Twice Baked Potatoes Dupe (with Spaghetti Squash!)

If you have a hankering for twice baked potatoes, then eat twice baked potatoes.  If you want to try a twist on the indulgent dish, try it with spaghetti squash!

Happy accidents do happen!  I discovered that spaghetti squash can take on a mashed potato texture if heated in the skillet long enough and smashed a bit.  Woohoo!

This isn't a very exact recipe, because it will change depending on what you like in your potatoes/squash.

I baked a spaghetti squash, and used half of it for this dish.  I froze the other half (did you know you could do that!).  Here's how to freeze it: post on freezing spaghetti squash

Here's how to bake the squash: click here!

Let's get started…

-Bake the spaghetti squash, and let it cool.

-Take half of the squash, and use your fork to scrape out the flesh to make "noodles".

-Melt 3 generous tablespoons of butter in a hot pan.

-Once the butter melts and bubbles, stir in 2 tablespoons of flax meal.

---The flax meal acts as a thickener, and flax has great health benefits!  I use Bob's Red Mill in the yellow package.

-Stir the flax meal thoroughly until fully integrated with the butter.

-Stir in the spaghetti squash.

-Add seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, go wild!).

-Stir in cheddar cheese, sour cream, whatever you want!  Ranch dressing?  Sure!  I didn't try ranch, but it might be as good as it is with potatoes!
--I only used about 2 tablespoons of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese so it flavored it without making it super fattening and ruining the integrity of the squash.  You could really load up on the cheese and sour cream and more butter if you really wanted to fool people!

-Stir, stir, stir!  You want the cheese to fully melt and all the ingredients to come together.  The more you stir, the more the squash will break down.  You can even smoosh (autocorrect does not approve of that word) it with your spoon.  It won't be completely smooth, but it will become like a mashed potato consistency.

I also threw in some toasted sunflower seeds, because I like a bit of crunch.  What else do you think would be good thrown in?  Bacon?  Of course, bacon!  Oh, and chives!

This would be a great side dish, or just eat it straight out of a bowl like Colin and I did.  It will give you a full feeling (yay!) and is a little less guilty than potatoes.  Nevermind, we'll ignore the cheese and sour cream and call it healthy!

This will make about 5 servings as a main dish and much more as a side dish.  If you used the entire squash, you could feed a crowd!

Let me know if you try it out!