The sweat is dripping off you and all you want to do is cool down. Lucky for you, because from simple ingredients and just 5-10 minutes of preparation, you have your cool treat waiting on you in your compact refrigerator or ice chest.

You can fix a fruit salad from whatever fruity ingredients you like. Mike fixed one in June 2010 from ingredients he happened to have on hand in the truck he drives for his trucking company.

Here is his photo journal of the process.

This photo shows all of the ingredients and equipment Mike used to fix fruit salad.

Pineapple chunks were the first layer.

Canned peaches were the second layer.

A sliced banana was the third layer.

A diced fresh apple was the fourth and final layer.

Mike poured a blend of the syrups from the chunk pineapple and canned peaches over the pieces of fruit to act as a natural preservative to keep the banana and apple from discoloring prematurely.

Mike mixed up the fruit to make sure every piece was coated with the syrup, especially the banana and apple.

Pictured at left is the finished fruit salad, waiting to be chilled and then eaten.

Yum!

Money saving tip: While you can buy canned "fruit cocktail" or a frozen fruit medley, neither of them contains fresh fruit. You can buy both apples and bananas in dehydrated form, but even rehydrated they never taste the same as fresh. You can also buy refrigerated fruit salad -- for a price.

Making your own -- especially from the freshest ingredients you can get -- is best, from both a cost and health perspective.

Watch for fresh fruit on sale during the summer and for sales on canned or frozen fruit any time. You can even pick your own if you live in the right location.

In our home state of South Carolina, we have

• bought fresh peaches (picked and packed at a peach orchard near Johnston, SC),
• picked our own strawberries (near North Augusta, SC) and
• picked our own blueberries (near Couchton, SC).

For other fruit, melon or citrus options, you may choose to take a look at our snack foods page.