Spaghetti Squash Straw and Hay

I was quilting Sea Turtle Parade while my mother was working on her geneology on the computer.  She lost a file location and commented that maybe it was time for lunch.  It was 10:15.  This could very well be lunchtime for her.  I suspect she has been up since 3 or 4 AM.  I told her that it was a bit early for lunch but I would be glad to go cook up the spaghetti squash that had been purchased in out last grocery store outing.  I made Spaghetti Squash Straw and Hay which is based on a recipe found in HPBooks Microwave Cookbook: The Complete Guide by Pam Jester circa 1983.  In this recipe everything is optional except the squash.

Ritz Crackers...................................1 tube crunched
Butter................................................2 to 4 T

Spaghetti Squash........................2 to 5 pounds which makes 3 to 6 cups

Onion........................................1/2 to whole
Frozen peas with mushrooms.......1 package
    or frozen peas and sliced fresh mushrooms
Green and/or Red Pepper strips....Fresh or Frozen maybe a cup
Sliced cooked ham strips..............1 C or whatever you have on hand
     or smoked sausage
     or Canadian Bacon
     or bacon bits

Eggs, beaten....................................1 or 2
Cream(whipping or just milk)..........1/2 to 1 cup
Ricotta Cheese.................................15 to 32 oz
Grated Parmesan or the like............1/2 to 1 Cup
Shredded Cheddar.........................1/2 to 2 cups

Want to add some seasonings:  I have used dashes of salt, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, garlic, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, Goya Adobo. Use whatever you fancy all or none


Melt Butter in microwave in a 4 cup container.  Grab a tube of Ritz Crackers, open one end and with your hands crunch them up in the tube or crunch them however you like.  Mix with the butter and set aside.

Pierce whole squash and cook in the microwave on high for about 10 minutes.  Cut the squash in half, remove seeds,  Place the halved squash in a backing dish with 1/2 cup or less of salted water( garlic salt, onion salt, table salt whatever! or no salt at all).  Microwave on high for another 10 minutes.

Beat eggs then mix with cream/milk and the cheeses.

Chop the onion and mix with the peas, mushrooms, pepper strips, and meat. Scoop the cooked squash out of the shells and in a large bowl mix the egg mixture with the squash and other vegetables mixture together.

You can then mound it all bake into the squash shells in the baking dish or just butter up a baking dish and load it up.  Top with the Ritz cracker butter mixture.  Bake covered for 10 minutes and uncovered for another 10 minutes,  (This cooking time is based on another favorite vegetable dish that is made with frozen vegetable and topped with the buttered cracker mixture) . The cooking times are based on recipes that were created when microwaves were first introduced and a very powerful oven might have been 500 watts.  The time works in my mothers 1200 watt machine so I have stuck with it.  It may need less time.


Or use the squash mixture as a layer of a vegetable lasagna.

Hope you enjoy.   Lunch is done and now back to Sea Turtle Parade and quilting with my roller foot.