Blender No-Bake Cheesecake!!

When I got an email from Tammy R. in Huntington Beach describing her cheesecake that she made all in her blender using sweetened condensed milk (if you haven't watched my tutorial video on how to make your own sweetened condensed milk from food storage, click HERE), I knew I had to try it! It was fabulous, and trust me I'm a cheesecake snob! Not to mention you can make the ENTIRE thing in your blender. There is no mess, no fuss, and just one thing to clean! Just how we like it.

Tammy also said, "One of the best things about using the powdered milk sweetened condensed milk for this recipe is....you get a little more volume in the cheesecake then with the canned versions....and the best part is....it really sets up firm! When you used the canned stuff, most of the time it is a little (or a lot) runny, and never seems to set up completely, or stay that way. But not with this stuff. It was the best! Once it was "set" it could be out at room temperature for a potluck or whatever, and you never had to worry about it turning into a soupy runny mess."

So try it. You'll love it!

Easy No Bake Cheesecake

1 recipe (or 1 can) sweetened condensed milk

1 8 oz philadelphia cream cheese or equivalent

1/3 cup lemon juice (fresh or reconstituted)

1 tsp vanilla1 premade

9" graham cracker pie crust (or the equivalent made from scratch)

1 can pie filling (whatever flavor you like--cherry seemed to be the most popular)

Blend the ingredients for the sweetened condensed milk in the blender. Turn blender to low and add the vanilla, lemon juice and cream cheese. Gradually increase the blender speed, until smooth and creamy. (you may have to stop the blender once or twice to scrape down the sides). Pour into prepared crust. You will see it start to thicken, even as you spread it into the pie crust! Chill 2 hours. (If you are in a hurry, you can put it in the freezer for half the time, without changing the properties of the cheesecake at all). Top with premade pie filling and serve. Yum!

Cook's note: Recipe does not set up as well if you use the lower fat versions of cream cheese. Also, if you are making the homemade pie filling, the filling must be cooled to room temperature before you put it on the cheesecake. It then needs to chill an additional 2 hours to set up the pie filling completely.

Bargain Tip: Buy a lot of cream cheese at Thanksgiving/Christmas time or at Easter time when it is a really good deal here (the expiration dates are long) and then use your supply from the fridge for many recipes until the next 6 months rolls around and then buy more.

BTW: the second picture of the cheesecake is for those of you like me that always threw away the lid to the graham cracker crust. I don't know why, but it took me forever to figure out that you can invert it and use it to cover your crust.

For more tips and tricks for using your food storage in everyday ways, please visit http://everydayfoodstorage.NET