Diet Friendly Fast Food

Day 332.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a wonderful day full of warm memories and lots of love.

If you are in need of some last-minute crockpot holiday food ideas, heres the list.

This year were going to have:
--cornbread stuffing
--sweet and sour caramelized onions
--candied sweet potatoes (Ill update the picture and recipe for this, too, after we eat)
--mashed potatoes with cream cheese and sour cream
--homemade cranberry sauce
--mulled wine
--this pumpkin pudding
oh! and an oven-roasted turkey.

I wasnt planning on doing any more Thanksgiving-y dishes; my mother-in-law is bringing store-bought pies and ice cream. My kids arent huge pie eaters, and have never shown any interest in pumpkin pie. Like, EVER. But my seven-year-old convinced me last night that its the crust of the pie that she doesnt like, but she likes the filling. And then her younger sister decided to say the exact same thing.

Crustless pie? Thats easy. I can do that. This is much better than my original plan, which was to open a can of pumpkin pie filling and hand them each a spoon.

The Ingredients.

--1 can of pumpkin puree (15 oz)
--1 can evaporated milk (12 oz--the big can, not the little guy!)
--3/4 cup white sugar
--1/2 cup Bisquick-type mix (I used Pamelas Baking Mix)
--2 eggs
--2 T butter, melted
--1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
--1/2 tsp nutmeg
--1/4 tsp cloves
--1/8 tsp ginger
--2 tsp vanilla extract

The Directions.

I used a 4 quart crockpot and it was the perfect size. If you only have a big one, you can use it, but be aware that the batter will be spread out more and will cook much quicker. If you insert an oven-safe dish into the crock, it will work, but the batter will be quite thick and will take a VERY long time. Plan accordingly.

Spray cooking spray into your crockpot.

Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients, and whisk until fully blended. No need to use a hand or stand mixer, just some elbow-grease.

Pour the batter into the prepared crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for about 6. Check your "pie" after 2 hours on high, and 3 hours on low, then check every 30 minutes.

When fully cooked, the pie will look just like a finished pumpkin pie. The batter will have browned and will crack in a few places. The center will have set enough for you to touch it without getting batter on your finger.

Let sit in the crockpot until room temperature, then spoon into serving dishes and top with whipped cream.

The Verdict.

Perfect. It tastes fantastic, is gluten-free, and was terribly easy to do. Well be making this again, and Im happy to have it to serve today.

yay!

Im off to peel potatoes. For hours.
serenity now!