Beefy Spaghetti Squash 'n' Sauce

This is a great short-cut to awesome pasta sauce in the backcountry. We used jars of store-bought sauce (although if you have a favorite recipe, you can use your own!), threw them into a pot with some ground beef to cook and then dehydrated that. We also dehydrated some extra add-on vegetables (spinach, mushrooms, peas, and onions) to make it more interesting! Super easy prep at home and in the backcountry. The first time I made this I served it with Butternut Squash "Noodles." Basically I just grated raw butternut squash and dehydrated that, then rehydrated it plain by itself to serve the sauce over. Not recommended. The second time, we cooked a spaghetti squash in the oven, scraped it out when it was done, and mixed it with the sauce before dehydrating. Much better! There are also kelp noodles you can find that might work well with this, but I haven't tried those yet. 

Don't those butternut squash noodles look appetizing?

For 2 people

1 jar pasta sauce
3/4 lb. grass-fed ground beef

2 cups baby spinach
8 large mushrooms, sliced
1/2 bag frozen peas, thawed
1/2 onion, chopped small

1/2 a large spaghetti squash, seeded

Put cut spaghetti squash face down on an oiled baking pan. Put in the oven at 350 F for about 45 minutes, or until a fork pierces it easily. Remove from the oven and let cool. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the spaghetti guts to mix in with the sauce and meat when it is finished.

Combine ground beef and pasta sauce in a sauce pan over medium heat on the stove. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is done. Stir in spaghetti squash. Spread sauce mixture on dehydrator trays and dry for 8-12 hours at 155 F.

Spread the spinach, sliced mushrooms, thawed peas, and chopped onions on dehydrator trays and dry 8-10 hours. The normal vegetable setting is about 135 F, but if you want to save time you can do it with the pasta sauce at 155, or do the pasta sauce at 135 (it will just take longer for the meat).

To rehydrate:

Throw it all in a pot, add water until just covered, and let it soak for as long as you have. When ready to cook, bring to a boil (you might have to add more water after soaking) and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, cover pot with lid and let sit for another 5-10 minutes. Open and enjoy!