Meatless Monday: Pumpkin Cheesecake

I had my in-laws in town for Thanksgiving, so things were a little busy for a while, what with cooking preparations; squeezing everyone into our little house; and touring here, there, and everywhere. We had lots of fun . . . and consumed monstrous amounts of food. I can't even begin to calculate the number of calories consumed in the course of their visit, but I'll tell you one thing - I don't regret one bite!

I'm happy to report that everything in our Thanksgiving meal came out excellent. There were no major mishaps with any of the dishes this year - not even with the one recipe I'd never made before. (My philosophy is that you should stretch the limits of your cooking comfort zone by making at least one new recipe each Thanksgiving). I had a pretty good idea it was going to be amazing though because my friend had already made the recipe and posted a picture of the results (see her picture above). I reasoned, "How could anything that looks that gorgeous NOT taste amazing too?!" I'm happy to report that I was not wrong, or as my grandfather used to like to say, "Seldom am I wrong, but I was right this time."

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Recipe

My friend suggested the following adjustments to the recipe (which I followed):

• Bake at 325 in a water bath for 45 minutes.
• Turn off oven and allow to cool in oven for 60 min.
• Cool on counter for 60 min covered.

The only other thing I did differently was to use neufchatel instead of cream cheese. You know, to make the healthy version. . . .

What? . . . Okay, so maybe you'll have a little trouble fitting into the holiday outfit you recently purchased after eating this cheese cake (even with the nuefachatel/cream cheese swap), but that's okay because everyone knows that "no one likes a skinny Santa" anyway! ;)

Got any favorite vegetarian or vegan recipes?? Please share!

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Meatless Monday: Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Spinach & Goat Cheese

As many of you ponder recipes for stuffing various types of birds this week for your Thanksgiving feast, I thought I would offer up a recipe for a different type of stuffed edible that is perfect for this time of year:

STUFFED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS WITH SPINACH & GOAT CHEESE
www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?newVideo=y&docid=17663
(Along with the recipe, this site also has a great little video of the whole process for making it.)

I've always loved stuffed mushrooms. In fact, one of the first things I ever cooked for my husband when we first started dating was stuffed mushrooms. The button variety make such a great, satisfying hors d'oeuvre because you can just pick one up with your fingers and pop it whole, just like a sushi roll, and just like the description I once saw on a sushi menu, "you will have heaven in mouth!" Of course, you should wait until they cool a bit before doing that . . . a warning my husband unfortunately disregarded when I served him one that first time. As his tongue came close to feeling like it would ignite and he oh-so-suavely spit the whole thing out into a napkin, he wondered if he'd ever be asked over for dinner again.

Of course, button mushrooms aren't the only kind you can stuff. Portobello mushrooms are also ideal for stuffing, as this recipe proves. It's a much nicer choice if you're looking for something to plate and serve as an appetizer. You lose the convenience of being able to pop it into your mouth whole, . . . but maybe that's better for some people anyway. ;) The variety of things with which you can stuff them is endless too. Naturally, I would suggest a recipe involving cheese. The goat cheese in this recipe complements the earthy flavors of the mushroom and walnuts remarkably well.

Bon appetit & Happy Thanksgiving!

Got any favorite vegetarian recipes?? Please share!

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Fitness File: My Health '401K' & the Holiday Crisis

It's been a while since I wrote a "Fitness File" post because, well, to be honest, I've been a shiftless slug the past couple of months. What's caused this? Crazy work load? Lack of motivation? Yes and, um, yes . . . because it certainly isn't because I love the complete lack of energy I seem to have all the time, and it definitely isn't a desire to see the squishiness around my midsection morph into a belt-camouflaging muffin top - the former being the current result and the latter being the imminent future result of my not exercising.

I've still been fencing off and on, and that's really great exercise . . . but doing it for a couple of hours on the occasional weekend isn't exactly going to counteract making short order of an entire 16-oz. bag of Trader Joe's Tempting Trail Mix over the course of just three days. People! It said "Tempting" right on the package! How was I to resist?

In all honesty, I'm not that upset with myself though. Why? Because, this time around, I think I started out with the right attitude. I acknowledged upfront that there would be ups and downs, progress and setbacks. Just because I've stumbled doesn't mean I'm down for the count. Granted, it's going to be quite the challenge with heavyweight hitters like Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner ready to land their TKOs, but I think I'll be okay if I continue to think about my investment in my health like an investment in a 401K and the upcoming holidays like the current financial crisis. Just because I don't see immediate results, doesn't mean I should stop investing. Just because the numbers don't seem to be going in the right direction at this very moment doesn't mean they won't. Things may improve slowly, but they will with time, and I'll be happy later in life that I weathered the setbacks and continued to invest when I could, even if it's not always a lot.

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Meatless Monday: Butternut Squash Lasagna

Any chef would agree the best ingredients for your recipes are always the freshest ingredients, so trying to plan your meal menus according to whatever produce is in its peak season in your local area is usually a good idea. To the right here is a chart that shows the availability of fresh produce in California. (If you hunt around online, you should be able to find one of these for your vicinity too).

I know, my east coast friends, you're jealous - we're extremely lucky because so many fruits and vegetables are available fresh year-round. You'll notice that squash is one them. Even though I can pretty much get it any time I have a hankering for it, I tend to eat it more in the fall because it's something I associate with this time of year - particularly Thanksgiving. In the past, that's always meant mashed squash and squash pie, but in recent years, it's meant delicious pasta dishes too. For instance, this next dish . . .


Butternut Squash Lasagna
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=698656

This is a great meal for entertaining because 1) you can make it ahead of time and 2) it's all contained in one dish. You just build the lasagna layers and put the dish in your refrigerator or freezer until you're ready to cook it. No big mess to clean up while you've got guests over. While it's baking, it doesn't require a lot of your attention either, so you can focus on more important things - like your friends and a tasty hot toddy! As a single-dish meal, it is easy to transport if you're invited to a potluck, seems to be toddler-friendly (our friends' one-year-old loved it), is really good as leftovers, keeps well in the freezer, and will clean your gutters for you. (Okay, maybe not that last part, . . . but it is pretty great.)

Got any favorite vegetarian recipes?? Please share!

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