Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake – experimental recipe!

Laura from Sprint2thetable thought my Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake from lasts WIAW sounds rather good, and I’ve had more positive feedback (♥ very much appreciated!♥)  So, I’ve decided to just upload the recipe to my blog!

I must warn you, the pie is a little “healthy” tasting! It’s not a replacement for a traditional cheesecake, it’s more like a fun way of eating a super healthy, protein rich and low calorie, snack or meal made with Greek yogurt and Pumpkin

So, let’s cut to the chase and give you the recipe – I will give you the ingredients and I’ll add my thoughts on the ingredients and what I’d change next time I’m gonna experiment with this recipe!

• 2 egg whites
• 1 egg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
  (I made my own from a small orange pumpkin with the skin on)
• 1 cup 0% fat Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 cup of maple syrup or stevia
  (I used some stevia, probably not enough to balance the tartness of the yogurt – so if you’re not using 1/2 cup of maple syrup and you use stevia like I did – make sure you use enough! Taste the batter and know the sweetness of the final product will be LESS then the batter! That’s where I went wrong… the batter was DELICIOUS; ! But when it was done baking the sweetness wasn’t all that anymore …)
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
  (I would probably omit this next time I’m gonna make the recipe)
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 tsp fine sea salt

Mix it all together with an electric mixer or whisk and add to a glass or ceramic pie-dish, no tin please – it will cause the cheesecake to oxidize.

I made my pie crust-less  but you can of course use this as the filling for a pre-baked pie crust! That would probably be a good idea if you want this recipe to resemble a “regular” pie

Preheat your oven to 350 °F and bake this pie for 40-50 minutes WITH a water bath underneath — this means adding a small bowl of water into the oven (on the bottom of the oven) underneath the rack where the pie-dish is situated.

The pie should be firm to the touch but moist on the inside.

I’ll show you some pictures below because the texture of this pie was spot on… just the flavor… so experiment and enjoy!! If you give this a go let me know how you like it! Maybe I’ve been a little to harsh on this recipe and you like it nonetheless

♥Love♥

~Pumpkin puree~

~Add the Greek yogurt~

~Add the rest~

~Mix, mix, mix~

~Mix, mix, mix some more~

Add to a non tin pie-dish (I used a brownie dish) OR add to a pre-cooked pie crust to make this more like a regular Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake!

~baking the pie with a water bath (little white ceramic bowl underneath)~

~DONE and it smells like heaven to me~

~shot from the side~

~I think this looks like an epic cheesecake!~

Thanks for watching / reading – I’d love to hear your feedback so please leave me a comment below!

 

 

 

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

March Is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Since a few months I’m working as a volunteer at the WCRF (World Cancer Research Fund). As part of the expert-panel I read their monthly newsletter on accuracy before it gets send to the mailing-list. I think the WCRF is an amazing organization, and I love contributing

I recently pre-read our newsletter for March in which we want to raise awareness for Colorectal Cancer (I’m gonna abbreviate it as CC).

CC is the second most common cancer in Holland, and it’s the third most common cancer worldwide.

I was extremely pleased to read that there’s finally enough scientific proof on the connection between preventing CC and diet to come forth with dietary recommendations (1). There has been speculation on whether or not these recommendations were valid for the prevention of CC, but scientist only recently found significant proof. To make a long story short:

Researchers now know that:

-          Fiber lowers our risk of developing CC! We (in developed countries) eat way too little fiber! We should aim for 30 – 40 gram per day. We can get this through whole grains, vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices (yes, they too contribute to our daily fiber intake!) and legumes, beans, nuts and seeds.

The extra benefit in eating more fiber is: 1. you’ll feel more satisfied after a meal. 2. Fibrous foods tent to have a high nutrient profile, while not containing so many calories. It will make losing or maintaining a healthy weight easier – and being a healthy weight is the second best thing you can do to prevent all forms of cancer (not smoking is first) 3. Your digestion will run smoother, and you’ll probably become more regular. 4. Animal products don’t contain fiber, so in order to eat more fibrous foods you’ll probably eat less animal products. This can be beneficial beyond health; like the positive effect on our environment and your wallet (a tin of beans will cost you less than a steak).

-          This brings me to the second recommendation which is to cut down on your meat intake. WCRF advices to eat less than 500 gram of (prepared) red meat per week. This includes, for example, the slices of beef in your lunch-salad and the sausage at breakfast.

Having said this… It’s best to stay away from processed meat all together. More and more studies are coming forth with examples on how processed meat can harm our bodies. All cured, smoked, salted, and dried meats are best to be avoided. If you’d like to have a meat sandwich ask your local butcher to cut you some fresh slices of roast beef (NO additives, organic is preferable in my opinion) or save a little piece of steak from last night’s supper and cut-up thinly.

Personally, I find that I do best not to have any meats on bread because of the combination of starch rich bread with a protein rich piece of meat is hard to digest. For people with a sensitive GI system I do not recommend combining the two (but this is only my opinion)! I’ll get back to this in another blog-post

-          Having excess fat around your stomach isn’t just a bad sign for your heart-health. It will also increase your risk of developing CC! A daily exercise plan can help you get to a normal weight and reduce your pot belly!

-          Last but not least: limit your alcohol consumption and if you can manage to completely toss it out of your daily diet, it’s even better. Have it sparingly as a treat, but keep in mind that the health benefits don’t out way the negative effect it has on developing cancer!

In Holland in 2010, 12.755 people got diagnosed with CC. Scientist believe 40% of this could have been prevented through a healthy diet, regular exercise and a healthy weight (2).

These findings are very convincing to me. Nearly half of the people getting diagnosed with CC didn’t have to get this horrible disease if having made some lifestyle adjustments. I believe this makes it worthwhile to (simplified) not eat meat so often and getting in some extra fruits and veggies every day   !

I hope this will give you some content to think about. I find the nutrition – health connection extremely fascinating myself, so I hope I didn’t make this blog-post too long and bored you with this.

On a final note: I’m a nutritionist, and no medical doctor!! If you are aged 50 or older, or think you may be at increased risk for colorectal cancer, speak with your doctor about getting screened.

Be healthy! And I’ll get back to this subject and the link to our food in my next blog-post!

(1)  http://www.wcrf.org/cancer_research/cup/index.php

(2)  KNL: http://cijfersoverkanker.nl/home-27.html