Sunday Sweets: Chocolate Banana Cream Cheese Pie

This is going to be short and oh so sweet! Summer has finally arrived!!! So instead of baking and writing away at the laptop, I was outside with Little Miss soaking up the glorious sunshine! We even had a couple friends over to hang out in the frigid pool! We didn't care!! Summer's here!! Hearing and reading about all of these 100°F+ temperatures in the eastern parts of the continent, was really starting to get annoying (sorry to those of you who live there...no, not really!) because we had SUCH a crappy summer last year. Wait...we DIDN'T have summer last year. It was almost a full week of warm temps, that was about it. I kept hearing, "Oh, but this must be so nice for you while being pregnant!" Noooo! It wasn't nice! I felt if just one more person said that to me, I would scream at them. Remember, don't piss off a pregnant woman! I'm a summer girl. So not a winter girl. I love the heat! Bring it on! I sometimes wonder why I live here in Northwest BC. An area with really crappy weather. Harsh winters and a ton of gloomy, rainy days. But when the sun does shine. Ohh, it's so beautiful! I guess just has to be that the sunny days, however far and few between they are, just far outweigh the overwhelming number of fugly days. We get really invested in our weather here, as you can tell, ha! So, there was no way I was going waste my day away. It was going to be enjoyed outdoors, doing summery things!

So, I've had these bananas that went pretty ripe quite quickly. They definitely needed to be used up in something more than my usual go-to breakfast of toast with pb & b (add a sprinkle of cinnamon on the banana....mon favori!!) The other day I also spotted a bag of graham crumbs in the cupboard so I knew I wanted to make sometime with a graham crust. Hmmm...what else did I have. Chocolate pudding...cream cheese.... Everything was just kinda falling into place for a nice no-bake pie! Perfect for a nice, summery day. Something quick and easy, so we could get the most out of the day! I also just kinda slapped it together while D was grilling the steaks! Then by the time I got around to photographing, it was dark and my camera wasn't within arms reach...but my iPhone was! So I'm kinda lazy....so what.....hehe! To take the laziness even further, I didn't follow a recipe, again, I just kinda slapped this together, so I'll do my best at writing out the recipe...

Chocolate Banana Cream Cheese Pie

2+ cups Graham Crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 pkg Instant Chocolate Pudding

1 1/4 cup Milk (I use skim)

8oz Cream Cheese (I used light), softened

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

1 medium Banana

Combine the graham crumbs and melted butter. I said 2+ cups because I just kept adding more crumbs until I found a consistency for the crust that I liked. I actually think it ended up being more like 3 cups. Press the mixture into a 9" pie plate and bake in a 350°F oven for 10-12 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it! When it's done, remove from the oven and cool. (I waited about 5 minutes once out of the oven and then I threw it in the freezer to cool even faster!)

While the crust is in the oven, combine the pudding and milk and beat with an electric mixtur on slow for 2 minutes. Then increase the speed and beat until you get your desired texture. I decreased the amount of milk than what the pudding package calls for so that the pudding would be thicker. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese with the electric mixer until smooth. Be sure to scrape down the sides as you go along! Add the vanilla and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix. Set aside

Once the crust is cooled enough, spread the cream cheese mixture on the bottom. Then, spread the pudding on top of that. Put in the fridge to chill for a couple hours or until ready to serve. Just before serving, slice up the banana and place on the top of the pie. Serve. Enjoy!