Pumpkin Lasagna courtesy of Meg!

Pumpkin Lasagna, whoever would have thought? Well, since I am still avoiding tomatoes I thought I would try my friend Meagan's recipe that I ran into a few weeks ago on her blog.

Meg is awesome, her blog is fantastic. I met Meagan years ago with the Fly Gurlz, she was part of the Durham Chapter same as I and she is loaded with awesome energy, passion and fun loving awesomeness!

Be sure to check her out as she pursues all things good and has a great ability to megify the average recipe into something much healthier while maintaining super yummy flavor!

http://www.megified.wordpress.com/

Here is her recipe and photo from her blog, with my substitutions as I of course used what I had on hand:

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 pkg frozen spinach or 2 cups fresh - this I omitted as Bill has reminded me on many occasion that spinach does not belong in Lasagna, I don't agree, however changed this to a pkg of crimini mushrooms (next time will use a minimum of 2 pkgs of mushrooms)1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp dried sage (I used fresh thyme, because I had some)1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 cups pureed pumpkin (I used canned) (used 1 can, 796ml)1/2 brick cream cheese-softened

2 tbsp egg white (used 1 whole egg)1/4 cup parmasean cheese

3/4 cup coconut milk (used 1 can 400ml)1/2 cup skim milk (omitted)1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I used 1/2 cup)aprox. 1/2 pkg oven ready lasagna noodles (I used a box of gluten free noodles - it was small, could have used more noodles)

Method:

In frying pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until translucent (aprox 3-4 min)
Defrost spinach and squeeze out excess water and add to pan. (did mushrooms here)Add 1/2 tsp salt, sage, black pepper, and nutmeg.

Stir and remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 400F
In stand mixer add softened cream cheese, parmasean, and egg whites (whole egg). Mix well.
Add pumpkin, 1/2 tsp salt, sage, black pepper, and nutmeg. Mix until smooth. ( I added 1/2 - 3/4 approx can of coconut milk to the pumpkin mixture)In a 9×13 glass baking dish add milk (used approx 1/4 can of coconut milk here) to bottom of pan and top with lasagna noodles.

Spread 1/3 of pumpkin mixture evenly over noodles.
Spread 1/2 of the spinach mixture over the pumpkin, and add another layer of noodles.
Repeat with another layer of pumpkin, spinach, and noodles.
Top with remaining pumpkin, and sprinkle with mozzarella.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 20 min.
Remove foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and golden.

http://megified.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/pumpkin-lasagna/#comment-44

Now, as I wasn't sure if my family would be so willing to try a pumpkin lasagna I also made a quick beef and mozza regular lasagna as well. Happily, my hubby actually liked the pumpkin lasagna, totally surpised by this and of course happy with how well it turned out. I will certainly be comtemplating this for the next pot luck I have to go to or gathering of sorts.

Next to try (maybe next weekend) will be pumpkin chili, post sure to follow.

Technical difficulties, I copied and posted and apparently blogger does not like wordpress. Feel free to click on Meg's link and grab the recipe there instead.

Happy cooking!

Chia Apple Pumpkin Muffins

I was perusing the internet this morning and stumbled upon a recipe for Chia Pumpkin Muffins. Since I still had some leftover pumpkin in the fridge I thought I would adapt this recipe to what I had on hand, since following someone’s else’s instructions doesn’t always work for me!

These muffins are not only gluten free but they are a good protein and fibre source and are moist and delicious!

Apple Pumpkin Chia Seed Muffins

• 1 cup pureed pumpkin (canned organic works, just be sure its pure pumpkin)
• 1 cup applesauce (unsweetened), I had some homemade in the freezer
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds (ground in the coffee grinder)
• ½ cup brown rice flour
• ½ cup quinoa flour
• ½ cup tapioca starch
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 2 eggs (or substitute)
• ¼ cup coconut oil (melted)
• ½ cup pure maple syrup (may decrease to ¼ cup next time)
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup chopped nuts are optional (since I plan on sending these to school, I had to sadly omit the nuts)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix all ingredients together
• Spoon into lined muffin cups
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done (when toothpick inserted comes out clean)

I just baked these and all I can say is heaven on a Sunday morning! Yummy!

