Pumpkin Lasagna

Ugh, I promise I am going to give you guys some recipes that don’t include Pumpkin…..next July. Just kidding, next week… But for now, another pumpkin recipe. It’s really good if that makes up for my pumpkineyness. I just love pumpkins.

See?

Before last night I had never made a lasagna… I always thought they took SO long to prepare and I’m more of an instant gratification kind of girl. If it takes longer than 30 minutes and doesn’t involve a crock pot – I’m OUT!

Oh and Adam if you are reading this there was TOTALLY ground turkey in there 😉

Pumpkin Lasagna (Vegetarian)

Ingredients

• 1 pound 5 ounces (or 21 ounces) fresh mozzarella, divided
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free ricotta cheese
• 3 tablespoons earth balance butter
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon all spice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• pinch white pepper
• 1 (1 lb) box no boil – whole wheat lasagna sheets

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Shred 12 ounces of mozzarella and mix with the ricotta in a large bowl. Set aside.

3. In a 2 quart pot, melt butter on low heat. Add garlic and brown lightly. Stir in pumpkin, brown sugar, maple syrup,  cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir until it’s all warm. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Smear a thin layer of pumpkin mixture on the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish.

5. Place 3 lasagna sheets across. Smooth a layer of ricotta/mozzarella on. Smooth a layer of pumpkin mixture on top. Repeat until you have 5 layers of pasta, cheese, pumpkin. (You will use 15 lasagna sheets in total so there may be extra sheets in the box.)

6. Let sit for 5 minutes and slice squares to serve

7. Eat your sweet, ooey and gooey lasagna.

I loved the sweetness of this lasagna – If you are in the mood for something new, definitely try this… If you are looking for an original lasagna, you’ll have to spend more time on it.

I also highly suggest washing it down with a couple squares of heaven.

If there’s any left in stores that is… Because I plan on wiping every Trader Joes clear of them.

Happy Friday!!!

QUESTIONS: Have you ever made a homemade lasagna? I cant believe this was my first time.

His & Hers

After breakfast I chose to be responsible and run my errands But that’s OK – I’ll see you today Mr. sunshine!

I went to my favorite store Tar-Jay… I spent way too much time there. But I didn’t spend too much money for once. Alyssa – 1. Tar-Jay – 400. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Lunch was quick because I was starvingggg. I found these cute little pitas at Target today for 40 calories each! But when i say little, i mean little.

I stuffed it with some romaine lettuce and spicy soybeans from Trader Joe’s. I also made a side salad with the romaine lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes and added more soybeans on top since the pita was so tiny.

For dinner I made Adam and I a very similar yet different dish. Both included chicken, cheese and pesto. The difference was that mine had roasted red peppers and Adam’s had ham and were lightly breaded. Our cheese’s were also different but all in all very similar.

Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 lb of thin sliced boneless chicken breasts
• 1  container of store-bought pesto w/ basil (won’t use entire thing)
• 1 oz of fat-free feta
• 2 slices of pepperjack cheese (sliced in half)
• 8 slices of ham
• 2 roasted red peppers (i buy mine in a jar at Trader Joe’s)
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• Lemon Pepper seasoning
• Olive Oil for brushing

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
• Lay chicken out on cutting board and spread pesto w/ basil on each breast
• Add feta to the middle of two of the breasts and a 1/2 slice of pepperjack in the middle to the remaining 4

• Add 1 roasted red pepper to each of the breasts with feta and 2 slices of ham to each breast with the pepperjack.

• Fold the breasts in half and secure with a toothpick
• Sprinkle the lemon pepper seasoning on the roasted red pepper & feta chicken
• Lightly dip both sides of the ham & pepperjack chicken into the breadcrumbs (on a plate)
• Brush a little olive oil on the breaded chicken

• Bake on a wired rack for 20 minutes.

Hers

His

Voila. His and Her meals made at the same time by only dirtying one pan! Wahooooo.

I served our chicken with a side of Old Bay corn… A little shoutout to MD 🙂

No night is EVER complete without dessert.

😉

I have a favorite Friday post coming your way later. Happy Friday!!!

QUESTIONS: Do you ever make your significant other a different meal than yourself?