Zucchini Spaghetti

I have a spiralizer!!! I'm so excited to create new stuff with it! I've been wanting to get one for months but kept putting it off for money's sake (even though it's not expensive). But my mom and I both decided to order one so we'd get free shipping on Amazon.

I should explain the slicer. I forget that not everyone spends ridiculous amounts of time checking Pinterest and reading food blogs, so this might be new to some. The spiralizer is a tool that takes different veggies (and fruits) and cuts them into noodles. You can spiralize zucchini, carrots, potatoes, butternut squash, apples and more. There are three blades with this one but there is a version that includes a 4th blade. 

Hope that helps!

The timing of its delivery was great because I was able to pick it up right when I came back from the Des Moines Farmer's Market with zucchini. I had made my spaghetti sauce the day before so I was set to start spiralizing right away. I think it's great that "spiralizing" is a word. Was it a word before there was a veggie spiral slicer? What else would the word apply to? It's like how "Googled" is a word too. Anyway...

I began reading through Psalm 119 this week. It is quite long but is broken up by sections titled by a Hebrew letter I believe. The whole chapter is about God's law and seeking its instruction. The first verses express how happy we can be when we seek to obey God's commands. We don't have reason for regret when we choose to love God by submitting to His will. The writer treasures the scriptures; spends time in them so he knows them well and can keep from sin.

Spaghetti has been one of my favorite dishes for a long time! I think I learned to cook it back in high school or middle school. Its so easy when using a pre-made sauce. 

As I've tried to eat healthier, I avoid and almost stopped eating pasta altogether. But for some reason, I've always wanted to make my own spaghetti sauce so I bought regular pasta to try out an old favorite. I'm pretty happy with it and with how easy it was to make!

So because I made lots of sauce and everyone knows how to boil pasta, I wanted to show you the zucchini version! And because I'm still excited about the spiralizer!

Zucchini with homemade Spaghetti Sauce

-Makes lots of sauce, around 2 quarts-

3 minced garlic cloves

2 Tbs olive oil

1 lb ground beef (I used Fareway's own)

1 24oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

8 oz water

1+ Tbs dried oregano

3 fresh basil leaves chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

a couple dashes of salt and pepper

1. Put olive oil and minced garlic in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Let the garlic sweat and become transparent. 

2. Add the ground beef and let it brown.

3. Pour in the cans of tomatoes and water.

4. Add the spices and herbs and bring to a boil. 

5. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes.

For the zucchini:

Spiralize 2 medium or large zucchini with the smallest size blade. This will easily serve 3 people. I used half a zucchini for myself.

Sprinkle the noodles with salt and let sit in a strainer for 30 minutes so the excess water can drain. Rinse the noodles to remove the extra salt. The noodles can be eaten raw for a bit of crunch or you can saute them for a couple of minutes to soften them. 

Serve the noodles with the spaghetti meat sauce and enjoy guilt free!