Julie's Berry pie and summer time treats

Saturday Chuck and I went over to my mom's house to help her out with her computer. We took our fur kids, Shiloh and Josh. They had the time of their lives. Running up and down the stairs to the garden. Lucky for us, mom's peach tree was loaded with pure goodness. We came home with a nice batch white peaches. Then a good friend of ours came over and brought us some fresh raspberries and strawberries, which was perfect timing since I had just finished reading Julie's berry pie post! I know this is a crazy confession, but I have never liked berry pies or fruit pies for that matter. I have also never made a berry pie. If I was at someones home and they served berry or cherry pie for dessert I would smile and eat it, only if it was drowned in vanilla ice cream. Now I don't know if this is just me or if other vegans have had this experience, but when I went became a 100% totally committed vegan my taste buds changed. Changed big time! I love fruits and veggies, that I had never eaten before and I love it!! I think part of it is because even as a vegetarian, heavy sauces and cheeses' played a big part in my diet. Both of these can hide the true beauty and taste of wonderful produce.

So on with my first berry pie. I had a store bought crumb crust in the pantry just waiting to be used. I put a layer of raspberries around the edges, filled in the center with strawberries, and topped it with slices of the peaches from mom's house.

The next layer is made with a frozen berry mixture of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.

And finally it is served with non other than Soy delicious purely decadent vanilla ice cream. This ice cream is a treat because it is very rich! The picture does not do the pie justice, but let me tell you Julie's recipe is wonderful. This pie was gone in 2 days. In the future I think it would work better with a pastry crust. By day 2 we had more of a cobbler then a pie because the crust had soaked up all the juice and was too soggy to slice. Out came the spoon! Thank you Julie for another awesome recipe!

Julie also posted some great ideas for summer time icy treats. I wanted to make some, but was short on ingredients for each of her recipes. Well, what does one do? They search the Internet until they find a recipe, which they have all the ingredients for. Foodfit.com has 5 different Popsicle recipes here. I had all the ingredients for Tropsicles. Who can go wrong with banana, mango, pineapple juice, coconut milk, and honey or agave. Now it has been quite awhile since I made Popsicles and was so happy when Julie's post inspired me. The hard part was searching out my rustic Tupperware ice pop molds. They have to be close to 30 years old. So here are my tasty treats. Blend 1 banana, 1 cup chopped, peeled, pitted mango,1/2 cup pineapple juice,1/2 cup light coconut milk,1 tablespoon honey( I am sure you could substitute agave), and 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice. Pour into your molds, freeze, and enjoy! This recipe made 8 Popsicles and they are 1 point on weight watchers