Touched by the Master's Hand - Finally!

Ok so we are totally still alive...it's just that there is not much to report. Just pregnant and finally feeling AWESOME. I am enjoying it because I know this feeling does not last as I head into the third trimester.

I have never felt very domesticated but that changed this morning. Fresh strawberries: $5. Fresh Raspberries: $6. A great morning in the kitchen making awesome desserts for 4th of July BBQ's with your Hubs: Priceless.

I must say that I finally feel like I have "the touch" with something: DESSERTS!! I took a no bake chiffon pie recipe and tweaked it to our tastes. Now Eric and Mom ask for it all the time and LOVE it! Plus it's healthier than a true chiffon pie and SO easy to make. Here's the link for the recipe, but we like to substitute other fruits: We've done a lemon one that was good, but we have done raspberry the last 3 times and like that the best. I garnish mine with fresh raspberry puree and cool whip. (You could make this extra creamy and thicker by using whipping cream but then the whole health factor goes out the window.)

I made one of those Raspberry pies for my first BBQ today and then I made another dessert for our 2nd BBQ. This dessert is called Layered Strawberry Cheesecake Bowl and it is awesome!! My sister made it for me and introduced me to the recipes at Kraft.com so I figured this would be great piece to take. I was so proud of myself because my sister warned me it was hard to get the cream cheese (we used Neufchâtel) really smooth but I did it! And we cut a few calories on this one by using the Neufchâtel, 1% milk and cool whip (my sister makes the best home made whipped cream so she used that in her recipe - I figured I better stick to cool whip and not try too many new things this time around). We also added an extra cup of strawberries because we LOVE the strawberries.

I am going to take pictures of these desserts once I have them garnished and ready to go. I will also make sure to take some pictures of my pregnant self today and I will post them all soon. Happy Fourth of July everyone!!!