Sharon's Homemade from SCRATCH Banana Pudding...

This is melt in your mouth like your grandma used to make banana pudding! Yummy!

Melt 1/2 cup butter in saucepan. (medium/high heat)

Add 1 cup of flour gradually while whisking.

The mixture will get very thick.

Begin adding milk (about 1/2 cup) until desired pudding like consistency.

Add 2 egg yolks.........save the whites...you'll need them in a minute! Make sure NONE of the yolks is in the whites.

Whisk together until you have pudding thickness, then add 1 capfull of vanilla extract.

*You can add milk or flour as needed when making this. Every time, it seems the amount used changes because of the way it cooks, but if you need it thicker, add more flour, thinner...add more milk as needed. Make sure it is not too thin when finished. It should be the consistency of jell-0 pudding.

Cut 4 bananas into slices in a baking dish. I use a round 9 inch cake pan with tall sides. Add in about 1/2 box of nilla wafers. I made the one pictured with full size wafers, but I love to use the miniature ones when I can find them! Stir together wafers and bananas and then pour pudding mixture on top. I like to stir this all up a bit to make sure every banana and wafer is surrounded by pudding.

Now to make the meringe topping...

In large bowl, pour in 2 egg whites. Beat on medium speed with hand mixer until peaks form. Be patient.....this takes several minutes. Mixture will be SOLID white and really fluffy. Gradually begin to add 1/4 c. sugar to egg white mixture. Continue beating on medium-high with mixer until you have solid peaks forming. (By pulling a spoon or beaters out of mixture, it will make little points....these are peaks....see photo!) Garnish top with extra wafers.

Once you have finished the meringue topping, scoop onto top of finished banana pudding. Bake until peaks get golden on the edges at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Yummy EASY Chicken Salad....NO COOKING REQUIRED!

Okay, this chicken salad recipe is a work of sheer genius! I must admit.....I have adapted it from friends' recipes and added and changed it until I have what I think is the easiest and best chicken salad I may have ever tasted......excited? You should be....here you go!

Sharon's Chicken Salad

1 bag pre-cooked chicken fajita meat (I get this at wal-mart in the meat section and it's $2.73/pkg)
3/4 cup mayo (I use low-fat and it doesn't change the taste at all!)
1 small package of slivered almonds
2 celery stalks chopped into fine pieces
1 small can crushed pineapple DRAINED well
3 tsp. of garlic powder (or to taste desired)
Salt & Pepper

Tear chicken apart into fine shreds using your hands or a food processor. For "chunkier" salad....tear with hands or use knife and chop up to desired consistency. Mix in all ingredients. Stir. Chill. Serve on croissants, bread, tortillas or is great in a pita with fresh lettuce! Everyone that has tried this has loved it.

Fun stuff for kiddos....

Okay, here are a few quick and easy and FUN kid recipes!

Hot Dog.....Mom's Gone BANANAS!
(a yummy treat for your little monkeys!)

1 - Hot Dog Bun
1 - Banana
Strawberry Jelly
Peanut butter

Smooth Peanut butter onto the hot dog bun. Place banana inside. Squiggle the jelly on! The kids loved this one!

Sherbert the Frog

1 Large Scoop of Lime Sherbert

1 lime green paper plate with a notch cut out to look like a lilly pad

Assorted candies. (I used gummy life savers & mm's)

Scoop sherbert onto plate. Quickly arrange candies for eyes and feet and serve! This one was funny. We did it by the pool and it started melting. Try it in the house! LOL

Glad to have you visit my blog!

Just in case you are new....you may look through the archives for recipes I've posted. This blog is fairly new but I have a fair selection of new recipes and things to make! Let me know if you have something you would like to say by either leaving a comment or emailing me! Thanks!

Sharon

More fun STUFF!

Okay, these are some of the cutest items out there, girls! (and guys if you're reading!)

Any of these items would make a great gift for someone else or yourself! :)

The following items are from http://www.plumparty.com/ which is one of my FAVORITE sites!

These are the dinner plates that I am dying to buy! The are called "Barcelona" by French Bull and they are $32 for the set of 4 dinner plates! I ABSOULUTELY LOVE THESE!

These are a great hostess gift or just a gift for anyone who's a Domestic Gal....Decorative Salad Server Spoons....SO CUTE! SO HIP! They are $15 and are also by French Bull. They come in different designs! These are 2 of my favorites!

