Pumpkin Pudding Pie

I am loving the beginning of fall, bring on the comfort food. Well, bring on the comfort food that wont totally ruin your figure. Not to worry, I have so many yummy recipes to share :) But lets talk pumpkin, shall we? I LOVE pumpkin. I do. It is soo good! I have a stash in my pantry. Lovely cans of pumpkin. So here is a super easy, super yummy dessert that you will love. It is light with tons of flavor. This is sure to be a favorite!



Ingredients:

1 graham cracker crust (I used a store bought one but you can certainly make your own)
2 cups cold fat free milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 packages (the size box that serves 4) jello pumpkin Spice flavor pudding
1 tub (8oz) fat free/light cool whip

1. Beat milk, dry pudding mixes, and cinnamon with a wire whisk until well blended. Spread 1 1/2 cups onto the bottom of crust.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of the whipped topping to remaining pudding mixture. Stir gently. Spoon over the layer in the crust. Top with the remaining cool whip.
3. Yep, that's it. Now put your pie in the fridge until you are going to eat it. It looks fancy, but it is really easy. Top with candy corn and dig in!

adapted from COOL WHIP

Pumpkin Ring Cake

This is a great and different way to use pumpkin so everyone isn't sick of it by the end of the holidays. Super moist and really great! I made a glaze topping for ours but I bet a cream cheese frosting would be wonderful! It's a no-fail Betty Crocker recipe that I fixed a bit.... Perfect for fall!



Ingredients:

3 cups Heart Smart Bisquick® mix
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup fat free milk
2 eggs and 2 egg whites
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1.Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan. Ok, I greased and floured it and it still stuck a little bit. I ALWAYS just spray my pans really well with non -stick spray and they turn out great, so I am going to try that next time.
2.Beat Bisquick, granulated sugar, brown sugar, applesauce, oil, pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 cup milk, eggs/egg whites and pumpkin in large bowl on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes. Spread in pan.
3.Bake about 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; turn upside down onto heatproof plate or wire cooling rack. Remove pan and cool cake completely.
4.Stir glaze ingredients together until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle over cake. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Dessert

Ok, I know.....pumpkin is usually associated with the fall and the holidays, but around our house we eat it year round! This is a well known dessert, but I have the recipe for making it low fat and delicious!! Try it out!




Ingredients:

1 15oz. can pumpkin
1 12oz. can fat free evaporated mild
5 egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 box golden vanilla or yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup melted butter ( I will share my butter trick with you below:)

1. Heat your oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. In a medium bowl beat pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg whites, sugar, and spices. Whisk until smooth. Pour into pan.
2.Sprinkle your dry cake mix evenly over the top of your pumpkin mixture. If you want, sprinkle with chopped walnuts too.
3. Now here is where I get tricky :) This is what I use for butter :) Take a glass measuring up and fill it with a 1/4 cup of I CAN"T BELIEVE IT"S NOT BUTTER spray. Trust me. Then put a couple tablespoons of Brummel and Browns yogurt butter in there too. Next pop it into the microwave for 15-20 seconds until it is all melted and combined. Give it a stir and you should be right around 1/2 cup. *By heating it up it thins it out making it easy to pour and makes the butter go a little bit further than cool butter. Ok, carefully and slowly pour it all over your dry cake mix.
4. Bake for 50-55 minutes until knife comes out clean from center. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes then top with cool whip and eat it with vanilla ice cream!!

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage

This is such a great fall dinner, perfect for a hungry family. It may sound weird but it was really good and creamy. Everyone loved it and was perfect for a pre-thanksgiving meal! Enjoy

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasta noodles, any shape you like, cooked until al dente

2 drizzled olive oil

1/2 lb. sweet italian turkey sausage

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground sage

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup fat free half and half

2 pinches cinnamon

3 pinches ground nutmeg

salt and pepper

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water. Cook until al dente. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a deep pot over medium heat drizzle 1 tablespoon oil and brown the sausage in it. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Add another drizzle of oil and saute the onion and garlic 5 minutes, till soft and sweet. Add sage, and 1 cup chicken stock to pot. Reduce liquid 2 minutes. Add the other cup of stock and pumpkin and combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season with cinnamon, nutmeg, slat and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes.
3. To serve, return the drained, cooked pasta to pot you cooked it in. Pour sauce over noodles. Toss pasta and sauce over low heat for so pasta can absorb flavors. Serve with french bread and steamed broccoli to have a yummy meal.

