Orange OR Strawberry Fluff

When we moved away from home we lost something...the love of salads. And I'm not talking about a green salad with dressing. No, I'm talking about pudding-and-Jell-O-based salads. It's always fun to go back home and taste the goodness of the "Dutch salad". So this afternoon, I decided to share one of my favorites from when I was a little girl...and it still tastes good!

Orange Fluff

1 small pkg orange Jell-O
1 large pkg cook vanilla pudding
1 pkg cook vanilla tapioca pudding (Americana)
3 cups water
8 oz Cool Whip
1 can mandarin oranges

Boil the first four ingredients until thick; let cool. Fold in Cool-Whip and oranges.

** Can make this Strawberry Fluff by substituting strawberry Jell-O for the orange, and fresh/frozen strawberries for the mandarin oranges. Enjoy!!

Honey Spiced Cranberry Sauce

This is seriously the BEST cranberry sauce I've ever had. It was almost like eating applesauce with a little tartness at the end. Yumm-O!! It's really simple and I picked it because I had most of the ingredients (except the canned cranberry sauce) in my pantry. This would make a great condiment for a turkey sandwich and is great with stuffing, too!!

Honey Spiced Cranberry Sauce
from: Cook's Country Magazine Oct/Nov '08

1 16-oz can cranberry sauce
2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice

Pulse together in food processor until combined. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

See, I told you it was easy. ;) Cook's Country Magazine is by far my favorite cooking magazine. I enjoy reading each article and the foodie pictures are wonderful. Check out a copy and consider putting a subscription on your Christmas wish list.

Ranch Pasta Salad

On Sunday, we were invited to swim with some friends at their parent's house. They were planning a barbeque and I thought I should bring a little something to share. Since we hadn't been to the store in a while, and this wasn't on my menu plan I dug through the pantry and the fridge and made up a nice pasta dish.

Ranch Pasta Salad

1 1/2 cups macaroni noodles
1 cup mayo
1/4 milk
1 packet dry ranch seasoning
1 tsp dry minced onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp white pepper

1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup carrots, chopped
1/3 cup celery, chopped
1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Meanwhile, mix mayo, milk and seasonings. Rinse pasta in cold water and toss in veggies. Pour dressing over pasta and veggies; gently mix until combined. Refrigerate and serve well-chilled.


It was really easy and it was delicious. You can add dry bacon bits if you like and change up the veggies too. It's really one of those recipes you make to use up your extra produce.

Spring Salad

I got this recipe from a friend that brought it to a potluck. It's delicious and it's fresh.


Spring Salad

bag of baby spinach
bag of field greens
bunch of asparagus, steamed and cooled
strawberries, quartered
cucumber
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

Cut asparagus into 1 to 2-inch pieces. Cut cucumber in half, remove seeds and slice. Mix greens with asparagus, strawberries and cucumbers.

Mix oil, sugar and vinegar into a dressing. Top salad with almonds and dressing just before serving.

Enjoy. It's delicious!!

Macaroni Salad

This is another recipe that I grew up with. My mom usually has everything on hand (especially in the spring/summer) in the pantry and freezer which made it a "quick" side. Sometimes we didn't even wait for it to chill in the fridge, we'd just dig right in. But I'm a fan of having it chilled.


Macaroni Salad

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup sugar
2 cups mayo (can use less)
1 lg green pepper, chopped fine
1 cup carrots, chopped fine
1 cup celery, chopped fine
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 (12 oz) pkg macaroni (I used regular macaroni, my mom uses shells)

Cook noodles until tender. Mix first 4 ingredients and pour over veggies and noodles. Mix well and chill several hours or overnight for best flavor.

This makes an ice cream bucket full of salad. It's not easy to cut in half because of the sweetened condensed milk, but if you have another use for the other half of sweetened condensed milk go ahead and halve this recipe. And enjoy. We've been eating it all week and it still tastes great!

Finger Jell-O

There are a few different recipes for Finger Jell-O: the Jell-O Brand finger jell-o and the Knox Brand finger jell-o. I combine them both to make the BEST finger jell-o!!

Finger Jell-O

4 pkg Knox plain gelatin
3 boxes Jell-O (any flavor)
4 cups boiling water

Mix the Knox and Jell-O in a medium bowl. Stir in boiling water until all gelatin is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 pan and let set in fridge for a minimum of 5 hours. And then enjoy!!

I think it's the best recipe because it's the most firm and it's very flavorful!

Curried Chicken Salad

This recipe is from Pampered Chef's Main Dishes cookbook. This chicken salad tastes very fresh. While I was making it, I thought there was a lot of fruit to chicken ratio, but it was very delicious!! You can cut it down to one Granny Smith apple if you like and add another cup of chicken. I served this salad on whole grain bread but it would be excellent on croissants.


Curried Chicken Salad

1/2 cup light mayo (I used regular)
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
3/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups red seedless grapes, halved
3/4 cup celery, sliced
1/3 cup green onions with tops, thinly sliced (I used a yellow onion that I had in the pantry)
2 Granny Smith apples, cut into sixteenths and sliced
1/3 cup pecans, chopped (I omitted)

In a small bowl, blend mayo, yogurt, curry and salt; set aside.

Dice chicken, cut grapes in half and thinly slice celery and green onions. Core apples and cut into sixteenths then slice. Combine chicken, grapes, celery, green onions, apples and pecans in a large bowl. Add mayo mixture and mix lightly. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Enjoy this yummy refreshing salad with slices of cantaloupe.

BBQ Beef Sandwiches with Cajun Cole Slaw

This is one of our favorite sandwich recipes. It's also great because it helps us use up any leftover roast. Last time I made a 4 lb roast just to make these sandwiches. We ate half and I froze the other half for another meal. Yumm!!

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

2 lb roast, cooked, shredded
BBQ Sauce, your favorite brand
1 tsp Cajun seasoning

Put the shredded meat into a small crock pot. Mix about 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce with seasoning and pour over the shredded meat; mix well. Cook on low for about 2 hours. Serve on fresh rolls and top with slaw and a slice of green bell pepper.


Cajun Cole Slaw
modified from Pampered Chef's Main Dishes

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp finely chopped onion (sometimes I use 1/2 tbsp dry minced onion)
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
3/4 tsp sugar
5 cups packaged cabbage slaw mix (sometimes I use half a head of cabbage and shred one carrot)

Mix together and toss lightly. Use slaw as a sandwich topper or serve as a side dish. Refrigerate leftovers.

Pear Cranberry Side Salad

We have lettuce salad as a side to our meals a lot. Sometimes it gets boring with lettuce, carrots, and ranch dressing. So I started experimenting with ingredients I'd had in salads at restaurants. Give this one a try. It's really refreshing.

Pear Cranberry Side Salad
for 1 serving

bowl of lettuce (we've used iceberg and romaine)
1/4 pear, cubed
1 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp walnuts (can be toasted)
1/2 tbsp raspberry vinaigrette

You can change the amount of cranberries and walnuts to your liking and you can also add some feta or gogonzola cheese. Delicious!!