Healthy Substitutes - Summer Squash for Noodles

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My family loves eating spaghetti. We could eat it several nights a week and be just fine with that.

We love eating it the traditional way with noodles but since pasta is high in carbs I wanted to find an alternative healthier way we could still enjoy it.

When we eat a lot of pasta we get backed up and it just makes everyone feel weighed down (at least in my family). It’s always good to find a healthy balance with the foods we eat.

While I was learning about the keto lifestyle I ran into plant-based noodles that contain no starch, wheat or gluten but only soluble fiber. They are also super-low in carbs. This was great for our change of eating habits.

However, I wanted to find other ways to eat our favorite meals even when I didn’t have any of these healthier noodle choices on hand to use.

I first came across using zucchini pasta which are often called zoodles. They are way less in calories than regular noodles. I tried this substitute for our spaghetti nights and it was totally delicious.

We didn’t feel weighed down and to be honest I didn’t even miss the noodles. It was a healthier tasty option.

Later on I started to find other fruits that would make great substitutes for pasta meals. I recently saw recipes using summer squash.

Sometimes I forget that squash and zucchini are really fruits because they are predominantly cooked like a vegetable.

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After removing the skin I used a peeler to make thin slices of summer squash for the noodles.

Maybe these are called soodles? 🤔

At first they were a lot thicker than this until I start cutting the squash a little thinner. I have smaller ones at home and I know if I made them too thick they would pick through their bowls and start taking them out. I had to make them thin and disguisable. 😁

I have learned with my kids that when trying new things it needs to blend in and not stand out as

Hey, I’m a new healthy food, I hope you like me! 😂

My kids love sticking to what they are familiar with so it’s important not to go too big when introducing them to new flavors and textures.

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You don’t need to boil soodles as long as you do regular pasta. I boiled them for just about 3 minutes.

You don’t want to over boil and make them too soggy.

I don’t make any other changes to my spaghetti besides omitting the pasta. I use ground beef or ground turkey and load it with plenty of other veggies: onions, garlic, mushroom, tomatoes, sometimes carrot pieces etc.

One of the reasons I love cooking spaghetti for my family is because I can hide all sorts of healthy things in there without them knowing. 😆

I use my food processor to make things like mushrooms so small that my picky eaters won’t even know they’re in there. Tee hee hee! 😜

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Once the soodles were done I lightly seasoned them with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. I love making sure my foods are seasoned throughout, my noodles don’t skip this process either.

I do what you call a layered seasoning with my meals. Each element that gets added to a dish gets some kind of seasoning on it. I don’t wait to add flavor to my foods until the end. Doing this throughout the cooking process helps ensure that every bite will be one to remember. 😎

Thanks for that tip dad ~


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Once my meat and sauce were ready I began adding in the soodles.

I think next time I will boil them for an even shorter amount of time to allow them to be a little more firm. I’d say 2 minutes tops. 👌🏽

They were so soft I was afraid to cut them in half or into small pieces.

We like the length of noodles so I really didn’t want to do that. In the end it turned out okay and the soodles kept their length. They were just so fragile that they looked almost chopped in half.

Finally when everything was all mixed well together we were ready to get our hands on this yummy healthy spaghetti alternative with summer squash noodles ...

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Mmm mmm good! 😋


It was totally delicious and there were no leftovers. My family loved it and weren’t even bothered by the soodles. If the flavor is there my family will eat it! 🤣

If you know of any other great pasta substitutes I’d love to hear. It’s quite fun experimenting with healthier alternatives.


I hope you enjoyed reading! Thanks for visiting ~


All photos are my own and were taken with our Cannon EOS Rebel T6.

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Yum, this can be a healthy alternative for pasta. It's smart that you can put healthy stuff in there and let it unnoticed by the kids.

Yes it surely could substitute pasta!

Thank you!! It has really worked for me giving them the veggies they need.

I appreciate the visit and comment ~ ☺️

A great idea! I have many substitutes for noodles. I often made sweet potatoes noodles :) I will try with squash. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you!! I love using veggies for noodles! 😃

I haven’t tried sweet potatoes and I love those! Thanks for that!

You’ll have to tell me how it turns out when you try it. 😊

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Thank you so much!! I greatly appreciate the support!

Thanks so much to you @anggreklestari for curating my post ~ ❤️

besides healthy it also looks so yummy @crosheille
:9

Thank you @devyleona! ☺️😋

Omg delicious.

😃😋❤️

Hello, lovely!

I am still following Keto and I still love it. More than that, my body loves it. Spaghetti sauce and "pasta" or something that resembles it is our fave too! I normally use carrots because it makes the sauce sweeter, but, for something different, I used fresh green beans. It was delicious. I may have added a potato quartered to a few of the kids, but the string beans alone for me with the meat sauce were yummy. I was full too, I didn't walk away empty.

I love the different squashes and that keto pasta was hard for me to eat at first, but, after being keto for a while, it tasted pretty good!

I have become quite creative with eating! :)) I know you have. It is good to see you. I hope you and your family are doing well. xoxo

Hello sunshine!!

That’s so great that you are still doing keto and loving it! I would have never thought to use green beans and I actually love them. I will be giving this a try for sure :D

Haha yes after getting the hang of it it’s pretty cool seeing how creative you can get with the healthier options.

It was so great hearing from you. Thank you so much for the visit. Yes, my family and I are doing really well and I hope the same for you ~ ❤️

 3 years ago  

I have heard of these but never tried them. I am just too big a fan of noodles, but your dish looks really delicious. Thanks for sharing.


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Hee hee I totally get it. 😄 When I first told my husband we were substituting noodles he was a little hesitant to hop onboard. Noodle and pasta meals were the main things I used to cook.

Your meals would still be delicious without noodles. You should give it a try if looking for healthier options ;D

Thanks so much for reading and taking time to comment ~