Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

I have an addiction to pumpkin, without a doubt.  I love pumpkin everything! So you can imagine my excitement when it dawned upon me to create a "pumpkin" version of these little babies!  I know you've seen the age old recipe with the Vanilla Wafer Type cookies on the bottom, using a cheesecake type of batter in it.  These are on the same order, but all pumpkin! Ooooh baby I am in heaven! I don't have the points® for these but I haven't been doing "point® counting" per say lately anyways. I've reached the point where I'm just paying more attention to what I'm eating and portion control.  Which leads me to the next comment.... make sure you either freeze these immediately (in the downstairs freezer, tucked in the back LOL) or have something to take them to and share because you WILL want to eat them all!

If someone does by chance figure the points® out I'll gladly post them.  I just find that I don't need the points anymore as I've always done my own version of the Weight Watchers® program and am adept enough to figure out what my limits are, etc.  If I were to guess the points®, using the fat free or reduced fat (my preference) cream cheese, I would guess 2 to 3 points® each but again, I honestly have not figured out the value!  My limit is 2 cupcakes per serving/per day MAX! Yes, it's sometimes hard to do; but knowing I'm getting more tomorrow if I want always gets me through the day!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes

Makes 36 cupcakes

2 lbs. reduced fat cream cheese (can substitute fat free but it gives it a slightly different texture)

1 2/3 C. sugar

¼ C. flour

1  15oz. pumpkin pie mix (I use an organic pumpkin pie mix)*

1 Tbls. pumpkin pie spice

4 eggs

36 ginger cookies

Preheat oven to 325F

*Note: make sure you use pumpkin pie MIX, not pumpkin!

Cream together sugar & cream cheese until fluffy, scraping bowl often.  Add eggs one at a time.  When eggs are fulling incorporated, add pumpkin & pumpkin pie spice. Slowly add flour, mixing well.

Place papers in standard cupcake pan & place one cookie in the bottom of each paper.  Fill with cheesecake mixture.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until fluffy but not quite fully set.

Wish me luck on my journey to "eating clean" and  healthy! 
And please feel free to comment and share ideas for trying to live and eat "clean" and losing weight by changing to a healthy lifestyle!
 

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Don't forget to check out my newest Book Blog, where I give book reviews on recent books I've read. If you're a reader you'll want to check this out!

WE CAN DO THIS, TOGETHER
ONE DAY AT A TIME!

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Who Else Helps me get healthy?
These are just a few of the people online that inspire me....

 Joe Gigantino - Fitness Trainer
This is the guy that really set me on the path to physical fitness - Sign up for his FREE newsletter!



 

 BWJEN - Another WW Buddy & A 'bookworm' too!?



.



Sean Anderson the formerly 500lb man!
Diary of A Winning Loser - Sean is an inspiration to anyone trying to get healthy!


*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.

Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc. and Points® is a registered trademark of the Weight Watchers® company.

Pumpkin Cookies (1)

Fall always makes me crave pumpkin. Yes, as I so quickly fell prey to those ads from Tim Hortons & their pumpkin muffins (but I did NOT give in to their 9 points of fat & calories!), I gave that tempting devil treat away before I could eat it.

But I did decide it was time to break out the cans of pumpkin and some of my favorite pumpkin recipes.

Here's one of my favorite soft pumpkin cookies. The original recipe used regular brown sugar & a combination of spices. I found that using the Splenda Brown Sugar blend & an easy fix of pumpkin pie spice made it lower in calories (same points as the original but if you eat 2 it does make a difference) & a little easier than measuring out 3 or 4 different spices to get the pumpkin pie spice flavoring!

Soft Pumpkin Cookies(1)

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole grain wheat flour
6 Tablespoons SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
15 oz. can pumpkin
1 egg (using an egg substitute doesn't change points & makes the cookies harder & less 'fluffy' so just use the egg for best results!)
1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease large baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. Stir flours, sugar, baking soda, and pumpkin spice in large mixing bowl until well combined. Add pumpkin, egg and syrup in a small bowl and mix together well. Add to flour mixture and beat until well combined, but do not over mix.

For each cookie, scoop 2 level tablespoons of dough onto greased baking sheet. (I like to use a round style measuring spoon and flatten the dough across with a knife). Flatten with fork. Continue with the rest of the dough until dough's gone.

Bake 15 minutes or until browned.

Approximate Nutritional Information Per cookie:
68 calories, 0 g fat, 1.4 g fiber

Check out this other 1 pt version of Vegan Fat Free Pumpkin Cookies by FatFree Vegan Kitchen: October 2008 Edition

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Check out my Daily Menu Food Log for a quick glance at what I'm eating to get where I'm at, which is a healthier & therefore thinner ME! While I don't always keep it up to date.. I do give you some different ideas of what might help you change up your daily menu!