Pumpkin Muffins

So good with any meal!! Fast, healthily and great for snacks too!! I love love love pumpkin and this is a great no fail recipe!

(I put some chopped walnuts on a few, because they are so yummy!)

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup applesauce

1 tablespoon oil

4 egg whites, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup water

walnuts optional

1. Heat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, mix together cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, salt, baking soda, and flour. Add applesauce, oil, pumpkin and eggs. Stir until JUST moist. Over stirring will cause the muffins to have pointy tops :( No one likes a pointy muffins. Add nuts if you want (I added mine on top).

3. Spray or grease muffin tins or use paper liners for easy clean up. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 20 minutes or until center is set.

* These were so moist! My husband couldn't believe they were low fat! That is a good sign:)

* Add raisins,craisens or chocolate chips for fun!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I am so sorry that I haven't posted in a while. It was killing me but my family has been so sick :( But I am back and I have LOTS of yummy fall food for you so check over the next couple of days! Ok today is pumpkin bread!! Yum! This is a copy cat Great Harvest recipe that I tweaked. SO GOOD perfect for fall!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

16 oz cooked or canned pumpkin (aprox. 2 cups)

1 cup applesauce

2 tablespoon oil

5 egg whites, lightly beaten

2/3 cup water

1 cup chocolate chips... or more :)

1. Oven at 350. Grease 2 loaf pans. This makes a lot!
2. Mix flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Mix pumpkin, applesauce, oil, egg whites and water together. Stir into dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips. Place batter into prepared pans. Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely and eat!! Store tightly wrapped in plastic wrap.

* I pour half the batter into one pan first and then add the chocolate chips to the other half, so I have one of each kind of bread
* Only fill your pans a little over half. If they are too full they take a really long time to cook. If they bake for over 75 minutes, the bottoms can tend to get darker than you will like. I fill both my pans a little over half full and then I still have enough to make about 6-7 muffins. But every oven is different. Mine is ghetto, so I have to adjust some recipes.

Pumpkin Pancakes

So, I needed to use up the left over pumpkin in my fridge and there wasn't enough for pumpkin bread (don't worry that one will make it on here!) and pancakes always sound good, so for dinner we ate big stacks of yummy pumpkin pancakes! I got the recipe off of one of my favorite food blogs, Taste the Joy, and it is a hit! I altered it a bit, but these cakes are spicy, fluffy, and oh so good!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 1/4 fat free buttermilk

4 tablespoons applesauce

3 tablespoons canned pumpkin

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1. Preheat skillet over medium heat and coat with nonstick spray. Combine eggs, milk, applesauce, pumpkin, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to blend ingredients.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add dry to wet and blend with mixer on medium speed until smooth. Pour onto hot skillet and cook until batter stops bubbling and edges start to brown. Flip and finish cooking. Pare these pancakes with eggs, turkey sausage and a berry smoothie and I'd say you have yourself a delish breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

* To keep pancakes warm put the in an oven safe dish and place in a 200 degree oven covered with a towel.

* If you have leftovers (we always do) put the in the freezer in a zip lock bag. When you want to make a quick breakfast for your hubby or kids pop them into the toaster and there you have it! Warm pancakes ready to eat.

Pumkin Spice Cake

I know it is not exactly pumpkin cooking season, but I love all things pumpkin! I make pumpkin food year round. This recipe is from my mother-in-law (a great cook herself) and it is so good! Perfect for feeding lots of mouths because it makes a ton!

Ingredients:

4 eggs or 5 egg whites

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil or 1 cup applesauce

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups pumpkin

8 oz. cream cheese (fat free), softened

1 cube soft butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla

1. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Mix eggs and sugar together. Add in your oil/applesauce flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, and pumpkin. Pour into cookie sheet.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

3. For frosting mix softened cream cheese and butter together. Add in powdered sugar carefully. Add vanilla in last. For stiffer frosting, add more powdered sugar.

4. Frost cake when completely cooled. Cut into bars and keep extras in fridge!

* For a healthier option you can make more of a glaze to go on top of your cake. Just cream together 4 oz. cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add milk to consistency that you like.

* be on the look out for pumpkin bread.....to come soon!