Pasta-free Spaghetti

Spaghetti used to be my favorite dish. It's easy to make and tastes wonderful. So why did I change it? Why no pasta? Once I started eating healthy a couple of years ago I ate almost zero pasta because it is a carb with few nutrients. I have seen many pinterest recipes substituting veggies as noodles or ribbons so I gave it a try and was really happy with it! I sliced zucchini into ribbons and added them to my meat spaghetti sauce.

I spent the last week at my church camp on Clear Lake as a counselor for high school girls. It was a fun week. I love this camp and have been up there for at least a week every summer since I was in 5th grade! That's 14 years in a row which seems like ages ago. God has changed my life and so many others through the ministry of the camp. This week was a little different as they had only one speaker and one main topic for the chapel sessions. We listened to Carl Kerby talk about critically thinking in regards to evolution vs. creation. It was an understandable set of messages that will hopefully give Christian teens the knowledge to support what they believe. 

It was helpful to me as well in pointing out flaws in evolution that actually support creation. I was also just encouraged to see the girls I was with get along so well with four other girls from another church. They shared a cabin well and had fun together. 

So tasty with zero guilt!

One thing I love about this recipe is that I had everything on hand. It took 3 main ingredients and cooks faster than pasta! 

I cut the zucchini in 4ths length-wise and then sliced them on my mandolin. They make a cool noodle spiral tool thing to make real noodles from your veggies but I don't own one. 

I let the zucchini cook in the sauce for 5 minutes or so and topped it with some asiago cheese before chowing down!

Zucchini Spaghetti

1 medium zucchini

16 oz marinara sauce - I used Francesco Rinaldi brand

1/2 pound ground beef

optional seasonings for ground beef:

1 garlic clove

1 teas. ground oregano

1.5 teas. dried basil

Saute garlic clove for a minute and then add ground beef. Add in seasonings as the meat begins to brown. 

Slice zucchini in 4th lengthwise and slice thinly on mandolin into ribbons. 

Add spaghetti/marinara sauce to the meat and then add the zucchini ribbons. Cook on medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes. 

Serve in bowl and top with parmesan or asiago cheese!