Hungry Girl: Upside-Down Chocolate PB Cheesecake

For most of my life I've joked about being somewhat domestically disabled. I didn't learn how to prepare a meal (beyond boxed spaghetti) or do my own laundry until I went to college. Growing up, my mom always worked full time, and she'd usually prepare our one home-cooked meal of the week on Sunday while my dad and I were at church.  It worked for our family, but I wish I had taken more opportunities to assist her with preparing family meals.

I feel like now I want to make an effort to learn how to cook for my family, and as part of that, one of my goals for the year is to get in the kitchen more to try to make new things. In the last few weeks I've tried some new recipes! I'll try to post some of the ones I liked on here. Have you heard of Hungry Girl? I recently saw a TV segment with the author and decided to check out her site. It seems to me that her mission is to find ways to make foods that she enjoys eating a little healthier yet still tasty.

For our Easter dinner I made Hungry Girl's Upside-Down Chocolate PB Cheesecake. It was an incredibly easy recipe, no bake, and Henry and I really liked it. I took it to work and made another batch for my book club meeting too, and everyone loved it and wanted the recipe. I definitely recommend it if you are a fan of chocolate and peanut butter. It had more of a pudding-like consistency than cheesecake, but that didn't matter so much since it tasted good!

Upside-Down Chocolate PB Cheesecake from Hungry Girl

PER SERVING (1/8th of recipe, about 1/2 cup): 143 calories, 3.5g fat, 320mg sodium, 19.5g carbs, 1g fiber, 6g sugars, 6.5g protein -- POINTS® value 3* Super-rich, peanut-buttery, chocolate cheesecake filling topped with a layer of chocolate crunch!?! Yup... Ingredients: 1 packet Swiss Miss Sensible Sweets 25-calorie diet hot cocoa mix **I couldn't find this at the grocery store, so I just used the regular hot cocoa mix I already had at home** One 8-oz. tub fat-free cream cheese, room temperature 2 Jell-O Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding Snacks 1/3 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) **used regular sugar*** 2 tsp. vanilla extract 2 cups Cool Whip Free, thawed, divided 3 tbsp. reduced-fat peanut butter, room temperature **used regular peanut butter** Two 100 Calorie Packs Oreo Thin Crisps or 3 sheets (12 crackers) chocolate graham crackers Optional: Fat Free Reddi-wip Directions: Dissolve cocoa mix in 2 tbsp. hot water. In a medium bowl, combine cocoa mixture with cream cheese, pudding, Splenda, and vanilla extract. Using a handheld electric mixer, whisk until smooth. Fold in 1/2 cup Cool Whip. Transfer mixture to a large pie pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine remaining 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip with peanut butter. Whisk until smooth and uniform in color. Spread over the "pie." Cover and refrigerate until chilled and slightly firm, about 2 hours. Meanwhile, crush Oreo Thin Crisps or chocolate graham crackers into fine crumbs, and set aside. Once ready to serve, top pie with crushed cookies/graham crackers. If you like, top each serving with a squirt of Reddi-wip. Enjoy with a spoon! MAKES 8 SERVINGS