Tofu Pumpkin "Cheese" Cake with Ginger Snap Cust

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 I love making things that have a surprise ingredient in them that make them super healthy. One of the ingredients that I like to use the most of this is tofu. It is very healthy and it takes on what ever flavors you put it with. So it makes for a great secret ingredient. I think tofu makes for a great alternative to cream cheese and I am always trying to make it into some sort of cheese cakes. This recipe is one that I have perfected and everyone loves. I made this three times last Thanksgiving season. I brought it to scrap-booking night and all of the ladies said they were trying to watch their waistline when they saw my pie. I told them this is practically health food and to go ahead and enjoy. After a few of them gave in and took a few bites they were amazed how great it tasted and wanted to know what made it so healthy. I told them it was made with tofu. Before I know it they all had a slice and some of them had two. The host asked for the recipe and made it for her own Thanksgiving dinner. She said it was the best pumpkin pie she has ever had. My daughter loves it when I make this pie, she loves to lick the beaters.

One important note, I have a deep dish pie pan. If you don't have a deep dish pie pan just double the crust recipe and make two pies.


Tofu Pumpkin "Cheese" cake with Ginger Snap Cust 

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees

Crust
1 1/2 -2 cups ground gluten free ginger snaps ( I used MI-DEL but you could make your own)
1 Tbs butter or shorting slightly melted

Ground ginger snaps in a food processor or in a freezer bag and beat with a rolling pin. Mix with butter and pat into a 9 inch pie dish that has been greased. Use a measuring cup to pat the crumbs into place. Bake for 7 mins. Let cool before adding filling.

Tofu Pumpkin Filling
14oz silken tofu
1 small can pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp pumpkin seasoning
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Drain tofu if it comes in water. With whisk whip tofu until almost smooth (as smooth as you can get). Add sugar and whisk some more till well combined. Add pumpkin and seasoning, except xanthan gum, and mix will. Add xanthan gum and mix for about 30 sec. Pour onto your crust and smooth the top. Bake for 60-70 mins. Center will still jiggle after it comes out, but will set as it cools. The edges should be golden and start to bubble. Let it set for at least an hour before serving.

Cranberry Sauce

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As I stated in my blog yesterday, I wasn't a very big fan of cranberry sauce until recently. I use to love the kind that came in a can and you couldn't get me to touch the real thing with a 10 foot pole. Then one year my husband's company had a Thanksgiving potluck at work. He signed up to bring cranberry sauce. I asked him if he wanted canned or homemade. He settled for homemade. I had never made cranberry sauce from scratch before but I had just seen a show on TV that made it look easy, so I gave it a try, but made up my own recipe of what I thought would be good. I just threw some things in a pot with the cranberries and cooked it until it looked done. I didn't try it and I sent it with my husband to his work party. He came home and said he was a hit. There was none left and everyone said it was the best cranberry sauce they've ever made. So I wrote down what I did. Next year at Thanksgiving I made if for my family, and again it was a big hit. It gets requested every year and I now eat cranberry sauce. We use it instead of gravy and it is awesome on turkey. 


Cranberry Sauce
1 bag of cranberries that have been washed
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp salt
1/3-1 cup sugar*

Put the cranberries into a 2 quart pot and add juice, water, salt, and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil. Once boiling bring down to a simmer. Stir occasionally. Once berries have popped and let out their juice taste test and add sugar and stir. Keep cooking the cranberries till they have reduced by half, this should take about 20-30 mins. The sauce should be a deep red and syrup like in texture. Fish out the cinnamon stick and serve.

* The amount of sugar depends on the tartness of the berries. I've had to add 1 1/2 cups for 1 bag of cranberries, but than only needed 1/3 cup for 2 bags. I used organic this time around so that might have made the difference. Just add a little bit of sugar at a time till it is the sweetness you like.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I think I know someone who is ready for some turkey.

Thanksgiving is a week a way. As a person with Celiac I've never been very found of this holiday. Growing up I didn't like cranberry sauce unless it was the jelly kind in a can, I didn't like sweet potatoes, and I can't understand how someone can serve jello as a said dish and call it a salad. I just wasn't a big fan of Thanksgiving foods, until I went gluten free. Now I like all the foods that are served on this important holiday. I've learned to like cranberries and sweet potatoes, and parts of me miss the stuffing, but there are so many good things that are served on our holiday table that I really get excited about. I love Thanksgiving now because I get to spend it with my sister's family and her kids. We all have the same food allergies so we make a complete allergy free meal that everyone likes. My daughter gets to play with her cousins, which is so fun for me to see because I hardly had any holidays with my cousins. I think another reason why this holiday is such a success is that we've completely redone the menu. 

I stumbled upon this poem in an old children's book that made me rethink the food aspect of Thanksgiving. It's called The First Thanksgiving by Margaret Junkin Preston, you can read it by clicking on the tittle. I'm not sure how historically accurate this poem is and I doubt that it is, but Preston did her homework. She names all the traditional food that the Pilgrims might have uses to celebrates special occasions back in their home country and then list all the foods that William Bradford (the first Governor or Plymouth Rock) states they will use instead that can be found in their new home. I think it is brilliant, and makes complete since, how that Pilgrims used what they could find to give God thanks for their first year of survival. They went against the traditions they were use to because they could no longer eat certain foods, not because they couldn't eat them physically, but because they couldn't find them physically. It makes me wonder if we are doing the original preparers of the first Thanksgiving a dishonor by sticking to the foods we think they ate. Considering they most likely had fish and pheasants instead of turkey, and I really doubt they had sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. 


So we do things a little differently for our menu then what is traditional by modern standards. We still have our turkey, but it is range free and organic (probably more authentic compared to the turkeys in the stores). We also have cranberries, but not in a can, and something made with sweet potatoes. No stuffing, but we'll have miso squash rolls. No jello as a salad, but we'll have a very healthy salad with fruits or safe nuts made with a light homemade dressing. Maybe a veggie tray for the kids since they like them raw. We'll still have pumpkin pie, but it might be crust-less with tofu whip. My sister might add some salmon because that is what her kids like. It's not too far from the traditional, but it amazes me how some people get so attached to having the same foods every years. I've tried to have Thanksgiving with other family members and they get so upset if they can't have something that can't be made allergy free. When this happened and it happened last year, it made me stop and think about how so many of us put so much stress on the food and about making the food that the true meaning of Thanksgiving is lost. I think if we could go back in time we might see just how nontraditional the first Thanksgiving is compared to our modern standards.

So lets take a lesson form the Pilgrims and form Paul the apostle and give thanks and celebrate all the many ways God has blessed us in the past year and for the hope that we have. "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Phil 4:11b. So no matter if you've had a difficult year or a great year, give thanks with what you have and be thankful, be content. Don't stress if their won't be any stuffing on the table this year or if you can't have whipped cream on your piece of pie, be thankful for all the things that you have and give thanks to God "...but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." 1 Tim 6:17b. And always "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Phil 4:4