Tag Archives: easy

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Veronica

I make this pie every year for Thanksgiving and every year I forget to blog it when Thanksgiving rolls around again. Well that ain’t happenin’ this year! I need this sucker on my blog for next year when I make the pie and need to look up the recipe. It will be so much easier to find it where I keep all my favorites. :)

This is all you need to make the pie. How simple could this be?

If you’re looking for a simple traditional pumpkin pie recipe, this one has got you covered. I prefer pumpkin gooey butter cake to pumpkin pie, but I have to provide a real pumpkin pie for those who actually enjoy it in my family, namely our oldest nephew, who is a pumpkin pie purist. This simple recipe has a traditional taste, but comes together quickly with a purchased crust, and because it combines two ingredients (milk & sugar) into one (sweetened condensed milk), and uses pumpkin pie spice, there is much less measuring than with a traditional recipe.

Despite my yearning to add more ingredients (sweet potatoes! cream cheese! vanilla bean! booze!) to change things up, I always resist this since I know my oldest nephew wouldn’t touch anything but a real pumpkin pie. And I’m always pleasantly surprised at how wonderful it tastes without any extra additions. Great texture with a perfect balance of spices & sweetness. May the pumpkin pie purists in your family rejoice & be thankful.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 (9″) unbaked pie crust (frozen deep dish, refrigerated or homemade)
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz) unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
OR 1 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/2 teaspoon ginger + 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg white, for brushing onto the crust
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you’re using refrigerated or homemade crust, roll it out and fit it into a 9″ pie plate (not deep dish–you only want deep dish if using a frozen crust).

In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs, then add the remaining ingredients, except for the egg white, and beat to combine. Do not go crazy with the beating, you just want everything mixed without excessive air bubbles. Set filling aside and brush the egg white over the bottom and sides of the pie crust. This will create a seal & help prevent the crust from becoming soggy. Pour the filling into the pie crust.

Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and continue baking 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. I don’t like to mar the pretty surface, so I bake the pie until it is mostly set but still a little jiggly in the center because the residual heat will continue baking it after you remove it. Cool pie completely before cutting. Garnish with whipped topping, if desired. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Makes one 9-inch pie.

Recipe source: adapted from Eagle Brand Perfect Pumpkin Pie

18 Comments

Posted in Pie and tagged easy, perfect, pumpkin pie, traditional. Bookmark the permalink.

Cheeseburger Salad

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Veronica

Usually when I want to enjoy a cheeseburger in salad form, I make a hamburger salad and just top it with some shredded cheddar. But I knew I had to try this Pampered Chef version when PW featured it a while back. So glad I did because it’s so much better than my old stand-by! I love how the sauce is mixed into the meat so that you don’t need dressing. Saucy, flavorful meat, crisp lettuce, pickles & onions, juicy tomatoes, cheddar cheese–this salad just can’t be beat!

OK, now Pampered Chef and PW get all crazy and actually turn hamburger buns into croutons by baking them. So cute, right? But grizzle, puh-lease! I may be crazy in certain ways, like adding way too much butter and sugar to my desserts to where they are literally swimming in evil, but I’m not the kind of crazy that likes to bake my own croutons in the summer for a simple salad. If I’m turning on my oven, it’s for something sweet, not for croutons. If you’re not my kind of crazy, you might want to just go to the original recipe for the crouton instructions. As for me, Texas Toast croutons suit my salad just fine.

But, truth be told, this is the way I prefer to eat my cheeseburger salad:

Sans croutons. I mean, the reason I like to turn hamburgers and cheeseburgers into salad is to get away from the bread because it gets in my way, and I like the veggies way more than the bread. Plus, I get enough carbs from sugar. :)

Cheeseburger Salad

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2 lbs. ground beef
1 ¼ cups ketchup
3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 small red onions, one sliced into rings, the other diced
8 dill pickle spears, sliced
4 Roma tomatoes, quartered and sliced
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
16 cups chopped Romaine lettuce (about 2 heads)
Texas Toast croutons (optional)

Cook the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove from heat, drain the fat, and stir in the ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the diced onions and pickles (you can set some aside for garnish if you like). and stir to combine. Put 2 cups of lettuce on each plate, then divide the burger mixture between them. Top with cheese, tomato, onions and pickles if you set some aside, and croutons if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Recipe source: adapted from The Pampered Chef

19 Comments

Posted in Main Dishes, My Favorites, Salads and tagged cheeseburger, cheeseburger salad, easy, fall, protein style, salad, spring, summer, winter. Bookmark the permalink.

