Spaghetti Squash

So one of my fellow coaches has been going on and on about Spaghetti Squash so I finally gathered the ingredients and tested it out tonight. Annnnnnddd.... IT WAS DELICIOUS! I am not going to lie I was a bit skeptical ... but it was great! Also, if you compare this to a typical spaghetti meal you would be surprised at the difference.  There is only 277 calories per serving! So here is the recipe.  Let me know what you think :)
Ingredients:

• 1 onion finely chopped

• 1 lb of lean ground chicken

• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder

• 1 tbsp of dried parsley

• 1 large spaghetti squash (enough to get 6 cups of cooked squash)

• 24 ounces of non-fat cottage cheese

• 1 - 16 ounce jar of organic/natural spaghetti sauce  (low on salt, no added sugar)

• 1/3 cup low fat mozzarella cheese

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan

• Optional: salt and pepper to taste

• Optional: red pepper to give it a little kick

Directions:

• Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

• Cut the spaghetti squash in half and put both halves face down on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes or until you can easily slice a knife through the skin of the squash. 

• While the squash is baking - combine onion, ground chicken, garlic powder, and dried parsley in a skillet and cook chicken until it is no longer pink. 

• Once the squash is fully cooked use fork to scoop out all the seeds and toss those. The squash will be very hot, so use an oven mitt.  

• Using a fork carve out all the squash and throw away the skin. The squash will come out in strands like spaghetti!

• Layer 1/3 of the spaghetti squash (2 cups) in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Then spread a layer of 8 ounces of cottage cheese, follow that with a layer of 1/3 of the ground chicken mixture, spread a layer of sauce on top.

• Repeat this over again so there are three layers.  Then top the entire thing with the cheese and grated parmesan.

• Cover with foil and bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes.

• Remove the foil and continue to bake for 10 more minutes.

Before cooking

It may be a little bit runny, so use a slotted spoon when serving.

Straight out of the oven

Makes 6 servings - approximate nutrients per serving: Calories: 277, Total Fat: 5 g, Carbs: 22 g, Fiber: 1.5 g, Sugars: 13 g, Protein: 14 g, Sodium: 330 g