Maw Maw's Banana Pudding

Banana pudding is an essential at any southern gathering. It can be made many different ways, anything from being baked in the oven to being served cold. Below I decided to post BOTH of grandma's recipes for banana pudding and let YOU decide which one you like best!! They're both served cold, no oven necessary, which is my favorite way to eat banana pudding. Try them both and let me know which one you like better!!

Maw Maw Franklin's Banana Pudding
Ingredients:
3 3oz boxes instant vanilla pudding
5 c milk **(see note below)**
1 tsp vanilla
16 oz fat free cream cheese
12 oz tub Cool Whip, divided
4-5 ripe bananas
1 box Nilla wafers

What to do:
1. Mix dry pudding mixes with milk. Whisk well until pudding thickens. Add vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese and 8 oz of Cool Whip until smooth.
3. Combine bowl one with bowl two until well blended.
4. Layer pudding mixture in a large bowl with bananas and Nilla wafers.
5. Top with 8 oz of Cool Whip.
6. Crush a few Nilla wafers and sprinkle over the top of the Cool Whip.
7. Refrigerate for a couple of hours until serving.

**Note**: Instant pudding will not set up when made with soy milk. I learned this the hard way! It's best to use real milk. The higher the %, the thicker the pudding will be.

Maw Maw Swanson's Banana Pudding

Ingredients:
2 large boxes instant vanilla pudding
5 c milk
1 8oz container sour cream
4-5 bananas
1 box Nilla wafers
1 8oz tub Cool Whip

What to do:
1. Mix pudding mixes with 5 c milk.
2. Stir sour cream into pudding mixture.
3. Layer Nilla wafers, pudding mixture, and bananas in a bowl.
4. Cover with Cool Whip. Crush a few Nilla wafers and sprinkle over the top of the dish.
5. Refrigerate two hours before serving.

Chopped BBQ Chicken

This one is for all of you BBQ lovers out there...and for those of you (like me) that don't like NC BBQ too!

Jeremy and I ate this for dinner a couple of nights this week and it was really yummy!

Ingredients:
3-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1/2 c Italian dressing
1/4 c brown sugar
Sandwich buns for serving

What to do...
1. Place chicken into crockpot.
2. Mix together BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, and brown sugar into a bowl.
3. Pour over chicken, covering completely.
4. Cook on high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.
5. Remove chicken, shred/chop into bite sized pieces.
6. Stir back into sauce and mix well. Continue to cook for 2 additional hours on high or 3-4 on low.
7. Serve as a sandwich or on a plate.

Spinach and Mushroom Stromboli (or pepperoni, or sausage, or whatever!)

This one is a staple in our house. Jeremy and I like different toppings and it's fairly easy to please us both with this one! The recipe below show my preference of toppings, but we usually make it with half spinach for me and half pepperoni for Jeremy. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:
1 Pillsbury pizza dough (found in the refrigerated section with the cookie dough and biscuits, etc)
1 egg white
1 pack shredded 5 cheese Italian mix (or Mozzarella)
1 bag fresh spinach
1 can mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Italian seasoning
A sprinkle of parmesan cheese
1 can pizza sauce for dipping

What to do:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease a cookie sheet. Spread the pizza dough so that it is stretched over the cookie sheet in the shape of a rectangle.
2. Put on tbsp olive oil into pan. Stir in minced garlic and saute for 1 minute. Then add mushrooms. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add spinach. Cover 1 minute to allow spinach to wilt.
3. Spread half of the egg white onto the pizza dough. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, then spread cheese over entire dough. (leave about half an inch-1 inch around the edge.)
4. Spoon the sauteed mixture over the cheese. Beginning at one of the smaller sides of the rectangle, roll the pizza dough up in a jelly roll fashion. Be careful, the toppings like to fall out!

5. Arrange on the baking sheet, then spread the other half of the egg white over the top of the roll. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese over top.
6. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.

**If you prefer other toppings, follow the same recipe, just change out the toppings to meet your needs!

Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili

Ok, before you cringe and run away screaming at the name of this recipe, stop! It's good, I promise! The pumpkin that you think of as having a sweet, cinnamon taste, like pumpkin pie, actually is not sweet at all! It blends perfectly with the beans and seasonings in this recipe to make a thick, delicious chili!

Ingredients:
1 medium red or yellow pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained (makes them lower in sodium and is easier on the tummy)
3 c chicken broth
1 medium onion, chopped (optional, I left it out)
1 lb ground turkey or 2 1/2 c cubed turkey or chicken, cooked
1 can solid packed pumpkin
1 can diced tomatoes, juice and all
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 packet low sodium taco seasoning

What to do with it all:
1. In a large skillet, saute the onion and pepper in olive oil until tender.
2. Add the garlic, cook for one minute longer.
3. Transfer to a crock pot, add in remaining ingredients.
4. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours, or until heated through.

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

Are you ready for the best cookies you've ever eaten? Because these are it. The best. You will want to eat them all as soon as the come out of the oven. Jeremy has affectionately named them The Cookies from Heaven, if that tells you anything. Anyway, here they are. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 c butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 c flour
1/2 c mini chocolate chips
10 oreos, crushed
1/2 c white chocolate chips, melted (optional, I didn't use these and don't think it was missing much)

What to do:
1. Beat together the butter and cream cheese until mixed well.
2. Add in sugar and vanilla, mix well.
3. Add in flour, mix on low setting until well blended.
4. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
5. Roll into 1 in cookie balls. Roll each ball in crushed oreos until covered well.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes, or until done.
7. Once cooled, drizzle with white chocolate if desired.

Enjoy with a glass of milk. Yum!

Sausage and Spinach Rigatoni

Here's a simple pasta recipe that's really yummy! It has spinach in it, which is really good for you, but mixed together with the sausage, pasta, and parmesan cheese, the healthy taste is masked with goodness.

Here's what you need:
Smoked Italian Turkey Sausage
-1 box whole wheat rigatoni (or your personal preference) pasta
-1-2 cloves minced garlic (or use 1 tsp of the pre-minced jar, it's a lot easier!)
-2 tsp olive oil
-1/2 c low sodium chicken broth
-1/2-1 bag of fresh spinach (10oz)-varies depending on how much spinach your crew likes
-Shredded Parmesan cheese (not the grated powder stuff)

What to do:
1. Cook pasta according to directions on box. Save 1/2 c pasta water for the end, drain the rest.
2. Cut up sausage into small bites. Cook about 7 minutes.
3. Add in garlic and olive oil, cook about 30 seconds, then add chicken broth.
4. Add spinach into pan, cover. Cook until spinach is wilted, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Pour sausage mixture and the pasta water that you set aside in step 1 into the pasta. Mix together well.
6. Add as much parmesan cheese as you like. I personally like it pretty cheesy, so usually use about 1/2 the bag. It's up to you!
7. Mix together well to melt the cheese. Serve warm with salad and bread.

Lipton's Crock Pot BBQ Chicken and Drop Biscuits

I made this for dinner when we were snowed in last night. It was a big hit!

Ingredients:
3-5 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 c BBQ sauce
3/4 c brown sugar
1 packet Lipton's dry onion soup
1/4 c water
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper

What to do:
1. Spray crock pot, put chicken breast in
2. In a small bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients.
3. Pour over chicken
4. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is cooked through

Serve with brown rice and Drop biscuits (listed below)

Drop Biscuits:

Ingredients:
2 c all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c melted butter
1 c milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tarter, salt.
3. Stir in butter and milk. Combine until just moist.
4. Drop batter by the spoonful onto greased baking sheet
5. Cook in preheated oven until golden brown around the edges (8-12 minutes)