KFC Coleslaw

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Veronica

I put random photos throughout the introduction that have nothing to do with anything except the happenings in my life. Hover over for a brief description

I haven’t been blogging much and at first that was really nice, deciding not to blog when all I wanted to do was sleep, clean, spend time with the hubs, play Wii with my nephew, go to the lake with my family, etc. It was very freeing, recognizing that it was my choice. But last week, though I didn’t post at all, I really missed it!

I finally got a “permanent” schedule at work (“permanent” because it is still subject to change, based on the demands of the PO), 2:30-11 PM M-F with weekends off (praise God for that!) and I’m trying to go to bed right after getting home each night so that it won’t be as hard to get up early on Sunday mornings for worship. So that was the main reason I held off blogging, because my intentions were good, to go to bed early, but then I’d get caught up in email/Facebook/Pinterest and I still ended up staying up till 3-4 AM each day, making it also impossible to blog in the morning since I slept through it. And yes, Sunday was a very tired day for me, as always. Week 1 of trying to go to bed early: FAIL.

So I still don’t know how regular I”m going to be while I’m trying to get on a schedule that will allow me to get up at 8 AM each day with 8 hours sleep, but ultimately my posting time will likely start to be in the late morning/early afternoon as I switch from scheduling my posts for 8 AM the night before, to publishing after typing them each day before work.

Anyway, I’m happy to share something with you today and sorry for the rambling personal introduction that has nothing to do with coleslaw! Oh wait! If you can wait one more second, I have something else to share. When I came home from work after a really bad day almost two weeks ago, I found a package waiting for me on the kitchen table. It was the kitchen tile I won from Kudos Kitchen by Renee! It was the happy ending I really needed that day.

She painted it from this image I sent her that I found on Pinterest:

I was pretty demanding for someone who won something (i.e. got it for free!), asking if she could make the colors a deeper red, green and blue to match the colors in my kitchen, and I even went so far as to ask her to change the font to a fancier one. She didn’t complain at all and I’m totally thrilled with the tile and with Renee. If you want to check out her work, visit her Etsy shop here.

Thanks for putting up with me today–it’s hard trying to write a short blog when you’ve been silent for so long! Onto the coleslaw. Finally!

I’m not a huge coleslaw fan, but I have always liked KFC’s coleslaw. Have you met my sweet teeth? (I usually claim they’re all sweet, but a few of my molars are actually partial to savory foods. ;)) Yeah, I think they enjoy the sweetness to it. So when I volunteered to bring the coleslaw to our family’s July 4th celebration, I searched for a KFC copycat recipe and found one on Amanda’s Cookin’. I was pretty stoked to find it there, because I already follow Amanda’s blog and have much love for her since she started the Secret Recipe Club, which I enjoy participating in every month.

This coleslaw is just like KFC coleslaw! So good! And if you have a food processor, man, this comes together in 10 minutes or less. Even easier, you could just buy that bagged coleslaw mix and use the dressing on it. Either way, this is a winner and my family raved over it. Dennis and I ate an entire batch of it last week, so you know we love it too.

KFC Copycat Coleslaw

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

Slaw
1 head of cabbage
2 medium carrots, peeled (about 1/2 cup shredded)
2 tablespoons dried minced onion

Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Chop cabbage into chunks, discarding the core, and run through your food processor using the shredding blade, or chop fine. Empty into a large bowl. Chop the stems off the carrots and shred them too, then add to the cabbage along with the minced onion. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a large bowl, whisk well, and pour over the slaw. Stir well, then cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, before serving to allow the flavors to marry. Serve cold.

