Recently, I was trying to think of a fruity dessert to bring to my writers’ critique group. At first, I thought about strawberries. It must be that pre-summer heat that made me want a dessert with fruit. However, I didn’t have any berries on hand. I looked at what I had in the kitchen pantry and noticed a large box of instant vanilla pudding mix. Hmmm. That sounded good. Then I remembered that I had put a carton of no-sugar mandarin orange packs in the fridge. Ah-ha! I knew what I would bring to share with the writers. A pudding with mandarin oranges. Yum.
Creating recipes from what’s on hand in my kitchen pantry makes me feel excited. It’s fun. The feeling reminds me of what my grandmothers must have felt back in the early 1900’s when they had to be resourceful with the little food available. We call it being frugal, thrifty.
Although strawberries in vanilla pudding would have been my first choice, the Mandarin oranges turned out to be a success. The nice thing about the oranges was the lightness, no sugar added.
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Since I had all the ingredients needed for the pudding, that saved me a trip to the fruit stand a few miles down the road. Perfect. Less fuel, more time to make the dessert and print the chapters I had critiqued.
Instant pudding is so easy to mix. No electric mixer needed. Just a simple whisk. You can even get a mini wrist and arm workout beating the pudding for one to two minutes. Hey, every minute counts for exercise.
Of course, I had to taste the dessert before sharing it with the group of ladies. Imagine a citrusy flavor blended with vanilla.
The critique group loved the fruity pudding, and there was extra left over. I gave the hostess some for later, and there was a little extra to bring back home.
Try the recipe, and tell me what you think.
Ingredients
- 3 cups milk
- 1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 package of 4 containers of No Sugar Mandarin Oranges
- 1 cup Light Whipped Topping
Instructions
- Empty pudding mix into medium to large bowl.
- Mix pudding with 3 cups milk by beating it for one to two minutes with a whisk.
- Drain the four cups of oranges.
- Mix oranges into the pudding.
- Stir whipped topping into the pudding.
- Ready to serve.
Blog parties this week:
Full Plate Thursday with Miz Helen
I love the combination of orange and vanilla. This looks good,