If The Creek Don't Rise: Busy Morning in the Kitchen

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Busy Morning in the Kitchen

It's a rainy & dreary day here & truthfully,
working in the kitchen today felt like therapy.
Seemed like the perfect way to spend time,
watching out the window at the pouring rain as I was cooking.

I had a bit of a kitchen 'to-do' list today, so to get started, I got the ham & beans on to cook.
Fine comfort food.

Next, I marinated the pork chops that will go on the grill this evening.
And washed the BIG bag of mustard greens from my brother's garden.
Now, you know what we are having for dinner =)

I kept out a few thick slices of the ham steak & fried those up, along with a few eggs.
Topped with American cheese & sandwiched between English muffins,
these will be an easy & quick breakfast for the boys for the next couple days.

I had a leftover boneless, skinless chicken breast from Monday's dinner,
a really HUGE one, so I turned that into chicken salad.
Yum!
I chopped it fine, added diced onion, chopped dill pickle, whole grain mustard,
mayo, salt, pepper, & dill.
Made a one pound container packed full.

Next, I made a big bowl of chocolate pudding ...
& then started on the pineapple ... the 3 pineapples, that is.

We got a brand new Earth Fare store & part of their grand opening special
is spend $5 & get a free pineapple.
Well, between Gunnar, Garrett, & us, we have 3 pineapples!

First order of business: make Pineapple Fluff!
This is our go-to summertime dessert.
It's lo-cal, lo-fat, & is the easiest thing ever.

You use one tub of cool whip {8 oz}, 1 small box of sugar-free instant vanilla pudding,
& 1 can of crushed pineapple {20 oz}, juice & all.
Mix those 3 things together & voila: pineapple fluff!
Since I was using fresh pineapple, I blended some of it so I'd have plenty of juice,
about the equivalent of what would be in a regular can of crushed pineapple.
Course, I never make just one batch ... it's always a double around here.

I learned how to make this dessert at Weight Watchers years & years ago ...
& have made it more times than I can count.
It's a big hit around here.
We like it just like this ... served like a pudding or a mousse.
You can also serve it as an 'icing' on angel food cake or over any regular cake {yellow, lemon, etc}.
Or you can put it in a graham cracker pie crust.
It's yummy any which way.

After I got all the pineapple chopped, I ended up with 4 quart jars of fresh pineapple!

So, all in all, a very productive morning in the kitchen.
Makes me feel all farm-housy.
Is that a word?

Hope your week has been good thus far ... & will end up even better.

Here's my motto.