Taco Pot Pie

What a fun twist on a couple of favorites here in the SFFS house. Taco! In pie form! Tacos and pie! This was really good....IT Guy LOVED it...and really easy. You can use your own homemade crust or to make it even easier, use store bought pie crust. This is great hearty meal that comes together in a flash. And seriously....who doesn’t love tacos?

Taco Pot Pie

 

Crust for a double crust 9 inch deep dish pie pan

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion ~ diced

1 package taco mix

1 cup water

1 15-ounce can pinto or black beans ~ drained

1 -15 ounce can corn ~ drained

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 7-ounce can diced green chilies

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

In a large skillet, saute the onions for a few minutes then add the ground beef and cook until done.

 

Add the taco mix and water and cook until thickened.

 

Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chilies, salt and pepper and stir.

 

Place one crust in the bottom of your pie pan.

 

Spoon taco mixture into the crust.

 

Top with grated cheese.

 

Place remaining crust on top of cheese and seal crusts.

 

Slice slits into top pie crust to vent.

 

Brush crust with heavy cream OR a beaten egg, if desired.

 

Bake for 30 minutes or until pie crust is golden brown.

 

Allow pie to sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

 

Serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, etc.

Let's make some tacos. I mean pie! 

I mean taco pie! (Oops, forgot put 

the water in the shot!)

Saute the onions for a bit then 

add the meat and cook until done.

Add the taco mix and the 

water and cook until thick.

Then add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, salt and pepper and stir.

Place one pie crust in your pie pan 

then spoon the taco mixture into the crust. Add the grated cheese on top!

Place the second crust on top, vent, 

and brush with heavy cream or a 

beaten egg, if desired.

Bake to a golden brown.

Allow to set for about 10 minutes, 

then slice and serve!

Pecan Pie Puffs

I try to always keep some puffed pastry in my freezer because you never know when you might have a snack emergency. These little guys turned out so yummy! And easy? Than pie! Hehe... IT Guy loved these and I loved them because of how simple they were to throw together. I could throw a couple of these in his lunch and he could eat them at room temp or reheat them in the microwave. Add one of these to a bowl of vanilla ice cream and you’re good to go!!

Pecan Pie Puffs

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter ~ melted

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1 sheet of puff pastry

Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Unfold the pastry and cut it into 12 equal squares.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and press 1 square of pastry into each cup.

In a small bowl, combine the pecans, brown sugar and melted butter.

Divide the pecan mixture equally between the cups.

Bake the puffs for about 10 - 15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

Remove to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

How about we make some puffs??

Stir together the melted butter, 

brown sugar, and pecans.

Cut the pastry into 12 pieces.

Add the pastry to the muffin tin then 

add the pecan mixture into each cup.

Cook until golden brown.

Let's eat!

Diner Style Strawberry Pie

Do you remember when you were a kid and you’d walk into a restaurant and see all the pies in one of those carousels? The pies with the mile-high meringues or the ones with a crust so flaky you could hear it crumble? Which pie caught your eye? My gaze would almost always fall on the strawberry pie. Ruby red strawberries covered in glaze made my mouth water every time! Of course, whenever I ordered it I made sure it came with fluffy clouds of whipped cream because what’s strawberry pie without whipped cream? If you love strawberry pie, then this little gem is for you! I can almost guarantee it’ll take you back to those diner days when all you had to think about was which piece of pie you had to have right then!

Diner Style Strawberry Pie

 

1 9-inch pie crust ~ baked and cooled

6 cups fresh strawberries ~ quartered, stems removed

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 3-ounce box strawberry jello

3 tablespoons cornstarch

 

Place prepared strawberries into the baked and cooled crust.

 

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch with a whisk.

 

Add the water and stir.

 

Bring to a boil and whisk until thickened, about 3 minutes.

 

Whisk in the jello and cook for another minute.

 

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

 

Gently pour the glaze over the berries in the crust.

 

Chill until set...about 3 hours.

 

Serve with LOTS of sweetened whipped cream.

Let's make a pie!

Mix together the 

cornstarch and the sugar.

Add the water and bring 

to a boil until thick.

Stir in the jell-o and cook 

another minute or so. Cool 

for about 15 minutes.

Cut the berries and dump 

them into the cooked crust.

Pour the cooled jell-o 

mixture over the berries.

Then pop in the fridge for 

several hours or overnight.

Serve with some sweetened 

whipped cream for extra goodness!!!

White Chocolate Strawberry Cream Pie

You’re not going to believe how yummy this pie is. And the best part is you don’t even have to turn on your oven! Mix a few simple ingredients, slice some strawberries and you’re done. IT Guy spied this in the fridge when he got home from work and could hardly wait to cut into it. This little pie is so pretty with the berries on top drizzled with white chocolate. I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it as much as we do!

White Chocolate Strawberry Cream Pie

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs

6 tablespoons butter ~ melted

2 tablespoons sugar

Mix ingredients in a small bowl and press into a 9 inch pie pan. Set aside.

For the pie:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese ~ room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup white chocolate chips ~ melted

1 8-ounce container Cool Whip

1 pound strawberries ~ washed, patted dry and sliced

3 tablespoons white chocolate chips ~ melted

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.

Add the melted white chocolate and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Beat in the powdered sugar.

Fold in the Cool Whip until well combined.

Pour mixture into the prepared crumb crust.

Arrange sliced berries on top of cream filling. Drizzle with the 3 tablespoons of melted white chocolate.

Chill until ready to serve.

