Happy Sunday and Happy Easter Sunday to those of us here in the USA! We always have a family dinner for Easter and one of the favorite desserts we have is from our Aunt Kathy. For this blog I'm "re-naming" this dessert "Pistachio Pudding Pie" but in our family it's just known as "The Green Stuff". 

You begin with a dish. I used a decorative yellow pie pan here since it's Easter but usually it's a 9x13 pyrex pan. I'm working with a half recipe here since there are only 5 of us to feed today but normally it's the full recipe for a crowd. You start out with Ritz Crackers. Just the normal ones. 

Melt the butter and put the crackers into a zip lock bag. Now it's time to crush the crackers to make the crust! 

 Roll them out to a fine consistency. You want all of the crumbs to be the same size. After they are all crushed add them to the melted butter. 

 Mix the crumbs and butter well and then press them into your pan. Since I'm using a decorative pan and wanted to show the crust I pressed them all the way up the sides but you can just make a layer in the bottom of the pan. Now bake that for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

While your crust is baking mix the Jell-O Pistachio pudding with the milk. You can use a hand mixer or, like I did, use a whisk until it's completely combined and has begun to thicken up.

Now mix in the ice cream. This would have been easier for me if I'd let the ice cream soften up a bit but I really wanted to show you all how this looks. Incorporate all of the ice cream into the pudding until it's smooth. Now put that into the refrigerator for 25 minutes to allow it to set up. By the time you are putting your pudding mixture into the fridge your crust will be done. Remove it from the oven and let it cool completely.

 While waiting take your Heath Toffee Bars and dice them up. I place the bars onto my mat and start at an angle and work from one end of the bars to the other and then turn the mat around and work the opposite way and angle. 

 When your pudding mix is set up and your crust is cool it's time to put this all together. As I mentioned above, I wanted the crust to show a bit so I didn't spread the pudding mixture until it completely covered the crust. I let a bit peak out. If you are making a full recipe and just making a bottom layer of the crust then spread the pudding mix completely over the crust layer.

Now take the Cool Whip and spread it over the pudding mixture. Once again, I wanted the crust and pudding mixture to show but if you are making layers then make sure to cover the pudding mixture layer with Cool Whip.

 Now sprinkle your chopped up Heath Bars all over the entire dish. Try to refrain from eating the candy bar before it gets to it's final decorative spot on your dish...ok, ok, so eat a corner, no one will know!

Since this is for our Easter Dinner I wanted to decorate it up a little bit more. So I took a big scoop of Cool Whip and made a little "nest" for the center of the dessert and tucked in some spreckled chocolate "eggs". 

Now, to let you know how good this is. Family members who are reading this right now are finding their mouths are uncontrollably watering. My own family members here in the house have been chanting "Mom made the Green Stuff" and "Oh yeah! We have the GREEN STUFF for dessert!!!" all day long. 

So when you make this for your own family just whisper a little "Thank you Aunt Kathy" for me, ok? It will become a family favorite in an instant!

Here is the full, and half, recipe for you all!

“The Green Stuff”

Ingredients

2 rolls Ritz Crackers

2 sticks of margarine

2 boxes of Pistachio Pudding

1 ½ cups milk

1.5 quart of vanilla ice cream

1 tub Cool Whip

3-4 Heath Bars

Half recipe:

1 roll ritz crackers

1 stick margarine

1 box pistachio pudding

¾ cup milk

3 cups vanilla ice cream

½ tub cool whip

2 heath bars

Start by crushing Ritz crackers. (I use a large Ziploc baggie and roll over with rolling pin) Then melt 2 sticks of margarine and mix Ritz crackers into it. Bake 10 minutes at 350°. Then set out to cool.

Mix 2 Boxes Pistachio pudding with 1½ cups milk. Blend with hand mixer. Then mix in vanilla ice cream. Let sit in refrigerator for 25 minutes to set.

Then spread pudding/ice cream mix over cracker crust. Spread out cool whip on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Shave 3-4 Heath Bars and sprinkle over Cool Whip.

Serve and Enjoy!

Hope you guys enjoy our family secret recipe and had a great Easter! Let me know if you give this recipe a try and what you thought of it.  See you next week with a new cake!

Cat