Little Monkey

Healthier Ambrosia Fruit Salad

I loved this stuff as a child! It was my favorite at church fellowships. But I never made it because it was rather unhealthy (have you read the ingredients in cool whip?). Anyway, I found a recipe that tastes the way I remember it... and the only unhealthy bit is the marshmallows! Dave agrees that it is the coconut and the pineapple that gives it its' distinctive flavor. 

I based my recipe on this: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/quick-ambrosia-fruit-salad

Here is my version:

Ingredients

• 1 can (small) mandarins, drained
• 1/2 can  unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 red apple, peeled, diced
• 1 cup seedless grapes (red or green)
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows
• 1 medium banana, sliced
• 1 container vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Mix and enjoy! Serves about 6.

Notes:

• you'll find unsweetened coconut with dried fruit/trail mix/ banana chips, etc.
• generally, the healthier the yogurt, the fewer ingredients it has (except for those containing live and active cultures)

2 1/2 years old

You're 2 1/2 years old today! Right now...

• you love mango!
• we are so proud that you can sing the whole ABC song, enunciating each letter! This is probably because you request that we sing it all the time.
• when we were in Santa Fe, one of the street singers sang the ABC's to you. You loved it!
• going to the church nursery one day a week is a highlight of your week!
• your favorite bedtime snack is either graham crackers with peanut butter or rye crackers with cream cheese and Promite
• we can hear both an Australian and an American accent in your speech
• if it comes from our garden, you'll eat it. You love picking tomatoes off of the vines.
• you love to play Hide & Seek. You count "1...2...8,9,10!" We have to hide quickly! You're not too interested in hiding yet.
• you can accurately name most of your body parts, including random ones like elbow. 
• you're doing great with potty training, as long as you aren't wearing anything on your bottom half! 
• you enjoy doing crafts at story time in the library. You like cutting with your scissors and using a glue stick.
• you have started praying by yourself at night (but usually repeating after us) and even at mealtimes!
• random things make you enthusiastic- "Asher, the table is brown." Asher says, "Oooo! Brown!"
• you haven't yet figured out that your ice cream is really frozen yogurt
• when you have a potty success, and you remember to ask for a mini M&M, you also want one for every one else in the house. You give one to each person and very rarely eat them yourself!
• you tell jokes, but they only make sense to you!
• so far, the terrible twos haven't been that terrible, thankfully. 
• we are definitely blessed!