Pistachio Crusted Lemon Curd Pie

My birthday is coming up next week and I decided to treat myself to one of my favorite desserts:  Lemon Bars.  After doing some research to try to adapt a recipe to be sugar and dairy free, I settled on a loose version of this one:  http://www.bojongourmet.com/2012/04/meyer-lemon-semolina-bars.html from The Bonjon Gourmet.  Except when I say a "loose version" I mean it really turned out to be only the lemon curd basics that I used.  So here's what turned out to be my

 Pistachio Crusted Lemon Curd Pie.  

                                                                               

Press the crust mixture onto bottom of skillet pushing up on sides to form crust. Cook on stove top over low heat until crust firms up and browns slightly.

     When your custard has cooked and thickened, remove from heat and add in the cornstarch, whisking quickly to incorporate the starch in smoothly and thicken custard even more.  Then pour the custard through a stainer to remove any lumps or egg pieces from the custard, draining strained custard over baked pie crust.                    Decorating hint:  If you ever need "powdered sugar" but only have regular white sugar, you can easily make powdered by blending white sugar in a coffee grinder for a few minutes to form 'powdered'

This pie can be made in a regular pie plate. .  Bake the crust in an oven at 300 for 10 minutes until it browns lightly. 


Cool the crust before pouring in lemon custard mixture.  Freeze thoroughly before serving.


I keep this frozen cut into slices.  The lemon flavor is very strong and tastes best with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.  Small pieces will do, it's very tart!

Thanks for all the Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Hair Treatment Giveaway entries!

Citrus Coconut Butter Cup Cookies

On my way home the other day, I noticed that the Butter Cup flowers are flooding the area fields.  They are just beautiful and inspired me to try a new cookie recipe with an old silicone mold I have.         The recipe is pretty simple to make. 

 In the instructions, I've altered it to just make rounded cookies with the chocolate centers but if you do have a cool mold to use it does form well to the details of a pattern.

Doesn't make them taste any better, it looks nice.                                                 

                                                        Real Butter Cup Flowers are toxic to humans.  But my version is definately not.  Lemony, with a touch of Vanilla. And they are pretty guilt free as far as Dairy and Sugar. The recipe here makes about 12 medium size molded cookies. 

Enjoy!

Thanks for all the Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Hair Treatment Giveaway Entries!

Tropical Traditions Hair Oil Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks for the entries


Lavender is one of my favorite scents.  So relaxing and mild, especially

fresh lavender live on the plant.

http://www.freefoto.com/index.jsp

I have a lavender plant growing in the front yard that did pretty well it's first year, sprouted 4-5 shoots with blossoms.

Then this spring I transplanted it to a better area so we'll see how it does.

Until then, I'll rely on better sources for my lavender fixes.

Tropical Traditions sent me a lavender scented coconut oil hair treatment to try.

It smells wonderful. I have used it on the tips of my hair for a couple weeks now
but I really prefer it as

a moisturizer for my legs. To each her own right?

Well now Tropical Traditions will offer one of my readers a bottle to try out for themselves.
Tropical Traditions is the best place to get Virgin Coconut Oil I think. 
I've used their Coconut Oil in my recipes and love it!

Like my Diary Free Raspberry Mocha Cookie Cream Cake, YUM!!

 And now that I've tried their haircare products,
I'm loving my options for all the Coconut products they have.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/4h6eycjf29M
Tropical Traditions has formulated three different organic coconut oil hair oils using their organic Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil along with other high quality organic oils known to benefit hair. Along with the base of organic Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil, they have included organic jojoba oil, organic macadamia nut oil, organic rosehip oil, organic shea butter, and organic carrot seed oil in each formulation. Two of the formulations are scented with the highest quality organic essential oils available, imported from France: Rosemary and Lavender. There are no other ingredients besides these high quality organic oils: NO SILICONES, NO SULFATES, and NO ALCOHOLS.

The winner will receive ( 1 ) 8 oz. Bottle in their choice of
Lavender, Rosemary or Unscented Tropical Traditions Organic Hair Oil.
A $28 value for free!

To enter the Giveaway:

You must subscribe to the Tropical Traditions News Letter: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm
and
Facebook 'Like' Canned Time
And then:      leave a comment letting me know that you did, or have previously.

For more entry options you may:

(*you must leave a separate comment here for each entry, this increases your odds of winning)

Follow Canned Time on Twitter

Facebook 'Like' Tropical Traditions  

  

Twitter Follow Tropical Traditions   

Follow Tropical Traditions on Pinterest

Follow Canned Time on Pinterest

Contest ends May 1st at Midnight.
Contest is open to US and Canadian residents only.  Winner will be chosen randomly.

Here's more information on using Coconut products and how:

How to Use Coconut Oil: There are hundreds of uses! http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/how-to-use-coconut-oil.htm

Where to Buy Coconut Oil? http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/buy-coconut-oil.htm

What is Virgin Coconut Oil? http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/what_is_virgin_coconut_oil.htm

Tropical Traditions has provided me with free products to review although I am under no obligation to provide a positive review, or offer a giveaway, nor am I being compensated for offers on my blog.

Spiced Up Pears

I had some help from Mr. Floydy this afternoon canning up some spiced pears. 

I canned some pears 2 years ago to give as gifts (ate 2 jars myself though)  and everyone loved them.

This batch, I decided to use a little more spice and to leave the skins on too.

They turned out really nicely sweetened and with a tender but not mushy texture.

