Quick and easy meal solutions are what everyone is craving these days and finding desserts, like this Whipped Yogurt Pie, that are fast fixes are no exceptions.  I brought you a Summer salad using Avocado and Tomato last week, and this week I bring you dessert, both using only 3 ingredients.

What I love about this pie is that you can use ANY yogurt flavor you want to use.  And if you’re really watching the calories, you can use light in both the yogurt and whip cream.  For our dessert, I chose the Pineapple Upside down Cake Yogurt because the very thought of turning that into a pie mixed with whipped cream made me drool instantly.  Not to mention it’s cold which makes it great for the 114′ weather we’ve been having!  Mixing it is a breeze, it’s the waiting for it to firm up in the fridge is what drives me crazy! I hate waiting!

Hope you guys enjoy!  By the way, I always print the Yoplait Yogurt coupons before I buy them.  They have them all the time and every little bit of change adds up!

What flavor will you be making your pie?

Everyone I know drinks coffee. Sometimes I feel like the odd man out because it’s not my cup of tea (get it? HA!) but because I was hosting a Spring brunch for a few people, serving coffee and a light lunch, I needed a tasty dessert too. I remember seeing this little ol’ lady and her husband in the mercantile in Channing, TX; they always had coffee and apple pie. I decided that I wanted to serve apple pie at my brunch but something a little more creative than the standard deep dish apple pie and that’s when I stumbled upon this very delicious apple pie over at Simply Recipes. There are wonderful recipes over there and this was no exception. Even my husband who is not fond of apple pie, loved it!!

You need to begin with a pie crust. I made my pie crust from scratch but you could buy one if that’s your thing. I added notes at the bottom of what I’d change for when I make it again.

Guest post from Candi: I’m a stay at home mommy to 3 children.  I went from a full time career as a Credit Analyst to a full time career as “Hiney-wiping-nose-cleaning-mommy-referee”.  I love cooking, baking and tweaking recipes for my picky eater (my hubby!)  I love to save money and I’m always looking for a bargain.  And in my free time I love to scrapbook, but who am I kidding, what mother has “free time”?!?!

INGREDIENTS:

For the filling:

• 1 9″ pie crust
• 8 cups thinly sliced peeled apples
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt

For the streusel topping:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup cold butter, diced
• dash of salt

DIRECTIONS

If you are going to bake this pie immediately, then preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Place prepared apples into a large mixing bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt and sprinkle over the apples, tossing so all the apples are coated in sugar mixture. Pour apples into prepared pie crust, mounding the apples in the center of the pie shell; set aside. In the same small bowl, mix together the streusel topping ingredients until they are crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples in the crust. Bake at 425 degrees F for 12 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake 25-40 minutes longer until apples are tender with pierced with a fork and juices are bubbling. Cool pie on a wire rack and serve warm. 8-10 servings.

– OR –

Freeze this pie unbaked for best results. Wrap it well in freezer wrap, then label and freeze. I double wrapped the pies in plastic wrap and then doubled wrapped them with tin foil. To thaw and bake, place frozen pie on a cookie sheet. Cover loosely with foil and bake in preheated 350 degrees F oven for 40 minutes. Then remove foil and bake 35-40 minutes longer until the pie crust and topping are golden and the apples are tender. Let cool on wire rack and serve.

I have to tell you I baked this last night and it took about an extra hour after removing the foil. The best way to tell if it’s ready is by checking the softness of the apples, and the bubbling that’s going on. Make sure you let it rest for out of the oven for about 20 minutes so the pie is easy to cut and handle.

By Mary into January’s Food Challenge

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 ½ cups milk
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 ½ teaspoons hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 9-inch Cornflake Pie Crust
• Sweetened Whipped Cream

DIRECTIONS

Pie Filling
Mix flour, cornstarch, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a heavy saucepan and slowly stir in milk. Heat and stir over medium heat until thickened and smooth. Add chocolate and allow to melt. Stir about ½ cup of hot mixture into egg yolks, mix well and pour into pan. Cook and stir for one minute over lowest heat, do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in butter, hot sauce and vanilla. Place a circle of wax paper or parchment directly on top of filling. Allow to cool to room temperature. Stir well and spoon into cornflake crust. Chill for 1 hour or until ready to serve. Top with sweetened whipped cream.
Cornflake Pie Crust
1 ½ cups crushed cornflakes
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup butter, melted
Mix all ingredients together well. Press into a 9-inch pie plate, chill until ready to fill.

Do you ever crave a good ol’ fashion pie?  I do and this is one of our faves!  If you have never had a Peach & Cherry pie, you don’t know what you are missing folks.  This is a cowboy fave as most pies are……oh, and I love pie plates…*ahem*

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Large ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
• 3 cups pitted fresh or frozen pie cherries
• 1/4 tsp. Almond extract
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 or 3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
• pastry for double pie crust (store bought or from scratch)

DIRECTIONS:

Put prepared fruit and almond extract into a large bowl.  Combine sugar and flour; sprinkle over fruit, tossing to mix.

