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