vegan pumpkin pudding

pudding for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and DESSERT. i love pudding.

i am a major eating-for-textures person-- i like the texture of nut butters more than the flavor; i love luscious ice cream and thick yogurt and creamy puddings; i love crunching on crackers; i love the sharpness of rock salt on pretzel sticks.

this love for texture has only been fueled exponentially by my love affair with vegan pudding. more specifically, my love affair with silken-tofu based vegan pudding!!

discovering silken tofu was completely eye-opening and mind-bending for me since i had felt before like i would never enjoy another creamy dessert without dairy and eggs to create it.

now i am enjoying homemade silken tofu smoothie bowls, ice creams, soups, and yogurt-- and will hopefully get some of those recipes onto here, once i get home from COLLEGE!

yes, college has begun. everyone here is in a state of shock. the freshmen all want to return to our homes, feeling as if we have enjoyed a fun weekend away at camp, but are truly ready for it to be complete.

the weather has taken a turn as well, flipping from blistering (and, frankly, unheard of for ithaca, new york) 90-degree-days to crisp and drizzling days in the 60s and 70s. ithaca is a beautiful and strange place, but i do wish the weather would make up its mind so that we could all start getting used to it.

i miss my tofu pudding :-(. since i live in a first-year residence hall, i do not have my own kitchen. we have a communal kitchen, but it is small and dirty and it would be very difficult for me to use it to make my own meals.

the dining services here are pretty decent when it comes to catering to a vegan diet, however the food has been upsetting my stomach a lot recently. after meals, i get an uncomfortable burning sensation in my stomach that can last up to a few hours without fading-- does anyone else experience an issue like that? if you have any advice, i would be glad to hear it!

i think it might be a combination of introducing acidic and spicy foods into my diet, both of which i avoided before coming to school since i do not handle spice very well. i am hoping that these pains pass over once i return to an avoidance diet and attempt to eat more bland meals. sigh!

i also miss being able to bake whenever i want. most weeks back at home i would bake small batches of healthy desserts or snacks daily for my family. here, i have been rationing my granola stash and wishing i had some of my biscotti or blondies to munch on between meals. though college is entirely necessary in the world today, i wish i could just doo it from home. or, i wish that i could live in an apartment-style dorm now so that i could be more comfortable rather than living with a roommate (don't get me wrong, i love her to pieces, but i am just infinitely more at ease when i am alone).

okay, enough about me. here's the recipe you came here for!

drum roll, please...

INGREDIENTS-

• 1 block silken tofu

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

• 1 date (or more for sweeter)

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp cardamom

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp ginger

• pinch of salt

• splash of dairy-free milk, if needed

instructions:

1. plop all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until completely smooth. you can enjoy as is or refrigerate for an hour to achieve a slightly stiffer texture.

i took my pudding as a portable breakfast to a doctor's appointment! that is why it is in this fuchsia container...