I think leaving the skins on helped the slices to not break apart so much as my first batch did.  The first batch tasted fine but this one was more like fresh fruit.  Here's the link for my first batch:

http://cannedtime.blogspot.com/2010/12/spiced-pears.html

Spiced Up Canned Pears                                   

5 - 6  Pears Cored and Sliced (any type or a mix)

1 Cup of filtered warm water

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves

1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 tsp. Allspice

3 Tbs. Coconut Palm Sugar (or other sweetener)

2 droppers full of lemon flavored liquid Stevia (or 1 tsp. of lemon juice + 1 tsp. Stevia Powder)

Add in additional Stevia to taste and ripeness of the pears. 

Heat water to a boil, add in pear slices and all other ingredients.
Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes
then remove from heat while you fill the jars.

Spoon Pear slices into 2 - 3 Pint Size Canning jars. 
Fill pear filled jars with cooking water to 1/2 inch head space in each jar.
(see Water bath canning process)

20 minutes processing time. 
Remove from water and cool in a non drafty area for at least 12 hours.

Remove outer rings and rinse jars before storing for up to 2 years in a cool dark area.

Of course if you don't want to go through the canning process, these would be fine just stored in the fridge for a couple weeks.  Not sure about how the texture would be if frozen though.

The Water Bath process is easy once you learn it and makes having homemade goodies so nice in your storage for years!

Enjoy!

Vegan Southern Style Banana Pudding

This is a pretty good substitute for the real thing and much healthier than the average banana pudding.

                                                                                                                                                       

I picked up these gorgeous little bowls this weekend at a little Antique shop and had to come up with a special dessert to show them off.  The bananas (and the chocolate cookies) really brought out the golden glass.

I did spice it up some today with the chocolate dipped cookies I used but other than that it's awefully good for you, body and soul..........

I placed the extra bananas and cookies into bowls and then poured the cooked pudding right on top.

I think this dairy and processed sugar free version will make anyone crave a big spoonful!

It's a childhood favorite and my Mom always made it so good........... 

It was tempting to just make it the old fashioned way. 
                          But this one will definitely do for flavor and texture                             

Make sure that your bananas are ripe to past ripe so they are sweet enough.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the Holiday LEDS Giveaway entries.  Winner will be announced Tuesday.

Crock Pot Oat Chewy Chocolate Bars

 A cold rainy Sunday today.  So glad our trip ended this weekend before the rain started today.















I know how much the plants need the drink....it is much colder out than it has been the past few weeks here so the rain seems a little more depressing.

I needed to make up some comfort snacks to warm things up..........

These Oat Bars will do the trick I think.................They turned out nice and chewy, not much sugar and will last through the week for breakfast and snacks.

I had some leftover toasted coconut from my Chocolate Donuts with Key Lime Frosting & Toasted Coconut   But my husband isn't too fond of coconut anything.........  so I only used it on half of the Oat Bars.   The chocolate I used was from Trader Joe's, dark, that I melted down and added in a little vegetable butter (Earth Balance) to give it a shine and also a few drops of NuNaturals Liquid                   Stevia Orange flavor.

Thanks for all the Holiday LEDS Giveaway entries.  Contest ends Monday night.

Pepperoni Chicken Fra Diavolo

This was such an quick and easy dish to make.  I put everything in the crock pot for about 4 hours on low, took 10 minutes to cook up some pasta and viola.........dinner.

Adjust amounts to your own cooking method:

2 jars of Paul Newman's Fra Diavolo Sauce
4 Boneless Chicken breasts
1- 2 Cups of sliced Pepperoni

Stir and let cook up until the chicken is done through at least but all day in a crock pot if needed.
The sauce just gets better and better cooked slow with the chicken and pepperoni flavors.

About an hour before serving, I adding in a sliced Zucchini to make it a complete meal.


I served this with refrigerator biscuits that I buttered with Earth Balance Vegetable spread and some garlic salt and sesame seeds on top.  Perfect weeknight meal and even better warmed up the next day.

If you can't find the Paul Newman's, just take your favorite spaghetti sauce and add a little heat to it.  Red Pepper flakes, or other.  You could also change this up to a vegetarian version using fried Tofu although I'm not sure it would hold up to the crock pot method.

Anyone have a quick recipe they love for those nights when you just want a good meal without having to think about it?

Thanks for the Holiday LEDS giveaway entries!

Getting Away

We're taking a few days away from the city rush and traffic to get some fresh air

(and pollen unfortunately)

I started out the day with my favorite smoothie since I wasn't leaving before sunrise
like most mornings:

Frozen Bananas
Frozen Pineapple
Almond Milk
Flax Meal
Liquid Vanilla Stevia (NuNaturals of course)
Cinnamon
and a big Mason Jar to pour it all into


So nice to have time in the morning to enjoy
heathy fresh ingredients.....



I found a couple real bargains yesterday to
take along too:

                                                                                  
$10 for the jacket and $5 for the
t-shirt?  Can't beat that..........................
It's going to be one of those chilly morning and hot afternoon weekends so I need a little of everything to have on hand to wear.  These should work out well, especially for the price!

Definitely a shopping find!

Bringing along this bargain too:
This Coconut Oil Hair Treatment from Tropical Traditions is awesome. 
I got the Lavender scented and it's wonderful to rub on your skin before bed.  

Smells so light and relaxing! 
I know, it's supposed to be for hair, but hey, if it works?

Pink Floydy will have the weekend off as well....

 He'll be doing mostly this....................

                                                                                         A little bird watching..........

Then protecting the house and watching for that big guy who comes over with food
when Mommy is gone...

Spicy Pepperoni, Zucchini, Chicken, and Fra Diavolo sauce.
Coming up soon on Canned Time

I have a great simple dinner recipe to post when
 I get back in the kitchen....
Here's a sneak peak:






Hey the Holiday LEDS string light Giveaway is still going strong while I'm gone.
Be sure to enter and leave your comments before Monday night!

Thanks for all the entries, Be Safe!