Blueberry Vanilla Cream Pie

This recipe was created when I was trying to decide what to do with my farmer's market blueberries. The past two weeks I got them, I ate them as is - wonderful, sweet, blue, and delicious. But by now, I'd grown kind of sick of the natural state and wanted something more. So I decided to ask facebook: blueberry muffins or blueberry pie. I quickly realized muffins were the cop-out recipe.

So pinterest helped me find a basic vanilla cream pie. I had made a delicious cadbury pie for easter - which I could not find the recipe no matter how much I searched that used only a few basic ingredients.... here is the wonderful picture, it was so good. Wish I knew how I made it.

So with a quick search on the best website on earth, yes- I mean pinterest - I found this fabulous winner of a recipe: http://www.simplyorganic.com/vpie/ .

I modified it a bit by using a pre-made frozen pie crust in a pan and adding 1 cup of blueberries, som at the bottom and then after it was ready more on top, but I want to give credit where credit is due and rather than claiming it as my own, just go find the filling recipe on their page instead. :) I also subbed soymilk and it came it just as good as I think it would with real milk.

[[And before I go on blogging - I am going to justify my use of pre-made pie crust pans. They are the most affordable at Walmart, more than the pie crusts in a box that you have to spread out yourself. I'm also capable of making them from scratch, as my Aunt taught me years ago (the trick is cold water, I'll never forget, and the pastry whisk).... but I don't really have time and I wouldn't make pie so often if I always had to make a crust from scratch. I know you can freeze them, but well, I'm a grad student. No time for that and at $2.25 a package of 2 pie crusts, I'm saving money and time. So there, I rationalized enough to make myself feel better about cheating my way through pie crust-making.]] But I really can do it.

Blueberry Vanilla Cream Pie - perfect for the Fourth of July, just add strawberries!

Ratatouillie Pie

This idea popped in my head months ago. I actually scribbled it down on the dry-erase marker board on my fridge that I list all the potential recipes I can make with all the food we presently have in our fridge. Right now the list is huge since we have more groceries than I think we've ever had before.

I think the thought came when I was making the brocciflower quiche (see below) or the zucchini-oh my pie, or maybe the tomato pie I made once too.... why not just make a ratatouillie pie of all the odds and ends leftover veggies? And that is how this recipe was born. It came out fabulous and we both scarfed it down, even the hubs who hates eggplants. However, I'd like to perfect it and try again so it tastes more like ratatoullie rather than veggie pie.

So here it is, my Veggie Pie Oh My, that is delicious but impostering and wishing it was Ratatoullie Pie.

Ingredients:
1 small white eggplant, sliced and then chopped in quarters ($1)
1 small yellow squash, sliced  ($.50)
1 half a huge zucchini, sliced and chopped into quarters ($.50)
1 small onion, diced ($.33)
3 roma tomatoes, diced ($1)
1 cup of cheese ($.50)
2 eggs ($.25)
1/2 cup mayo (I use the olive oil kind, I like to think it's healthier) ($.20)
salt and pepper to taste
1 frozen pie crust in pan ($1.10)
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp each basil and oregano
fresh basil too if you have
Total: can I just say this is under $5? => officially about $5.38-$5.50

Recipe:
1. Bake pie crust 10 minutes
2. Meanwhile, steam all veggies except tomatoes for the 5-10 minutes the crust is baking.
3. After, rub dijon mustard on crust - this is the secret to making the pie crust taste so good, I always do this. Thanks Pillsbury for the idea.
4. Stir together the cheese, mayo, eggs, and spices in small bowl.
5. Drain the veggies and pour into pie crust.
6. Top with cheese-egg mixture.
7. Bake 20 minutes or more until lightly golden on top.
8. Let cool and enjoy.

Not gonna lie, this was good. It was gone within the day. Next time, I'm going to figure out though how to make it taste more like ratatouillie, perhaps less cheese and more wine.

Zucchini Pie Oh My

I’ve made the Pillsbury version of zucchini pie with crescent rolls three times over the holidays. It’s pretty fabulous but it did bring up some pet peeves of mine. It isn’t really quiche and it really isn’t pie. It’s buttery goodness but it was lacking creaminess or quichiness. After getting annoyed with the pooling of butter up top, I figured this recipe needed some remodeling. A lightbulb hit when I was visiting a friend’s family for Easter dinner and her mother made Tomato Pie. It included mayonnaise (which would have first issued an ick moment in me) but then I ate it and it was amazing. My friend and I made it again the following week.

So now that I have a huge- I mean foot long and bigger than my thigh sized zucchini, I needed to brainstorm what to do with it. While walking the dog today, I came up with this idea of putting the two recipes together. This recipe only used half my zucchini and I plan on grilling the other half for our Memorial Day BBQ. Did I mention I got this zucchini free at the Farmer’s Market because it was ugly? It was originally priced 50 cents and when I asked why, the man handed it to me and said he would have some better looking ones next week. He then inquired about what I was going to do with it… and I quickly rambled off about sautéing it or putting it on pizza. Nope, not quite this time.

Ingredients:

4 cups zucchini cut in matchsticks ($1 or free in my case)
2 eggs ($.50)
1 tablespoon butter ($.5)
½ cup mayo ($.50) [side note: I always use Light Mayo - I swear I can't taste the difference but I know how weird people get about their mayo, so use what you prefer]
1 tablespoon dried shallots
1 clove garlic
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese ($.50)
1 pie crust ($1.25)
1 tsp Dijon
10 crunks of pepper
10 crunks of garlic salt
2 tsps of parsley
1 tsp basil
Total $3.80-$4

Recipe:

1. While oven is preheating at 375 degrees, start chopping your zucchini into match stick sizes. This can be done by cutting it into 4 inch chunks, then cutting the chunks in half, and again slicing up those halves. Did that make any sense?
2. Spread Dijon mustard on pie and allow it to defrost a bit while oven is preheating. When ready, bake for 10 minutes.
3. In a tablespoon of butter, lightly sautee the zucchini for about 10 minutes. Chop the garlic and add that towards the end as well as the dried shallots. If any liquid collects, drain the zucchini at the end.
4. Transfer zucchini to a bowl and add eggs, mayo, and spices. Stir gently to not crush the zucchini.
5. Add zucchini mixture to pie crust. Top with shredded cheese.
6. Bake 35 minutes and enjoy!