Pumpkin pasta?!

Well hello again friends!  Seems like we just left each other 😉

As expected, the rest of the afternoon included a sugar cookie adventure! 

We started it off by making a big mess 😛

Then cut out some fun shapes & baked ’em up

And got to decoratin’!  Yes, we are outta control 😉

It was actually much more entertaining than I initially anticipated 🙂  Plus I used my mom’s trick for icing to make some pastel colors (I’m such a girl haha) — confectioner’s sugar, water + food coloring and ta-da!

Check out the day’s spread…  phew what-a-day! 😛

Whoa crazy lights?!?!?

And we haven’t even gotten to dinner yet *gasp*!!!  So what is it you ask?

Baked Ziti w/ Pumpkin & Chicken Sausage!

I found this recipe on the Libby’s site and was really exited to try it, of course I made a few changes based on our tastes (gahhhh alwayssss haha)

Key players:

• 1 package whole wheat penne
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can pumpkin
• 2 tblps flour
• red pepper flakes
• nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp EVOO
• 1 can fat free evaporated milk
• Al Fresco Italian chicken sausages
• Mozzarella cheese
• Grated Parm

First up I sauteed the garlic in some EVOO (what is it about garlic/EVOO that smells soooo gooood?!?!)

Then added the pumpkin, red pepper flakes, nutmeg and salt/pepper to taste.

Then it was time to gradually add the FF evaporated milk, stirring to mix through.

While the pasta was cooking away (per directions) I sliced up the chicken sausages, added these to the sauce plus about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

Then it was time to combine the drained, cooked pasta and sauce

Transfer to a baking dish (cooking spray) and bake for about 15 minutes at 400F covered with foil.  Top with mozzarella and parm cheese, bake another 5 minutes uncovered and voila!

Serve with some broccoli & cauliflower topped with a lil’ more cheese, since if you noticed I omitted the spinach from the original recipe 😉 (The Man hates spinach – Popeye hater what?!)

Whose is whose?!?! 😛  (grammar class for me ha!)

All served up 🙂

I really liked this recipe!  I was also a bit worried that The Man may not love it – WRONG 🙂  He loved too!  Plus he raved about the frozen veggies… with the “different cheese” that I added to the mix 😉  Winner winner pumpkin sneak attack dinner!

Alright, movie time for us and time for me to get outta the kitchen!  Well except grabbing some cookies for dessert ehh hmmmm…. 

Have a wonderful night friends and see you tomorrow — hopefully there will be some car purchasin’ in this girl’s near future (aka tomorrow since if not then I am technically “car-less”!)