Chicken and Butternut Squash Lasagna

When I posted about making Sloppy Joes for the first time last month, I mentioned my Chicken Lasagna and said I would post the recipe later that week.  I never did, so I am posting it now.  But I have another reason for posting it.  A friend of mine commented on my blog's Facebook page that she is not adventurous in the kitchen at all.  She follows recipes to a "T" and does not experiment or try to create with what she has on hand.  She doesn't think she would be good at it and worries her family won't like what she makes.  Well, I want to address her and others out there with some "baby steps" to being more adventurous in the kitchen, and the lasagna I made last month is a great example.  So here we go!

My friend, Julia, who is always sharing great recipes, provided me with the following Chicken Lasagna recipe:

Lasagna noodles
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
8 oz sour cream
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 packet of Good Seasons dry Italian dressing mix
Shredded cheddar cheese

Cook lasagna noodles.  Mix chicken, sour cream, creamed soup and dry dressing mix.  In a 13"x9" pan, put a small amount of sauce on bottom followed by a layer of noodles, a layer of sauce and a layer of shredded cheddar cheese.  Repeat until you have 3 layers.  Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

It's very good and is a great dish to give someone for new baby in the house, recovering from injury, etc.  But 4 years ago, I was inspired by Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious to reduce or eliminate the creamed soup, and I was successful.  I substitute pureed vegetables for 1 or both cans of creamed soup. I've used yellow squash, carrots and pumpkin but the most popular, and the one I used most often, is butternut squash.  I tried it with the canned stuff once, out of curiosity, and it was awful!  Roasting and pureeing whatever vegetable you decide to use yourself is best.  Here's what I do.

Recipe: Not Your Regular Sloppy Joes

Before tonight, not only have I never made a Sloppy Joe, but I'd never even eaten one!  For a couple of years, B has been raving about these Sloppy Joes he had at a friend's house once and begging me to make them.  Finally, I contacted my friend, CC, and asked for her recipe.  Turns out, it is from one of Jessica Seinfeld's cookbooks, Deceptively Delicious.  I have both of her cookbooks in my collection but never gave the Sloppy Joes a second glance because, well, I've never had them and had no desire to.  My only exposure to the meal was the Manwich commercials from my childhood.  I did not eat ground beef as a child, not even hamburgers (I think it was a texture issue), and my mom never made them.  I've never been served them at any function or dinner at a friend's house.  But I am so glad I made them tonight!  Something that is healthier for us and all three of us liked - woohoo!

You may or may not know this, but Jessica Seinfeld's recipe include "sneaking" pureed vegetables into each dish.  She, like most parents, found it difficult to get her children to eat a variety of vegetables and discovered she could slip some into meals - breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks, even desserts! - without the kids noticing a difference in taste.  I actually modified a Chicken Lasagna recipe after being inspired by Jessica Seinfeld and it's been a hit with my family as well as with guests.  I substitute half or all of the cream of chicken soup the original recipe calls for with purred vegetables.  I've made my lasagna with pureed yellow squash, carrots and pumpkin, but the most popular is with butternut squash.  Since Jessica Seinfeld's Sloppy Joes recipe called for pureed butternut squash and sweet potatoes, I decided I could make my Chicken Lasagna, too!  That recipe will be coming later in the week.  But onto the Sloppy Joes...