Expecting to pop in and out, I wore not a sweatshirt, nor was my 15 month old wearing long sleaves or socks. Baaaaad Mommy. It was about 59 degrees out. We waited for 45 minutes...20 of which was indoors. I've waited longer to get on Space Mountain so whatevs. She lived. Texas has fancy-schmancy electronic voting! It was quick once I got to my booth! I needed a photo ID, which doesn't surprise me, although I suspect that could be illegal, but whatever. It's a red state. Gotta get used to stuff like this I guess.
Margo was fairly cooperative and having gotten my duty out of the way so early in the morning, I decided it was an American Pie kind of day!
Now, most people think American "apple" pie, but not me. You see, I have not the patience to dick around with that little apple-corer-peeler jobbie that you clamp to your counter and crank away at. I do not own one. I do not WANT one. DON'T GET ME ONE. By God, I'll send it straight to the Goodwill right after telling you how much I "love" it. SO DON'T DO IT. My good friend lent me hers once. What a gigantic MESS that was. Apple juice and pulp EVERYWHERE. Sticky, sticky, sticky. Honestly, I could have done a faster, cleaner job over the sink with a Swiss peeler and some elbow grease. But I digress... When I think of American pie, I think of PUMPKIN PIE!
Who doesn't love a nice custardy slice of fresh pumpkin pie? SO much easier to make. Plus, with Thanksgiving on the way and Halloween a faint memory from a week ago, canned pumpkin is all over the grocery stores.
My issues with pie crust continue however, in that lately, I've been feeling a bit chubby with my baking and eating practices...and with an upcoming and most certain to be indulgent trip to California on the calendar for Thanksgiving, I decided to lighten things up.
Years ago, I was given a recipe by my Weight Watchers leader Mary Anne Benedetti, who has since moved on to greener pastures but still looks great. She likes to cook and bake too, so there is no need to be skeptical. This is the real deal, people. It's a "Crustless" pumpkin pie. It's also fat and cholesterol free and utterly AMAZING with a little fat free Cool Whip (I know, I know, BLASPHEMY!" on your slice. It's always the SKINNY foodies that criticize things like fat free Cool Whip. It has its place when you really need it. I don't suggest you eat it as a meal replacement (DUH!), but when you're low on Points and want dessert, this makes a cracker-jack topping for few calories.
I might also add that not needing to jimmy around with CRUST, makes this pie SO EASY! You literally whisk everything in a bowl and dump it into a pie plate sprayed with cooking spray and bake it. Not rocket science, people. So go and make this. It makes 6 generous servings.
CRUSTLESS PUMPKIN PIE
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground Ginger
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1/2 cup Egg Beaters (fat free egg substitute)
15 oz. can of Pumpkin Puree
12 oz. can of Fat Free Evaporated Milk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a pie plate with PAM or other nonstick cooking spray. Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk in egg beaters, lightly beating it all together. Whisk in pumpkin. Lastly, whisk in evaporated milk until mixture looks uniform.
Pour into prepared pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes @ 425 and THEN TURN THE OVEN DOWN TO 350 degrees and continue baking for 40-50 minutes. It should jiggle like jell-o when lightly shaken when it's done...NOT ripple like liquid. Cool on a rack completely and then refrigerate it so it sets up.
Here is the pie before baking.
Here is the pie AFTER baking.
Not too shabby, eh? You'll never miss the crust or the fat. It's just plain tasty. I'm going to need something to nosh on anyways while my husband and I switch back and forth from channel to channel watching election coverage. No matter what the outcome, at least I didn't have to worry about whether my crust was flaky enough!
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