Mrs. Criddle’s pumpkin cheese cake pie {Pinterest: Find, Attempt}

For my first “Pinterest: Find, Attempt” post, I made Mrs. Criddle’s PUMPKIN CHEESE CAKE PIE WITH CARAMEL PECAN SAUCE. Oh yes. I did.

The point behind this series of posts is to see if the things that look so pretty on pinterest really turn out that well in real life when everyday people make them. In order to try this yourself, you will have to visit Mrs. Criddle’s blog for the recipe.

Here is how my attempt played out:

First I made the caramel sauce. I didn’t have any heavy cream so I used half and half (this is the REAL WORLD people! substitutions must happen sometimes!!)

It turned out lovely.

I didn’t have any pecans in my house. NEVER FEAR! When I have used pecans and walnuts interchangeably many times before. So…. in go the walnuts.

Next, I made the crust.

Do you see the amount of counter space I have to work with there? This really is how much room there is in my kitchen. So rest assured, if you live in an apartment or a trailer or a dorm room…..if I can do it, so can you!

I forgot to take a picture of the crust. Weird. It looked just like any other crust though. Turned out just fine.

Then I mixed together all of the ingredients for the pumpkin cheesecake filling. Well….. Do you see the size of my pie plate up there? When I see the directions to put the crust in a pie plate, I think 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Unfortunately, (or fortunately!) this recipe makes enough so that I could have made it in a 9×13 casserole dish.

Improvise is my middle name (actually, it’s Marie) and I would never waste something that looks and sounds so delicious so I made 6 mini cheese cakes with the leftovers.

 

First off, this smelled DIVINE when it was cooking! Oh lordy! I started to wonder how on earth I was going to be able to wait an hour for them to cook and another hour for them to set up in the fridge. Self-control isn’t my strongest fruit of the Spirit. Then I realized that the cupcake ones would be done sooner! After about 40 minutes, I pulled these out:

And I did this:

And put them in the fridge.

Since the pie plate was so full, it took about 10 minutes longer than recommended in the recipe to look done to me.

mmmmmmmmmmm

followed by:

And about this time I was ready to try one of the little ones even though it had only been about 20 minutes.

Oh yeah.

After the pie set for about an hour in the fridge, I cut it, and being the amazing friend I am, I took a couple samples to two of my closest THM friends.

Look below in the comments or on the FACEBOOK page for their thoughts on the taste test.

My rating: 10 out of 10 for ease of making, taste and appearance. I will definitely make this again.

PINTEREST PASS!

Autumn treats round-up for the Trim Healthy Mama

It’s almost my favorite time of year! Cooler weather, sweaters, colorful leaves, apple harvest and pumpkin flavors!

Autumn!!

In celebration of many people’s favorite season, I decided to do a link up of THM friendly Fall treats. You’re welcome 🙂

APPLE FLAVORS

Let’s start things out with breakfast! Apple Pie Oatmeal from “Family Feedbag” is simple and tasty!

You could use this recipe from “Rhonda Sue” for Apple Oat Cake for breakfast or snack!

Time for lunch! How about this tuna salad with apples from “Counting All Joy”?

Make sure you get your fluids! Try this all day sipper : Caramel Apple Shrinker from Joanna at “Now I can have my cake and eat it too”.

Apples for dinner? Yes! This chicken apple sausage with cabbage noodles from “Counting All Joy” is a delicious main dish idea!

If all you need is a side dish, why not try sweet potato apple hash?

You know as a THM, you really must have dessert 😉  “Wheatless Buns” has an amazingly easy apple fritter recipe that I can’t wait to try! Also, “Joy in Our Journey”  has a tasty THM-ified (is that a word?!) apple crisp recipe.

 

PUMPKIN FLAVORS

Want a quick, easy breakfast for one? This pumpkin MIM from “C family of 6” fits the bill! Got a little more time (and mouths to feed?) Rachel from “Bubbly Nature Creations” has a yummy baked pumpkin pie oatmeal recipe for you.

If anything could make me give up my morning coffee (or 3), it would be this pumpkin pie sip.

A great snack for a fall day is a pumpkin pie smoothie from “Gal on a Mission”. DQ ain’t got nothin’ on this!