Magical Custard Pie

Something you may...or may not....know about me is that I LOVE custard anything. I love it! If I could eat one food for the rest of my life and never gain an ounce or get tired of it, it would be custard. Any custard based dessert....I’m all over it. Anything with custard IN it...I’m all about it. Anything FILLED with custard...yes, I love that too. So you get the idea about me and my weird and unnatural affinity to custard. So here’s this pie. Talk about easy. Dump all the ingredients in a blender and pour in a pie pan and voila! Pie! CUSTARD pie, no less. And you don’t even have to make a crust for it because...magically...the crust is made for you. How cool is that? So yeah...custard pie...make it.

Magical Custard Pie

1 cup milk

1 cup 1/2 & 1/2

4 eggs

1/4 cup butter ~ melted

2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

pinch salt

Nutmeg for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” pie pan with cooking spray.

Dump everything in your blender EXCEPT THE NUTMEG and blend on high until well combined...about 30 seconds or so.

Pour mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Bake for 45 minutes or until set.

Serve warm or cold.

The ingredients for the pie.

Blend the pie. (Please ignore the Reese's peanut butter cup wrapper in the background. A weakness of mine.)

Pour the pie.

Bake the pie.

Slice the pie. Eat the pie.

Classic Cherry Pie

Cherry pie is probably my favorite of the pies. A blackberry pie would be a close second but I love cherry pie...cherry anything. So this pie rings all my bells. It’s perfection. The right amount of sugar to tart...it’s not all runny and is great with ice cream. But that part’s a no-brainer, right? Try this pie....it’s really super-duper!

Classic Cherry Pie

 

2 pie crusts for a 9” inch pie

3 14-ounce cans red tart cherries ~ drained

5 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

 

Place one of the pie crust in the bottom of a 9” pie pan. 

 

In a large bowl, combine the drained cherries, sugar, extracts, salt and tapioca. 

 

Stir to combine. 

 

Pour into prepared pie crust. Dot cherries with butter. 

 

Place the second pie shell over the top and crimp edges to seal.

Slice vents in the top of the pie. 

 

Brush top of pie with heavy cream then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar.

 

Place pie of a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 45 - 50 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Let's make a pie!

Place one pie shell in your pie pan. I roll my pie dough between layers of plastic wrap then I remove one layer and use the other layer to help me get the crust in the pan.

Combine drained cherries, salt, tapioca, sugar and extracts in a bowl.

Dot with butter.

Place the other pie shell on top.

Cut some vents in the top of the pie then brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until golden brown.

So yeah.....yum.

Big Fat Chocolate Pie

This chocolate pie has been around our family for years! I started making it when my kids were little and it quickly became my daughter's favorite. It's a great pie...easy and delicious. We've had it for holidays lots of years and sometimes just because we needed chocolate pie. It's good with either meringue or sweetened whipped cream. Just an all around yummy pie!

Big Fat Chocolate Pie




1 10-inch pie shell ~ baked
2 cups sugar
2/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups half & half
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate ~ chopped
6 eggs yolks (whites reserved for meringue, if desired)
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla

In a large saucepan, whisk together the sugar, flour and salt.

Pour in the half & half and stir to combine.

Add the chopped chocolate and whisk for 10 minutes until mixture starts to boil and chocolate has completely melted.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks together with a little of the hot chocolate filling mixture to temper the eggs.

Pour egg mixture back into the pan with the hot filling and whisk to combine. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil and cook for about a minute.

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.

Pour mixture into the baked 10" pie shell.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the hot filling and place pie in the fridge for several hours or over night.

Serve with whipped cream or meringue made from the reserved from the egg yolks.


 

Let's cook!

 

Mix together the sugar, flour and salt 

in a saucepan then pour in the half & half.

 

Add the chopped chocolate then 

cook until mixture thickens, boils 

and the chocolate has completely melted.

 

Add a little of the chocolate mixture 

to the egg yolks to temper them.

 

Then add them into the chocolate 

mixture and stir and cook until 

mixture is thick and boils.

 

Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla.

 

Pour filling into your cooked pie shell, 

cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge.

 

Slice and enjoy!!

Caramel Apple Crumble Pie

I'm not a huge apple pie person....I'd rather have chocolate. But IT Guy loves it so I make it for him from time to time. I had some leftover cake mix from another recipe so I used it as a topping for this pie. Remember "dump cakes"? Well...I guess you could call this a "dump pie". It turned out really good and yes..I managed to eat a slice. Or two.

Caramel Apple Crumble Pie



5 – 6 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples (I used Gala apples)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup dry yellow cake mix
1/3 cup caramel sauce (I used ice cream topping) plus extra for drizzling
1 cube butter ~ melted
1 pie crust (I used ready made but homemade is fine, too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice and vanilla.  Set aside.

Arrange pie crust in a 9-inch pie pan and drizzle with the 1/3 cup caramel sauce.

In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cornstarch.

Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples then pour into the crust.

Sprinkle dry cake mix over the apples the drizzle the melted butter over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown and the apples are done.

Cool to room temp, slice then drizzle with extra caramel sauce.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.


 

Anyone for pie?

 

Slice your apples then mix together 

the brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, 

nutmeg and cornstarch and sprinkle 

over the apples. Toss to coat.

 

Arrange pie crust in a 9-inch pie pan 

and drizzle with the 1/3 cup caramel sauce.

 

Add the apples.

 

Sprinkle dry cake mix over the apples.

 

Then drizzle with the melted butter.

 

Bake!

 

Cool, slice and eat! Don't 

forget the ice cream!