*not* bea arthur's cheesecake

i heart the golden girls. seriously.


not those golden girls! okayyy, those too..

i love how they all used to sit around the kitchen table and discuss their troubles over cheesecake.


best.show.ever.

i really found myself identifying with blanche. i feel like she was terribly misunderstood.



anywho, cheesecake is so tasty, but it's super rich. i wanted to make a *mix* that resembled cheesecake in its delicious creaminess, but without all of the fat. this mix could then be stirred into bodybuilding staples such as oatmeal, or used to make desserts that taste decadent, but are good for you.


have your cheesecake, and still rock your bikini

after a little experimenting, i found that a pumpkin/fat free ricotta/protein powder combination truly emulated the consistency and taste of cheesecake. why use these three ingredients?

pumpkin
very nutritious (tons of vitamins & fiber)low in calories super tastyadds great texture
fat-free ricotta
low in sodiumgreat source of whey proteinadds creaminess w/o adding fat
tastes awesome (used in lasagna, manicotti, cannoli, and cheesecake)protein powder
added proteinhelps recipe bindadds flavor/sweetness without adding sugarthe mix is incredibly simple to make. i make a giant tub of it to keep in my fridge. i know you're all at the edge of your seat, so here is the recipe.

pumpkin/fat free ricotta/protein powder mix



ingredients
1 can pumpkin puree (plain pumpkin, not pumpkin pie mix)
1 container fat free ricotta cheese
1 scoop bsn syntha-6 cookies & cream protein powder (or bsn syntha-6 vanilla ice cream)

use a hand mixer to combine pumpkin puree, ricotta cheese, and protein powder. done.

feel the *pump*kin cheesecake
seriously delicious and can almost pass for regular cheesecake! virtually fat free with no added sugar. make it for your friends and don't tell them it's a bodybuilder version. this shit is insane!



ingredients
1/2 cup fiber one cereal
1 heaping tsp of pumpkin pie spice
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp of water (for egg wash)
2 cups of pumpkin/fat free ricotta/protein powder mix
2 tbsp fat free cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract

preheat your oven to 425. prep four ramekins with non-stick spray (or two medium sized ones). in a mini food processor, crush the fiber one cereal with the pumpkin pie spice. brush the ramekins with egg wash. distribute the fiber one cereal evenly among the ramekins. press it down into the ramekin.



moisten with some water until it looks like a crust. bake for 10 minutes.

while your crusts are baking, use a hand mixer to combine pumpkin/fat free ricotta/protein powder mix, cream cheese, and vanilla extract. pour into the crusts.



bake for 25-30 minutes. you want the cheesecake to be golden brown on top.



i seriously cannot get over how well this turned out! so damn tasty :) it tastes best at room temperature or chilled. i drizzled a little chocolate syrup on mine.



pumpkin protein oats
you'll feel like you're having pumpkin cheesecake for breakfast. seriously.



ingredients
1/2 cup of old fashioned oats (or better yet, three sisters cinnamon & apples multigrain hot cereal)
1/2 cup pumpkin/fat free ricotta/protein powder mix
pinch of cinnamon
1 tsp flax seed
1 tbsp sliced almonds

make your oats. stir in pumpkin/fat free ricotta/protein powder mix, pumpkin pie spice, flax seeds, and sliced almonds.

pumpkin pudding
this stuff is great on it's own!

ingredients
1 cup pumpkin/fat free ricotta/protein powder mix
dollop of 0% greek yogurt

put the mix in a bowl. top with greek yogurt. nom nom nom

experiment with the pumpkin/fat free ricotta/protein powder mix and let me know what sort of yummy recipes you come up with. i think this would be great incorporated into protein shakes, baked into oatmeal protein cookies, maybe even a bodybuilder version of a blondie. yum. give it a try! 'til next time folks!