Pineapple Casserole: So Unhealthy, But So Good

Our school has a wonderful bunch of teachers that eat together every Tuesday.  A different team of teachers is responsible for bringing in lunch for the day.  Usually the meal revolves around a theme.  This week my team was responsible for bringing the meal.  We chose to have a Dr. Seuss inspired menu and have green eggs and ham (spinach, egg and ham casserole), green eggs and mushrooms (spinach and mushroom quiche), and other breakfast inspired items (fruit, biscuits, etc.).  I wound up being in charge of dessert.  So, I decided to bring along an old favorite. 

This is one of those recipes that I haven't made in years because it doesn't fit into how we normally eat at our house, but, I knew that it would receive rave reviews and I had all most of the ingredients.  Well, actually, since we're still in the pantry/freezer/canning cupboard cleaning out mode, I made quite a few substitutions.  Here's the recipe (my substitutions are in bold).

My mom got this recipe from a dear old Italian lady that used to go to our church.  She used to serve it as a side dish when we had ham.  It made frequent appearances on our Easter table. It's a very pretty, sunny looking dish.  The pineapple is so yellow and golden.  It smells heavenly when it's baking too.  Just don't delude yourself into thinking that you're eating anything healthy.  The eggs and the pineapple can't save you from the other ingredients.    So this is...

Mrs. Pingatore's Pineapple Casserole

Tear 5 c. of white bread into small pieces.  Place them into a bowl. (Yes, you have to use store bought white bread - homemade and whole wheat don't work very well.  I happened to have a loaf of white store bread in the freezer that someone had brought to the camp out.)

Melt 1/2 c. butter (I used 1/4 oil because I was out of butter.  You could also substitute applesauce for the oil, but I didn't think about that until later.)

In another mixing bowl...
Beat 3 eggs
Then add the melted butter and ...
1 3/4 c. sugar (I did about half sugar and half brown sugar because I didn't have as much white sugar as I thought).
1 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple (drained)
and
8 oz. of canned milk ( I used lite coconut milk - again, it's what I had.)

Mix this all together, then add to the white bread.  Pour into a shallow baking dish (8x8 would work), and bake at 350 for 45 - 55 min. until it's bubbly and thick,and the sugars begin to caramelize.  It will thicken a bit more as it cools.

I doubled this recipe to make a 9x13 pan.  It would also freeze well, but I don't think I've ever had leftovers of this recipe. 

How about you?  What oldies, but goodies do you hang onto from your childhood that you almost never make because the thought of feeding it to your children gives you pause? 

 Oh well, can't be healthy all the time, now can we?