If you’re anything like me, you get a little overwhelmed when presented with a squash (be it because of a great price at the supermarket, or a gift from a friend’s garden).  It’s not that I don’t like squash; it’s just that I don’t know what to DO with it.  It takes so much preparation just to get it to an edible state (like baking), that often I get overwhelmed just thinking about it.

However, I know spaghetti squash is incredibly healthy.  A cup of spaghetti squash only has 42 calories, 10 carbs though it is rich in Vitamin C (helpful for your immune system) and B-6 (a total energy booster).  I decided to create the easiest squash recipe known to mankind.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Heidi Washington.

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Quick Tip – You can prepare the squash portion a day or two in advance to save time.

Growing in the country, meatloaf was always a staple meal at my mother’s table. We were a meat and potatoes kind of family. Her recipe was so succulent, so juicy, and so savory that it made your hair stand on end just to get a whiff of the magnificent loaf of meat cooking.

Year after year, I’ve been making and serving my mother’s meatloaf to my own family. However, I felt like I wanted to add an interesting twist to the recipe and I experimented with adding in parmesan cheese. The parm combined with the tomato paste and flat leaf parsley gave the meatloaf a rustic Italian taste. We all loved it, and I anticipate that you will too.

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Quick Tip: If you don’t have any tomato paste, tomato sauce will serve as a fine substitute.

This recipe puts me in a very good mood, and I’ll tell you why. I hate coming home after a long day and trying to figure out something for dinner. Between hungry kids, dirty dishes, and a million other things going on, I want to toss all of the food groups into one baking dish, set the oven at 350, and call it good.

Is that even possible?

Yes! Yes, it is very possible with this one-pan wonder. Combine pasta, chicken breast, bacon, and cheese together in your favorite baking dish and smother it with a creamy sauce for the perfect busy weeknight meal. It’s easy to make, tastes great, and fills hungry bellies nicely.

Recipe courtesy of 12Tomatoes.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR A LIST OF INGREDIENTS.

Quick Tip: Swap out the cream sauce ingredients with a jar of Alfredo sauce for an Italian kick!