In the new year, I have been trying to increase the amount of whole foods that we consume.  To me, this means coming up with creative ways to eat less processed food and re-think traditional meals.  I have already experimented with (and found that I love) cauliflower rice, so I decided to try spaghetti squash pasta next.

I followed these instructions from Colorful Eats for preparing the squash.  First you bake it a bit, then you cut it open and clean it out a lot like preparing a pumpkin on Halloween.  Then you use a fork to scrape out little shavings from the inside of the squash.  This took a whole lot of wrist strength, to the point where I felt that I maybe undercooked the squash.

Once I was done preparing the spaghetti squash shavings, I mixed them with everything I would put in a typical Italian pasta…

I felt like making some sort of wrap but sometimes the traditional corn or flour tortillas can feel a bit heavy. I did a bit of a scavenger hunt through my kitchen and came up with this totally fruity and amazing tropical quinoa wrap.

I had some cooked quinoa so I stir fried it with some teriyaki sauce, fresh pineapple, bean sprouts, kale, shredded carrot, and fresh onions. I also added a bit of lemon juice.

I served it up with some crunchy lettuce, peanuts, avocado, and dipping sauce.

So easy, very filling, and that’s where vegans get their protein people!