Squashing It in the Kitchen
- Victoria
- Mar 19
- 3 min read
Week 35 just wrapped up, and it’s time for another episode of My Culinary Journey Through Program.
Although I didn’t lose or gain this week, I still had fun in the kitchen trying out four new recipes—all Program-friendly—and wanted to share them.
This week, I focused on a very versatile vegetable—one that works across Mexican, Italian, Asian-fusion, American, and more:
Spaghetti Squash
This winter squash is a highly nutritious vegetable, rich in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. Once cooked, the flesh separates into strands that resemble angel hair pasta. While it’s probably best roasted in the oven, I don’t always have that kind of patience after work—so I microwaved it. Even then, it still took about 15 minutes!
What’s most amazing is that, unlike other winter squashes (butternut, acorn, etc.), spaghetti squash falls under the Unlimited Vegetable category on Thin’s In. That means you can have as much as you want—no scale needed.
I started with an American classic—BBQ chicken.
I mixed shredded chicken with sautéed red onion and peppers, added some Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, then spooned everything back into the spaghetti squash shell. I topped it with one ounce of shredded cheese and popped it into the air fryer for about five minutes.
While this wasn’t my favorite of the four, it was still incredibly filling and made for a solid dinner. Honestly, the cheese felt a bit unnecessary, but the recipe called for it.
Next, I went south of the border—and this one was hands-down my favorite.
I mixed the spaghetti squash strands with seasoned ground beef, onions, peppers, corn, an ounce of cheese, and plenty of salsa. I tried to stuff it back into the shell like the BBQ version, but there was just too much goodness—so into a bowl it went.
This might actually rival my taco salad… and that’s saying something.
You could easily swap the ground beef for shredded chicken or shrimp and still have an amazing dish.
Before going full Italian with a classic spaghetti dish, I decided to make a pizza bowl.
I mixed the squash with pizza sauce, then layered it lasagna-style in the shell with roasted veggies and cheese. The recipe said to use your favorite toppings, so I stuck with red onions and peppers—but for those of you sensing a fungus among-us, mushrooms would work perfectly too.
Since it was pizza-inspired, I used three ounces of cheese (three proteins). If that feels like a lot, you could always scale back and add other proteins instead.
I air-fried it until the cheese was bubbly and slightly browned—basically pizza perfection.
For the final recipe, I kept things simple and brought lunch to work.
I made a true “spaghetti” dish by mixing the squash with marinara sauce, ground beef, corn (for an extra limited vegetable), and Italian seasonings. It reheated beautifully and made for a super filling lunch.
Not only did it taste delicious, but the strands really do make this dish feel like actual spaghetti. Between the flavors and the texture, it honestly didn’t feel like I was missing out—more like I was making a smart trade. Giving up a bread or two for this felt completely worth it.
Looking back at the week… having this much cheese probably played a small role in maintaining instead of losing, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend making all four of these recipes in one week like I did.
That said, they all get my stamp of approval for being Thin’s In friendly and delicious.
If you try any of these—or come up with your own spaghetti squash creation—I’d love to hear about it!
This week’s loss: 0 pounds
Total loss so far: 56 pounds
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