Nutritional highlights:

• Quinoa – not only is this gluten free, it also has a high protein content as it contains all of the essential amino acids. It is an excellent source of fibre and magnesium as well as a good source of minerals. It has a slight nutty flavor, which pairs well in this recipe.
• Chia seeds – a whole food that is an excellent source of essential fatty acids, high in fibre and contains protein too! It is better known as a “super food”
• Pure maple syrup and honey are used as sweeteners in this recipe as they are a natural sweetener, better for you than processed white sugars.

Apples and pumpkin spices have fall written all over it, paired with a cup of tea these muffins would have a perfect match.

Pumpkin Oats - Breakfast

 A girlfriend of mine sent me this recipe the other day, its healthy, its yummy and I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard, which meant it was a total had to try kind of recipe.

Pumpkin Oats Recipe:

1/2 cup (uncooked) steel-cut oats

1/4 cup greek yogurt (or plain full fat yogurt)

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk

1/4 cup no-sugar added pure pumpkin puree

1/4 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin spice

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mix everything together in a bowl and refrigerate overnight. In the morning heat it up in a saucepan and than add your choice of:

1/4 cup fresh fruit of your choice

1 Tbsp of nut of your choice

Splash of Almond Milk

1 Tbsp brown sugar 

 (I diced a small apple and added a few raisins. I used full fat plain yogurt and coconut milk as that is what I had in the fridge). One thing to note is that I looked on the side of my steel cut oats container and 1 serving is actually 1/4 of a cup, so this recipe may be heftier than what some may want, I ate the entire amount for breakfast and found it kept me full until lunch (which doesn't usually happen). Hearty, healthy, whole grain goodness!

Some nutritional highlights:

Steel cut oats are a total different texture from regular oatmeal, they have not been subject to the same processing as regular oats, they have a coarse consistency.  

Oats are low in gluten, high in fibre, and have beneficial effects on blood sugar levels, studies have also shown that people with high cholesterol levels benefit from consuming oat fibre as it helps to lower cholesterol levels.

Pumpkin is a winter squash, as it is richly coloured it is an excellent source of carotenes. Carotenes are found in all plant foods, however the greater the intensity of color, the higher the level of carotenes. Carotenes act as antioxidants and enhance the immune functions, excellent for this time of year (any time of year really, however even more so with the change of the seasons). Pumpkin contains Vitamin C, B1, folic acid and potassium.

Greek Yogurt has been very popular lately, it is naturally made, for anyone without a dairy issue it provides a great healthy source of protein (please note that most people do have issues digesting dairy)

Coconut milk - unsweetened (not the kind in a can but the one in the box – really, does it sound better to be in a box instead of a can?) is a great non dairy substitute. It is a good source of fat (medium chain fats have thermogenic (fat burning effects)– the excess energy provided by medium chain fats is generally burned and not stored)

Cinnamon has antibacterial and antifungal properties, is helpful to warm your internal organs, can help to treat diarrhea, indigestion, gas, bloating, abdominal pain, cramps, coughs, lower back pain, respiratory complaints and helps to increase blood circulation - really, what’s not to love!

To be honest, I never ate oatmeal as a kid, or certainly not that I remember. I started eating it about 10 years ago and originally it was the prepackaged, sweetened kind. I still buy it on occasion as my kids do ask for it, however it is way better to make it yourself and season to your liking, preferrably without all of the added sugars. Steel cut oats are something that took a longer time to get used to, now I prefer them, however not everyone does on their first try. So, just keep in mind that sometimes new foods take a while to become accustomed to and then you may wonder what it was that kept you away from it originally.