Pumpkin Pie that WON'T Kill You...in 20 minutes!

We all know that a high mortality rate from over-indulgence is a uniquely Western problem. (Wow. Turning 35 has made me really preachy...) Anyways, here is how to make a pumpkin pie that not only tastes good, but helps grow and maintain healthy stomach flora with good bacteria.

I know some people hate chatty blogs, so I've bolded what you really need to know.

CRUST

Ingredients: 1/2 apple sauce, 1/2 cup ground flaxseed, 1/2 rolled oats, 1/2 chopped nuts, 2T sunflower oil, 2T coconut flakes. (If you hate coconut, don't add the flakes.)

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350. Mix all the ingredients together. (I do my mixing in the pie pan itself to save washing an extra bowl.) Spread the mixture throughout the pan. Bake for 12 minutes.

As you can see from the picture above, I added my coconut flakes on top of everything else.


PIE FILLING

Ingredients: 1 can of pure pumpkin, 1t cinnamon, 1/2t nutmeg, 1/2t ginger, 1/2t allspice, 1/2t cardamom, 1c vanilla yogurt, 2T gelatin dissolved in 2T of hot water. 

Directions: While your crust is baking, mix everything but the gelatin together. (I do my mixing in the yogurt tub itself so I don't have to wash another bowl.) Dissolve the gelatin separately in between stirs of your filling mixture. Once the gelatin has cooled a little, add it to the rest of the filling. (You don't want it too hot, or it will kill the good bacteria in the yogurt.) Put the filling in the refrigerator for a few minutes until your crust has finished baking and has cooled. 

P.S. I don't add sugar because there is plenty in the vanilla yogurt. If you are a sugar fiend, then...*sigh*...I guess add some. Just remember, the point of this exercise is to make something healthy.

While you are waiting for all the cooling to finish, let me explain why I'm using gelatin. I realize that gelatin is an animal product (well, so is the yogurt if we want to get technical), but I needed something that was a good thickening agent and I didn't want to add eggs because I'm not cooking the filling. If you don't want to add gelatin, then use a vegetable thickener or just freeze the thing and eat it like an ice cream pie. I don't freeze mine because, again, don't want to hurt the good bacteria in the yogurt.

Also, if eating uncooked pumpkin out of a can makes you nervous, then I guess you can buy yourself a pumpkin and puree it the old fashioned way. I'm just using what I have on-hand because I'm too lazy to leave the house.

Here is the baked crust. It actually holds together quite well.

Once the crust has cooled down from hot to slightly warm, go ahead and add the filling. It may have congealed into lumps in the few minutes that you've been waiting, so just run it through a blender before you pour and you'll be fine. Once you've poured it, spread it throughout the crust. Put promptly into the refrigerator. 

(It may or may not set depending on how much gelatin you use or your altitude or if the baking gods are smiling, so if it doesn't, go ahead and put it in the freezer and serve it like an ice cream pie.)

The End!

Wholegrain (Wheat-free) Apple Crisp

Apples are stinkin' cheap this time of year (1 - 9 apple bag is $1.98 at Aldi!), so I'm currently making apple chips with 5 Granny Smith apples (How to make apple chips: Buy a dehydrator. Slice apples and put them in. Wait.). However, I had all these extra ends of apple. (You know how after you've cored them and you've sliced them, it gets to a point that you can't slice the end anymore without cutting your hand to pieces?. . .That's where these ends came from.) So, I decided to cut up three more apples and add the ends and make some apple crisp. I didn't know how, so I looked up a recipe, but. . .you know me and recipes! Here's my healthier option:

You will need: 

1. 4 or 5 apples

2. A handful of nuts (any kind...or not...)

3. A few tablespoons of flaxseed. I eyeballed...If you need exact, then do 3T.

4. No more than 1/4c of brown sugar. Maybe less, actually.

5. A dollop of Lite Maple Syrup or honey

6. A splash of lemon juice

Mix 2-6 up; then add the apples and mix them into the mixture. Put this mixture in an oven safe casserole dish. Preheat your oven to 350 and mix the following for the topping:

1. 1/4c (or an eyeballed pile) of flaxseed

2. 1/2c (or another eyeballed pile) of oatmeal 

3. 1/8c of brown sugar (or not)

4. A few shakes of cinnamon

5. A few shakes of cardamom (or not)

6. A shake or two of nutmeg

7. A handful of nuts (or not)

8. A splash of apple cider or a couple spoonfuls of apple sauce.

Mix 1-7 up and then add a splash of apple cider--just enough that the mixture balls and crumbles. I also pour a little apple cider over the mixture in the casserole dish before I add this topping to it (helps the apples get good and juicy).

Feel free to play around with ingredients. You don't have to be too exact, because you're not making a cake or nuthin'!

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Turn off the oven and let it stay in there for a few minutes before you take it out.

Fun Fact: My husband calls the country-fried chicken breast with a fried egg on it at Cracker Barrel "Chicken Porn." Since I use apples, apple sauce, and apple cider for this recipe, I call this "Apple Porn," but I figured that it wouldn't be appreciated if I put "Porn" in the title of my recipe, so. . .there. Now you know.

The End!