Recipe source: slightly tweaked from Amanda’s Cookin’

10 Comments

Posted in Side Dishes and tagged copy cat, copycat, easy, fast, Independence Day, July 4th, KFC coleslaw, Labor Day, Memorial day, picnic, potluck, recipe, summer. Bookmark the permalink.

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Veronica

OK, I’m almost ready to share CW‘s recipe for strawberry shortcake, but the draft started out so long that I’m trying to break up the longer parts into separate blogs, and this stabilized whipped cream recipe certainly deserves its own post.

Dollops of whipped cream top so many summer-time desserts and a recipe for a stabilized version comes in quite handy for me throughout the year. Since I need it so often, but very rarely have the time to whip it up right before serving dessert, and can’t make it much in advance since it waters out over time, I usually make the other recipe for stabilized whipped cream that I have on my blog. But then a reader (shout out to Miss Sandi Rose!) shared her own recipe for stabilized whipped cream with me back in March and I tried it out the first chance I got because it was so interesting! I can tell you that not only was I pleased with the results, but my family was as well. I left the leftover whipped cream at my parents’ house and when Mom gave me my piping tip back next time I was over, I asked if they ate the leftovers. She answered, “We ate the h#@& out of it!” LOL! I can totally see her squirting the whipped cream straight into her mouth and laughing like a lunatic while dodging Dad as he tries to get it away from her to hog it for himself. That’s totally Crazy Man and CW.

Anyway, while you can’t tell the other recipe apart from regular whipped cream, this one doesn’t increase in volume very much, if at all, so it’s very thick and creamy and has just a little bit of tang to it, which I happen to love. The texture reminds me of mousse and it really could be a dessert in and of itself.

I used it to top a strawberry shortcake (bet you figured that out already since you’re smart like that) that I added blueberries to for our Independence Day barbecue. Check back tomorrow for the shortcake recipe-it was a huge hit and this whipped cream put it over the top!

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup heavy cream
24 miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Mash cream cheese with a fork in a medium metal mixing bowl. Slowly add the whipping cream and stir until blended. Stir in marshmallows and sugar. Chill 4 hours or overnight. (Do not cover the bowl.) Place beaters in freezer to chill while the mixture is in the fridge. Whip mixture with the chilled beaters until the marshmallows are completely dissolved and mixed in and the mixture is thick and hold stiff peaks. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Recipe source: Sandi Rose

12 Comments

Posted in Cake & Frosting, Condiments & ETC., Sweets and tagged easy, make in advance, no cook, recipe, stabilized whipped cream, Whipped cream. Bookmark the permalink.

Corn Salad with Queso Fresco

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Veronica

It’s been a while! And I’ve noticed I’m not the only one blogging less–it seems summer time is a busy time for everyone and I’m no exception. Except I haven’t been busy with obligations–I’ve been busy having fun! That’s the best kind of busy, right? :)

I’ve been enjoying my nephew’s baseball games, we celebrated my PIL’s 50th anniversary, we’ve been biking and walking, I’ve been baking for bake sales, birthdays, and banana bread experiments, and we’re going to Lake Afton every chance we get. When it’s this hot, the only thing I want to do is soak in the sun’s heat on the beach (with SPF 1,000 sunscreen, of course) and then cool off in the water. Love it so so much!

I haven’t been cooking very much, but this corn salad is one of the dishes we’ve enjoyed lately. I love eating cool foods on hot days and fresh corn in the summer is so yummy in any form! This salad has a a Mexican vibe to it and the flavors are great. You can make it as is for a side dish, or turn it into a meal by adding some leftover grilled or rotisserie chicken. Fabulous!

I added so much chicken and tomato to my salad that the corn was hardly the main feature any more!

