Organic- Dairy Free Strawberry Pie

It took me awhile to start my first post because I wasn't sure what it should be about! Last Sunday my husband and I (along with some cool friends) went Strawberry pickin' at a farm nearby. We came home with 2 gallons of freshly-picked strawberries and I had enough to make some no sugar added Strawberry Jam.  (side note: Splenda is a sugar! Look at the ingredients and for a blog coming up about Splenda and how much I dislike it along with other "sugar-free" sugars). I used fruit juice in place of sugar and it turned out O-Mazing!

Since I'm currently 5 1/2 months pregnant and bored out of my mind at the house, I decided to go overboard and surprise my husband with a Gluten-free Dairy-free Strawberry Pie. And I'm  SOOO glad I did! It was super yummy and even my Dad gobbled it up after I told him it was a healthy version. :) And don't worry, you don't have to have a gluten-free crust. See ingredients below. And I figured since it was a healthier version, I added a scoop of Breyer's Slow Churned 1/2 the fat Vanilla ice-cream (TIP # 1: BUY THIS BRAND OF ICE-CREAM- IT'S THE MOST NATURAL OUT OF ALL THE ICE-CREAM BRANDS excluding organic brands/versions. If you have the money for that and don't need to be a frugal foodie or have a coupon...by all means buy the organic).

I think its great that my first blog about dessert because it shows that I really believe that all things are good in moderation. If you can make a few substitutions for all of your recipes, your previous unhealthy recipes can become pretty darn healthy! You still have to keep in mind the rule of moderation. It probably wouldn't be "healthy" to eat this Strawberry Pie everyday. It's amazing what delicious things can happen with substitutions. It's my one secret...

So back to the Strawberry Pie....

BEFORE PIC....

I found a recipe online that had main ingredients like white flour, white sugar, butter, store-bought pie crust. So....

INSTEAD OF:
White Flour
* I used OAT FLOUR (Red Mill is a great brand and can be found at Whole Foods. It's a splurge, but you can make your own oat flour by grinding oats until they are as fine as flour). Its a super tasty, healthier, flour and is gluten-free.
* If it's too far a stretch you could use WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR as well and its cheaper (can be found at Walmart)
White sugar
* I used ORGANIC TURBINADO RAW CANE SUGAR (found at Publix and had a coupon. Can find at Walmart, Kroger, Trader Joes).
* If you are needing a sugar-free pie please DO NOT USE SPLENDA OR ANY OTHER ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER. THEY ARE HORRIBLE FOR YOUR BODY!
* Instead, try using Stevia (also called Truvia), which is a natural, plant based sweetener that is calorie free and is not, nor does it contain sugar (like Splenda and other artificial sweeteners that lie to you and call themselves sugar free)
note: I have not used Stevia in this pie and do not what it will taste like but plan on making another with Stevia. It is VERY sweet so you might have to reduce the amount
Butter
* I used EARTH BALANCE ORGANIC BUTTERY SPREAD which is dairy and soy free. Best bought at Trader Joe's as its less expensive there. It contains an expeller-pressed natural oil blend and I love it.
Store bought Pie Crust
* I still used a store bought Pie Crust but I bought a gluten-free pie crust for Ben and it was pretty nice.
* You can buy ALL-NATURAL PIE CRUST from Trader Joes and I suggest that you do because often the pie crusts from other stores contain things that are NOT good for you (like partially hydrogenated oils and other ingredients you can't announce).

FINALLY....

HERE"S THE.....RECIPE!

ORGANIC STRAWBERRY PIE

Ingredients

• 1 pie crust
• 3/4 cup Turbinado Raw Cane sugar
• 3/4 cup Oat Flour
• 6 tablespoons dairy free butter spread (Earth Balance)
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled
• 1/2 cup Turbinado Raw Cane sugar
• 1/2 cup Oat Flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place a drip pan on lowest shelf to catch pie juices.
2. To Make Topping: In a medium bowl, mix until fluffy the 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup flour, butter-spread, and nutmeg.
3. Place cleaned strawberries in a deep bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and cornstarch. Gently coat berries with this mixture; be careful not to crush berries.
4. Pour berries into prepared pie crust mounding them in the middle; mounding is necessary as the berries will sink as they bake. Cover berries with crumb topping and top crumbs with about 15 pea-sized blobs of butter. Wrap edges of pie crust with foil to prevent burning.
5. Bake pie in preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and bake for an additional 40 minutes. When there are 10 minutes left of baking, sprinkle a little extra sugar over crumb topping and then finish baking.