Mint Chip Ice Cream Pie (Sundays with Joy)

I don't know about you, but Summer has gotten a hold of me and taken me hostage.  Not that I am complaining about that... sunshine, beach days, carefree moments spent in between the stuff I must do.  I really would have it no other way.

What that means, however, is I have spent almost no time in my kitchen.  Yup, I have resorted to eating super easy food and lots of leftovers.

Whatever.

Leftovers are the bomb if they came from a good meal, right?

Something good about being a part of a cooking group (Sundays with Joy) is that there is some motivation to get myself in there and make something because, well, I have to.  I committed to this thing, and I want to see it through!  My husband had no complaints about that.  "You are making ice cream pie?" he asked.  "I'm not really sure what that is, but it sounds good!"  And so off to the kitchen I went.

The original recipe had this as a coffee-vanilla ice cream pie but ever since my husband gave up coffee  because I was tired of him being grumpy when it wasn't around (a Brazilian that doesn't drink coffee -- WHAT?! Yes, they are a rare species, but they do exist...) he won't taste anything that has any coffee flavor.  He didn't just give it up, but he rid himself of anything having to do with it.  Which means my Starbucks runs are always alone and he will not eat any mocha flavored ice cream or anything.  Oh well, more for me ;)  But mint chip?  Oh, we LOVE mint chip, so that is the flavor I went with.

To make it even more husband-friendly, I used Brazil nuts in the crust instead of walnuts.  Are Brazil nuts even really from Brazil?  I have no idea.  But the name sounds nice :)

I finished making this around 10pm on Friday night (yes, I was baking on a Friday night instead of going out -- call me a square if you want to, but if I am a square then I am a square with really good food in her kitchen and in her belly!) and then I tossed it in the freezer to finish up completely planning on taking pictures and enjoying it the next day.  Yet Summer took hold of me once again and I had no time for such behaviors.  Thus, when I was asked if we could try the pie last night I said, "Nope, the lighting is poor.  We have to wait until tomorrow so I can take pictures first."  This delicious pie has been there for 24 hours and yet I have not let anyone dig in. 

Poor husband.

You think that is bad enough, but then he woke up with a cold today.  A cold.  In the summer.  He has no desire to eat ice cream pie.  So sad for him...

But that didn't stop me.  I had it for breakfast ;)

Although it was more money than I normally spend on a dessert, this is totally and completely a repeater.  The recipe looked a little difficult but it wasn't at all.  And my favorite part is that everything I used, from the knock-off Nilla Wafers in the crust to the chocolate on top, it was all from Trader Joe's.  Why does that excite me?  Because anything that is TJ's name brand is guaranteed to be preservative and artificial flavor free.  Which is how I like it.  Not to mention cheaper than going than if I got the stuff at my other local grocery stores.  It's a win-win, I tell ya.

This recipe was taken from the Joy the Baker Cookbook, inspired by the Pioneer Woman.  To see Joy's complete idea, go grab the book.  For the recipe that inspired it all (and to see how to make the crust) visit Pioneer Woman's link, here.

COST: $9.32          Cost per Serving (8): $1.17