Corn Salad with Queso Fresco

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

4 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
8 ounces queso fresco or cotija cheese
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (and seeded if desired-the seeds will add more heat)
1/2 recipe (about 6 ounces) Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
1 large avocado, pitted, peeled, and cubed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Optional: chopped tomato and leftover rotisserie chicken

Bring about 1 inch of water to a boil in a large stock pot. When the water boils, add the corn and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse and then add to a large bowl. Toss together the corn, red bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno pepper, and crumbled cheese. Toss with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette. Chill until ready to serve. Right before serving, gently toss in the avocado and season with salt and pepper. Serves 10-12.

Recipe source: Our Best Bites

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

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1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2-3 juicy limes)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar or rice vinegar*
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro, stems removed

In the jar of your blender, combine lime juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, and sugar. Blend until ingredients are completely combined. With the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add cilantro and blend until the cilantro has broken down but still maintains some of its texture. Serve with greens, on any type of Mexican salad, or use as a marinade.

*Reduce sugar to 2 teaspoons if using seasoned rice vinegar, which contains sugar.

Recipe source: Our Best Bites

11 Comments

Posted in Salads, Side Dishes and tagged corn salad, easy, fresh corn, Mexican, picnic, potlucks, recipe, salad, summer. Bookmark the permalink.

Tostada Pizzas

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Veronica

These are an insanely quick & easy lunch, coming together in less than 5 minutes start to finish. And so delicious, you will be amazed!

I was craving pizza but didn’t want to deal with rising dough or a hot oven on a sweaty summer day, so I came up with these when I spied the tostada shells on my counter. You only need your broiler on in the oven for a couple minutes and you’ve got hot, melty, crispy pepperoni pizzas. I bet these would be a huge hit with the kiddos, too. Bonus for those with gluten sensitivity: they’re gluten-free! Score.

Tostada Pizzas

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

You will need:
Tostada shells
Pizza sauce (here‘s a quick and easy recipe that requires no cooking)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Pepperoni
Other toppings of choice*

Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside. Spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce over each tostada shell, then sprinkle with cheese and toppings. Broil on high for 1-2 minutes, keeping the oven light on so you can remove them before they burn. They cook quickly so do keep an eye on them-mine took just a little over a minute to get melty and hot. Serve immediately.

*Be careful with adding too many veggies as they could water out and make the crispy tostada shells soggy.

A Veronica’s Cornucopia original

24 Comments

Posted in My Favorites, Pizza and tagged easy, fast, pepperoni pizza, personal pizzas, tostada pizzas. Bookmark the permalink.

Watermelon Black Bean Salsa

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Veronica

For the Holiday Recipe Club‘s Memorial Day blog hop, the secret ingredients to choose from were watermelon, beer, and pork. I think I’m on a salsa kick because my last recipe for the HRC on Cinco de Mayo was for Fresh Mild Salsa, and the first thing I thought of when I saw that watermelon was one of the ingredients for Memorial Day was the salsa recipe my hair dresser gave me back in February. I have been craving it ever since I read the recipe, imagining how wonderful it must taste, and I was trying to wait until watermelon were truly in season here in Wichita to try it (that happens in August for us), but with the added incentive of the Holiday Recipe Club blog hop, I knew the time had come.

This stuff is the bomb, yo! The only change I made was to add in some lime juice, which I feel was essential to achieve the salsa flavor and balance the sweetness of the watermelon. The beans, which may seem strange, are somehow a perfect fit with the flavors & textures. I could eat this as a meal, it is so good! It is juicy, and seriously addictive. It is, however, best if eaten within four hours of making it as the watermelon leaks more and more water and becomes mushy after a while. To serve this at your Memorial day barbecue or another gathering, just have the watermelon prepped in a separate container than the other ingredients, then stir them all together and refrigerate an hour before serving and you’ll have a bowl of salsa perfection ready to wow your guests.

Watermelon Black Bean Salsa

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

2 cups diced seedless watermelon
3/4 cup finely diced sweet onion
3/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely diced
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Juice from 1/2 a lime
2 teaspoons brown sugar, packed
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Tortilla chips

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients but the chips. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Drain if necessary before serving. Serve with chips within 2-3 hours of making.

Yield: 3-1/2 cups.

