"Canned" Pies!

Back when I was just "Frugal Liz," I would have DIED at the thought of using canned fruit or pumpkin in a pie. I NEVER would've used a frozen pie crust...Everything had to be made from scratch, or we weren't eating it. Now that I'm, "Frugal Divorced Liz," I have a lot less time to make pie crusts from scratch and a lot less money to but fresh fruits to be made into pie filling. One thing I've discovered is canned and frozen fruit make a pretty awesome pie, or crisp, or cobbler as well...And it usually costs a lot less! I can use coupons for canned or frozen fruit, but I have yet to find coupons for fresh. Here is a great peach pie recipe, made from canned peaches!
Peach pie
2 16oz cans of peaches in light syrup (drain the peaches and reserve 1/3C of the syrup)
1/2C sugar
2Tbsp flour
1/2tsp cinnamon
2Tbsp butter
1Tbsp lemon juice
1 double pie crust (I used a refrigerated one I got on sale and with a coupon!)
In a large sauce pan, combine reserved syrup, cinnamon, sugar, flour and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until very thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter, stirring until butter is melted. Add the lemon juice and peaches and stir well to combine.
Roll out bottom crust and fit it into a pie plate. Add the peach mixture to the pie plate and smooth the top. Roll out the top crust and place over the peach mixture. Seal and flute the edges of the pie (fluting is optional, sealing is not! To seal, press the edges of the top and bottom crust together and then fold under, pressing it together again. To flute, press the sealed and folded edge with the tines of a fork all around to make a pretty design.) Cut 5 vent holes in the top of the pie. Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Let the pie cool to room temperature before cutting! Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some hot chocolate (or coffee!), for a truly decadent treat!
Desserts are truly one of my guilty pleasures, and the main reason for my ever expanding waistline! One of the hardest things about a tiny grocery budget is justifying desserts. When you hardly have the money to buy a healthy variety, it's hard to justify buying 3 pounds of peaches or apples(possibly out of season!) to turn into a pie. Berries are expensive even when they ARE in season! With coupons and sales, though, I can make a canned or frozen fruit dessert practically for free! I made a pumpkin pie two weeks ago with a can of pumpkin I got for $.49 (it was on sale for $.99 and I had a $.50 off coupon!), a frozen pie crust I got for $.75 ($1.50 for two!), and evaporated milk and eggs I got for free (from Wic!) So that pumpkin pie cost me $1.24 total! It was quick and easy and provided the kids and I with dessert for 3 nights after dinner. 3 days of dessert out of 7 isn't bad! This week I'm making the canned peach pie.