MOJITO AMBROSIA SALAD

A fun twist on an old favorite!

The first time I had ever had Ambrosia salad was when we made it in a Home Ec. class in Jr. High and the teacher said Ambrosia was from Greek Mythology and it was the food of the "Gods".   It was a salad made out of most of the ingredients that I used in this salad except I omitted the bananas and added pineapple instead along with the flavorings - I have been on a mojito flavored kick lately and decided to try it in this salad.

I was very happy with the flavor; it was light but with lots of textures,  a bit of crunch and a hint of a mojito flavor and I plan to make it a few more times over the summer and may make it for our next carry-in at work.

I usually include my son feedback, but he won't touch anything with shredded coconut in it as he hates the texture and said it grosses him out so I was not able to get any feedback from him on this one.


Ingredients:

• 1 oz tub Whipped Topping
• 1 teaspoon Mint Extract/Flavoring
• 1 teaspoon Lime Juice
• 1 teaspoon Rum Extract/Flavoring
• 1 20 oz can of Crushed Pineapple
• 1 10-12 oz bag of Mini-Marshmallows
• 1 cup chopped Walnuts
• 10-14 oz bag of shredded Coconut

In a large bowl mix the whipped topping, mint extract, lime juice and rum extract together.

Add in marshmallows, pineapple and walnuts to the mixture.

Fold items together until well mixed.

Add the coconut and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

Pineapple Mojito Cake

Something a little different - quick and easy to make as you use a white cake mix and vanilla frosting and then jazz them up.

I wanted to make something a little different so I thought I would try this and it turned out well, although I might try more of whipped topping instead of vanilla frosting next time.  It was very moist and flavorful with the pineapple being the main flavor with just a hint of the lime, mint and rum flavors.

Ingredients
Cake:
1 box white cake mix
1 lime
3 eggs whites (or whatever your cake mix calls for)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or whatever your cake mix calls for)
1 20 oz can crushed Pineapple
1 teaspoon artificial Mint flavoring
Non-Stick Coating Spray

Frosting
1 can vanilla frosting
Zest of 1 lime (off of lime used in the cake)
1 teaspoon artificial rum flavoring

Preheat the oven to the degree specified on the cake mix (mine was 350 degrees).  Separate the egg whites from the yolk.

Zest the lime (which is just running it over a grater) then cut the lime in half.  Set aside the zest for the frosting.

Squeeze the juice of one lime into a large bowl, then put box of cake mix in , add in Pineapple, oil, eggs whites, and the mint flavoring.

Mix until well blended - will still look a bit lumpy but it is just the pineapple bits.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick coating spray then pour the mix into the pan and bake according the the cake mix package (mine was 28-35 mins).

Bake until it springs up when touched in the center then remove and allow to cool before frosting the cake.

To make the frosting, put the canned frosting in a bowl, add the zest of lime and the artificial rum flavoring and mix thoroughly.

Frost the cake and then serve.

CHEATERS PINEAPPLE ORANGE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Tastes like it is from scratch, but you really "cheat" and use a mix instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 box cake mix, Pineapple or if none available, white or yellow
• Ingredients used for box mix - usually eggs, oil, but you will not use the water or liquid that the mix uses.
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice or 3/4 cup orange juice and 3/4 cup pineapple juice
• 1 stick butter or margarine
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 15 oz can pineapple (I used chunk, but you can use rings or crushed)
• Marichino Cherries - optional (I didn't use on this cake)
• 1-2 TBSP Rum or Rum Extract (I didn't use on this case, but have in the past)

Preheat the oven to the degree on the box mix. Put the stick or margarine in a 13x9 pan and put in the oven until melted (takes 2-3 mins).

Mix the cake mix, eggs, oil, and juices together until well blended.

Take the melted butter out of the oven. If you want to add rum or rum extract, mix it into the melted butter at this time.

Sprinkle the brown sugar, distributing evenly.

Distribute the pineapple evenly across the bottom of the pan. If you want to add marichino cherries, you would put them in amoungst the pineapple.

Pour the batter mixture over the top of the brown sugar and pineapple, distributing evenly.

Bake in the oven the time recommended on the package (usually around 30 minutes) and bake until the cake springs up in the center.

For presentation purposes, you could flip the cake over on to a baking sheet, or you could just leave it in the pan and flip the picces over as you serve them (which is more exciting if being served to kids that have never had upside down cake before because they will want to know why you didn't frost the cake and you cut the cake, take the spatula and flip it over on the plate and abbra cadabra, you the "frosting" is on the bottom!).

CHERRY FLUFF

This is based on Lisa J.'s posting at Cut Out + Keep http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/cherry_fluff I varied my recipe slightly and used the following:

• 1 16 oz tub of lite whipped topping
• 1 can Cherry pie filling
• 1 can Crushed Pineapple
• 1 4 oz box White Chocolate Sugar-Free Jello Pudding
• 4 Single Serving packets Equal (artificial sweetner) You can serve it slightly chilled or frozen. This would be an excellent dessert to cool off with on a hot summer day. I I do intend on making this again and next time adding coconut for a more tropical flavor.