I am not really a desserts person. I have the odd sugar craving, of course, and I am well aware that women need a certain amount of chocolate to help them through that time of the month, but in general, I don’t have too much difficulty when it comes to bypassing cakes and puddings and other sweet things.
Until I see cheesecake.
When I see cheesecake, all sense of reason completely disappears. It is the one sweet treat that I absolutely cannot resist. And since I’m on this new healthy eating Body for Life thing, that’s a bit of a problem. Cheesecake doesn’t really jive with a healthy nutrition plan.
Or does it?
Since I started the Body for Life program three weeks ago, I’ve been on the prowl for healthy recipes, and I actually found one for strawberry cheesecake, easily adaptable to be any kind of cheesecake.
A cheesecake that can be part of a healthy eating plan? What could be better?
I adapted the recipe a little and made the cheesecake, and I was very surprised at how well it turned out. I got onto Facebook and boasted extensively about the cheesecake, and now people are asking for the recipe. I cannot post the original recipe, but here is my version:
Ingredients:
Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup oat bran
1/8 cup fat-free cream cheese
1/3 cup water
Cheesecake
2 cups low fat cottage cheese
1/3 package powdered instant pudding, any flavour, depending on what you feel like
1/3 cup fat-free cream cheese
If you’re feeling fruity, a few strawberries or a banana
Instructions
Soften the cream cheese for the crust in the microwave, and then mix all crust ingredients together. Coat a 9″ pie pan with non-stick cooking spray and then press the crust into the bottom and sides of the pan. The crust kept sticking to my hands while I was trying to work with it until I put a tiny bit of cooking spray onto my hands.
Put the cream cheese for the cheesecake into a blender along with the cottage cheese, and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Gradually blend in the instant pudding mix, tasting as you go. If you’re adding fruit, slice it up and blend it in gradually, again tasting as you go.
If you want to add a bit of protein, blend a bit of vanilla-flavoured protein powder into the cheesecake mix. Be careful, though. Protein powders can be immensely overpowering if you’re not used to them, so if in doubt, skip the protein powder or use just a little bit.
Pour the mixture into your crusted pan. Throw the whole lot into the fridge, and it should be ready to eat in an hour or so.
Final word: this cheesecake goes really well with a glass of Merlot.
(Photo credit: gravel72. This picture has a creative commons attribution license.)
Yum! And yes, Merlot and cheesecake are very good friends.
Awesome! Thanks, will give it a try & let you know how it turned out.
Just one question … what is the S.A. equivalent of a graham cracker?
I think plain digestives should work fine.