Veronica’s Note: I advise wearing latex gloves when handling and dicing the jalapenos, as the oils can burn your skin.

Recipe source: Jennifer L.

A big thank you to Erin for creating this club! I’m having a lot of fun with it. If you’d like to join or find out more, check out the Holiday Recipe Club website. And don’t forget to check out the other Memorial Day recipes by clicking the linky frog below.

34 Comments

Posted in Condiments & ETC., Holiday Recipe Club, Lighter Fare, Snacks & Appetizers and tagged cool, easy, Holiday Recipe Club, Memorial day, picnic, refreshing, watermelon black bean salsa. Bookmark the permalink.

Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Veronica

Wheee! We’re back and boy did we have a blast in good old Abilene. I think my blues have been cured by some good old Kansas sunshine and fun times. We did so many things I don’t know if I can even blog about it because it would either be one long blog, or a million short ones, but I’ll see what I can do later on.

While we were there, we had a cookout with the whole family and I surprised my father-in-law, Al, with an early birthday cake since we were leaving the day before his actual birthday. Since I was making it in a kitchen that wasn’t my own, and it was hot, I wanted it to be super easy, and cool and refreshing. This one fit the bill since it’s made with convenience products and is refrigerated and served cold. Plus, there’s no butter in the frosting so maybe it’s even a little lighter than my usual decadent cakes. Perfect for summer. Except for that whole turning on the oven thing, but I baked it at night so that made the hot kitchen not quite as unbearable.

Jessie’s trying to do a sneak attack on the grill!

Everyone loved the cake, but I have to be honest and tell you it’s not even close to my favorite cake. The frosting is very tart, like lemonade, and I tend to like my cake super duper sweet. If I made it again, I’d use less of the lemonade mix. But I did like it, and judging by the reviews I got, it’s totally worth sharing. It does have a nice strawberry lemonade flavor going on. Like I said, it’s a great cake for summer because it’s served cold. The frosting doesn’t get hard when cold like all the butter-laden ones I usually make, so that is nice. And don’t forget my water bottle trick to make sure your cake is super moist! I taught it to my Mother-in-law while I was there, using her tap water, and she was so excited about it that she didn’t notice I was using her undrinkable tap water until I was done. So yeah, I tried to poison everyone with not quite crystal-clean well water, but we all survived. lol

(Oh no, I hope Janice isn’t reading this! She’s a reader in Abilene that I got to meet and I brought her a piece of this cake when I stopped by her office. It was so cool to meet her, except for the trying to poison her part. If you’re reading, Janice, I was just joking about the poisonous well water. *ahem* But you might want to get checked for fingernail cancer during your next doctor visit.)

OK, enough madness. Here’s the recipe.

Strawberry Lemonade Layer Cake

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1 (18.25 oz) box strawberry cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs as directed on box)
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
1 (0.23 oz) packet of Kool-Aid lemonade
Yellow food coloring gel (as desired for color)
1 (7 oz) container marshmallow creme or fluff
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
Fresh strawberries to garnish

Make cake according to box instructions and bake in 2- 8 inch round cake pans as directed. Turn finished cakes out onto cake racks and allow to cool completely.

Once cake is cool, cream together cream cheese, lemonade and yellow food coloring until smooth. Mix in marshmallow creme and then mix in whipped topping until completely smooth. Level the cakes, and place one layer on a platter, cut side up. Spread about a third of the frosting over the top, then place the second cake layer cut side down on top. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides. Slice strawberries and place on the top and sides of the cake for decoration. Refrigerate until ready to serve and serve cold, straight from the fridge.

Recipe source: Easy Baked

Disclaimer: No humans or animals were harmed during the eating of this cake. I believe the reason they don’t drink their water is because it’s hard water, which isn’t really poisonous.

More photos from our evening…

My plate: burger, dilly cucumber salad, 7 layer dip, and jalapeno chips.

