Pineapple Cheesecake Apple Salad (Dessert)

I'm not really sure if this delicious dish qualifies as a salad or dessert!  I suppose it might depend on at what point of the meal you enjoy eating it. If you take a few bites of this sweet, tart dish between bites of your savory main dish, I suppose it's a salad. If you save all the bites of crunchy apple wrapped in cheesecake flavored fluff, it's more like a dessert. Any time you decide to dig in, it's delicious.

I first had this dish at a family potluck at the lake several summers ago. I took a bite expecting something like a waldorf salad.  My taste buds detected the crunchy, tart apple pieces and the sweetness of the pineapple, but it took a few more bites to put my tongue on just what made this dish so incredibly dessert-like. The secret ingredient? Cheesecake flavored pudding mix. The best part? This pudding flavor from Jell-o comes only in a sugar free, fat free version. Mixed with fruit and some fat free (or low fat cool whip) and you've got a low calorie dish that can easily replace many of the fat laden dishes that often appear on potluck tables around the country.

I have taken this dish to many gatherings over the years and it always disappears quickly. I decided to make a batch today because I thought the sweet tartness would be a good ending to our pork carnitas dinner. Tonight we'll enjoy it as "dessert".  We're still recovering from the extra calories we consumed while on vacation a week ago so any low calorie treats I can fit on the menu are welcomed.

This dish is one that is relatively inexpensive to put together if you're in need of a dish to bring to a potluck gathering. I picked up cans of pineapple for 50 cents a can using store specials and coupons. The pudding is a little trickier to find. I usually can find it at Walmart for under $1, but I have not had as much luck finding this particular flavor at local Kroger or Meijer. I almost always have a container of $1 Cool Whip on hand in my freezer. I've made it with both fat free and low fat; I can't tell a huge difference in the end result. I picked up a couple of Granny Smith apples on my last grocery trip for around $1.

Here's the recipe:

Pineapple Cheesecake Apple Salad
1 can crushed pineapple
1 pkg cheesecake flavored pudding mix
2 large Granny Smith apples, chopped
1 container Fat Free or Low Fat Whipped Topping














1. Place crushed pineapple (and juice) into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add pudding mix and stir to combine.
3. Add chopped apples and mix.
4. Fold in whipped topping.
5. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. (actually tastes better the next day!)

Pineapple Cheesecake Apple Salad
Tart, crunchy apples, sweet pineapple held together by cheesecake fluff. . .YUMMY!



What's your favorite recipe that can be placed into two categories?

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

I had these 2 ingredients staring at me in the frig, just waiting to be used in some creation:

Have you had this cinnamon sugar butter yet from Land O Lakes?  This is the second container I've picked up "free" using the instore special and my coupon which gets doubled.  It's heavenly!  It tastes very similar to the spread they give you at Texas Road House.  I had a hard time finding it for awhile, but I saw it in stock at Giant Eagle a few weeks ago and it's been staring at me in the frig since then.

I don't remember where I first read about these Apple Cinnamon Pancakes.  I think I might have seen the blogpost referenced on Menu Plan Monday over at orgjunkie.com, but I'm not positive.

All I know is that we loved these Apple Cinnamon Pancakes back in early fall when we had more fresh handpicked apples than we knew what to do with, and they were delicious again this past Sunday for our weekly Sunday brunch.  My husband said it was "a bit of autumn bliss right here in February".  The addition of the cinnamon butter on top makes them extra delicious.  I added a side of ham (from that big ham I bought last week on sale at Kroger for $1.49/lb) and just warmed it a bit on the griddle after I cooked the pancakes.  Our brunch was ready after church in less than 30 minutes.  We all cleaned our plates.

Here's the recipe:

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
1 1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
2 Tbsp melted butter or oil
1 apple, peeled and chopped

1.  In medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
2.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
3.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, whisking as you go.
4.  Fold in the chopped apple.
5.  Cook pancakes on hot griddle. 
(Flip them when they start to form bubbles on the top of the surface and the bottom starts to brown.  Cook them on the second side until steam begins to rise from the center of the pancake.)

Serve warm with cinnamon butter and syrup.  Dust plate with additional cinnamon if you want it to look more like a restaurant.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
Pure Autumn Bliss ready to be enjoyed any time of year

What's the best dish you've created using a "free" ingredient?