Costco + Impulse Shopper = Creative Kitchen Creations!

If necessity is the mother of all invention than impulse shopping is the mother of all creativity in my kitchen!  We've been here before...my husband came with me to Costco, which means I know we will walk out of there with more than what is on my list.  But, lately, this is the only time and place we have an hour and half without the kids (they hate going to Costco unless it's lunch time and they can count on a slice of pizza and a berry smoothie) so I ask him to come along, and pretend it's a date.  It was on one of these trips that he convinced me we should buy the huge pack of Activia cups.  I'm not a yogurt eater in general and neither are our kids.  None of us dislike yogurt, it's just not the thing we reach for when that refrigerator is open.  But, if I remember correctly, this was probably shortly after Christmas and he convinced me that yogurt in the morning would help me stay full until lunch at a minimal number of calories, plus osteoporosis concerns, yada, yada, yada.  So, we bought the huge pack of yogurts (vanilla, strawberry and vanilla flavored).  And as the expiration date approached, we still had 18 cups of uneaten yogurt in the fridge.  Not wanting to throw them all out and admit to wasting money, I froze them.  Just put them all into the freezer just as they were - no extra precautions or wrappings.  Now, I don't know if the weird (kinda gross) bacteria cultures that make yogurt good for your digestive system actually survive freezing, but I didn't really care at that point.  I was in money saving mode.

Fast forward to this afternoon.  It is 98 degrees outside (almost considered a cooling trend here), and my daughter and I have spent most of our morning painting nails.  Her latest obsession of YouTube tutorials and my Pinterest illness have combined to create a little nail salon in our kitchen, much to the chagrin of my husband.  We needed something refreshing and Kaley suggested a smoothie.  My husband is our smoothie maker, but he was working, so I started looking through the freezer for fruit, and fridge for juices.  That's when I spotted the frozen Activia cups!  I took 2 of the vanilla cups out and planned to mix those with some of the frozen strawberries I found, and whatever fruit juice I found.  But, I didn't find fruit juice.  The only liquid other than tea was lemonade.  So, I pitched it to my daughter...how about a strawberry lemonade smoothie?  She was in.

Strawberry Lemonade Smoothie

2 single serving containers of frozen Activia
6-8 large frozen strawberries (also purchased at Costco of course)
1 cup (or more) of lemonade
Blend until you've reached your desired consistency.  This may mean you have to add more lemonade.

Getting the frozen yogurt out of the containers wasn't easy.  I ended up cutting the lip of the container and peeling it off. 

What we ended up with was very good!  A little tart, but sweet also.  I don't know if we're getting any health benefits from the yogurt at this point, but I'm sure that the smooth, creamy consistency and flavor was a direct result of using the frozen yogurt.

The success here is found in the fact that the impulse item purchased on the date with my husband at Costco did not go to waste!  Wish they sold nail polish remover in bulk:-/

 

Too hot to bake? Never!

My husband says it's too hot to turn on the oven, too hot to cook, too hot to bake anything...but it's my therapy!  So, I've resorted to sneaking.  I bake late at night, after he's gone to bed, early in the morning before anyone else is awake, and today, when he was preoccupied with cleaning the garage, I baked.  Yes, he came in and complained of the heat in the family room (which is connected to our kitchen), but the moist, cool sweetness of the Aloha cake this evening after towing my car to the dealership was totally worth it.  (The car is a story for another time.)

Honestly, I try to find desserts that do not require the oven.  I spend hours scrolling through Pinterest and other sites, looking for cool, refreshing desserts, but there are only so many variations you can put on the cool whip pie (kool aid, jello, yogurt, pudding, etc.)  So, while my husband was out cleaning the garage this afternoon in preparation of installing a new garage door opener (another impulse buy at Costco which will surely cause an argument before it is up and running) I turned on the oven to bake an "Aloha Cake", I found on Pinterest.  It calls for mandarin oranges and pineapple, both of which I have cans and cans of as a result of a sale at Winco last month.

Aloha Cake

1 boxed yellow cake mix
3 eggs
3/4 C veg. oil
1 11 oz. can of mandarin oranges with the juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all of the above ingredients about 2 minutes, or until everything is incorporated.  I used my stand mixer, and the oranges did break up a little, but I don't like to bite into whole orange segments in the cake, anyway.  Pour the cake batter into a greased 9x13 pan, and bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes.

 

 

 

Let the cake cool completely before frosting:

1 tub of cool whip (thawed)
1 pkg (3 oz) vanilla pudding
1 15 oz can of crushed pineapple with the juice

Mix all of these ingredients with mixer until everything is well incorporated.  Again, I used my stand mixer.  Spread the frosting across the cooled cake, and refrigerate until it is served.  You will also need to refrigerate any leftovers.

My family is picky about texture, and they were all "worried" when they saw the pineapple bits sticking through the frosting.  But, every single one of them proclaimed the cake to be yummy!  It is a very moist, sweet cake, that has a cool, refreshing taste on a hot summer's night.  This easy cake will definitely be making another appearance this summer.

As a variation, I've seen recipes substitute the vanilla pudding with coconut pudding in the frosting.  I don't like coconut flavor, so although my family does like coconut, they may never get a taste of this variation:-O