Their Dirty Little Secret...

It took me a while to get on Pinterest, and now that I am, I can't stop. I do like it as a resource to find healthier foods. I'm not one to get special nut butters and use some seaweed derived sludge to replace eggs or sugar. I just skip those recipes no matter how good they look. I have found some really good looking recipes that use real ingredients that add up to a PointsPlus value of 1 or 2. I've tried a few of them.

Here's what I discovered...

When people use real ingredients, they just make the serving size really really tiny. I'm not all about tiny unless it relates to my waist size. I don't want to make 45 cookies from one batch and then just eat one. That's just impossible for me. I'd rather eat a huge cookie or 2 normal sized cookies and feel satisfied for a few more points then waste a point on something that just wet my tongue and makes me want more. Wanting more cookies is really bad when there are 44 left in your kitchen.

For Thanksgiving, I wanted to make myself a really good, fall-ish dessert that would make me happy and not feel bad for saying no to pie. Mission accomplished. I made the easiest Pumpkin Mousse ever and it was so rich and decadent!! Here's how: (I promise one day I'll put pictures up for all my recipes. And one day I'll put up more. This is a learning process for me as I try new things. I don't want to share stuff that isn't good!)

Okay, here's really how. You will need:
1 pkg Jello Pumpkin Spice Instant Pudding. (or any flavor you'd like. Pumpkin is seasonal. I'm trying peppermint next!) 
1 cup Skim Milk
1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip Lite
1 cinnamon graham cracker (crushed to tiny crumbs)

Combine Jello and milk with a whisk. Follow the directions on the package but instead of using 2 cups of milk, just do one cup. Instant Jello tends to be really soft-set. Halving the milk makes it firmer which you'll need. After you've whisked the pudding, let it set (this is a good time to crush some crumbs) for about 5 minutes. Then take out your thawed Cool Whip and add about 1/3 of the container to the pudding. Carefully fold it in. Then add another third, and fold that in. Finally, you can add the final third. Sure, you could put the whole container in at once, but in my experience, adding it slower helps things mix/fold together better while keeping the volume. Air is zero points so you'll want lots of that :)

Next, take about 1 teaspoon of graham cracker crumbs and fill the bottoms of 8 ramekins. Fill the ramekins with the mousse then top with just a sprinkle of the crumbs to top it off. Put them in the fridge and let them set for at least an hour before serving.

The pudding is so flavorful that you don't need a ton to feel satisfied. But the Cool Whip adds volume so you feel like you're really eating a lot. But it's a lot of air. I love it!! You could make this and put it in a pie crust. I just don't know the PointsPlus value. Each ramekin of this pumpkin mousse is 4 PointsPlus. A slice of pumpkin pie (like 1/16th of the pie) is 14 points! If you've ever had Dairy Queen's Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, this mousse tastes a lot like that! It is seriously one of my favorite things I've made. EVER!

Like I said, I'm trying peppermint pudding next. I'll put it in an oreo crust and top it with a little hot fudge. So naughty! But not really! Happy Eating my friends!