Pineapple Whips

I had some crushed pineapple that I needed to use up. I needed the juice for another recipe awhile back so I had just drained it and had it in a tupperware in the back of the fridge. So, what's a girl to do? I searched Pinterest of course, and came up with THIS recipe. There was just enough juice left in the pineapple to make this recipe. Kismet!

2 20oz cans crushed pineapple, drained. (Reserve 2 tablespoons of the juice.)
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons reserved pineapple juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 8oz tub whipped topping (or 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped)

Puree all but the whipped topping together in a blender or food processor until smooth (I couldn't get mine completely smooth because of how fibrous pineapple is, but it was mostly smooth).

 Pour puree into a one gallon zipper seal freezer bag and lay flat in the freezer for one hour or until the mixture starts to become slushy.

Remove from freezer, dump into a large bowl and gently fold in the whipped topping until incorporated. Put the mixture back in the freezer and freeze for another hour or so until frozen.

You can serve this in a dish like ice cream or in a glass with more pineapple juice poured over the top. Sprite or 7-Up would be good too.

I've read that the original Dole Whips don't have any sort of milk or cream--just pureed pineapple reconstituted with water. I don't know how to do that so this version works for me. Also the copycat recipe I found used real cream which would be delicious for sure, but I only had Cool Whip at my house and it worked great too. I may try cream sometime in the future. I imagine it would be easy to make sugar-free too--substitute your favorite alternative sweetener for the sugar and voilà!

This is really refreshing and easy. I can see it becoming a favorite summertime treat.

Chocolate Mousse Pie (Sugar Free Option)

This is another simple recipe! I made this the other night for my family using the sugar free option, so that my dad could enjoy it with us. It was the perfect treat to compliment our card game. :)

1 package instant chocolate pudding (Use the sugar free box if you would like for this to be a sugar free dessert)
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup of milk
1 baked 9 inch pie crust

Whip together the heavy whipping cream and the box of instant pudding until it starts to become thick. Whip in the 1/2 cup of milk.
Spoon the chocolate mousse in to the pie crust and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Refrigerate if you will not be eating it right away.

Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie

We had an early Thanksgiving feast yesterday. My dad is headed to Kuwait and we wanted to celebrate with him. My mom made this fabulous pumpkin pie. (Recipe found on allrecipes.com)
No one throw anything at me, but pumpkin pie is not a favorite of mine. This pie was so tasty and my brother had no idea he was eating sugar free pie!

1-9 inch pie crust (We used THIS fantastic pie crust recipe.)
1 egg
2/3 cup of Splenda (the kind that measures cup for cup as sugar)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup evaporated milk

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a medium bowl whisk together egg, sugar substitute, and pumpkin pie spice until well blended. Add pumpkin and milk to egg mixture, and stir until smooth. Pour mixture into pie shell.
3.Place pie on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until set in center. (Knife comes out clean)

This is a great choice for those diabetic family members, or just those watching their sugar intake.