These are PAPER plates! HOW adorable are they!? Serve a fancy dinner on fancy plates and throw them away at the end! How much better could life get?! Also from plumparty.com

Oky-Doky...I think these little pinwheel lights are SOOOOOOOOOO cute! What says "summer" more than this!? They are $22 for a 10 light strand!

These are coasters! Only $10! They are also dishwasher and heat safe! WOW!

Such a cute little serving tray! $18 TONS of things in this print are available! Fun for any gathering!

These are such cool napkin rings...."Eat, Drink & Be Merry!" engraved on them!

Draining Spaghetti Noodles just got a lot more FUN! LOL This colander will put some cheer in any meal preparation! $25 from www.plumparty.com

If you're having a party....these are my "Pick!" Retro Party Picks are $14 for a set of 6 but they are reusable! :)

These next few items came from a site I just found called www.jilliewillie.com ! They have some adorable things! This overnight bag is so cute!

Who wouldn't feel glamourous cleaning house or cooking in these darling flip flop slippers!? They are $18.50 and come in different colors!

This is the "Suzy Homemaker" apron from them! Has a dishtowel attached that is washable! So practical and CUTE!

Fake Gourmet Chef!

Hey, everyone! Tonight, I made what I call "fake gourmet!" Todd LOVED this meal and the kids ate it, too!


Baked Tilapia with Cream Sauce and Cajun Potatoes

Here is a list of ingredients you will need:

4 Frozen Tilapia Fillets
Olive Oil
Tony's Cajun Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper
Seasoned Pepper Blend
Aluminum Foil
Red New Potatoes
Margarine
Minced Garlic in a jar
Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread
Chicken Broth (canned or boxed)
Parmesean Cheese

Here's how to look like a gourmet chef & domestic diva!

For starters...you'll need to thaw your tilapia. I buy the package of 4 tilapia fillets that are frozen and INDIVIDUALLY wrapped. The total cost for the bag of tilapia is less than $4. To thaw, take each fillet out of the vaccum pack sealing and place into the large bag that it came in. Place the BAG into a large bowl filled with warm water. It will thaw within the hour.

Then, you take each fillet and rub gently with olive oil. Then, I seasoned mine with Tony's Cajun Seasoning, Garlic powder, salt & pepper & seasoned pepper blend. This is "to taste". If you like it a little spicier, go for it! I made the kids with just salt and pepper and garlic powder and they ate it all! As you do this....place each fillet on it's piece of aluminum foil. ****You will need 4 12x12 size foil sheets. Just aluminum foil torn into large squares. Do this BEFORE you are ready to season your fish! See the photo of the seasoned fish below....


After seasoning, you will need to wrap your fillets into foil packets. Do this by folding over as shown and then rolling up both ends of the packets.

The photo below shows finished foil packets!

The Cajun Potatoes are EASY, too! AND DELICIOUS!

For these, I cube up the desired amount of red potatoes needed. Melt 1/2 cup of margarine in bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of minced garlic and stir up. Pour over cubed raw potatoes. Sprinkle with tony's cajun seasoning and bake at 350 covered with foil until tender. Then, remove foil and stir. You can now salt & pepper the potatoes. Turn heat up to 450 and bake until brown and braised! The photo below shows them ready to be placed in the oven. See finished photo for how they look when they are done.Bake the tilapia after you turn the potatoes up to 450. It will only need about 12 minutes or so in the foil packets. Then, CAREFULLY undo packets and slide tilapia fillets onto a baking sheet. Put in oven with potatoes again and turn oven on BROIL for about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them, though. When they look done, turn the oven off. Leave them sitting in the oven while you make the cream sauce. The photo below shows a fillet after you cook it in the foil packet.

The cream sauce is SO easy and DELICIOUS! Now, it's not "low-fat" but you only use a little bit on the fish to add to the flavor so it's okay. To make it, you pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauce pan and heat. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth until boiling. Add container of Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread until melted. Mix in 1/4 cup of parmesean cheese and wisk until smooth on medium heat. Remove from heat when smooth. If it is too thick, add a little more broth and wisk it.

