Not Yer Nana's Puddin'

Ingredients:
5-6 bananas
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
graham crackers
3 cups milk
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Slice 2-3 bananas to form single layer in bottom of 8x8 glass dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Mix 1 box of pudding with 1 ½ cups milk and ½ cup heavy whipping cream with whisk for 2 minutes. Pour over bananas and spread until covered. Break graham crackers into squares and place on top of pudding layer. Slice additional bananas on top of graham crackers. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon. Mix 1 box pudding with 1 ½ cups milk and ½ cup heavy whipping cream with whisk for 2 minutes. Fold in mini chocolate chips. Pour over bananas. Top with crushed graham crackers and refrigerate for 15 minutes before serving.
Very rich!

Variations:
1. Use cinnamon graham crackers.
2. Use banana flavored pudding instead of vanilla or substitute another flavor (chocolate perhaps!) for one of the layers.
Make it your own!

Peanut Butter Brownies

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chewy-peanut-butter-brownies/Detail.aspx

*I can't have peanut butter without chocolate, so before baking I sprinkled a good handful (or so) of chocolate chips on the top of the brownie mixture. Sooo good! :-)

Been busy...

And in the meantime we've been eating a little of this...

and a little of this.

Tonight we'll be having these... and tomorrow we'll be trying out this.

And to sweeten things up some we've tried this new recipe (which turned out pretty darn good!) and this weekend's new dessert is this... can't wait! :-)

Hope y'all are having a fantastic weekend!

Pioneer Woman's Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/06/malted-milk-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Sloppy Joe Turnovers

1 lb. ground turkey, chicken, or beef
1/4 c. onion (you can sprinkle in dried, minced onion if you prefer- I use anywhere from half to a whole onion depending on the size)
1/2 c. ketchup
1/4 c. sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
10 oz. can refrigerated flaky biscuits

-Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brown ground beef and onion in a skillet. Add ketchup, sour cream, salt and garlic powder. Simmer for 2 minutes. Roll out biscuits (just stretch them out a bit with your hands). Place a heaping spoonful of meat mixture in the center of each biscuit. Fold over the biscuit to cover meat and seal the edges with a fork ( I do this by hand). Cut a slit on the top of biscuit. Bake turnovers on a cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Artichoke Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp garlic salt
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the artichoke hearts, Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, and garlic salt. Place chicken in a greased baking dish, and cover evenly with artichoke mixture.
3. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear.

Enchiladas

1 lb hamburger meat
1 small onion, chopped
1 can chopped black olives
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Enchilada sauce*
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
6-8 flour tortillas

Brown the meat and sauté the onions in with it. Once that is done, add in the olives and let it heat and then add in 3/4 of the cheese and let it melt - mix it all together. Fill tortillas with the meat mixture and roll up. Combine the mushroom soup and enchilada sauce and pour on top. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

*I did not have any canned enchilada sauce, however I did have an envelope of enchilada seasoning/mix. Whisk that into a can of tomato sauce and voila- red (and kinda spicy!) enchilada sauce- yum!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wanted to make something new so I visited my old friend Dr. Google. He led me to this recipe that produced some super yummy cookies! I used my good ol' 10-year old hand mixer for the majority of the mixing. While combining the wet and dry ingredients it started struggling so I gave it up and mixed by hand.


Ingredients
* 1 cup butter
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
* 1 cup smooth peanut butter
* 2 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugars until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix until combined; then add eggs and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

2. In another medium bowl, whisk together oats, flour, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture and mix on low until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons 1 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, switching position of pans halfway through baking, or until lightly browned but still soft in the center. Transfer cookies to racks to cool.

Taco Bake

Recipe Coming soon! (as soon as i rescue it off of my school computer!) I seem to have lost my copy somewhere around here!

Meal Planning- Weeks 4&5

Other than nights getting switched around on the menu and adding in a date night this week things on the meal planning scene are going just swimmingly! The last 2 weeks we have omitted the meal I have been most looking forward to (grilling BBQ chicken), so I am bound and determined to get 'er done this week!

We leave on our much awaited vacation(!) on the 15th, so we are in the process of using up some ingredients that we don't want to leave until we get back. This week is also exam week for Jason and the start of testing season for us on the year-round calendar. We pretty much test the entire months of May and June. I also have 5+ after-school meetings the next 2 weeks, so I tried to be easy and strategic in my planning. Nothing too exciting...

Oh, and we have decided that since the bulk of my grocery shopping is done on Monday evenings we are going to designate it "sandwich night." Since I save so much money by using coupons to do most of my shopping, I am going to splurge and buy us some nice bakery bread for those nights. We usually have sandwich meat, cheese, and other sandwich toppings on hand for lunches and emergency dinners- but we're going to make this our Monday night thing :-)

Here's the plan:

Monday, May 3: sandwich night

Tuesday, May 4: leftovers for Jason- I’ll be off taking my National Board assessment!

Wednesday, May 5: salad with grilled chicken strips

Thursday, May 6: Oven Fried Chicken, baked beans, salad

Friday, May 7: BBQ Chicken, baked mac&cheese, mixed fruit

Saturday, May 8: Taco Bake

Sunday, May 9: Mother’s Day- we’ll be in Laurinburg having lunch with Mama and Granny

Monday, May 10: sandwich night

Tuesday, May 11: Teriyaki Chicken

Wednesday, May 12: Roast (crock pot) w/carrots, potatoes, and onions

Thursday, May 13: hamburger helper (Philly cheese steak- with ground turkey of course!)

Friday, May 14: clean out the fridge for vacation!!! :-)

OVEN FRIED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:
12 chicken thighs (or drumsticks)
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup vegetable oil (OR butter OR Pam spray)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place flour in a shallow plate or bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Put the bread crumbs in another shallow plate or bowl and beat the eggs in another bowl.
3. Dredge the chicken piece by piece in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs, until all pieces are coated. Pour the oil into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add the chicken to the dish and sprinkle with paprika to taste. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then turn pieces over and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from oven and drain on paper towels. Enjoy!

Meal Planning- Week 3

Monday: Jason’s on his own- I have a meeting in Cary 4:30-6pm, then a jewelry party @ Jennifer’s afterward!


Tuesday: take-out (family night @ book fair till 7)


Wednesday: whole wheat pasta tossed with parmesan cheese, broccoli


Thursday: Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, unknown green veggie :-)


Friday: Jason will be @ the Blue&Gold Banquet for Boy Scouts


Saturday: BBQ chicken, baked mac&cheese, peas, mixed fruit


Sunday: Beef tips and rice, green beans, peaches