The Biggest Fullmer Loser: Antelope Jerky and Spaghetti a la Sqaush e Lentil

Hey everyone,

First of all, I have been excellent at meals. My meals are totally Dr. Fuhrman approved. However, it's between meals that I suck. For example, my roommate brought some antelope jerky from home. Apparently her dad's a bug hunter. Anyway, it's amazing! That's been my weakness this week because she's been like, "Oh, eat as much as you want." It's really hard to resist. Every week it's something else for me. Oh well.

So I made up a new recipe that I love!!! I had some things in my cupboard that I really wanted to use, so I had to be kind of creative, but it worked out really well, and it's one of my new favorite things to eat. I like to experiment with food, and I think even the Fuhrman diet leaves room for some creativity. There aren't exact measurements with this recipe (like I said, I was experimenting), but just try it out and use some common sense, and it will still taste wonderful. I've attached some pictures at the end so you can kind of see what it looks like. It's not difficult, so don't let the bulky instructions intimidate you.

Spaghetti a la Squash e Lentil (my random name for it)

You will need:
1 big spaghetti squash
Spaghetti sauce (low sodium)
Lentils
Some sort of meat flavored liquid
1 green pepper
Half of an onion (or more, if you want)
Spices (Cayenne pepper, oregano, garlic -- whatever you want)

First -- Cook one big spaghetti squash. Keep an eye on the squash throughout the cooking process. (In case you don't know how to cook spaghetti squash, just cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and then put it face down on a pan at about 350-375 degrees for about an hour or until soft. When it's done you just scoop out the inside and it comes out like spaghetti.) If you don't want to use spaghetti squash, you can just use wheat noodles. But I prefer spaghetti squash; I think it has a nice texture.

Second -- While the spaghetti squash is cooking, you make your sauce. This is where the lentils come in. You need about three times as much liquid as you have lentils. So add your liquid to the sauce pan (if you're doing half a cup of lentils, then do 1 and half cups of liquid). Add the liquid. I like using lentils because they absorb flavors, so they can take the place of meet in your spaghetti dish. So make sure you don't just use water for your liquid. When I did it, I didn't have much in my apartment, so I added a beef flavoring packet from a top ramen packet in my cupboard. But you can use anything -- seasoning packets, chicken/beef broth, bullion cubes, etc.

Third -- Add your lentils. When liquid comes to a boil, turn heat down to a simmer and cover. Make sure there's always enough liquid around the lentils so that they can get soft. Just eyeball it. I had to keep adding water. Stir occasionally.

Fourth -- While lentils are cooking, cut up half an onion (or more, whatever you want really), and green pepper. Sauté onion and green pepper in a separate pan. I just scoop a couple of table spoons of the liquid from the lentils to use in sauteing the onions and peppers.

Fifth -- Once green peppers and onions are soft, add them to the lentils. Turn up the heat (to about medium, or a little less), and let them simmer together. Stir occasionally. Add spices if you want. The longer this sits, the better because the flavors can seep into the lentils. However, if you don't have time to wait, you can pull this off the stove as soon as the lentils are completely soft.

Sixth -- Once lentils are soft, add spaghetti sauce--however much you want. I added about half a cup.

Seventh -- When the spaghetti squash is done, pull it out, scoop out the inside. Serve spaghetti squash with lentil sauce on top.

It's super delicious! Sorry I don't have exact measurements, but it was an experiment. Just be creative, and try different things. I'm sure it will be tasty. Enjoy!