The crust turned out fine for being MWL-legal! The filling had a good flavor but I did not have enough fresh stevia left in my garden to get it sweet enough. (I had just used almost all of it in my experimental stevia herbal vinegar.)
However, I think those who want it sweeter can just swirl a little sugar or sweetener into the fillings of their individual slices, tomorrow, BECAUSE even though the filling is firm enough not to "ooze" when cut, it is soft enough to stir! (Next time, I will use more fresh stevia or use purchased ground dried stevia leaves. Of course, as most of you know, the measurement for dried stevia will be different from fresh.)
This is what I did:
For the crust...
*1.5 cups of dry rolled oats (old fashioned oats)
*1 cup of cold cooked whole grain brown rice (a little more than I had originally thought would work -- and it turned out fine!)
*2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
*.75 cups of water
Combine the oats, rice, and cinnamon. Stir and lightly mash (with the back of a spoon) until everything is evenly mixed and all (if any) clumps of rice are broken up. Stir-in the water. Continue to stir and lightly mash until the mixture has a somewhat sticky cookie dough consistency. Spoon into glass pie plate and press the mixture evenly on (and slightly above) the sides and bottom of it with the back of a spoon. (This amount made slightly more than enough needed for an 8-inch, one crust pie -- but I used all of it making the crust a little thick.) Bake at just below 300 degrees for about a half hour OR until it feels firm. Allow to cool and fill with cooked/prepared filling and chill.
For the cranberry filling....
*3.5 cups of halved fresh cranberries (12 oz. bag washed and sorted)
*1 cup of water
*2 Tablespoons of finely minced fresh stevia leaves -- the amount I used (NEEDS about 3 times this much minced fresh stevia or NEEDS the equivalent sweetness of about 2 cups of sugar!)
*2 cups of shredded raw carrots (moderately packed)
*1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
*1.5 Tablespoons of guar gum powder
*2 medium-sized ripe (but NOT over-ripe) bananas diced into very small cubes
Combine water and cranberry halves in pan, cover, bring to boil, reduce heat, and lightly simmer (covered) for about 5 minutes. Stir-in the shredded carrots, cover, increase heat, bring back to boil, reduce heat, and then lightly simmer (covered) for about 15 minutes. Turn off heat but leave pan on the stove burner. Stir-in the cinnamon and the minced stevia, cover, and let "steep" for about a half hour. Then evenly sprinkle the guar gum powder over the top of the mixture and stir it in -- making sure it is THOROUGHLY mixed-in. Add the diced bananas, stir, and partially mash the bananas into the mixture -- leaving little bits of unmashed banana throughout the pie filling.
Spread this into the crust. (Was exactly the right amount for an 8-inch pie!) Refrigerate until ready to serve. Might be a good idea to cover the pie to keep the top edge of the crust from drying out, if it will be in the refrigerator for more than a few hours.
Like I said above, the ONLY problem it had was I just did not have enough stevia to make it sweet enough. Other than that, I think it turned out good!
AND it was MWL-LEGAL or close to it!!!
