I am having my family for Sunday dinner this week. Nothing fancy. We are having shake and bake pork chops, scalloped potatoes and vegetables. Probably carrots and beans. I might make some biscuits. We will see.
The heart wants what the heart wants and the men in our family are meat and potatoes men with simple tastes. They don't like anything too fancy or out of the ordinary. Especially my dad. Shake and bake pork chops are a favorite!
I don't mind in the least. I am just happy to have a family to cook for! Last year I thought I would never see my father again on this side of the veil, so I am only too happy to be here, cooking simple meals for him that he enjoys!
Life has a way of surprising you and there is always a silver lining to every cloud. Getting to spend time with my father and family is the silver lining to the cloud which has been my last six months of life!
I wanted to make a dessert tonight that I knew my father would enjoy, but that I could also control the amount of sugar in it. He's a diabetic and struggles with his blood sugars. I found this Fluffy Key Lime Pie recipe in one of my Taste of Home Books.
Its made with jello and yogurt and whipped cream. Actually the original recipe used frozen whipped topping, but I can't be doing that. Its made with petroleum. I would rather use real whipped cream.
One thing they didn't have in the UK was green jello. They had lemon lime jello, but not green colored. I know . . . me . . . won't use cool whip but uses highly colored jello. I am an enigma, what can I say.
Anyways if you use the sugar free jelly powder, you can cut back on the sugar in the recipe. I also use low fat low sugar key lime yogurt, which cuts it back even further.
The jelly powder is dissolved in a small quantity of boiling water. Make sure you really stir it to dissolve it, or you will end up with tiny green speckles throughout your dessert. It will still taste good, but not be quite as attractive.
Once you have dissolved the jelly you stir in the yogurt. Shh . . . don't tell my father there is yogurt in this. He doesn't actually like yogurt or cream cheese, but trust me when I tell you, you can't taste that its yogurt. You just taste the flavor of key lime.
The original recipe said 12 ounces. I could not find key lime yogurt in a large container, so I had to make do with small individual ones.
It took 3 small containers and about half of another one. Easy peasy.
Once you have that stirred in and the whole thing is perfectly mixed it is time to stir/fold in the whipped cream/topping. It said an 8 ounce container. I did one cup (240ml) of whipping cream, whipped.
Whipping cream just about doubles in volume when you whip it. So about 2 cups is what you end up with. No need to sweeten it. Just fold it in as is.
Once you have done that you just pour it into a prepared crust and chill it for several hours. I used a ready made graham cracker crust. Some places you can get low fat/sugar crusts. We don't get those here, so I just used a regular one.
You could also use a regular pre-baked pastry crust, which I think would be even better. Just my opinion, but today I did not have the time.
Just cover it tightly and pop it into the refrigerator and leave it to set.
Leaving it to set-up is the hardest part of this recipe, believe it or not. You just want to dig in right away.
I love desserts like this in the summer months. Easy and no cook. There is no heating up of the kitchen and they are so easy to throw together.
You could adapt this dessert to use just about any flavor of jelly and yogurt. I think some great combinations would be vanilla yogurt and orange jelly. Strawberry yogurt and strawberry jelly.
What you don't want to be using is fruit in the bottom yogurts, or yogurts with large visible pieces of fruit. You want to use smooth yogurts.
I whipped some more cream to garnish the top of the pie. I didn't bother to sweeten it. Its not necessary in my opinion. It tastes great just as it is.
I think a chocolate cookie crust would be really good as well. Especially with an orange filling. Think chocolate orange.
Lemon would also be really good. Lemon jelly and lemon yogurt. Yum!! You know me and lemon. We get along together like peas and carrots!
Covering it tightly while it sets is not a problem if you use a ready made graham cracker crust. They always come with a tinfoil pie plate bottom and a plastic lid pressing the crust into place.
Just flip the plastic lid over and you have the perfect cover. Not only does it keep the pie air-tight, but it helps to prevent anything from crushing the finished pie, preserving it perfectly for storing or carrying to a party or cook-out.
Not that there are many cookouts happening at the moment, but it won't always be this way. Once everyone is vaccinated then things should open up a bit more. Here's hoping!
I think a few fresh blueberries would go along very well with this key lime pie also. My dad loves blueberries.
Everyone who eats at my house knows every dessert comes with a piece missing. That's one of the things about eating at a food blogger's house. Photos have to be taken. 😜 Its a given.
Another given is that you know you are going to be eating something tasty, so nobody really minds! And me, well . . . pie for breakfast isn't altogether a bad thing. I'll be skipping dessert at supper time! What a fabulous way to end the month of May! 👍
Fluffy Key Lime Pie
Yield: 8
Prep time: 15 Mininactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 15 M
This quick and easy no bake dessert has very few ingredients and is totally fuss free. The hardest part is waiting for it to chill!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (60ml) boiling water
- 1 4-serving-size packet of lime jelly powder
- 12 ounces (3 1/2 single serve size pots) key lime yogurt
- 1 cup (240ml)of whipping cream whipped until stiff
- one 9-inch graham cracker crust
- additional whipped cream to serve
- a light dusting of lime zest to decorate (optional)
Instructions
- Add the boiling water to the gelatin. Stir for 2 minutes until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Whisk in the yogurt and then fold in the whipped cream. Pour into the prepared crust.
- Cover and chill for about 2 hours until set.
- Garnish with additional whipped cream and some finely grated lemon zest.
- Cut into wedges to serve. Pass additional whipped cream if desired.
I laughed at you not telling your dad that there was yoghurt in the pie. My mum always did things like that - disguised something my father claimed not to like and he ate it happily.
ReplyDeleteWe can't get lime jelly, lime yoghurt or ready made pie bases here. However, I do have a stash of packets of strawberry and raspberry jelly, plus strawberry yoghurt is sold and I know how to make a pie base, so the strawberry variety sounds perfect for a light dessert for midsummer. It will make a nice change from the classic strawberries and whipped cream we usually have - I can serve the fresh macerated strawberries with this. Yum...
What they don't know doesn't hurt Marie! People, especially older men, often have these built in prejudices against things they are afraid to try more often than not! I hope you enjoy the strawberry version! Macerated fresh berries along side would be perfect! xoxo
DeleteI haven't been here long. Long enough to know you have been through a crisis, but not what happened. I don't wish to be rude or invasive, but I can't help wondering.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry Joelie. I suppose people who just find me and haven't been reading for a while won't know. In October of last year I found out the man I had been married to for 20+ years had been lying to me for all of our marriage. He was never who or what he said he was. I found myself having to fly back to Canada with two suitcases in the middle of a global pandemic. Not nice to say the least. None of it, but I am doing okay and rebuilding my life as best as I can!
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