The birthday pie

When I was growing up for every birthday for every member of our family we had this special pie. It was called Cherry o-cheese pie because its a cream cheese base that was topped with a can of cherry pie filling. I never liked the pie filling so I always ate a plain one. Since I never make it with cherries it seems silly to call it Cherry o-cheese pie, so I simply now call it the Birthday Pie.
It is my absolute favorite and so easy to make. If you like cheesecake, you will love this pie. It is much richer and creamier than any cheesecake I've ever had. In fact, I loved it so much growing up that I convinced my mom that it wasn't fair that the birthday person had to share this pie with the whole family, so a new tradition was started... two pies were made for every birthday: one for the family to share, and one for the birthday person to eat themselves! I told you we love this pie! Of course, my brother and I could never abide by the rules, so we were always sneaking little forkfuls of the 'off-limits' pie, and accusing each other of doing it, when all the while we were BOTH doing it! lol

Here is the recipe and simple instructions and a picture of me with my favorite pie.

Bake a homemade graham cracker crust first (follow directions on box, but I believe you'll need 1.25 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup melted butter) for 6-8 minutes on 375 degrees.
Let the crust cool (or pop it in the freezer to cool it off quickly if you are like me and always forget to make the crust BEFORE you make the filling).

Filling:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 package cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup lemon juice

beat it all together till super creamy, pour it into the pie crust, chill in fridge for a few hours to set up. Enjoy! (I also really like it topped with fresh blueberries-yum!)

Note: you CAN use EITHER fat free condensed milk OR 1/3 less fat cream cheese. But you CANNOT substitute BOTH. I've tried, and it won't set up, it will be runny and not work at all-still tastes good, but doesn't look appetizing. So if you want to cut some calories/fat only use ONE reduced fat item.