Don't forget to check out my newest Book Blog, where I give book reviews on recent books I've read. If you're a reader you'll want to check this out!

WE CAN DO THIS, TOGETHER
ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Like this article? Twit it to your followers!

Who Else Helps me get healthy?

These are just a few of the people online that inspire me along with AssistU....

1.
Check out the Fab Fatties - tons of ideas, comic relief & great give-aways!

2. Joe Gigantino - Fitness Trainer
This is the guy that really set me on the path to physical fitness - Sign up for his FREE newsletter!



3.

4. BWJEN - Another WW Buddy & A 'bookworm' too!?



5.

5.

6.Sean Anderson the formerly 500lb man!
Diary of A Winning Loser - Sean is an inspiration to anyone trying to get healthy!


*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.

Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc.

Not so Healthy Tim Hortons Pumpkin Muffin

It's rare that I will forgo everything in my being and say "just eat it" anymore... but it does happen (and lately I think more often because of some health issues... but that's not really what this blog is about so.....). I've been watching those EVIL, HORRIBLE, MOUTHWATERING ads for Tim Hortons. Now, before I go any further I am NOT downing the company, their product or their entire idea of seducing me with my absolute FAVORITE flavor in the world.....
PUMPKIN!

The ads started, probably late September (possibly before) and I've held strong for a LONG, LONG, time Timmy! But the time has come to just dive in......it's pumpkin... it's a muffin... it can't be THAT bad...... can it?

So I look on their site. Well, let's just say..... IF I do decide to produce this luscious, mouthwatering specimen on my "food log" for the day as a "Breakfast".... it will be a very LARGE breakfast (in terms of points® - we're talking 9... yes, that's correct.. 9 points® for ONE, not really all that large, muffin... but it is PUMPKIN). But NINE POINTS® for a muffin that I am almost 100% positive will NOT take me easily into the next "meal" needed... especially after a workout at the gym. I'm going to be hungry shortly after downing this puppy & definitely after downing it then going to the gym to work it off. That could help me make a "better" choice of just tossing this delightful piece of pumpkin heaven aside.... perhaps?

Wait, workout at the gym...... this means if I run 2 miles in the water instead of just 1.... hmmmm, additional points® options? Let me re-think this? Is it worth it? Hmmmm? I'm thinking..... and will be until tomorrow morning when I either wake up and RUN with all my possible speed (which could count towards more points® being taken off?) towards the evil pumpkin spawn or decided that enough's enough to this "giving in stuff" and grab my Naked Juice (much better for me, gets me my "5 a day" in AND 4 points® lower) & move along to the gym.

Well, you won't know until tomorrow (and that's only if I feel like confessing.. lol) whether or not I delved into this Pumpkin Delite... but I must say this:

My entire reason for writing tonight's blog was NOT to entice others to run to Tim Horton's for a Pumpkin Spice muffin, especially NOT at a whopping 9 points® per muffin (did I mention they are NOT all that freaking big either? LOL), but instead to prove to people that YES... I have lost 77.7 lbs thus far and YES I am such a "good girl" and "do the right things" and "eat the right stuff" and "work out" and so on and so on....... BUT, I am not perfect. YOU are not perfect. Sometimes you simply have to allow yourself to indulge, just not ALL the time.

The difference between "THEN" and "NOW" is that I used to think nothing of making a midnight run to pick up not a single muffin, but perhaps 2 or 3. Sure, I'd eat one at 1am, then sit the other 2 aside for "later" or "morning" or whenever. I wouldn't bat an eye at the fact that it was a calorie loaded, fat laden, not so very high in fiber (2 grams, come on Timmy...you couldn't find SOME way to up the fiber in a freaking MUFFIN?!) article of food that really, to be honest, wasn't all that filling. Heck I couldn't have even TOLD you the nutritional information on that muffin (by the way it's 420 calories, 16g fat & 2g Fiber)! I can't justify eating this kind of stuff all the time & I won't. Neither should you. BUT, you can justify cravings (they are real) and you can justify giving in once in a while... but knowing the consequences & making sure it's not a constant choice in your life any more.

For me, I will PROBABLY end up eating the muffin. I've truly been dying for anything pumpkin... it comes with the fall leaves (dagnabit), it's born in me and I can't help it, so I will PROBABLY give in to my craving. That's okay though, honest it is. I won't feel guilty. I won't be excited that I made a choice that really, really "wasted" a ton of my points®, calories, fats, etc. for the day but I also know that a little extra work at the gym, a little LESS to eat the rest of the day & perhaps even feeling a little on the "hungry" side as a "side effect" of making this poor choice will be my consequences. I also know that gaining 77.7 lbs will NOT be a consequence, because ONE PUMPKIN MUFFIN did NOT put those 77.7 lbs on me that I lost.