A closer look at the 7 layer dip. I did it a little different this time, putting the tomato layer on top and mixing some goodies into it (I made the tomato layer from this recipe). I also mixed in a packet of Fiesta Ranch dip mix into the sour cream instead of taco seasoning and it was even better than the original! I’ve been looking for that dip mix ever since my girl Jaci made a dip with us while we were visiting last year because it is just wonderful and miracle of miracles, I finally found it in Abilene:

I loaded up, so if you’ve never tried this and would like to, just let me know in a comment below, and I’ll draw among the interested parties for a winner of a packet. It’s so good mixed with sour cream!

Maybe you can tell he likes Coke?

Dennis and his nephew, Carson, played catch after dinner.

Look how studly my man is. He’s not much for sports but I think the sporty look is good on him. :)

When I met this boy, he was a toddler. And now he towers 6 inches over me. Kids are great at making adults feel old! lol

Love country sunsets! Such a pretty ending to the day.

30 Comments

Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged baking, easy, recipe, strawberry lemonade cake, summer. Bookmark the permalink.

Creamy Chocolate-Mint Pie

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Veronica

I know, I know. I’m supposed to be on vacation. What am I doing blogging, right? Thanks to the miracle of scheduled posting, I wrote this blog last week and scheduled it to publish today. I’m so tech-savvy! (And I’m a big liar because I can barely even text, but I’m glad I at least have this one thing figured out. It helps me a lot!)

So last month our friend, Joe, came over with a tractor to help us level out our back yard so the water wouldn’t collect in the middle and run up against our house and under the back door, flooding the basement. Yay for no more basement flooding!!!

Like my husband, Joe loves mint desserts, and as part of my thanks for his help, I made him a creamy chocolate-mint pie. Actually, I made two, because my husband deserved a “thank you” too. :) Also, you deserved the recipe, and how could I share it without cutting up a pie to show you the inside? And how could I do that to Joe’s pie? I could not. So I made Dennis a pie and butchered his pie up for you. And for me, because I ate this piece.

This pie is creamy, fudgy, smooth, and minty. I don’t know why, but mint desserts just aren’t my number one choice, and I’d probably never make them if it weren’t for Dennis and Joe (Joe is also responsible for these peppermint patties I posted a while back), but I thoroughly enjoyed my half of this pie. Yes, my husband let me have half the pie! I will not overshare how fast I ate that half, however. That would be my version of TMI. Hey, a girl has to have some secrets.

Creamy Chocolate-Mint Pie

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 1/4 cups milk
1 package (4-serving size) chocolate pudding and pie filling mix (not instant)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1-2 drops green food color
2 cups frozen (thawed) whipped topping, divided
1 Oreo cookie crust
2-4 thin rectangular chocolate and green mints, unwrapped

In 2-quart saucepan, stir together milk and pudding mix; cook as directed on package. Continue cooking over low heat while adding chocolate chips, stirring until melted. Set aside.

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, peppermint extract and green food color until smooth. Gently fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture in the Oreo crust, then top with chocolate mixture, spreading it smooth. Spread remaining 1 cup whipped topping over the top, then either chop mints or use a vegetable peeler to shave off curls, and sprinkle over whipped topping. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours before serving.

Recipe source: tweaked from Pillsbury.com

16 Comments

Posted in Pie and tagged cream, creamy, easy, mint chocolate, Pie, recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Veronica

You may have noticed I’m no longer posting regularly. I have a feeling that’s how VC will be from now on, with periodic posts when I have the time. While I hope my sporadic posting doesn’t bother any of my readers, I likely wouldn’t begin to post regularly for your sake at the expense of my own, so it would help my conscience out a lot if you would just be OK with it. Thanks. :)

Onto the pudding. I know it sounds weird, but you just have to try this to believe it how good it is. Even my avocado-hating husband loves this pudding! Basically it’s just avocado blended up with cocoa powder and agave nectar to create a sweet, silky, perfectly chocolate-y pudding. No dairy, no refined sugar, no gluten, no cooking, just blending and eating of the most delicious & wholesome dessert ever…refrigeration totally optional. We couldn’t wait and ate ours as soon as it was blended and it was fabulous. But I bet it would be even better cold.