To complete our meal, I opened a can of asparagus spears and 1 can of green beans and cooked over medium heat adding about a tablespoon of margarine and some salt & pepper. The flavor of the asparagus infuses the green beans and it is truly delicious! Below, you will see photos of the finished meal ready to eat! My whole family LOVED this meal and couldn't get enough of it!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and try it sometime! It was fun to make and I felt really good about serving it to my family!

NOTE: If you do not want to make the potatoes, another great pairing with this would be brown wild rice!

Mommy's Must Haves...

Okay, these are the cutest things that make you feel a little happier in the kitchen! I find that I am more "in the mood" to work on the house and cooking if I have a few "girly" things that make me feel good! My personal choices are aprons, cute plastic gloves and music! I love to pick my music to cook with. I have a cooking playlist that I love and it does the trick!

I am posting a few of the cutest items I've found! Enjoy!

First are "Gloveables" Kitchen gloves! I have the black & white polka dot ones! I got mine on ebay by searching for "gloveables" and they were very inexpensive! I love them. They are wonderful for those icky things you don't want to touch. I use them to cut onions, peppers, etc. so that my hands don't stink when I'm finished. They come in TONS of designs and colors! I love polka dots, though!

The next thing is that you must have a cute apron to be a "Domestic Diva"! (Well, you don't HAVE to, but it's fun!) I found this awesome website where some really cute aprons are around $20.... Check it out. http://www.domesticdarlings.com/index.html

Yummy Taco Soup

1 pound ground hamburger meat (cooked, crumbled & drained)
2 cans pinto beans
2 cans corn
1 can rotel
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix

Brown, crumble & drain meat. Mix all ingredients in large pot and cook until mixed well and hot! You can cut tortillas into strips with a pizza cutter and fry them to make strips to put on top or you can serve with chips. Top with shredded cheese & strips and enjoy!

More recipes...

EASY Family Pleasing Chicken Pot Pie

2 frozen pie crusts in aluminum pans
1 large can veg-all mixed vegetables (drained)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 shredded cooked chicken breasts (You can use the pre-cooked chicken in a package)
Salt & Pepper

Place one of the pie crusts in the oven at 375. Set extra pie crust to the side to "thaw" Begin mixing vegetables, cream of chicken soup and chicken. Salt & Pepper to taste. Once pie crust in oven is golden and flaky looking (about 20 minutes), take it out and pour mixture into it. Gently remove 2nd pie crust from aluminum pan. Place on top of pot pie mixture and pinch around edges to cover other pie crust. Place in oven and bake until top crust is golden and flaky looking. You can brush with egg white to make a glossy golden crust but it's good without it, too! :) This is the EASIEST and cheapest chicken pot pie I've ever had and it is DELICIOUS! Enjoy!


Easy Lasagna

1 lg. container of small cured cottage cheese
1 lg. container ricotta cheese
1 pkg. oven ready lasagna noodles
1 LARGE jar spaghetti sauce of your choice of flavors!
1 pound ground beef, cooked, crumbled & drained
1 pkg. breakfast sausage, cooked, crumbled & drained
2 eggs
Italian blend seasonings
Parmesean Cheese
Mozarella Cheese

Cook hamburger meat and sausage together. Crumble & drain. Pour into large bowl with spaghetti sauce. In seperate bowl, combine ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, 1/4 cup of parmesean cheese, 1 tablespoon of italian blend seasonings. Mix with a fork. If you do not like cottage cheese (like me)...don't worry.......you can't taste it. BUT, if you refuse to use it, you can make it with 2 containers of ricotta cheese instead. Begin layering in deep baking dish...9x13 is best. Meat sauce then 3 lasagna noodles, cheese mixture, then 3 lasagna noodles, etc. until you run out of noodles and end with meat sauce on top! Bake at 375 for an hour covered with foil. Remove foil, add mozarella cheese on top and bake for about 15 minutes on 425 or until cheese is bubbly and melted on top. You may choose to turn it on "broil" for a minute or two! :) Serve with italian bread & a salad and you'll look like a genius!

Green Bean Casserole....for Shanna! :)

2 cans french cut green beans, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can of French's fried onions
Tony's Cajun Seasoning

Mix together drained green beans, soup and about 1/2 tablespoon of the seasoning. (only if you want a little kick to the flavor...if not, just use salt & pepper to taste) Pour into baking dish and bake about 20 minutes on 350. Cover with french fried onions and bake until they are golden and crispy. (about 8-10 minutes) Enjoy!