Peanut Butter Cream Pie - For Mikey

This morning, I read about "Peanut Butter Pie Friday" and it broke my heart.  After crying for a bit, I decided that I needed to participate.  Two years ago, my husband woke up unable to walk, having suffered a stroke during the night, and it was one of the most terrifying events in my life.  I was so scared I would lose him, and I still am, though he has healed completely, and is well medicated and closely watched now.  My heart goes out to Jennie of "In Jennie's Kitchen," and her family, and though I don't know her and had never visited her food blog before today, I wanted to add to Mikey's memory, for my Mike.  So here is my version of Mikey's favorite Creamy Peanut Butter Pie. The loss of a loved one is a great fear of so many, but we must also remember that we need to live, as fully as we can, every day.

Key Lime Pie

This just happens to be gluten-free thanks to the rice check cereal crust.  And furthermore it is delicious.
It makes a BIG pie, so you can easily half the recipe and make it in an 8" pie pan.

Mini Deep Dish Apple Pies

This makes 6 mini pies but can easily be doubled to make a full tray. You can use excess scraps of the dough to create cute decorations for the top of the pies if you are feeling creative.  Be sure to peel the apples thoroughly and rinse them as the skin has quite a bit of yeast.

Simple Cheesecake

I like to make the crust with a sweetened cocoa rice cereal, but you can use any type you like (or have on hand) for your crust, just check labels to make sure there is no cornstarch.  Vanilla powder can be found in specialty cooking stores or online and is used to avoid the alcohol in extracts which often times contain yeast.  It can be replaced with vanilla bean paste or “safe” vanilla extract made without ethyl alcohol.
If you wish to cut the recipe in half for a mini cheesecake, use a 6-7 inch springform and lower baking time to  about 30 minutes.  (see information on safe products here)