No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

Between reading the Hunger Games series and Pinterest I often lose track of what's real life.

I am not thoroughly convinced that this is a bad thing as my fake life on Pinterest is far more exciting and interesting than the real thing. My Pinterest closet and Pinterest dream home and Pinterest Recipe box are all 100 times more fabulous than what's real.

Mind you, I have very little free time...but it seems to go to reading about Katniss kicking major ass or planning my make-believe life that I will never be rich or patient enough to achieve.

Now that I am reading this in black and white I think it may in fact be sad.

Yeah, it's kinda sad.

Before I go any further...has anyone seen these?!

No joke, when I caught sight of these at the grocery store I immediately yelped and did some kind of victory jig. Then I remembered I was in public and tried to collect myself but I feel the damage was done. Yep, I'm a crazy person.

Put sprinkles in ANYthing and I am immediately transformed into a 5-year-old version of myself. Seriously, put sprinkles on my baked potato and watch me giggle like a school girl.

A very special one.

These.Are.Awesome.

They have a slight funfetti taste and funfetti is my most favorite. And yes, I am aware that it is really vanilla cake with sprinkles thrown in but I swear to you it tastes better! Somehow it does!

Get them before they're gone!

Moving right along...

I don't know about anyone else but I enjoy pumpkin all year round. This year I was smart and stocked up on the canned pumpkin so I can enjoy it whenever I please.

This cheesecake is great if you don't have the time, or patience for that matter, to bake one. It doesn't have that rich creamy bite you get from a traditional cheesecake but it is a creamy and lighter alternative.

I recommend this.

Most def.

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
From Skinnytaste.com

Ingredients:

7 oz Neufchatel Cream Cheese
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (canned is fine)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup brown sugar, unpacked
8 oz Cool Whip Free, thawed
9 inch reduced fat Graham Cracker Crust

Directions:

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and brown sugar for a few minutes until fluffy. Add Cool Whip and whip until smooth. Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours, until firm.

Lighter Peanut Butter Pie

Happy pi day all! Okay, so I don't care about math but I do love pie! I remember in High School pi day was exciting because there was always pie involved somehow. I remember sophomore year my math teacher was offering extra credit to the person who memorized the most numbers of pi...now I was (and still am) terrible at math so I was all over this. I memorized 33 numbers and won the extra credit...woot woot!

Now I can only remember 3.1415926535...if that is even right...

I actually made this pie about a week ago. I have declared my love of peanut butter again and again and am a huge fan of peanut butter pie. I wanted to make it as light as possible while retaining the integrity of the flavor...I somehow managed to do it! You really honestly can't tell the difference...this pie tastes sinfully indulgent.

If I had any sense of shame I would keep it a secret that I ate this whole thing myself...yep...no shame.

Lighter Peanut Butter Pie
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon margarine/light butter spread, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Filling:
4 oz neaufchatel cheese
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter
1/2 skim cup milk
8 oz package frozen whipped topping, thawed

Topping:
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed pretzels (optional)
1/2 cup crushed peanuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, mix together chocolate graham cracker crumbs,  butter, yogurt, and brown sugar. Press mixture firmly into a 9 inch pie pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes. Allow crust to cool.

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Fill the cooled pie crust with the filling.

Melt dark chocolate in microwave 30 seconds-1 minute. Drizzle over top of filled pie with a piping bag or spoon.

Spoon into the 9 inch graham cracker pie shell; cover, and freeze until firm.