Reduced Guilt Key Lime Pie

Five years ago, I dedicated an entire month to pies on my blog.
I made so many pies that month it's amazing I didn't gain tons of weight.
Please remember that all posts are from 2011, but here are five of my favorites:
Lemon Meringue Pie
Mini Pumpkin Pies
Dutch Apple Pie
Chocolate Cherry Pie
Turkey Pot Pie

With all the pies I made, it's amazing I never made a Key Lime Pie.
I changed that recently though and made one,
but decided to try to make it just a tad healthier!

The Goods:

Graham Crackers

Brown Sugar

Salt

White Chocolate Chips

Butter

Reduced Fat Greek Yogurt

Key Limes

Eggs

Fat-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk

Whipped Cream

Crush your graham crackers in a gallon bag using a rolling pin.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup graham cracker crumbs,

1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1 ounce chopped white chocolate.

Add 2 tablespoons melted butter and toss until evenly moistened.

Press crumb mixture into greased pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

While crust is cooling, in another medium bowl combine 1/2 greek yogurt, 

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon key lime zest, 

3 large egg yolks and (1) 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk.

Pour mixture into crust and bake at 350 degrees for about 14 minutes.

Cool pie completely on wire rack. 

Chill at least 2 hours before cutting. 

And of course, serve with whipped cream!

Reduced Guilt Key Lime Pie

Adapted from Cooking Light

For the Crust:

1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1/8 Teaspoon Salt

1 Ounce White Chocolate Chips

2 Tablespoons Butter

For the Filling:

1/2 Cup Reduced Fat Greek Yogurt

1/2 Cyo Key Limes

3 Large Egg Yolks

1 (14 Ounce) Fat-Free Sweetened Condensed Milk

1. Crush your graham crackers in a gallon bag using a rolling pin.
2. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1 ounce chopped white chocolate. Add 2 tablespoons melted butter and toss until evenly moistened.
3. Press crumb mixture into greased pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.
4. While crust is cooling, in another medium bowl combine 1/2 greek yogurt, 1/2 cup fresh key lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon key lime zest, 3 large egg yolks and (1) 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk.
5. Pour mixture into crust and bake at 350 degrees for about 14 minutes. Cool pie completely on wire rack. Chill at least 2 hours before cutting. 

Thanksgiving with Girlfriends 2013

I usually spend Turkey Day at a family member or close friend's home, but last year I hosted my very first Thanksgiving! I did almost all of the cooking myself and was exhausted by the end of the day, but I wouldn't have changed a thing! I had so much fun hosting that I looked forward to doing it again before the day was even over! 

I'll be honest - when people started talking about their Thanksgiving plans this year, I was a little sad that I wasn't going to be hosting again!  That is, until I decided I was going to host a very small Pre-Thanksgiving get together with a few of my close girlfriends.

After very little thought, I decided I'd make a few things, but have everyone else pitch in so it wasn't as much pressure on me. This year, I was in charge of the turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. My girlfriends were responsible for everything else. Take a look below at my fun Thanksgiving with Girlfriends!

A little decor.

The table all set for dinner.

Carving the turkey. 

The FOOOOOOOOOD!

The whole spread and a plate of deliciousness!

Everything came together so well and all the food tasted AMAZING! While I do like sweet potatoes, I've never been a huge fan of  the mashed sweet potatoes with toasted marshmallows on top. After this weekend though, I think I've officially been converted to liking them and couldn't get enough!

Adventures In Pie Making: Turkey Pot Pie

The last and FINAL post in Pie Month will the the first and only savory pie!

With the rest of my turkey leftovers I decided to make Homemade Turkey Pot Pies!!! Since I got the delicious turkey brine recipe from her, I turned to The Pioneer Woman again and found an amazing recipe. 

Instead of going on and on about how great it is and how wonderful it tastes - I'll just say that I'll NEVER eat a frozen pot pie again unless I have to! This put them to shame by far and is really not that hard to make! Give it a shot! I did and was really glad I did!!

Here's the steps to making the most amazing pot pie EVER!

Pie Goods!

Melt The Butter.

Toss In Chopped Carrots, Celery and Onions.

Sauté And Cook A Couple Minutes. 

Add The Chopped Turkey.

Cook A Couple Minutes.

Sprinkle With Flour And Stir.

Pour In Chicken Broth And Stir.

 Pour In Cream And Stir.

Add Frozen Peas And Stir.

 Salt And Pepper To Taste.

Cook A Couple Minutes - Until Thickened.

Perfect Consistency!

Individual Pot Pies!

Three Covered And Ready To Bake. 

One Cover And Ready To Freeze.

DONE!

Adventures In Pie Making: Dutch Apple Pie!

