Everyday Food for Busy People
Doesn’t that pineapple look good? We named it Gus. Guster. Gurton Buster.
I’m not an expert at picking a ripe pineapple, but I’ve heard that they should not be all green. The yellow color shows ripeness. See how Gus is more yellow towards the bottom? This pineapple was perfect. Sweet and juicy.
I do admit though, that most recipes I have that use pineapple, use canned instead of fresh. Here are a few of my recipes using pineapple: [Read more...]
Caramel and pineapple are a surprisingly good combination. The tropical sweetness of the pineapple balances the sugary goodness of the caramel.
This dessert was served to us at a gathering a few months ago. There are only two ingredients and it involves a bit of dangerous cooking.
It takes 3-4 hours of boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk to turn it into caramel. But you must make sure that the can stays completely submerged during the boiling time or you risk the can exploding. Sugary sweet magic happens during all that boiling. When you open the can, it’s full of marvelous caramel!
Chill the caramel and then you can slice it. The slices are wonderful on top of pineapple rings.
Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
This is one of those dinners that tastes special, like you’ve gone to extra trouble.
Good news! This dish is quick to fix. I had it finished in about 30 minutes and that included time to line up ingredients, take photos and jot down my recipe. Not bad.
I did start with another recipe as inspiration. I wasn’t sure what should go into the Pineapple Salsa, so I searched Tasty Kitchen and came up with a recipe for Tropical Chicken and Coconut Rice Bowl. It’s from Katie at The College Culinarian.
I wanted fish instead of chicken, so I turned the marinade into a sauce for the tilapia. And I tweaked her salsa recipe a bit too. The result was delicious!
Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
What to do with the lemon cake mix hanging out in my pantry? Cookies, of course!
This was an experiment. I wasn’t at all sure how the crushed pineapple would work in a cookie made from cake mix. I was afraid it would be too much liquid. But they turned out wonderfully. Soft and lemony with a sunny flavor.
Here’s what you’ll need:
My ears perked up when I heard someone mention a fried rice dish that involved ham and pineapple. Any recipe that involves cubed ham gets my attention right now, since I have so much in the freezer.
My family likes the ham/pineapple combo in recipes, but I admit that this sounded a little strange. But I was wrong. The fried rice was full of flavor and we licked the platter clean. No leftovers to fight over.
I based the recipe on Vietnam Fried Rice, but I used pineapple juice in addition to the soy sauce to season and flavor the dish. Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]
My oldest daughter loves sweet and sour chicken. She suggested I do a kabob version, which turned out to be a great idea!
I marinated the chicken and then skewered it with green peppers, onions and pineapple. A sweet and sour dipping sauce made it extra delicious and fun.
It does take a few minutes to get everything threaded on the skewers, but it’s worth the effort. Also, be sure to soak the skewers if you are using bamboo so that you don’t turn them into mini torches.
Last weekend we celebrated my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary in Gatlinburg, TN. All of their children and grandchildren came together in a cabin to play games, watch home movies, take photos and eat. This is one of the desserts we had.
I had never noticed this recipe before, but found it in two of my cookbooks while searching dessert recipes. Later that same day, I saw the recipe posted on a message board. I altered all 3 of the recipes to come up with this version.
The whipped cream looks a little funny on top because I had another dessert stacked on the lid in the cooler and it smooshed a bit. Also, I meant to add nuts to the top and forgot all about them. I found them hiding in a corner while cleaning up.
I found this recipe on a homeschool forum. Magistra said she put this in foil packets on the grill for about 20 minutes. That was my intention too, but it was starting to rain the night I made them, so I popped them in the oven instead. The meat was flavorful and very moist. This is a great way to dress up pork chops. [Read more...]
A recipe I cut out of a magazine a long time ago, inspired me to create this. The magazine version used barbecue sauce, but I thought it would taste better with a homemade sweet and sour sauce instead. The dish is still very easy to make and the kids loved it. I intended to use a green pepper, but I didn’t have any. I substituted carrots. They were very good and it’s one of the veggies my kids like to eat. [Read more...]
This salad was perfect with the Hawaiian Grilled Chicken. It’s full of pineapple, green onions, macadamia nuts, bacon…Yum! I found the recipe on Bethany’s blog, For the Love of Grub. I made the salad on Saturday, so we could eat it Sunday after church. I mixed the dressing up, but did not add it until right before serving. [Read more...]
