Cooking Challenge: Pumpkin

oh i actually tried making a pumpkin casserole last week!
i tried to combine these two recipes using food i already had at home:

http://webesharin.com/2007/11/05/pumpkin-casserole/
http://www.recipe4living.com/recipes/baked_pumpkin_casserole.htm

NAME OF RECIPE: Pumpkin Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

1 29oz can of Libby's Pumpkin
1 cup light vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup almonds (crushed)
3 eggs
3 Tbsp blue agave sweetener
2 Tbsp promise light butter
what else did i use... just any pumpkin pie spices you think would be good, i had a pumpkin pie spice mix from trader joe's

whole almonds to decorate the top

feel free to change the ingredients as you see fit, this is just what i did.

DIRECTIONS:

mix all of it except the whole almonds in a bowl, put in a casserole dish.
then decorate the top with the whole nuts!
bake at 350 degrees for about 40-50 minutes depending on your oven.

CALORIES PER SERVING: 152
HOW MANY IT SERVES: depends on how you cut it. i cut the whole thing into 9 pieces of about equal size
OPINIONS ON HOW IT TASTED, ETC: i liked it a lot! a little too almondy for me, but it's a great pumpkin pie substitute. or at least i'm going to make it for my family for thanksgiving! but this time i will use pecans instead of almonds, as i like them better.
PICTURE (optional):

PUMPKIN SAUSAGE SOUP
serves 6

ingredients:
1-1.25 lbs bulk breakfast sausage - I make my own sausage, but you could use Jimmy Dean or some other sausage
1/2 a large onion, minced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 small cooking pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (or one 15-oz can of pumpkin)
4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
pinch of dried rosemary
1 tsp paprika
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
2 T butter or some other more paleo cooking fat - I like to use Coconut Oil
1/2 cup coconut milk

Heat the butter in a heavy deep pot and saute the mushrooms over medium-high heat until golden. Remove from the pot to a small bowl, leaving the butter. Add the onions to the pot and saute them until golden, then remove them to a separate bowl. Add the sausage to the pot and brown it until it is cooked through and looks tasty. Remove the sausage from the pot and set aside.

Add the pumpkin to the pot and deglaze with the chicken stock. Add the onions back in and simmer until the pumpkin is soft, about 10 minutes. Puree the soup (a hand blender is easiest, but a regular blender will do). Add in all the remaining ingredients except the coconut milk (don't forget to add in the cooked mushrooms and sausage!), and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk.

---

That's the hard way to make the soup. The easy way is to cook the onions, mushrooms and sausage all together at once and use canned pumpkin, saving some steps and a dirty blender. The easy way makes perfectly fine soup, but it won't have the same layers of texture and flavor that the harder version does.

PUMPKIN SAUSAGE SOUP
serves 6

ingredients:
1-1.25 lbs bulk breakfast sausage - I make my own sausage, but you could use Jimmy Dean or some other sausage
1/2 a large onion, minced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 small cooking pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (or one 15-oz can of pumpkin)
4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
pinch of dried rosemary
1 tsp paprika
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp sea salt or to taste
2 T butter or some other more paleo cooking fat - I like to use Coconut Oil
1/2 cup coconut milk

Heat the butter in a heavy deep pot and saute the mushrooms over medium-high heat until golden. Remove from the pot to a small bowl, leaving the butter. Add the onions to the pot and saute them until golden, then remove them to a separate bowl. Add the sausage to the pot and brown it until it is cooked through and looks tasty. Remove the sausage from the pot and set aside.

Add the pumpkin to the pot and deglaze with the chicken stock. Add the onions back in and simmer until the pumpkin is soft, about 10 minutes. Puree the soup (a hand blender is easiest, but a regular blender will do). Add in all the remaining ingredients except the coconut milk (don't forget to add in the cooked mushrooms and sausage!), and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk.

---

That's the hard way to make the soup. The easy way is to cook the onions, mushrooms and sausage all together at once and use canned pumpkin, saving some steps and a dirty blender. The easy way makes perfectly fine soup, but it won't have the same layers of texture and flavor that the harder version does.

What is the damage?...Calories per what size serving?