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The Little Jogger

  By an exercise-loving Registered Dietitian

Healthy Fried Rice and Spaghetti Squash

10/14/2011

6 Comments

 
I was so tempted to pick up Chipotle on the way home from class yesterday, but I somehow convinced myself that I should apply whatever cooking skills (or lack thereof) I had with the food in my kitchen. Why spend money when it's not necessary?

Since Chipotle now has brown rice, I thought that I could do a fun at-home recreation of a burrito bowl. I didn't have avocados to make guacamole, though, so I tried to think of something else I could do with brown rice. It then dawned on me: I LOVE fried rice! Why not make a healthy version of it? 

I pulled out brown rice, veggies that needed to be eaten, and one egg. 
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I love rice that cooks quickly. The boil-in-the-bag rice took me ten minutes to prepare. 
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While waiting for the rice to cook, I chopped up celery, carrots, onions and yellow pepper. I threw the onions in the skillet and then put everything else in when they started to brown. 
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Once the rice was cooked, I added it to the skillet. I also tipped in some teriyaki sauce and aji mirin. I preferred soy sauce, but I couldn't find any in the pantry. 

Last, I cracked the egg and let it cook into the rice and veggies. 
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It was great! I'm so glad that I was able to make my own version of it. 
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Dinner was even more of an adventure. I learned about spaghetti squash when I started reading healthy living blogs, and I always wanted to buy and prepare one. I bought one the last time I was home visiting, but I forgot about it before I went back to Australia. My parents never used it, so it went in the trash. I bought another one last week, so I was determined to not repeat that mistake!

There it is! What a cute little pumpkin-looking thing!
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Cutting the squash was an adventure of its own. It took me about twenty minutes. I really wish that my dad or Alastair were around, but I was all by myself (with the pups, and I knew they would not be much help). I needed two knives (one serrated and one butcher knife) to do the job. I was extremely careful, because I knew that one false move could lead to a maimed hand. By some miracle, I managed cut it in two without injuries!
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I scooped out the seeds and the soft part in the middle, and then I put the halves face-up in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes.  
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After the oven came the most exciting part: making the "spaghetti". I took a fork and scraped and scraped and scraped. The flesh started coming off in strings and looked like spaghetti. That's why it's called "spaghetti squash"!
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Like pasta, there are a gazillion ways you can prepare the squash. I decided to eat it the same way I would eat spaghetti: with pasta sauce and parmesan cheese!
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Eat me!
What a great pasta substitute and an awesome way to have fun with a healthy squash. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. Guys, it actually looks like pasta, and the texture is hearty. You can even twirl it around your fork! 
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I am a vegetable disguised as pasta!
Tonight, I had the other half. I prepared it the same way, but I added cottage cheese too. I am that cool. And yes, it tasted very good. Don't dis till you try! Don't even start!

After dinner, I dug into a bag of plain semisweet chocolate chips (hey, it happens). After a few handfuls, I made cookie dough. I didn't bake it. I just ate it. Again, it happens.
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The good news is that the recipe didn't have any butter or white sugar. I also only took a few bites and put the rest in the fridge. Sometimes, my self-control just overwhelms me. That, and the fact that I felt sick from chocolate chips. Check out Chocolate Covered Katie's recipe for healthy cookies (or dough!). 

Have a great night!
6 Comments
Megan Sougleris link
10/14/2011 04:02:55 pm

Your blog is so good for my cooking skills! I'm not the best person in the kitchen and you make things seems so easy! I'm gonna have to try that fried rice dish and I love the look of the pasta too! Pasta is one of my favourite foods so I'd love to know what this healthier alternative would taste like!

By the way, I left a comment in response to yours on my blog. I have always responded to your comments but I don't know if you get any sort of alert... so just letting you know!

Have a great day or night... I forget the time difference sometimes!


Megan. x

Reply
Jen link
10/15/2011 04:58:24 am

Megan- Pasta is probably my favorite food in the entire world. I'd make pasta for every meal if I could. Whole wheat pasta is my favorite alternative, because it's still the real thing but healthier!
I almost always check up after I put a response on your blog, and you always get back to me. You are amazing.
Also, if you ever get confused about the times, look on my weather widget for Adelaide and Chicago on the side of my blog. It tells you what time it is in each city!
xxJen

Reply
Megan Sougleris link
10/15/2011 10:19:43 am

Oh there is too. I'll have to remember that, how handy!

Reply
Irene Gofman
10/26/2011 01:04:10 pm

I love spaghetti squash! I had an obsession for a while!

Reply
Surgery for eye link
5/28/2012 05:29:53 pm

First of all let me tell you, you have got a great blog .I am interested in looking for more of such topics and would like to have further information. Hope to see the next blog soon.

Reply
tattoo removal Melbourne link
6/10/2012 08:00:32 pm

great blog ...its vary helpful for me i learn recipe bt m not good cook..

Reply



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    ABOUT jennifer Martin, MS, RD, LDN

    I am  a Chicago-based Registered Dietitian working primarily in Acute Clinical Care. I started this blog in 2010, before I even knew that I wanted to be an RD! Now, as an active dietitian, this blog will become part of my life again. Read about my current healthy habits, but please peruse my old posts (from 2014 and before) to read about life as an RD student and my previous years in Australia!


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