Earlier this week, I saw on Caitlin’s blog that October 1st was World Vegetarian Day, which kicked off vegetarian awareness month.

Many of you are aware that I eat a lot of chicken, shrimp, fish and pork, and often rely on deli meat when I make my lunches. There is no shortage of meat in our household that’s for sure!

When my sister-in-law, Lauren, suggested I think about doing a 7-day vegetarian challenge, I thought it was a fantastic idea! I’m always up for a challenge! And when I learned that October was vegetarian awareness month, I figured there wasn’t a more perfect time to begin.

Growing up, my mom always followed your basic meal structure: one meat, one starch, and one vegetable. So naturally I have followed that same structure. This challenge will be a good opportunity for me to change things up and try new things. Bring it on!

I was reading up on the several benefits of following a vegetarian diet, and I am going to share 3 that really stand out to me:

  1. It’s MUCH better for the environment — The way that we breed animals for food is a threat to the planet. It pollutes our environment while consuming huge amounts of water, grain, petroleum, pesticides and drugs.
  2. You’ll save money – Replacing meat, chicken and fish with vegetables and fruits is estimated to cut food bills by an average of $4,000 a year.
  3. It’s better for your health — To name just a few health benefits: reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer, control your weight, live longer, and build stronger bones.

Looking for a few more reasons? Click here.

Considering I spend at least $7-$12 on organic chicken twice a week, the saving money aspect is a huge seller for me!

So what did I have for dinner tonight? Spaghetti squash primavera! I purchased two spaghetti squash last week, but one of them turned out to be rotten, so there will be a lot less leftovers than I hoped for.

I began by piercing the spaghetti squash with a large fork, and baking it in the oven for an hour on 375. Well…actually, it was only supposed to be in the oven only for an hour but a certain someone, who shall remain nameless, forgot to take it out while I was at Target :)

I let the squash cool for about 15 minutes so that I could handle it and scoop the seeds out.

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While the squash was cooling, I chopped the veggies and sauteed them in garlic & olive oil.

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Then I combined the squash and the veggies, and added primavera sauce.

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It was BOGO at Harris Teeter last week :) And I was impressed!

I topped off the dish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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A few years ago Chris and I were on a spaghetti squash kick and frequently used it as a substitute for pasta. One cup of spaghetti squash only has 42 calories!Spaghetti squash is also high in beta carotene, which acts as a powerful antioxidant.

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After a few bites, I thought that warm french bread would have gone well with this. Or any bread for that matter! Considering we didn’t have any bread, we added leftover kidney beans.

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It probably would have been better if we heated them up, but the heat emanating from the veggies and squash eventually warmed them up.

Think this meal looks tasty? Below is the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 medium yellow squash
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 3 small sweet red peppers
  • 2 jalapenos
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 375
  • Bake squash for 1 hour, or until soft (poke a fork into it to be able to tell)
  • While squash is cooking (or cooling in my case), cut and saute vegetables for 8-10 minutes.
  • Cool squash for 10-12 minutes so it is easy to handle
  • Scoop out seeds of squash
  • Use a fork to separate and remove the strands 
  • Add strands to vegetables
  • Add sauce of choice – I used primavera

This dish will not disappoint! But you really should consider having a piece of bread with it :)

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 I invite all of you to join me in the 7-day vegetarian challenge! Unless you already are a vegetarian, or vegan of course.

Now I am off to check out some recipe ideas! :)

What meal structure did you follow when you were growing up?