To lighten it up, I use nuefchatel instead of cream cheese and Brummel & Brown yogurt spread instead of butter (and less of it). So fantastic!! It is a little putzy (as are all RR recipes, in my opinion), but well worth it .
Man, I go pumpkin crazy, there are days when every meal that I have has some sort of pumpkin in it. I will admit that I tend to use canned, but it still tastes great. One recipe that I love is a bean soup that I make with pumpkin. Whole Foods has a 32 bean soup mix in the bulk foods that is very versatile. I make it with some chicken stock, french onion soup mix, tomato sauce, corn, and pumpkin, it's great.