Our family continues

 to do our best with social distancing...

Honestly - we MISS the way things used to be, 

but with the number of positive virus cases [and deaths] increasing 

we just feel the continued need to do the best we can to avoid it.

[Just this week I've had two friends hospitalized 

and one friend lose her husband to this dreadful virus...]

All that to say - our outside gatherings continue...

 And recently we enjoyed some family time...

 

I set up our little outdoor sink / serving area with my fall flower arrangement

and our simple meal of slow cooker lasagna, salad, and bread sticks.

 

Oh.

And pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

I use ground turkey in our lasagna - I usually add in some dehydrated onions, salt and pepper,  and cook it until all of the liquid is cooked out...

 

I make a mixture of cheeses: this time I used cottage cheese, mozzarella, and pepper jack - because I had some about to go out of date [and it gave it some spice!]

Then I just layer it all together in the slow cooker:

sauce [ it takes 2 jars] + noodles [uncooked] + cheese + meat + noodles

REPEAT

REPEAT

End with sauce and cook on low for most of the day... 

Add more mozzarella on top before serving. 

It's delish.

And so easy!

Apologies that this is the lone leftover from the fridge that doesn't look super appetizing. Please believe me -- it looked much better straight from the slow cooker!

But did I say it was DEElish?!?

And easy?!?

Yes, yes I did.

The day before our gathering I decided to make a cheesecake in my instant pot - 

I've done this before - 

Here's my favorite recipe that we enjoy because it's a little more low calorie...

So while I was searching for this favorite, another popped up --

2 INGREDIENT Instant Pot Cheesecake - 

and when I saw she had a pumpkin version, 

I knew I had to give it a try!!

The original recipe states that this is an Indian Cheesecake 

similar to a Bengali dessert called bhapa doi. 

And IT IS DELICIOUS.

I mixed my crust ingredients in a food processor, scraped it out well and then mixed the yogurt, pumpkin, and sweetened condensed milk in the same container. 

This is what it looked like just a few minutes after taking it out of the instant pot...

PERFECTION.

And this is what it looks like after being chilled overnight

[and topped with some caramel sauce + a little sea salt.]

Yes, please.

It's hard to believe this is sooooo much like a cheesecake, yet has zero cream cheese or eggs in it. It's yummy, and if you cut 8 slices [just the right size, really] then it's only about 200 calories per slice. WORTH IT.

Give it a try [it keeps nicely in the fridge if you don't have a crowd.]

And it would be wonderful at your Thanksgiving meal!