Pumpkin Cake (low fat) with Cream Cheese Icing (light)

Since it's still fall and pumpkins and such are on sale, I decided to make a pumpkin themed dessert. I found this recipe on Pinterest. It uses fat free greek yogurt and it came out so yummy and moist!!

Here's the link to the recipe:

http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/846547/3-non-pie-thanksgiving-pumpkin-desserts

Just scroll down the page a bit to find the recipe.

It was pretty easy, especially since I used canned pumpkin puree this time. It was on sale for $1.99 so I couldn't beat that.  LOL.

I added my own twist on the icing - I put 1/2tsp of pumpkin pie spice in the icing. So yummy!

 

Instead of toasted almonds, I garnished it with roasted pumpkin seeds

 

SO YUMMY!!!!!!!!

 

You can still eat healthy and have treats at the same time :)

Enjoy!


Sarah

 

Pork Loin Roast with Garlic Maple Marinade

Being a cool and rainy Sunday, it was the perfect day to crank up the oven and make a nice dinner.

I'm not a big fan of pork (except for bacon. Seriously, who doesn't love bacon?) but it was on sale this week so I decided to give it a try. I ended up with a boneless centre loin roast. Since it's a pretty lean cut, I made a marinade for it.

To make the marinade, I mixed the following in a large Ziploc freezer bag:

White Zinfandel wine (use whatever you have on hand) roughly 1/2 cup
Low Sodium Soya Sauce roughly 1/4 cup
Rice Wine Vinegar about 2-3 tbsp
Pure Maple Syrup about 2-3 tbsp
Olive Oil about 2 tbsp
Water about 1/4 cup
Good squeeze of Dijon Mustard
Good sized pinch of pepper
Garlic Power - about 2 tbps

All of the above are just a guess. I pretty much just poured whatever I thought looked right.

 

 

Place the roast in the fridge for a few hours. Flip it every hour or so. Don't worry if the whole thing isn't submerged. Take it out of the fridge an hour before you're going to cook it and allow it to warm up.

Put it in a roasting pan with the fat side up. Throw out the marinade. Do not use it! Roast in at 350 for 30 mins an lb.

 



When it's done, take it out of the oven and place it on a cutting board. Cover with foil and let it rest for 10-15 mins. Carve and eat. The leftovers make good sandwiches.

Enjoy!!

Sarah

Pumpkin Pie - from scratch!

Have you seen those cute little pumpkins in the grocery stores and road side market stands? Not the super tiny ones that people like to paint faces on but the ones that are 3-5lbs?
You know, the ones like this:

Anyhow, it's those little pumpkins that make amazing pumpkin pie. They're often called Pie Pumpkins or Sugar Pumpkins. In order to make a pumpkin pie, you need pumpkin puree. Here's how to make that:

Get a 3-5lb pie pumpkin. Cut it in half. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop and clean out all of the seeds and the stingy bits (you can save the seeds to roast if you like). Put the pumpkin halves into a large glass dish or pan and cover with 1/4" of water. Bake at 350F for 45mins-1 hour. Poke the pumpkin with a fork or knife to check and see if it's done. Let cool. Once cool, scoop the flesh away from the skin. Using a blender or food processor, puree the pumpkin until cool. Put the puree into a mesh strainer and let it sit while the excess water drips out. You can use the puree right away or keep it in the fridge for 5 days. You can also freeze it.

Now for the pie!

You'll need:

2 cups of Pumpkin Puree (fresh or canned - just becareful not to buy pumpkin pie filling)
1 1/2 cups of Evaporated Milk
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Sugar
1/3 cup packed Brown Sugar
2 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 tsp Salt
1 pre-made pie shell ( I can't make pie dough to save my life. So I use the Pillsbury one that comes in the box - you just let it warm up to room temp and un-roll it and press it into the pie plate and you're done! )

Pre-heat the oven to 425F

In a large bowl, beat the 2 eggs together. Add in the pumpkin puree and evaporated milk. Stir together with a whisk. Add in the sugars, spice mix and salt. Whisk well to combine. Pour into the prepared (uncooked) pie shell.

Put it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Turn down the temp to 350F and bake for another 35-40 minutes. When the pie has set and is firm, it's done. Since this is a custard style pie, it won't be firm like a cake but more like a set pudding. Let cool and enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sarah