Lots of us tried this a few years back - and it was really good. it was those darn cookies that created a stir - where to get them - lol. Butternut Squash Lasagna Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis Posted by LoriJean Recipe Summary Difficulty: Medium Prep Time: 30 minutes Inactive Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes Yield: 8 to 10 servings User Rating: Cook's Note: The no-boil lasagna noodles can be substituted with fresh spinach lasagna sheets. Look for fresh lasagna sheets in the refrigerated section of specialty markets. 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup water 3 amaretti cookies, crumbled 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 1/2 cups whole milk Pinch nutmeg 3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves 12 no-boil lasagna noodles 2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese 1/3 cup grated Parmesan Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the water into the skillet and then cover and simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and then transfer the squash to a food processor. Add the amaretti cookies and blend until smooth. Season the squash puree, to taste, with more salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the nutmeg. Cool slightly. Transfer half of the sauce to a blender*. Add the basil and blend until smooth. Return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste. Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. Repeat layering 3 more times. Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. Continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. Let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving. *When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

There is a distinct difference between genetically engineered crops and natural hybrids and it would be well worth the efforts of those who are insulting those who are warning people that all frankenfoods are highly dangerous. There are German studies and even Monsanto's own studies which point a great problem with genetic modified foods. To not get too technical, but it has to do with the base amino acid structure the body does not recognize. I would suggest people notice how many people have the 'new diseases' of auto immune from lupus, MG, inflamed bowel, arthritis etc.... as examples that the body is having great difficulty with these grains and oils. Ask your vet or pet food dealer how many 'allergic' pets are showing up now to food. It is because of the hybrid corn some animals can not deal with it. Just because you eat something and you don't end up in the emergency ward does not mean that it is not going to affect your body sooner than later. Studies now indicate diabetes is from an inflamed pancreas. Once again not inflamation is the key disease and it links back to all of these genetically modified crops. For goodness sake people, I deal in agriculture and genetics. There are crops like Roundup corn, soybeans and canola oil where Monsanto has engineered a crop where you can spray Roundup, the same thing you put on your lawns and a herbicide which kills every plant, but it will not affect these crops. You are eating in mass now crops that a poison will not kill. Some of these genetic crops have trace genes of even animal DNA so as to make them more resiliant. That is not natural and if you ever ask the growing number of sick people they will tell you this is not funny as they are dying slow miserable deaths. My research hints that there is a symbiotic relationship between the amino acid hybrids, bacteria and a fungal infection. That is why so many skin diseases are manifesting including boils. If like in MG that a person's lining off their nerve cells is being eaten off so the nervous system shorts out to the fact if complete corn diets are feed cattle that it will burn them out and kill them, should perhaps convince the experts on here claiming all of this is nonsense. This is not about transfats. This is about a genetic engineered mutation that is being fed into the meat chain, the pets you have and you. Do a forensic test on your hair and it will not come back diverse. It will come back that you are corn due the huge amounts of it in all foods and if it is not corn, it is canola oil adding to the problem. I have watched a black lab and an irish setter dog develop arthritis, stumbling, seizures and bloody stools. When the diet was switched to a rice base or no corn, they both recovered and healed. People and their pets need to eat correctly and stop buying this stuff as once that happens, the corporations will loose money and won't push it onto consumers any more. Farmers are only using now what the market demands. Start demanding natural grains, natural beef, chicken, turkey and pork and vegetables not being fertilized in Mexico using human feces (that is where the spinach and jalepino/tomatoe problems came from is human sewage waste and not swine as people were lied to.) and please stop eating those tons of preservatives they have in everything. You don't have to be vegan as that is just as dangerous in the genetic plants they are pushing (get a clue if an insect won't eat it in the field perhaps you shouldn't eat it either.). As far as hunza, it is molasses bread and molasses is still good for you. It covers up the strong taste of buckwheat and if you ever ate millet flower you would cringe it is so bad. (Millet is very good boiled like oatmeal. It just is not a good flour as it is strong.) The link provided is a natural help site for people who are having problems and the modern 'cures' are only making them more ill. There are no side effects to good food except health. You can quote me on that. God bless. Here is a link that might be useful: Earth Clinic

Thanks--it wasn't that bad. I just hate to have confrontations (read my refrigerator post). It could be a lot worse and I should feel grateful for the blessings I've received. Shame on me! Glenda, I wish I could make a really good tuna salad. I like it out, but not crazy about the salad I make. Sue, did you find any good bargains at the grocery? Our flyers just don't have that many for things we use/need anymore. Wish I hadn't frozen all that leftover turkey. Your chicken sandwich made me want a turkey one :-) Shirley, I'm sorry about your week. Mine was just a mere inconvenience. We had lasagne (Stouffer's) last week while I was cooking for T-giving. Man, that's good stuff. I'm sure your homemade was better, especially with homemade bread. Nita, don't you find kids are much more appreciative after they're own their own for a while. I'm glad Bobby's doing well and hope you had some beets for dinner! LOL!

Hi Russ, Duke is supposedly a Weimaraner mother (hence the Meth reference) and a chocolate lab father. Our vet put him down as German short hair pointer or something like that. He is just overzealous for the chase - rabbit, squirrel, or even other dogs. I thought he would calm down after a few years but he is 8 now with no sign of slowing down. That's great that you got your interest in plants from your grandfather. It seems like it is usually the women in the family - grandmother, mother, etc. My grandmother loved her flowers but my dad was a veggie grower primarily. I did get him interested in hostas later in his life though. I've heard the same thing about property values. One of the painters we had in to do our living room said he recently moved from FL (and he moved down there from GA) back home said he was able to get a much bigger house here than the one he had in FL. He was a talker though. Where in FL do you live? I am headed to Orlando the week of the 16th to buy begonias for our annual sale. I am thinking about adding an extra day and drive to Miami to go to PHOE once more and would love to go to Fairchild again but that is too much for one day (Orlando - Miami round-trip plus two visits). The biggest nelumbiifolia I ever saw was at Fairchild at the Miami Convention 2006 This was in the conservatory. But this huge begonia in the landscape was no slouch either. I think it was at the Hidden Grotto. (Back when my hands were thinner too). Another nelumbiifolia growing either on the wall, or creeping up or down (never could find where it started at. This was at the beginning of March too. Had been there the year before in May and was it ever HOT! Here is the plant I had my hand up to in the second photo. Here is another blooming begonia in the landscape - thinking Caribbean King? Chihuly was there that year (in Atlanta the year before and in Atlanta again this year).