Thursday, April 19, 2018

Pink Stuff - Mom's Family Favorite



RECIPES AT THE TOP!  CHIT CHAT AT THE BOTTOM!


Pink Stuff a/k/a 
Strawberry Jello/Cottage Cheese Salad
www.AtHomeMyWay.blogspot.com


  • 1 small box strawberry jello (3 oz) (any flavor will work - and I even used generic instead of Jello brand)
  • 2/3 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple (I used half can) (undrained)
  • 1 cup evaporated milk (comes in a can)
  • 2 cups cottage cheese (undrained)

Instructions:

Dissolve jello mix and boiling water.  Stir well.  Then add crushed pineapple (undrained), stir.  Add the evaporated milk and stir, and then the cottage cheese, stir.  Pour into a serving dish if desired and the refrigerate overnight.


Growing up in Florida was HOT!  It is a no brainer that instead of baked goods, my mom found ways for us to have desserts that were on the cool side. She often had jello in the fridge for us.  Sometimes it was just jello mixed with canned fruit or banana slices, but other times it was Pink Stuff, which I adore to this day!

My mom relays a story that she worked at a restaurant there in Florida when she was first married to my dad.  I think it was called Trade Winds and it was one of those southern, buffet restaurants with bell boys and waiters, where you added each item to your tray in separately little dishes.  She tells me that they made up many different flavors, colors and textures of jello salads and that the fancy ladies that came into the restaurant really enjoyed them.  My mom had grown up in a pretty frugal household so lots of choices was not something she was used to.  She says she was almost mesmerized by the array of colorful and beautiful desserts that she first encountered working at Trade Winds.  

Fast forward from 1960 to 2018 when this past week my mother-in-law had knee replacement surgery.  In the fog of pain meds and the pain itself, she hasn't had much of an appetite, but still needed to eat, especially so that the pain meds didn't make things more miserable for her tummy.

I decided to make my  sweet mother-in-law a little selection of light, snacky type foods in the hopes that something might taste good.  I made:


  • Homemade Ham Salad using bologna instead of ham, which is another family favorite.  Here's how I do it using leftover ham.  The only change this week was that I used bologna.





  • Becca's Ranch Dip - recipe coming soon!  This dip is one of my mother-in-law's favorites which is why I sent it.  I took a box of Wheat Thins to go with it.
  • Pink Stuff - My thought was that it was cool, refreshing, light, and still had cottage cheese and fruit which might offer a little nutrition, and protein.

The Pink Stuff was easy to make and I had forgotten about it until a friend at work suggested a jello salad for my mother-in-law.  It was so easy to stir together that I even found another box of jello in my pantry and made me some.  Its not overly sweet, but I love it!  I had to call my mom and tell her I was making it, and of course that led to the retelling of some Trade Winds stories.  Oh how food can take ya back!  And one taste took me back to the many times my mom had made it for me!  💗

After a long winter of heavy and hearty comfort foods, this little selection of salads and the dip really sounded good to me.  I hope you'll give one of these recipes a try.




Gina







Monday, March 26, 2018

Chocolate Chip - Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies - Simple & Homemade



Chocolate Chip - Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

RECIPES AT THE TOP!  Chit Chat at the bottom.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  (Makes app. 24 cookies.)


  • 1 1/2 cups Old Fashioned Oats
  • 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk (I used 1 small whole egg instead of a large yolk)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Soften butter (I used the microwave just until softened).

Add sugar (brown sugar and white) and STIR WELL.  Then add the eggs and stir again until smooth.  STIR IN the cocoa, baking soda, salt, vanilla.  THEN add flour and oats.  Stir until blended.  Add chocolate chips and stir again.

(I refrigerated for about 30 minutes and made balls since I don't have a cookie scoop.)

Bake on sprayed cookie sheet (or lined with parchment paper) at 350 degrees for 13 minutes.  Let cool a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

***

Hello everyone!

I'm stopping by to add this delicious, simple, and homemade cookie recipe to the blog.  I hadn't made these in forever and wanted to make sure to save this recipe for making often. 

I remember eating them soft and warm, freshly made in our high school's kitchen by "lunchroom ladies" who really knew how to crank out the cookies!   That is where I first tried chocolate chip - chocolate oatmeal cookies.  Those ladies were the bomb diggety!  Although, rarely nice to us, they were spotlessly clean and fantastic cooks!  We never made chit chat with them but totally respected and were in awe of their talents.

I made this recipe yesterday and they turned out so wonderful!  They will be a great addition to school and work lunches for a small treat.  I love that they have oats!  For some reason, that takes a little of the guilt away, doesn't it?

My husband and I are the only ones home most days so I only baked one cookie sheet of these babies.  The rest, I made into little balls and placed in a small pan for freezing.  After they were frozen, I bagged them up for baking another day.

Enjoy!




Gina