I know, I know. The month is over and I'm still posting about pies...

How could this be??!??!??

While November is over, I technically have until the 6th of December to post about pies because I didn't start Pie Month until November 6th! :)

Yayyyy!

More PIE!!!

It was always my goal not to repeat any pies during Pie Month, and I don't really consider this a repeat because it is a different type of pie, but I did use almost all of the same ingredients...

I made a Traditional Apple Pie a few weeks ago, but more recently I made a Dutch Apple Pie. Both had apples tossed with sugar and spices, but topped two completely different ways!

I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen - a section of The Pioneer Woman.

Are you surprised?! :)

I made the pie to take to Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara for my family to enjoy! And enjoy is what they did! A 10 year old relative even gave it 100 thumbs up! What's better than that???

So let me show you how to make this amazing pie!

The Ingredients!

5 whole Apples, Cored, Peeled And Sliced

¾ cups Sugar

2 Tablespoons Flour

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 dash Ground Nutmeg

Pinch Ground Cloves

1 whole 9" Pie Crust, Unbaked

⅓ cups Cold Butter

⅓ cups Brown Sugar

¾ cups Flour

Peel, core and slice apples. 

Toss in sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Arrange in pie crust.

Cover in mixture of butter, brown sugar and flour.

Bake 350 for 60 to 70 minutes.

Ta-Da!

Adventures In Pie Making: Chocolate Cherry Pie!

While thinking about pies to make during Pie Month - I realized I needed to find one that incorporated chocolate. I hadn't really had any kind of chocolate pie, but I LOVE chocolate so I figured it couldn't be too bad. Heck, it would probably be pretty darn tasty!

I found a few chocolate pie recipes that don't require baking, but that kind of freaked me out so I keep looking. 

I'd almost given up when I found a recipe in my local newspaper for something called Chocolate Cherry Pie. The picture with the recipe showed a solid chocolate pie with cherry pie filling on top. I decided to make it, but keep the cherries on the side to allow people to choose if they wanted the cherry part or not. 

Enough outta me - I'll show you how to make the pie!

The Ingredients!

1 Cup Chocolate Chips - Melted

2 (8 oz) Packages Cream Cheese - Softened

1/3 Cup Light Corn Syrup

2 Eggs 

1/3 Cup Whipping Cream

1 and 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla

1 Graham Cracker Crust

1 Can Cherry Pie Filling

Beat cream cheese until creamy, then blend in chocolate. 

Gradually add corn syrup, beating until well blended. 

Add eggs and beat until just blended. 

Mix in cream and vanilla then pour into pie crust. 

Bake at 325 degrees for 40 or so minutes... 

 Until it comes out looking like this!!! 

Cool at least 3 hours before enjoying.

I cooled mine overnight, but it was SOOOO hard to wait!

Enjoy alone...

With a little Whipped Cream...

Or CHERRIES like the recipe called for! :)

All in all - the pie was very good. It was quite rich and more like a cheesecake than a pie, but that won't stop me from making it again! 

Adventures In Pie Making: Mini Pumpkin Pies

I used to bake stuff and take it into work all the time, but I've been quite busy recently and hadn't brought my co-workers any goodies in awhile!

That is until recently...

Since it's pie month and I'm on a crazy pie making spree, it was only right to make pie for everyone to enjoy! :)

I didn't want to make a simple regular size pie though. Nope, I did not. Instead - I decided to make mini pies, but first I had to track down mini pie tins! I went to multiple places, but finally gave in and went to a restaurant supply store. OF COURSE they had them! I should have gone there first!!!

After finding the mini pie tins, I went to town making the mini crusts.

Make Mini Pie Crusts.

 And Make-Shift Pie Crusts Too!!!

Bake Mini Pie Crusts 5 to 10 Minutes.

Once those were done and chillin' in the freezer, I moved on to making the filling. I didn't use the recipe on the pumpkin puree can though. I've done that before, but this time I decided to be different and use a recipe I found online.

Aside from the time it took to make the mini pie crusts, this is such an easy recipe to make!

Here's how it's done:

Start with the goods!

Separate 2 Eggs.

 Soften Cream Cheese.

 Whip when softened.

 Add Pumpkin Puree

(Photograph Forgotten...I'm Sorry!)

Add Sugar and Salt.

Beat until combined.

 Add Half and Half, Melted Butter, Egg and Egg Yolks.

Mix until combined.

Mixing...

Add Vanilla, Cinnamon and Ginger.

Mix until combined.

 Mixingggggggg...

 Pour Filling into Pre-Baked Mini Pie Crusts

 Bake 15-20 Minutes until not "jiggly" anymore.

All The Mini Pies!

 With a Lil Whipped Cream on Top.

MMMMMMmmmm!!!