Rhubarb Pie

Best pie crust ever --- Made with real butter:

This recipe makes two 9 inch pie crusts. It tastes so much better than making one with Crisco.

• 2 c. all purpose flour (don't forget to sift it first!)


• 1/4 t. salt


• 2/3 c. cold butter


• 4 to 5 T. cold water (I used ice water and it was more like 7 T. for me)

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in enough water with a fork so that flour is moistened. Make sure it is all mixed together and roll into a ball. Divide ball in 1/2. Roll each half out separately.*

*Make sure you flour your surface, hands, and rolling pin before handling this bad boy because it is a little sticky (but totally worth it).

Rhubarb pie:

• 1 c. sugar


• 3 T. flour


• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon (I might try and leave this out the next time, maybe. It is really good but I like my rhubarb tart.)


• 2 eggs


• 4 c. fresh or frozen** rhubarb


• 2 9 inch pie crusts (See recipe above or cheat and use store bought. If using store bought, I recommend the pillsbury ones that you have to lay out in the pie pan (not the ones already in a metal dish))


• 1 T. butter

In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add eggs. Whisk until smooth. Gently stir in the rhubarb.

Line pie plate with pie crust. Put in filling. Dot the 1 T. of butter over the filling. Put on the top pie crust. Trim, seal, and flute the crust. Cut about four vents in the top.***

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack. Store leftovers (there won't be any for long!) in fridge.

**Rhubarb isn't really plentiful in Oklahoma so I used a one pound bag of frozen rhubarb that I got at WalMart. I defrosted it in the microwave and then drained it in a colander (I didn't press it to get liquid out though and I recommend you don't either.).

***At this point, I brushed part of a beaten egg on the top of the pie crust. I sprinkled about 1 T. of sugar on top of this. It made the crust taste even better and made the pie beautiful (if I do say so myself)!

Operation: Sexy Back!

So...for all of you who read my blog (i.e. the best ex-roomate ever, Andi), I'm going to be putting up new recipes that I'm trying while doing my low-carb diet. Maybe these will help others to lose some weight while eating something tasty. I can't stand to eat the same thing every day so I'll be trying many recipes (whether published somewhere or of my own creation) out. I started the low-carb thing yesterday and have already lost weight, so maybe this will work out for me. I need to lose between 31 and 36 pounds total to get back to my pre-law school weight. Yes, law school really made me that FAT. I'll have to detail my weight loss in a chart or something so that I'll stay motivated. See below for new recipes I tried today and my comments on how they turned out.

Atkins' Vanilla Ice Cream:

Makes: 6 1/2 cup servings
5.4 grams of carbs per serving

First you must make the Basic Ice Cream Custard.
2 cups heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1/2 vanilla bean, split open and scraped
8 packets of sugar substitute*

Heat cream in a heavy sauce pan over a low heat. Whisk in one egg yolk at a time. Add vanilla bean scrapings and whisk until custard begins to thicken. Remove from heat and cool. Beat one packet of sugar substitute at a time into cooled custard. At this point the custard is ready to add recipe ingredients that make it ice cream**.

*I only used six splenda packets and I definitely thought this was more than enough.
**You could just refrigerate the custard and use it as a dessert.

Vanilla Ice Cream:
Basic Ice Cream Custard (above)
1 T. vanilla
2 T. Sugar Free Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding Powder

Prepare the Basic Ice Cream Custard (detailed above). While cooling, whisk in vanilla extract and pudding powder. Cool to room temperature.

Place in ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions.***


***I have a 2 quart Cusinart electric ice cream maker. The ice cream took 25 minutes to get to the appropriate consistency.

This really turned out delicious. I think it would more appropriately be called a custard ice cream. It is very rich. My husband Paul really liked it and didn't even realize it was a "diet" ice cream. I do think there is a bit of a Splenda aftertaste but Paul denied tasting this.


Seared Marinated Chicken Breast (this is my own creation):

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts (as many as you need);

French or Italian dressing (by French, I mean the kind that has vinegar and oil, not the nasty orange kind), approximately 5 T.;

Lemon Juice, approximately 1 T.;

Herbamare, just sprinkle this over the chicken ( This is a seasoning that I use in tons of recipes. You can get it on amazon.com or at a health food store.);

Butter ( I used the salted variety), 3 T. for whole recipe when making two pieces of chicken (2 T. for cooking the chicken and 1 T. for sauteeing the mushrooms and onions);

White onion, diced, approximately 1/8 cup;

Mushrooms, sliced, approximately 1/3 cup; and

Mozzarella Cheese (as much as you want).

I took boneless, skinless chicken breasts and rinsed them off with cool water (I hate how they feel sticky when they come from Wal-Mart). I then cut them in half to make them thinner. I also cut off any fat on the breasts. I dipped the chicken breasts in a mixture of the salad dressing and lemon juice. I put some herbamare on the chicken breasts. I cooked the chicken breasts on a medium heat in a frying pan with melted butter (I did two chicken breasts, cut in half, with approximately two T. salted butter in the skillet) until cooked through. While the chicken was cooking, I sauteed the onions and mushrooms in butter in another skillet in 1 T. butter. Since Paul doesn't like mushrooms, I just did onions for him. After the chicken was cooked, I plated it. I placed the sauteed mushrooms and onions on top of the chicken. I put shredded mozzarella (however much you want) on top of that. I let that melt (you might have to nuke it in the microwave for about 30 seconds) and it was ready to go.

I served this with a garden salad.

Both Paul and I really enjoyed this recipe. I will definitely be making this again. I tried to cook the chicken in olive oil in a skillet at first but it wasn't smelling how I wanted it to so I switched it to a skillet filled with the 2 T. of butter.

My Blog

I dedicate my blog to life - to life's boring times, to life's little (or big) embarrassments, and to lives other than mine. Basically this blog will consist of my ruminations, whether they are about my own life, about people I know, or even about politics and newsworthy events. As I age (yikes!) I think about how the really important things in life all center around a life well lived. I plan to use this blog as a sort of diary to capture and editorialize on the happenings in my life. I hope you read and enjoy.