Oh my lawd almighty, does it feel GOOD to be home after being gone for 10 days. I get to wake up every morning and have collagen in my coffee, I get to walk my dog, I get to go to lunches with my friends and catch up. It’s all quite lovely. Getting back to my routine is seriously my favorite. Except I’m really excited to travel again at the same time. I love being at home but I love exploring. And I think my next trip will be totally solo, which will be fun and empowering!
Speaking of empowering, let’s talk about my past weekend in Dallas! I had the opportunity to be around some of the top 200 influencers with LIKEtoKNOW.it – the company I’m always talking about when I’m sharing my outfits! Well I was asked to speak at this event about expanding your brand through books! All these women are fashion or beauty bloggers at the event, so I don’t know if any of them actually enjoyed my speech, but it was still really cool to get to share my story and what it was ACTUALLY like to write the book before and after.
But even though it was totally empowering to be at event filled with women who have created their own business from an idea that just came to be a few years ago, it was extremely intimidating knowing absolutely no one. And they had cocktail parties every night so I would just walk into the party in hopes of someone else have no one to talk to so I could swing in and feel less like an assh*le. It really did feel like being the new kid at school during recess. Except way harder because adults don’t really give a sh*t about making new friends with a random chick who is by herself. Luckily, a few women were kind enough to chat with me and bring me into their conversations so I didn’t have to take my cocktail into the bathroom stall, Mean Girls style. I’d love to say that I never did that in middle school, but I fully did.
I consider myself a pretty confident person, but it is straight up exhausting trying to prove to strangers that you’re worth talking to. I could tell that they didn’t mind having me around, but they weren’t so sure about actually liking me. Which is fair. I’m a hard pill to swallow. But I persevered the entire weekend – all 3 parties and two lunches worth. I tried my heart out. So if I have the opportunity to go back next year, hopefully I know a face or two and I don’t have to drink my cocktail in the bathroom. Fingers crossed!!
Meatball Casserole
- Yield: 4-5 1x
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 2½ pounds), cut in half
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- ½ yellow onion, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup pizza sauce (no sugar added)
- 2 eggs, whisked
For the meatballs
- 1 (25 ounce) jar of marinara sauce (no sugar added)
- 1 package gluten free turkey meatballs (I got mine at Natural Grocers, but you could always make your own with my Southwest Meatballs recipe)
- fresh basil, for garnish
- fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the skin gives when you press your finger to it. Remove the squash from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
- While the spaghetti squash cooks, place a large pot over medium heat. Add meatballs and sauce, cover and let cook down for about 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs cook, place a large saute pan over medium heat, add ghee, then add peppers, onion and garlic cloves, sprinkle with a little bit of salt, and cook for about 10 minutes, until onion is translucent.
- Use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti squash strings and place in the greased baking dish along with the onion and pepper mixture, garlic powder, salt and pepper, the pizza sauce and the eggs. Mix to combine and spread out evenly. Then use a slotted spoon to remove the meatballs and press them into the uncooked casserole, leaving behind the sauce in the pot.
- Place in the oven to bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the center is cooked through and edges have begun to brown. *When the casserole has about 15 minutes left, place the sauce that’s remaining in the pot on low heat to reduce and thicken.
- When the casserole is done cooking, let set for about 10 minutes, then pour the sauce on top along with some torn basil and chopped parsley! Serve up!
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More Casseroles!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole (video!)
Italian Spicy Sausage & Kale Gnocchi Casserole
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Hi Julie! I’m obsessed with your podcast first off. Second off, I was wondering what (if at all) you know regarding Ketosis? Paleo and Ketosis have similarities but are also very different!! A lot of your recipes could be made Keto-friendly as well. Would you be willing to address this in an upcoming podcast!? Thank you for this recipe and all your other great fashion finds and fitness tips 🙂
honestly i don’t really know much about keto so i can’t really address it. i know that a high fat, low carb diet really messed up my hormones and bodyweight, so it’s not something i’m interested in. but you should definitely look into diane sanfilipo on instagram or on her website balancedbites.com because she is doing it and talking about it!
This looks so good! Do you have any ideas on how I could make it egg free?
not if you want it as a casserole
I live overseas and can never find spaghetti squash 🙁 any recommendations of substitutes? I am missing out on so many delicious recipes because I can’t find it!
you could try zucchini noodles or even sweet potato noodles!