Pumpkin Tofu Cheesecake

Are you looking for something super delicious, but a little bit different for Thanksgiving this year? It’s not too early to start planning… it is only 4 weeks from today. So, if you’re looking for something that still has that amazing pumpkin taste, but isn’t pumpkin pie or pumpkin roll, give this cheesecake a try.

What You’ll Need…

1 16oz Package of Silken Tofu

8oz Cream Cheese (Room temperature)

½ Cup Sugar

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

½ Teaspoon Nutmeg

½ Teaspoon Allspice

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 (0.25oz) Packet of Gelatin

¼ Cup Cold Water

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1 9-inch Graham Cracker Pie Crust (Recipe below.)

Pie Crust:

    1 ½ Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs (from about 9 whole graham crackers)

    ¼ Cup Packed Brown Sugar

    ½ Teaspoon Cinnamon (Optional)

    Pinch of salt

    7 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter  (Melted)

Place the whole graham crackers in a Ziploc bag and crush them to crumbs using a rolling pin.

Pour the crumbs into a bowl and the salt, cinnamon, and sugar, mix to combine. Once combined add the butter and stir the mixture.

Press the mixture into a pie plate or tin; press firmly.

Bake the crust at 325 for 10 minutes and allow it cool completely before pouring the filling into it.

Filling…

Using a hand-mixer beat together the tofu, cream cheese, sugar, and spices until smooth. Next add the pumpkin and vanilla and stir until combined.

Add the gelatin and cold water to a small sauce pan and stir it over medium –low heat until it is dissolved. Allow the gelatin to cool slightly before adding it to the tofu mixture.

Once the gelatin has cooled add it to the tofu mixture and combine. Pour the filling into the crust and refrigerate it for at least 4-5 hours.

Enjoy!  

Sausage and Apple Stuffing (Remake)

Believe it or not, Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. Next week is Halloween after all… Since the biggest food holiday of the year is quickly approaching I thought I would share a Thanksgiving favorite with you. Two years ago I shared our stuffing recipe—that recipe was delicious, but last year we made some changes to the recipe and it ended up being even better. So, here you have our remade stuffing recipe.

What You’ll Need…

2 Kings Hawaiian Round Loaves (Or any other bread you like.)

1 Celery Rib (Chopped)

1 Large Carrot (Chopped)

1 Apple (Chopped)

½ Large Onion (Diced)

4 Large Mushrooms (Chopped)

1 Tablespoon Butter

2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3 Links Uncooked Sausage (Any kind you like.)

1 ½ - 2 Cups Chicken Stock

Salt (To taste)

Pepper (To taste)

The night before you plan to serve the stuffing, cut the two loaves of bread into slices and place them on a baking sheet. Cover the bread with a clean kitchen towel and leave out overnight. The next day the bread will be slightly stale and that is perfect for this dish.

Before doing anything with the bread start on the fruit/vegetables. Wash, peel, cut, and chop. Whether you leave the skin on the apple or take it off it up to you. Once the fruit and vegetables are prepped place one tablespoon of butter and 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Once the oil has heated add the carrots to the pan and allow them to start to soften. Add the celery and onions next, then the mushrooms, and lastly the apple.

While the vegetables are cooking remove the sausage from the casings and allow it to cook in another skillet.

Once the vegetables and sausage are done cooking allow them to cool slightly and move onto the bread. Cut the bread into ½ -1 inch cubes and place in a large mixing bowl.  

Add the vegetables, sausage, stock, and spices to the bowl with the bread and mix until combined. This is most easily done with your hands; which is why you want the vegetables and sausage to cool slightly.

Once combined carefully pour your stuffing mixture into 2 greased casserole dishes. (1 9x13 and 1 slightly smaller.)

Bake the stuffing at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

(This is a picture of the original stuffing recipe, but the remake doesn't look too much different.)

Lasagna Soup

Lasagna is delicious and so is soup, so why not combine the two. Note, this soup is only actually a soup for one day, especially if you use couscous like we did. It was the only pasta we had in the house and right now making homemade pasta isn’t happening because of the time it would take and Christian not liking to be left in his seat for long.

What You’ll Need….

1 Batch Tomato Soup

1lb Ground Meat

1lb Pasta (And kind you like. As stated above if you use couscous it will suck all of the moisture up after the first day.)

1-2 Cups Grated Cheese (Any kind you like.)

Start out by preparing the tomato soup using this recipe.

After the tomato soup has been made transfer it to your crock-pot. Add the ground meat to the soup and break it up so that it distributes evenly.

Set the crock-pot to low and allow it so cook for 6-8 hours, stir occasionally.

30 minutes before you plan to eat the soup add the pasta and turn the crock-pot to high.

Just before you serve the soup add the cheese and stir to distribute and combine.

Enjoy!

(If you use a pasta that ends up sucking up all of the liquid after the first day it is great as a filling for stuffed peppers.)

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Yep, it’s yet another pumpkin recipe… but who doesn’t love pumpkin, right? This is the perfect bread pudding with just the right amount of pumpkin flavor. Try it.

What You’ll Need…

5 Eggs

3 Cups Milk

½ Teaspoon Salt

½ Teaspoon Nutmeg

½ Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 ½ Cup Sugar

1 ¾ Cup Pumpkin Puree

1 ½ Loaves Kings Hawaiian Bread (The round loaves.)

Heat your oven to 350.

Slice the bread in ½ -1 inch thick slices and place the slices on a baking sheet. Toast the bread in the oven to about 10 minutes or until lightly toasted.

While the bread is toasting, combine all of the custard ingredients (all of the rest of the ingredients) in a large mixing bowl.

Once the bread is toasted allow it to cool slightly before cutting it into cubes. Place the cubed bread in the bowl with the custard and press it down. Allow the bread to soak up the custard for at least 30 minutes – one hour is best.

After the bread has soaked for an hour carefully pour all of the bread and custard into a large greased baking pan. (9x13 or slightly bigger.)

 Bake the pudding at 325 for one hour.

Allow the pudding to cool slightly and serve plain, with ice cream, or with your choice of vanilla or caramel sauces.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cookies

Fall means pumpkin and this week I have a recipe for in which pumpkin is the star ingredient.

What You’ll Need…

1 Cup (2 sticks)Butter (Softened)

1 ½ Cups Packed Light Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 ¾ Cup Pumpkin Puree

2 ¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

½ Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

2 Cups Chocolate Chips or Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Squares (Optional)

Pre-heat your oven to 375°F.

In a mixing bowl beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add the pumpkin and stir well to combine.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.  Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture, and stir until well combined.

If you are using chocolate mix it in now.

Spoon teaspoons of dough onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 for 11-13 minutes. Allow the cookies to sit on the sheet for 1-2 minutes after being removed from the oven before moving them to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!