This healthy pumpkin custard recipe featured in the Natural Pregnancy Cookbook: Over 125 Nutritious Recipes for a Healthy Pregnancy, by The Foodie Physician, is so nourishing and delicious. You’ll love it even if you’re not pregnant!
If you haven’t met, I’m delighted to introduce you to Dr. Sonali Ruder, aka The Foodie Physician.
Although I don’t hope to end up in the ER anytime soon, if I did end up there, I’d love to have Sonali, an Emergency Medicine Physician, as my doc, because our nutrition and healthy lifestyle philosophies totally mesh. Here’s a great quote from her blog…
I want to use my medical and culinary backgrounds to help you create meals that are nutritious and full of flavor. I also enjoy the occasional splurge- after all I am a foodie and believe that eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures. So I believe in the philosophy of eating in moderation and maintaining an active lifestyle. I enjoy discussing the health benefits of foods and encourage people to know what they’re eating so that they can make smart food choices all day long.
So when Sonali asked me if I would like to review her new Natural Pregnancy Cookbook, of course I said, yes!
Here are a few of my favorite natural pregnancy tips from the Natural Pregnancy Cookbook…
- Think about eating twice as smart, not twice as much. If you are at a normal weight pre-pregnancy, this equates to ~300 additional calories per day.
- What’s more important than the numbers is what you choose to eat. So focus on choosing whole foods over processed and refined foods. Of course this is good advice for all of us! 🙂
- Add these pregnancy all-star foods to your diet, as they are packed with important nutrients to nourish you and your baby: Salmon {preferably Wild Alaskan}, lentils, Greek yogurt, eggs, berries, nuts, broccoli, orange juice, flax/chia seeds, and more!
- Avoid these foods during pregnancy: High mercury seafood{i.e. swordfish, shark, king mackerel, and tilefish}; raw, undercooked or contaminated seafood, meat, poultry, and eggs; unpasteurized foods, unwashed fruits and vegetables; and alcohol.
- Plan your meals and stock your kitchen well {you will find a very thorough “Essential Foods” Pantry list in the book} so you can prepare all the delicious meals in the Natural Pregnancy Cookbook!
If you’re pregnant, planning a pregnancy, know someone who is pregnant, or even if you simply crave healthy, easy, and delicious whole food based recipes, I highly recommend the Natural Pregnancy Cookbook!
After reading the book, I wished I had this fabulous resource for healthy recipes and natural pregnancy tips when I was pregnant with my own kiddos. This leads me to a disclaimer, and a fun story to share with you…
Disclaimer–> No, mom {if you’re reading this} I’m not pregnant.
Several years ago, when Sisi and Big Tex were about 8 and 6, Mr. Spicy and I gave his mom a pair of pretty metal lanterns for Christmas. Because they were large, and rather awkward to wrap, we kept one in our garage, and put a bow on the other one. Then we presented it to my mother-in-law along with a note I had written. “Merry Christmas! And, one more to come!”
After that, while I ventured to the garage to bring up the other lantern, both my mom, and my mother-in-law started conjuring up visions of a new grandchild in their futures. When I returned with the lantern, they asked in unison, “Do you have something to tell us? Are you pregnant? Is there one more baby on the way???”
My response: “Um, nope. No baby. Just another lantern.” LOL!
And, in case you were thinking the grandmas might have been excited for another grandchild, they actually thought Mr, Spicy and I were completely and utterly insane, as we are both only children, and, who in their right frame of mind would ever have two children, let alone three?!!
End of story. Let’s eat some healthy pumpkin custard!
Healthy Pumpkin Custard Nutrition Notes…
- Naturally gluten-free, this healthy pumpkin custard is rich in Vitamins A, C, and K, and calcium.
- Delicious enough to eat for dessert {with a dollop of whipped cream if you wish!}. It’s also healthy enough to eat for breakfast, especially with pecans on top, and perhaps some Greek yogurt on the side.
- This healthy pumpkin custard is also vegetarian, grain-free, wheat free, soy free. And, it easily made low FODMAP with lactose-free milk, and cane sugar in place of the coconut sugar.
Healthy Pumpkin Custard
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus extra for garnish
- 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- Optional toppings: whipped cream, chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat ove to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, milk, and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the coconut sugar, cornstarch, spices, and sea salt. Sift sugar mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Stir the batter with a whisk until well combined and pour into four 3/4-cup custard cups. Place cups in a 9 x 11-inch baking pan and add enough warm water to come halfway up the sides of the cups.
- Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or until it sets and is lightly browned. transfer cups to a wire rack to cool. Top with a little whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon.