It's all a matter of choices, control, options, changes & re-thinking of a lifestyle. If you think that for the rest of your life you are NEVER going to make a "poor choice" in a food item; or, that you are never, ever again going to order that huge, gooey, greasy dinner at the diner that will later make you sick (did that help make it less appealing? LOL) then you are fooling yourself. You are human, we are Americans (or most of us reading my blog are anyways) & living in a world of abundance, over indulgence & inundated with seductive lures to tempt us towards these poor options. What we CAN do is limit how often we give in or better yet, learn how to make BETTER choices.

I am CERTAIN that there is a LOW FAT, HIGH FIBER, pumpkin muffin out there that is NOT so hard to make or find that I can and WILL end up going to more often. Heck, I may even attempt to find it before tomorrow morning and toss that muffin to someone who doesn't 'care' if they eat it, or even share it between my dogs (they're not so picky about their munchies ya know), but even if I do end up eating it this once.... I won't go back again. I will enjoy the muffin and move on... knowing that I have to find a better option for the next time that craving comes along.

By the way..... I will let you know if I give in and eat the muffin in the end. AND I will let you know if I "help" myself out a bit by doing a pretty good workout to help take off some of those calories & fat grams too. I will also drop a line to Tim Horton's and ask them "If you can make a low fat muffin in 2 flavors - "cranberry & blueberry" - then WHY can't you do the same for many, many more flavors... including the pumpkin spice?"

End result, trying to make a difference with companies that give poor options for us to take by letting them KNOW I want better......... making a sound, well thought out choice & realizing the consequences...... and paying the price if I pick the less than healthy option for my morning breakfast "treat". Either way, I'm not going to beat myself up over it... because I am going to live my entire LIFE like this.... trying to make solid, good, choices in my eating habits and when I don't make the best choice.. I'll know it's a once in a while 'treat'.

So next time YOU make a poor choice, have a bad day or even week..... don't beat yourself up. We are human, we WILL make mistakes, but we CAN learn from them and change our way of thinking as to why we make the choices we make & make those choices with informative facts behind them!

By the way...... I did find a 2 pt. Pumpkin Muffin Recipe... here it is!

Check out my Daily Menu Food Log for a quick glance at what I'm eating to get where I'm at, which is a healthier & therefore thinner ME!


Don't forget to check out my newest Book Blog, where I give book reviews on recent books I've read. If you're a reader you'll want to check this out!

WE CAN DO THIS, TOGETHER
ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Like this article? Twit it to your followers!

Who Else Helps me get healthy?
These are just a few of the people online that inspire me....

1.
Check out the Fab Fatties

2. Joe Gigantino - Fitness Trainer
This is the guy that really set me on the path to physical fitness



3.

4. BWJEN



5.

5.

6.Sean Anderson the formerly 500lb man!
Diary of A Winning Loser


*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.

Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie (1)

The thought of fall instantly brings me to visions of mums, corn stalks & pumpkins. My tummy always screams "PUMPKIN PIE" too, but eating pumpkin pie while trying to lose weight?! YIKES! Can it be done?

It sure can, when you make this AMAZING "crustless" version.

I can not take credit for this recipe BUT unfortunately I can't give full credit either. This is a recipe my mom had stashed away. We had remembered it and "googled" the words "Crustless Pumpkin Pie" and did come up with some very similar & some very different versions from this one but THIS is the one that I love and use often!

The beauty of it all is that the ENTIRE pie is only worth 8 points®! The ingredients are simple & the recipe so easy there's NO excuse not to celebrate fall with a slice (or two) of Crustless Pumpkin Pie!

Crustless Pumpkin Pie (1)
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) fat free evaporated milk
3/4 C egg substitute or 3 egg whites
1/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 C Splenda®

*note- have a tub of fat free whipped topping or can of fat free whipped topping handy to finish the dish also!

Preheat Oven to 400F

Combine all ingredients in large bowl, beat until smooth, pour in sprayed 9"pie plate

Bake 400F for 15 min

then reduce to 325 F for 45 min until center poke comes clean

(Cut into 8 slices & serve w/a tablespoon of Fat Free Whipped Topping - no extra pts)

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By Body & Soul

Check out my Daily Menu Food Log for a quick glance at what I'm eating to get where I'm at, which is a healthier & therefore thinner ME!


Don't forget to check out my newest Book Blog, where I give book reviews on recent books I've read. If you're a reader you'll want to check this out!

WE CAN DO THIS, TOGETHER
ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Like this article? Twit it to your followers!

Who Else Helps me get healthy?
These are just a few of the people online that inspire me....

1.
Check out the Fab Fatties

2. Joe Gigantino - Fitness Trainer
This is the guy that really set me on the path to physical fitness



3.

4. BWJEN



5.

5.

6.Sean Anderson the formerly 500lb man!
Diary of A Winning Loser


*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.

Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc.