Peppermint Pudding Pie

Peppermint Pudding Pie

Every year around this time, I look forward to making my peppermint pudding pie recipe.  It is super easy to make, and it is reduced fat, and reduced sugar.  And yes, it is still really yummy, you do not even miss any of the extra fat or sugar.  I have a little bit of a sweet tooth, but because I am diabetic I have to really watch what I eat, so I modified this pudding pie recipe.  Here are a list of the ingredients you will be using...
Low fat Cool Whip
2 Packages of Sugar Free White chocolate instant pudding
1 cup Skim milk
2 tsp. Peppermint extract
Roll out dough pie crust
peppermint chips, or crushed candy canes

Before you start mixing the ingredients for your pie, get the oven preheated to 450 degrees.  You will bake your pie crust first.  The Pillsbury Pie Crust work the best, I have tried the off brand, but it is not the same.
Roll out your pie crust, you will only need one.  Then place it in a oven safe pie dish.  You then have to pinch the sides all the way around.

 It looks like this before you smooth it out and pinch the sides.

This is what the pie crust should look like before it goes into the oven.  The directions say to bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  I usually leave mine in for just about 8 minutes.  You just want it to get a slight golden brown like this...

So now while your pie crust is cooling you can get started on the pie filling.

In a large mixing bowl, add 2 packages of the sugar free white chocolate instant pudding, and 1 cup of skim milk.  Mix together until you get a thick smooth mixture.

Once you get this thick smooth mixture, then add the cool whip.  I either use one large tub of cool whip, or two of the smaller tubs.  I mix in a little at a time.  I also now add the 2 tsp. of peppermint extract.

Once it is all mixed together, then add the pie filling into your cooled pie crust.  I then add the peppermint chips, or crushed peppermint to the top.  And it is just as easy as that.  This pie is refreshing and light, and will leave you feeling less guilty about eating a holiday dessert!  Hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and please give this recipe a try, you will not be disappointed.

~Gretchen

These are a few of my favorite things....for the holiday season

So for the holidays I have a few favorite things that I enjoy this time of the year.

1.  Seeing all the beautiful window displays at local antique shops.  This photo was taken of an antique shop window display in New Albany, IN.  My cousin, aunt, mom, and I spent the afternoon shopping at their local boutiques.

2.  Vintage ornaments on my little silver tinsel tree.

3.  I absolutely love collecting Cody Fosters glittery holiday houses.  Each one is so interesting, and tells a story with all its little decorations and details.  This pink one happens to be my favorite!

4.  I love this ornament because of the color combination of red and turquoise.  I love using those two colors together during the holidays.  You should try using red and turquoise while wrapping your packages.

5.  Making ornaments with my boys is a holiday tradition that I look forward to every year.  This year we made these little pine cone elves.  Each one is as individual as my boys are.  I have the directions on how to make these on the previous blog posts.

6.  My glittery, sparkly, shoes are a holiday staple!  I love wearing them every chance I get during the holidays.

7.  Nothing says Christmas more than fresh greenery all around.  I love the way it smells and looks.

8.  Elf on the Shelf is another holiday tradition that we have at our home.  I love to see the look on my boys' faces when they find where the elf is hiding every morning.

9.  This is a garland that I made for my mantel this year.  The garland reads "JOYFUL", because that is what we should feel this time of the year.  I made it with vintage script paper and some scrapbook paper, along with some glittery snowflakes and snowmen.

10.  I try to add a few vintage ornaments to my collection each year.  It is so fun going out antiquing and finding all these lovely treasures.  Each one has such history.

11.  This is an ornament that I made last year at the Creative Connection Event.  I just love little birds, and I adore this little birdie perched on her nest, wearing a crown of course ;)

12.  And last but not least, I love the way department stores decorate for the holidays.  It just makes shopping even more fun.  I enjoy hearing the Christmas carols ring through the store, and all the workers seem happy to help.  Everything seems more magical when you add Christmas lights to it!

I'd love to hear what your favorite things are this holiday season.  I took all these photo's using my iPhone, and they were posted to my Instagram account.  Instagram is a fun iPhone app, that I highly recommend.  If you would like to follow me, I have a link on my blog page(the one with the little camera).   Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!

Until next time...

XO~Gretchen

Pine Cone Elves

PINE CONE ELF ORNAMENTS

Tis the season for Christmas Crafts. And with the holidays just around the corner, I decided to craft with my kids while they are on their Thanksgiving Break from school.  I found this idea from Martha Stewart, and thought that my boys would enjoy making these elves.  So we embarked on an adventure to Michael's Craft store and found all the supplies that we needed.  Here are the supplies......

We purchased, felt in various colors, a bag of small pine cones, colored pipe cleaners, paint pens, wooden round pieces for the heads, small candy canes, and some ribbon so we could hang them on the tree!

Let the creativity begin....

I let the boys pick out the color scheme they wanted for each of their elves.

They worked on their little elf faces...

I did most of the assembling, since a hot glue gun was involved.

Viola'....they were both so proud of their new little elf buddies!

I found that these little elves sit perfectly in the branches of our tree :)

We slightly changed the directions that Martha had on her website, but if you would like the pattern for the hat, gloves, and shoes check out marthastewart.com

Hope you have as much fun creating your own family of elves as me and my boys did!  We ended up making several of these and gave them as gifts.  I love handmade holidays!

Happy crafting, until next time!

XO~Gretchen

Halloween Festivities 2011

This year was no different then years past.  It seemed like October at our house was really busy, with all the Halloween/Fall parties that we attended.  Happy to see my boys get great use out of their costumes.  We certainly enjoy spending time with our family and friends!  Fall is such a beautiful time in KY, the leaves are turning, the temps outside are pleasant, and there are so many wonderful local activities in our area!
I come from a huge extended family, I have over 25 cousins that I am close to.  My mom is one of nine siblings, so all our family gatherings are chaotic and fun!  Most of my cousins have kids too, so now we continue to pass on all these fun family traditions.  My cousin Elizabeth and her husband Tom host an annual Fall Festival at their home.  They had so many wonderful activities planned for all the kids and adults.  There was face painting, a giant bounce-around, corn hole, stations to craft and make a mask, or paint a pumpkin.  And the biggest hit, was the pony rides!

Waiting for a pony ride!

My son, getting instructions....

And he is off.....

My youngest, riding the pony, and loving it!

My beautiful Goddaughter is a natural :)

Having fun jumping with cousins!

Making cotton candy, and turning into a sticky mess!

My husband and oldest son, playing some corn hole

Cutie Cousins!

Adorable!

My parents with my boys.

My lovely grandparents, they have been married for over 60 years!

My hubs and our son.  AKA his clone :)

And when night fell, the kids all roasted marshmallows, what a perfect way to end a great day!

Another Halloween tradition is our family Halloween party, which my mom hosted this year....

Some of the boy cousins, we were missing a few..

Sweet little girl cousins...

Um, this is our cousin Landon, who is the sweetest little monster ever!

Two of my three boys, the oldest is too old for trick-or-treating.

Carving pumpkins the night before with grandma...

Finally Halloween arrived, as if we already didn't have enough candy in the house from all the parties.  The kids had a ball trick-or-treating with their friends from our old neighborhood.  These truly are the moments that you want to hold on to forever. 

Hope that you had a wonderful October, filled with lovely traditions.

Until next time....

XO~Gretchen