Cooking for cock doesn’t just mean cooking for a boy, it means eating well and staying trim even during those times when there’s no decent guy in sight. Too often food is a substitute for love. Even worse, if you’re pigging out on ice cream and cake every time you feel lonely and unloved, you can easily fall into a vicious cycle, ie, the more you eat, the fatter you get and the more likely no one is going to want to shag you. (Sorry to be blunt, but it’s true.) That’s why nutritious low fat and low sugar desserts are a single girl’s best friend.
This pumpkin custard recipe gives you all the yumminess of pumpkin pie without the buttery crust. Substitute whipped cream for low fat whipped ricotta and you can get a hit of pumpkin pie flavour without the pumpkin stomach to go with it. Individual ramekins keep the portions under control (you eat only one, two if you’re really feeling needy.) This custard carried me through a couple of lonely winters. During this time, my dateless Friday night ritual included working out to a dance dvd, making a healthy meal, and treating myself to a pumpkin custard with a little Law and Order on the side. I actually enjoyed those nights, like a secret pleasure, and always woke up the next day feeling upbeat and energized (vs bloated and depressed.)
This custard is nutritious enough for breakfast too. Even better, since cooking is fun and creative, whipping up this dessert will make you feel life is still worth living even if Prince Charming is taking a little too long to show up.
So let’s call this one a “recipe for self-love.”
Low Fat Pumpkin Custard
Ingredients
2 egg whites and one egg lightly beaten
2 cups pumpkin puree (I make my own, cutting and seeding the pumpkin, roasting in a pan for 40 minutes or until tender, then scooping out and mashing until smoothish- ie, a little texture is okay)
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg (or ground, but I’m now hooked on grinding it myself)
1 14 ounce can of evaporated skim milk
For the whipped ricotta (one serving only)
1 tablespoon low fat ricotta
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine ingredients until they are well mixed. Pour mixture into individual ramekins (little ovenproof ceramic or glass bowls) and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (Wetter is okay too, since it’s not a pie and you’ll be eating with a spoon anyway. I also find the custard hardens when cooled so no need to panic over the firmness.)
Let cool and serve with whipped ricotta. (When dining alone, I make the ricotta per serving so I don’t have extra to binge on.)
For the whipped ricotta: whip the one tablespoon of ricotta with the sugar and vanilla extract. Spoon onto custard and LOVE YOURSELF because you are being a very good girl!
The FC prepares the pumpkin for roasting. He needs low fat treats too since he recently quit smoking (four weeks and counting!) and now snarfs down chocolate bars at every turn.
Even though the FC took a while to show up in my life, at least I was in top form when he did.
Save the seeds for roasting. They make another great snack.
The pumpkin goes into the oven for roasting.