Easy Strawberry Pie

Well strawberries are in season and they are lovely looking. The kids love them too. And I had to finagle some away so they wouldnt eat them all. I am not kidding that I bought a large carton of strawberries and they were eaten in one sitting in one day by the kids!! I dont even wanna think about how much they are going to eat in 10 years!! But I digress. So back to strawberries. I saw this recipe in my Cooking Light magazine and it looked absolutely divine so I knew I had to try it!! And it is easy. Shocker right?! Most of the foods I make are time consuming some even taking days to prepare before they are ready to eat. But this my friends is an exception!! Anyone could make this is 20 minutes and be eating it 30 minutes after that (time to let it chill). So hop on in the kitchen and get ready to whip up this tasty concoction!

Recipe:
20-25 oreos
5T butter, melted
1pkg low fat cream cheese, softened
3/4c-1c powedered sugar
1t vanilla extract (I used fresh vanilla bean and scraped out the inside)*
2c fat free cool whip
1/2c strawberry jam
1/2 lemon, juiced
2t juice (I used the kids berry juice but apple would be fine too)
1lb strawberries, quartered

*if you want to use real vanilla beans, make sure they are fresh (soft and supple) and take a sharp knife and run it down the length of the bean and gently use the blade to scrap out all the black seeds. Place the seeds in your mixture like you would the extract.

Pulse oreos through a food processor until fine crumbs. If you do not have a food processor pound those suckers out with a mallet, cup, bowl, or other utensil until you have small fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into a buttered pie plate. Add the melted butter and mix. Press gently into your pie plate on the bottom and around the edges. Place in the freezer to set up while you make the middle layer.

In a large bowl combine with a mixer cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Gently fold in your cool whip until it is all incorporated. Layer on top of your oreo crust.

**in case you didnt know how to properly fold in something like whipped cream or whipped egg whites make sure you go slowly and only go in one direction so as not to deflate your whipped product. There needs to be no streaks of whipped cream showing.

Take your jam and microwave on high for 20 seconds until is is softened slightly. Add your lemon and other juice. Whisk to incorporate thoroughly.

Take your strawberries and place in the glaze and toss to coat. Arrange your strawberries on top of the cream mixture. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill. (if you had any fresh mint it would look very nice either on top of the pie or on individual slices)

So how did I like it? Oh man Im gonna be sick tonight it was so good! My digestive system doesnt always like dairy and this is loaded with it and with the amount I ate I am gonna hurt, but it was absolutely worth it! I got not only Anthony to eat a few bites of it but Vinnie as well!! Who knew that my little pickiest of picky eaters would try it. But after he saw his brother take a bite he felt brave enough to try and actually had more than his brother. So I guess all around it was a huge hit in my house! I explained it to Alex and he seemed to think it would be good so I guess I have a simple recipe for summer dessert when he gets home in July! So hope you have a nice big slice for yourself and let me know how you like it!!