Fried Pies & Fireflies: Summer Salad

A favorite plaque in my kitchen states:

The South

The place where...

Tea is sweet and accents are sweeter.

Summer starts in April.

Macaroni and Cheese is a vegetable.

Front porches are wide and words are long.

Pecan pie is a staple.

Y'all is the only proper noun.

Chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy.

Everything is Darlin'.

Someones heart is always being blessed.

Ok, Jessica and I are on the juice and just veggie diet
this week....sigh...

Now there are soooo many rules and soooo many things
we can't have---living with the food Nazi...just saying...

She had been wanting us to do this for sometime,
and I agreed after she made me watch "Food Inc.",
a documentary about the meat processing industry in the US.

I really recommend watching it because it is really informative.
It's not disgusting like many of the documentaries they make, although it shook my very core when we got to the
Smithfield Ham part....my favorite ham I cook with
a Coca-Cola marinade...aaahhh...

She just rolled her eyes today when I came home with
a Smithfield Ham and put in the freezer....

"Just for emergencies," I declared.

Haven't any of you had a ham emergency before?
Sliced hot and piled on white bread with mayo and mustard?
She rolls her eyes at white bread also...

I was good until about 10:00 pm at work last night when I really wanted a donut...I don't ever even crave donuts...weird what your body wants when it is trying to get used to the shock!

I got in trouble when I came home from the grocery store
yesterday and I had 2 bags of caramels.

"You cannot buy bags of sugary candy, Mom!'

"They're not for me to eat, but for me to cook with and post my recipes! I thought I had successfully defended my position...

"Well, Mom, maybe you should think about posting HEALTHY recipes...You could talk about getting ready for swimsuit season and such. We don't need 2 or 3 cakes per week around here."

"But I take my creations to work and share with everyone there." (Ha! great argument again!)

"Well, I'm sure your friends at work don't
need 2 desserts per week also!"
(They may beg to differ...)

And it's not that I cook and eat all the things I post,
but I am just too Southern to the soul to just post
everything healthy and good for you :)

But...today...I'm going to make my daughter happy and post a delicious and beautiful healthy recipe that will be wonderful on the hot days of summer looming ahead of us.

Summer Salad

2 cups coconut, freshly grated

2 cups carrots, grated

1 cucumber, seeded and dices

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 pineapple, diced

1 large tomato, seeded and diced

1 orange, peeled, seeded and diced

mint leaves, fresh and chopped

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP almond oil

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice and almond oil. Place back into pineapple bowl and garnish with orange slice, coconut and chopped mint.