Prepare pastry and fill bottom crust with prepared fruit.  Cut butter into small pieces and dot top of fruit.  Place top crust over fruit, trimming to allow 1/2″ to tuck under edge of lower crust.  Pinch and crimp edge.  With a sharp knife, make slits near center of pie.

Bake at 400′ oven for 45-55 minutes or until crust is brown and filling bubbles up through slits.   Allow your pie to cool before serving!   YUMMO

See that ice cream on the right? Coming in Spring….

I was given some delicious red pears the other day and it was the first time I had ever since such a pretty pear.  In fact, I didn’t even know there were red ones because I’ve only seen green.  This led me to research more about this juicy fruit!

Did you know that Pears are rich in Vitamin B2, Vitamin C, E1, copper, potassium and are 100% free from bad cholesterol. Pear juice is also known to be the first juice introduced to infants because of its hypoallergenic properties. Good to eat and good for you!

There are over 3,000 known pear varieties grown around the world, but you can only find the best in the Northwestern part of the good ol’ USA!

Check the Neck for Ripeness!

Pears ripen best off the tree (pears that ripen on the tree will be gritty). The other reason you might rarely find ripe pears in the store is that ripe pears are fragile, so it’s better to have them ripen at your home rather than in the store. I mean, how many times have you brought home ripe pears and found them with gashes all through them? Tons of times for me!

Getting your Pears Ripe!

If you have a bunch of hard pears, follow this easy 1, 2, 3 process to get your pears to their ripe and juicy perfection.

1. Place hard pears in a paper bag or a covered fruit bowl, leave at room temperature.
2. Every day, “Check the Neck for Ripeness”. To do this, apply gentle pressure to the stem end of the pear with your thumb. When it yields to the pressure, it’s ready to eat (this process usually takes a few days).
3. Enjoy your ripe, juicy pears now, or store them in the fridge until you’re ready to use them. The fridge will slow down the ripening process, but won’t stop it. Ready to eat pears will stay fresh in the fridge for between 3-5 days.

Make a Pie!

Red Anjou Pie

4 firm ripe Northwest Red Anjou pears, cored and coarsely diced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup diced dried apricots
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Pastry dough for double crust pie
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Gently toss diced pears with lemon juice. Mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, apricots and pecans. Gently mix together pears and dry ingredients. Pour into prepared bottom pie crust. Dot top of pear mixture with butter pieces. Top either with a full crust, or cut top crust into lattice. Crimp crust edges. If using a top crust, cut several slits to vent the pie. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on rack.

Make this super easy & cool Key Lime Pie for summer and let it melt in your mouth!  This recipe actually calls for 6 miniature graham cracker pie shells but since I didn’t have those, I just used a regular single graham cracker shell.  It worked out the same so no biggie.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Key Limes
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 6 miniature graham cracker pie shells or in my case, 1 regular size graham cracker shell

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325′.  Grate 1 teaspoon lime zest into mixing bowl.  Squeeze 3 tablespoons juice into same mixing bowl.  Add cream cheese and beat till creamy.  Stir in sugar and egg, beating till fluffy.  Evenly divide mixture between pie shells or, in my case, pour all into 1 regular shell.  Bake 30 minutes, or till knfe inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool slightly, then refrigerate until ready to serve.  Garnish with additional lime zest. 

Lime zest…..

Throw in all the goodies and mix!!!

Nice and fluffy! Pour into shells:)

When you cook this, it will get big in the oven and then fall after you’ve taken it out to cool.  It looks similar to the Buttermilk Pie.

VIOLA!!!! Now just eat it up…..SURE IS GOOD…YUMMY TO THE TUMMY!

There’s nothing as tastey as an old fashion Buttermilk Pie!  People tend to think it actually tastes like buttermilk but it doesn’t.  It’s VERY sweet and easy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 refrigerated pie dough for single crust
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350′.  Pierce pie crust with a fork all over, and prebake for 5 minutes.  Whisk remaining ingredients together and pour into pie crust; bake 50-60 minutes and till browned.   You need to let it sit, cool, and settle before eating:)  It’s hard to wait, I know!

TIP:  You can add a touch of butter and/or vanilla for a richer pie. 

MIXING TIME!

POUR INTO THE PIE SHELL TIME:)

And then eating time.  Now I had every intention on taking a picture of the finished pie but my kiddos dug into before I could the picture of the  whole pie!!!  Here is a slice though;)

This recipe was submitted by Val   She also holds the Four Food Meme that I participate in every week. 

INGREDIENTS:

• Oreo pie crust
• 1pkg of instant chocolate pudding
• 1pkg of instant vanilla pudding
• milk

In a bowl, mix the 1 package of chocolate pudding with 2 cups of milk.
Pour the chocolate pudding into the pie crust.
Rinse the bowl out so you can use it again.
Mix the 1 package of vanilla pudding with 2 cups of milk.
Pour the vanilla pudding into the pie crust, on top of the chocolate.
Put in the refrigerator to set for at least an hour.
Enjoy!

For a slightly more decorative look you can pull a knife through the layers of pudding to make a swirl on top before putting it in the frig to set.
Or, you can withhold a tiny bit of the chocolate powder mix and sprinkle it across lightly for a little color.