After Dinner Thoughts

Mmmm...I like black eye peas! This Hoppin' John recipe is terrific and I believe I will make it again sometime. Also, everyone truly enjoyed the bok choy. I don't think mom or dad had ever had bok choy as a separate dish before; I know I've used it as an ingredient in other recipes, but not as its own dish. They both really enjoyed it! I'm glad.


For dessert I ended up making a trifle. I used two of my Weight Watchers cookbooks to make a mash-up. Below is the recipe I made. I must say it was mighty tasty. Very easy too. I will definitely make it again!

1 package vanilla-flavored instant pudding mix (the size that serves 4)
2 cups skim milk
1 cup frozen light whipped topping (thawed)
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (I used the zest of 2 oranges)
1 angel food cake, cut into cubes (I used a store-bought cake that looked like it was prepared in a bundt cake pan)
1 cup orange juice
1 20 oz can unsweetened pineapple tidbits, drained
4 small navel oranges, peeled, sectioned, and cut into chunks
3 ruby red grapefruit, peeled, sectioned, and cut into chunks
1 pint fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons shredded coconut
1/4 cup sliced unblanched almonds

1- Prepare the pudding mix with the milk according to package directions. Stir the orange zest and whipped topping into pudding mixture.

2- Place 1/2 of the cake cubes into a large bowl. Pour 1/2 cup orange juice over cake cubes. Spoon 1/2 of pudding mixture over cake cubes. Add the fruit from 2 oranges and 1 1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 of the pineapple tidbits, and 1/2 of the blueberries on top of pudding mixture.

3- Follow step 2 with the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

4- Shortly before serving, toast the almonds and coconut in a large non-stick skillet. Toast the almonds first for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the coconut and stir for about 2 more minutes until both are lightly browned. Transfer to a heatproof dish to serve from.

5- Just before serving, add a bit more whipped topping to individual servings and sprinkle with toasted almonds and coconut.

FYI...when I section citrus I use a knife to cut the peel away and then cut the sections out to only have fruit and to leave any membrane or pith behind. It's a bit messy to do it this way, but totally worth it!

We got at least 8 servings from this dish. Very good!