When the weather turns chilly, a hearty soup hits the spot. I’m going to try this pumpkin chili with chicken, as well as this curried pumpkin soup.

One of our family’s favorite dinners is BRINNER (breakfast for dinner). I like to put a Fall twist on it by making the pancakes pumpkin spice flavored.

And OH the desserts!! They are abounding! Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting! Pumpkin cream cake! Pumpkin pie cookies! Pumpkin pie cheesecake! No-bake pumpkin cheesecake mousse! Pumpkin roll! I could go on and on! BUT….

Now I am hungry!

So off to the kitchen I go!

Do you have a favorite THM-friendly Fall treat? Post in the comments below so we can all try it!

 

Linked up at Work it Wednesday and menu plan monday

 

 

Weekly kid-friendly/budget-friendly THM menu

That pic above is of my favorite muffin in a mug. It’s the coffee cake for one by Rhonda Sue. *drool*

Okay! Moving right along to the menu. I’ve decided to just list 7 breakfasts, lunches and dinners, along with several snack ideas. I realized that people start their weeks on different days, eat more (or less) snacks than we do, and  run into a night where they just want to make Thursday’s dinner on Monday. So I’m hoping this new list format makes it easier to tweak and make your own!

Breakfasts

eggs and bacon or sausage (2x)

cereal for the kids and muffin in a mug for mom (2x)

thm pancakes (page 223) with berries

oatmeal with cinnamon and diced apples (brown sugar and walnuts on the kid’s, truvia on mom’s) 2x

 

Lunches

tortilla pizzas (page 280) and sliced veggies

PB&J (regular for the kids; low carb wrap with smucker’s natural PB and homemade strawberry truvia jam for mom) with sliced veggies (2x)

hot dogs and mac&cheese for the kids; crispy salmon (page 283) on romaine with EVOO for mom

leftovers from the soup dinners (2x)

lunchmeat (sandwiches for kids; roll ups for mom~ page 299) and fruit

 

Dinners

pinto bean and rice roll ups (low carb wrap for mom) and fruit

tuna melts for the family; tuna on a low carb wrap for mom; salad

all day lentil stew (page 311)  and crackers (wasa for mom)

hamburgers (lettuce “bun” for mom) and green fries (page 357)

krabby patties (page 338) made with tuna and salad (sourdough bread for the family)

my version of fotato soup (adapted from page 294) ~use the THM bullion in place of the chicken broth and add turmeric with the other seasoning

pork chops; broccoli with cheese and butter; mashed potatoes for the family

 

Snacks

nuts

string cheese

THM friendly muffins (there are many of these on pinterest)

fruit

sliced veggies

smoothies (I love the cake batter frappa. I make the kids’ smoothies with frozen banana and strawberries, almond milk and honey)

85% dark chocolate from aldi

fudge (page 386)

peanut butter cups

for the kids: chia energy balls

 

 

Linked up at menu plan monday

 

 

 

 

Longing for a comfortable flow…

 

I have been searching for a way to be more consistent. To put more of a flow to our days.

I’ve tried hourly scheduling, but then I feel like I am putting God in a box. If one thing goes unplanned it throws me off and I scrap the whole thing.

I’ve tried to-do lists, but then I end up limiting myself to that list. I can’t exactly list everything I need to tend to that day. It just doesn’t seem right to put spending time with my kids on a list.

I’ve tried FlyLady and it overwhelms me. I’ve tried MOTH and it’s just too rigid.

And still…..this nagging feeling inside to have more structure, more purpose, more intentionality…..it persists.

So I am going to use this new platform as a way to try and satisfy that longing in a public way. I will share what I am doing, how I am doing and what is or isn’t working.

I have actually heard from a couple of friends that they are in the same boat. Lacking that consistency and knowing their lives and homes would be more blessed if they could get into a groove. So I am hoping to make this an interactive journey. One where we can learn from one another and get better on track in our day to day lives together.

What works for you? What isn’t working? What unique challenges do you have that you need to overcome to get into more of a flow? Please post your comments below and let’s encourage one another in this season of becoming more intentional.

Stay tuned later today for my first post about my new plans. Or better yet….scroll to the bottom of this page and subscribe to get my new posts via email!