As you may be aware, Consumer Reports ran a test recently testing for  the existence of BPA in canned foods. They tested 19 brands of food, anything from soup to tuna and almost all the tests came back positive for BPA. Unfortunately, there were some organic food companies who were found with BPA in their canned foods as well. (You can read the report here.)

Are you kidding me?  I never thought of this being an issue,  honestly. I don’t use canned food very often but still,  I was pretty upset about these findings.(After all I do use canned tomatoes and beans sometimes). The part that bothered me more than anything was the organic companies that were found with BPA. Here you think you are buying “safe” food.

I know the only way to stay away from these dangers is to cook from scratch, and I do, almost every night. But, then there are those nights, when my day went completely awry and I can’t whip up an entire meal, I don’t have the energy, inclination, time, whatever, it just isn’t going to happen. I know all of you have the same thing happen, probably more often than we like to admit.

So I thought I would share a standby that is great.  It is fast, easy, healthy, delicious, vegetarian (but pleases even the biggest meat lovers, I know because I am married to one) and nothing comes from a can.

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Serves 3-4 depending on the size of the squash

You will need:

1 organic spaghetti squash

1 glass jar of organic spaghetti sauce

parmesan cheese to taste

Take one large organic spaghetti squash, cut it in half long wise. Place it into a baking dish, and then fill the dish partially with water. (You don’t need a lot of water, just enough to create a steam effect.) Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Bake it in a preheated, 350 degree oven for about half an hour to forty five minutes, or until done. (You will know it is done when you can take a fork and scrape the inside and get strands of “spaghetti”).

While your squash is cooking heat up your favorite organic spaghetti sauce out of a glass jar, or some homemade that you canned or froze over the fall harvest.

Once it is done remove it from the oven, and then slowly and gently scrape the inside of the squash with a fork, creating your “spaghetti”.  Place the strands of “spaghetti” in a large bowl. Pour your tomato sauce over the top, grate some parmesan and voila, an incredible spaghetti dinner with minimal effort and a lot of nutrition.

It may sound like a strange meal but it is really delicious, and almost identical to eating spaghetti. Trust me.

I also wanted to remind everyone to hit up their local farmers market, and buy whatever veggies freeze, bring them home, chop them and prep them, and then freeze them in BPA free containers. Great for the farmers and great for you family!

Do you have any great ideas for quick, nutritious dinners that you can make without using any canned foods? Or, just want to vent about the fact that our food isn’t safe unless it is in a glass jar? Go ahead, we hear you, believe me!

-Sheri

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Tags: bpa, cooking, recipes