Roni for turning me onto spaghetti squash – I never tried it before going to her site!  It’s one of those vegetables I think that if you were never introduced to it as a child, never comes to mind as an adult.

Unfortunately I carried too many of my childhood food fears well into adulthood.  I didn’t like avocados because of they way they looked.  Salads were iceburg lettuce with ranch dressing – that’s it!   Sadly, my brother Charlie  still thinks that’s an acceptable salad – he has not evolved with vegetables as I have! 😀

The only vegetables I ate were cucumbers, carrots and canned green beans.

And now I can’t live without my beloved baby spinach and spaghetti squash!  So if you haven’t tried spaghetti squash in a while – give it a try.  I just microwave mine for 6 minutes for a medium size 0ne – I tend to like my spaghetti squash on the “crunchy” side.

The meatballs were simple to put together – 3 ounces ground sirloin mixed with 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper – cooked in  a smidge of olive oil until browned on all sides – I don’t cook them too long, because they’ll finish cooking when I reheat them at work.

the crushed red pepper really kicked it up a notch!
the crushed red pepper really kicked it up a notch!
Heaven on a plate - this is part of the sauce I made with my $1 bag of tomatoes
Heaven on a plate – this is part of the sauce I made with my $1 bag of tomatoes

My plate contains a whopping 16 ounces of spaghetti squash – all for only 122 calories and 6.4 grams of fiber!

and a side salad - lunch comes in at 400 calories, 15 fat, 22 protein, 45 carbs and 10.5 fiber :D
and a side salad – lunch comes in at 400 calories, 15 fat, 22 protein, 45 carbs and 10.5 fiber 😀

My friend and I did the “express” kick boxing workout – a perfect 35 minutes, then I did my 5 minutes of sprinting (7.0 mph!) then 5 minutes cool down.

Alright, my lunch break is officially over – come on back tonight for Grilled Beef Short Ribs!