Front Porch Fruit Salads
These little frozen gems come to us courtesy of Granny Jordan’s recipe box. She was known for her frozen salads and her personal favorite were the frozen Cranberry Banana Salads which she always kept on hand. As good as those are, I think these are my favorite though. They just taste so summery! If you’ve had about all you can take of dreary skies and cold days this is the taste that will perk you right up!
The great thing about it is that you can make up a batch and keep them in your freezer to have on hand anytime for last minute company or treats while sitting on the porch. I think you’ll enjoy the convenience of these and I know you’ll enjoy the fresh summer flavor!
To make our Front Porch Salads, you’ll need: Greek Yogurt, Canned Apricots, Canned crushed Pineapple, Orange Juice concentrate, Frozen sweetened strawberries, ripe bananas, and a little bit of sugar.
Now let me tell ya something about this Greek yogurt pictured here. I’m not one for new fangled things. Although Greek yogurt isn’t new per-say, but it is for where I’m from. Anytime something new comes out, I like to wait it out a bit, give it say, fifty years or so and see if it is still around. If it is, then I know there is probably something to it and I might put it on my list of things to try.
However, my whole family somehow ended up being yogurt people. Both my kids, myself, and even my husband all have our favorite brands and flavors of yogurt.
A year or so ago we were on a family vacation and stopped in at a grocery store. I told everyone to pick out something as a treat and by the time we got up to the register I looked and there were four differen kinds of yogurt in our buggie! Up until then I had not realized how much we all loved it.
So after hearing about Greek yogurt over and over, I decided to forego my usual five decade waiting period and give it a go now. Boy howdee, is that stuff ever good. On it’s own, it is like a very thick sour cream. I like to eat it with a little bit of honey stirred in. In this salad, it creates the perfect blend of creaminess to really make it stand out all the more to me.
In it’s place, though, there are lots of things you can use. Regular yogurt, Sour cream, and even Whipped Topping will work just fine. You can also leave it out entirely because Granny Jordan’s original recipe didn’t have anything creamy in it, I just added this on my own. I know she wouldn’t have minded though.
Open up can of apricots and drain the juice into a measuring cup.
Do the same with the can of crushed pineapple.
Don’t worry about squeezing the juice out of the pineapple, whatever comes out on it’s own will be fine.
We need to dice our apricots so I just take a knife and run it through them several times while they are still in the can.
Your pineapple is already crushed so you’re good to go there.
Now take your reserved juice and sugar…
and put them together in a sauce pot.
Place that on medium heat and stir constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Then set aside.
In a large bowl place your peeled bananas. Moosh them up really well with a fork.
Add pineapple, apricots, strawberries (juice and all), and orange juice concentrate.
Stir well.
Add in yogurt. Stir again.
Pour in the juice mixture from the sauce pan and stir again until it’s all mixed up really well.
Line a muffin tin with paper cups and fill each cup with salad mixture.
Freeze several hours, or until firm.
Pop out of the muffin tin, but leave in the papers, and place salads in gallon zipper seal bags and return to the freezer.
Serve frozen.
Makes about three dozen salads.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:57]
Ingredients
- 1 -12 ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate with pulp
- 24 ounces frozen sweetened sliced strawberries
- 15 ounce can apricots diced (can use peaches)
- 3 ripe bananas
- 20 ounce can crushed pineapple
- 16 ounces Greek Yogurt can use plain, substitute whipped topping, or leave out entirely
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- Muffin papers
Instructions
- Drain juice from both cans of fruit into a measuring cup. Using a knife, carefully dice apricots while still in the can. Place reserved fruit juices and sugar in sauce pot and cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In large bowl place peeled bananas and mash well with long tined fork. Add in chopped apricots, pineapple, strawberries (juice and all), orange juice concentrate, and yogurt. Stir well. Pour in cooled juice mixture. Stir until well combined.
- Line a muffin tin with paper cups and fill each cup with salad mixture. Freeze several hours, or until firm.
- Makes about 36 salads. Serve frozen. Can eat with a fork or peel back the paper and eat it like an ice cream bar.
Nutrition
“You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north.”
~Deuteronomy 2:3. Wow Debi, that can be pretty profound at the right time. Thank you for sharing!
I love this idea!! Perfect, simple treats for the kids on the oh so hot days of Savannah summers!!
=)
I bought your cookbook and loved it so much I took it over to show my Mom. Well, she was so excited about it she ordered one from QVC. Now I have to tell you that is really saying something–she is 78 years old and the best Cajun cook I have ever saw. Her boss keeps telling her if she would retire he would open a restaurant and hire her to cook. Everyone where she works ask her what she is cooking for lunch. And have even asked her for cooking lessons. I tell you all of this just so you can know just how great your cookbook is. You can’t get a better endorsement than a 78 year old experienced Southern cook.
Oh my goodness! I agree completely. What an honor!! Please thank your dear mother for me and thank you for making my day!!
Gratefully
Christy
I love how the greek yogurt adds a little extra protein!
I love the idea of these little treats! Is the banana crucial to the recipe? I want to make them for my grandsons & neither of them likes bananas. Could I just substitute another fruit or just leave the bananas out? Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes! It’s about 11:45 p.m. here in Fort Smith, AR & I’m just dying to go cook! LOL
I made these last week and have really enjoyed them, they are
awesome. Had relatives from Ms. later in week and they just about
cleaned the out of the freezer for me. I think they would have stayed
a few more days had I not run out of the treats. They were absolutely
fantastic. Enjoy your work so much, keep it up and don’t get to big
for you fans. Ha. Hope and pray the tornados didn’t get to your part.
I made these for Easter and they were a hit. I made them with Weight Watchers vanilla yogurt (since that is what I had on hand) instead of the Greek yogurt and they are excellent. Keep the great recipes coming …
SO glad they turned out and that you were able to make them a bit more healthy too!!
Christy I was telling my granddaughter last evening about your site and that you are my home away from home as I am a displaced Southerner in the Great Northwest; Canada that is! I told her about the kindnesses of Southern people just being helpful to one another and I open your No Bake Peanut Butter Bars and you said similiar to what I told her…I emailed it to her just now as it was timely. I told her how very much I would love your cookbook but not able to get it at the present time because of other ‘needs’. Anyway I can come on line and check a receipe out from time to time.
I baked a large, large single piece of ham for dinner for her….I had checked out one of your receipes from your grandmother but instead of brown sugar I substitued blackstrap molasses and spiced it with clove and cinnamon. Also had to have ‘redeye gravy’ to go with it. At first she wasn’t sure about it; especially the ‘redeye gravy’ but after just one bite she was hooked and gratefully took the last slice of ham…yes, she also took the gravy. You can rest asured I will make it ‘Southern style’ again for family and friends.
The apron giveaway would be ‘my heart’s desire’ however I do not go on any other form of communicating except email and these comments. You see 59 years ago all women wore aprons daily in their home chores.
Rarely do we get our ‘heart’s desire’ but God always meets our needs in His own special way. I congratulate ahead of time the lady who does win the apron.
Another item I appreciate seeing each year are the Mother’s Kindness Baskets but to pricey for my budget.
I would dearly love to meet you someday but for now know that I appreciate all that you do and pray God keeps you and all your loved ones in the palm of HIs Hand.
A Holy and Happy Easter and the richest of God’s storehouse of Blessings.