Dairy Free Pumpkin Cheesecake

So it's not the poster child for healthy foods, but it tastes sooo good. I don't recommend you make it a weekly treat...but once in a while its worth it. I bought a huge can of pumpkin for some pumpkin cupcakes I made last week....and had half left over, the perfect amount for some pumpkin cheese cake.

Recipe:
Crust-
1 1/2 cups Gingersnap cookie crumbs
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
6 tbsp dairy-free butter (melted) or oil

Filling-
24 oz soy cream cheese at room temp
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
5 large eggs
1/2 cup milk of choice ( I used Silk Pumpkin Spice because I am addicted to it in the fall)

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease/Butter a spring form pan
Combine ingredients for crust and press into bottom of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For filling, beat cream cheese until smooth, add sugar and spices and beat until light. Add pumpkin and mix to blend. Stir in 1 egg at a time. Stir in milk.

Pour into cake pan. Place cake pan in a roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with water half way up the side. Place both in oven and cook until cheesecake is firm. Should be about 50 minutes...mine took longer, more like 75. Let it cool and enjoy! Super yummy!

Jump up and Down

I am truly concerned about bone health...note being able to drink milk means I usually don't get enough calcium in a day. I usually try to make up the difference with fortified soy or rice milk and a supplement to reach my 1000 mg per day. However many days I am sure I still fall short...and there were a lot of years growing up that I am sure I didn't get nearly enough. Plus since I work in a nursing home I see lots of people coming in with fractured hips.

We are all told that weight bearing exercise is beneficial to bones and as this new study shows one of the most simple exercises may also be most beneficial. Jumping up and down a couple of times a day may be all you need to help maintain and build bone density. Here's a link to the article. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/phys-ed-the-best-exercises-for-healthy-bones/

Sodas and your body

Everyone is always asking about soda...i thought this summed it up pretty well. If you do choose soda clear sodas like sprite and 7-up do not have as much phosphoric acid so they are a better choice. Happy drinking!

What sodas are doing to your body

Pumpkin seeds

I am visiting my sister in Utah. It's a much different scene here and makes me want to have the fall that we never seem to get in Vegas. The leaves are changing, the morning air is crisp, and they were selling pumpkins at the grocery store. Since we couldn't find a pumpkin patch anywhere we picked a couple out of the pile outside of Smith's.
Being resourceful we didn't want to just throw away all the yummy goodness inside so we pulled out all the guts, separated out the seeds and sprinkled some with a healthy dose of cinnamon, sugar, and butter. The other half we sprinkled with Creole seasoning and some butter. We toasted them for about 25 minutes and YUM! the are delicious! A quick, healthy, easy treat to enjoy during fall....now I just have to figure out what to do with the actual pumpkin we have left over after carving....i don't think its very good to eat. But we'll see.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It's October which means it's breast cancer awareness month. The American Cancer Society encourages women to get mammograms for early detection as well as getting plenty of exercise -at least 30 minutes 5 days a week but they encourage 45-60 for better prevention. Another important aspect of preventing breast cancer is to stay a healthy weight- obesity increases your risks. The ACS also recommends limiting alcohol intake to 1 drink a day as there is a clear line between alcohol consumption and cancer. For more information visit www.cancer.org

Flavored Tofu

I just got Dark Chocolate Silken Tofu...wasn't sure how it was gonna be, but it's super yummy. I was expecting the texture to be more solid, but it was like pudding, and it tasted like pudding too. I ate it plain with some soy whipped cream, but I think it would be really good in a shake with bananas or whipped up and made into a mousse.
They also have French Vanilla. I highly recommend trying it. I find that it is hard to make pudding with rice and soy milk...it doesn't always set up right, although My-T-Fine pudding mix works best (it usually in the kosher section).

Red Velvet Cafe

There is really no excuse for me to not have posted since early June, but I started a new job which turned out to be quite stressful and a lot to learn. I love it and finally got it under control. Plus I have been working at my old job still and the last thing I feel like doing is logging on the computer. Ugg.

In the hecticness of the last few months I have also done very little cooking. Yesterday we finally checked out the Red Velvet Cafe. And thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a little cafe just west of Buffalo on Sahara and they offer Vegan and Vegetarian options...which is wonderful for anyone who avoids dairy. I enjoyed a chicken provolone panini with spinach and sundried tomatoes. Yes provolone...the owner works with a company and makes fresh dairy-free cheese that tastes like the real thing. Matt had a turkey club with real cheese which he said was good also. Afterwards we perused the dessert case (all of which is dairy free) and settled on a piece of their signature dessert...red velvet cake. The owner said it was only 150 calories, but I don't believe him...it tasted great! Matt said he wanted his own the next time we go.

It's a little pricey, but I highly recommend stopping by to check it out, even if only for the cake!