Paula Deen's Best Ever Banana Pudding

My sister made this recipe for us when we were visiting last summer. We Love it.

2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies

3-4 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream
Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top. In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve. I used all the "lite" version of the ingredients to lower the calories a bit- turns out great! You can find the original recipe here

Kristy's Cheese Potatoes

This is for Wende....... Sorry the picture is bad but all I have left if leftovers from when I made these for the Community Council dinner (I will post a new picture next time I make them).This is a recipe that I made up and it is not hard.


5-10 lbs of red potatoes (depending on how many you want to make) they are really good if you use fresh potatoes out of your garden

Boil potatoes in salt water until tender.

While potatoes are boiling fry 1-2 pounds of bacon(depending on how many potatoes you cooked) right before the bacon is done add 1/2 chopped yellow onion. Finish cooking bacon and onion.

When potatoes are done drain and put into a large baking dish. Add bacon and onions and then mix in about 2 cups of your favorite cheese grated(I usually use colby jack or cheddar). You can put potatoes in a warm oven to keep them warm or to finish melting the cheese. Serve with sour cream.

beef tips & gravy

I'm all about the crock pot these days!

I love throwing food in it then coming back & dinner is ready! This is a great one given to me from a friend at church. It's on my love it list- let me know if you give it a try.

1 round steak sliced
1-2 Tblsp. vegetable oil
2-4 packages of dry brown gravy mix
2-4 cups of water

Slice the round steak & brown in the oil on the stove. Brown it in batches if you need to- just a little brown don't go nuts on this step. (I used a 2lb. London broil because it was on sale & it was great. When I got home from the store I put it in the freezer then when I was ready to use it I partially thawed it in the microwave, that way it was really easy to slice.) Now the easy part... put the steak in the crock pot & 2 packets of gravy plus one cup of water for each pack. Now if that doesn't look like enough water - it should almost cover, or if you love gravy... just use another packet & another cup of water. How many packets you use depends on how much steak you are making. That's it!! Cook it all day 6-8 hours on low & WA LA- yummy stuff. I served it on instant mashed potatoes with a salad. Easy & delicious plus it tasted like it was so much harder to make.
*Next time I make it I am going to add sliced onions, doesn't that sound good?

old fashioned strawberry shortcakes

This is an amazing dessert. Once you've had the real thing you won't want to go back to those yucky spongy things from the grocery store!

1 quart strawberries, sliced

1/2 to 1 cup of sugar

fresh whipped cream whipped with a little vanilla & sugar

1/3 shortening

2 cups flour

3 Tblsp. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

3/4 cup milk

Mix sliced berries with sugar and let stand for an hour or so- they'll make their own juice.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt; cut in the shortening. (I use a pastry cutter but a butter knife & fork will do- or a quick wiz in a food processor) Cut together until mixture resembles crumbs. Stir in milk just until blended. Gently smooth out the dough into a ball on a lightly floured surface. Knead a couple of times be careful not to overwork it- that will make them tough, then roll to about 3/4 of an inch thickness. Cut with a biscuit cutter- heart shaped cookie cutters work great too. Place an inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet & bake until just golden for 10-12 minutes. When they are cooled cut them in half & spoon strawberries then whipped cream into the middle & top.

blueberry muffins

I love this recipe. It has changed many times, but I think it is perfect right now.

Read this recipe all the way through before making it.

Dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cup white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour (I do this for taste, if you don't have wheat just use all white)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
Whisk the dry ingredient together then add 1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries. Stir to coat them with dry mixture.
Wet ingredients:
3/4 cup sour milk (3/4 cup milk with approx. 2 tsp. lemon juice in it)
* I usually do this step first, then put the dry ingredients together then come back to it the milk has a chance to curdle.
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil (you can substitute 1/4 cup applesauce if you want)
Wisk all together.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry & stir quickly just until everything is mixed. DON'T OVER STIR. Just a quick get it all together & your done! Now I use a med. sized ice cream scoop to fill in the muffin cups. (For some reason I don't like to use paper liners when making homemade muffins They just seem more homemade without the paper- but do whatever floats your boat.)
Sprinkle each muffin with a little bit of extra sugar - maybe 1/2 a tsp. Now pop them in the oven just until a toothpick comes out clean & they are barely browning. Don't over cook them. Nothing dries out & ruins a muffin like over cooking. Start with 14-15 minutes then add a minute or two if you need.

*Sidenote~ I love these - I can't get enough blueberry in my life. I have been making versions of this recipe my whole married life. I hope these remind my kids of me.

How do you spell wisk/whisk- it comes up okay on spellcheck either way??

Bean Dip

I brought this to the blogger mom and kids swim party today and it was a huge hit so I thought I would post the recipe! It is not rocket science.....it is really easy to make.

1 extra large can refried beans
1 container sour cream (2 cups)
1 container guacamole dip (2 cups)
1 jar of your favorite salsa ( I use Pace's Medium Salsa)
2 cups of mexican cheese
1 can of olives(sliced)

Start with beans and the just keep layering all the ingredients. Sometimes I add tomatoes if I have some.