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!

Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil Giveaway

http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/virgin_coconut_oil.htm

Brazil Nut Brittle w/ Sugar Free Options

Grapefruit Brulee

 

Inspired by Alton Brown, thanks Alton, this one is a keeper!!

Ginger Amaretto Valentine's Cookies GF, DF

Ginger Amaretto Valentine's Cookies

Ingredients:
Dry:

1 Cups Organic Gluten Free Ginger Snap Cookies (ground)
1/2 Cup Coconut Palm Sugar (or white)
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
Pinch of Sea Salt

Toffee Twigs

How to get your fiber in each day............make it more paletable: 
Okay, these are crazy but believe it or not?  Delicious.  So................

First I started with a batch of toffee inspired by Love Veggies and Yoga's Chocolate Saltine Toffee recipe, check it out.

http://www.marysgonecrackers.com/pretzel-sticks

Then I found these twigs on sale at Whole Foods today. 


I remembered my husband making fun of me last spring when I brought a bag of these "Sticks & Twigs Pretzels" along with a bunch of "healthy" snacks on a week long driving trip we went on.  I was in the process of losing over 75 pounds and didn't want to screw it up by eating junk for a week.  Anyway, the "twigs" were pretty tough to munch on but now I have a way to make them a craving instead.........how?  Cover them in Toffee of course.

Okay so they're not eating a salad with a light vinaigrette but once in a while you just have to make something healthy taste great.  These twigs are great and store well in the fridge so you can just take a bite even some days to snip that craving for sweet and salty.  Super easy to make and everything cost about $5 so a good buy as well.  Pretzels would work as well or even chips.  Averie's toffee recipe goes great with this salty combination so give them a try.

To make these Toffee Covered Twigs, just cook up a batch of toffee, I suggest using this recipe http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/12/chocolate-saltine-toffee.html and I used "Palm Sugar" instead of Brown.  Then break up some of the Twigs, drop them in the bottem of a cupcake pan and pour a little of the toffee over the twigs.  Put in the fridge to cool and there you go....
"Twigs" are okay.  Toffee covered Twigs are awesome!

This post has been linked to  http://simplysugarandglutenfree.com/slightly-indulgent-tuesday-13112/