Mom's Banana Bread

Ingredients for two loaves
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons butter
4 bananas
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vinegar

Yep... we forgot about our bananas. But, to us that only means a batch of delicious banana bread!

Mix eggs, sugar, butter and bananas. I slice the butter into tiny pieces so that it is dispersed throughout the bread. I also mash the bananas before creaming with eggs, sugar and butter.


Add flour, baking soda, and salt to banana mixture. Add milk. Mix with hand mixer. See the little bits of butter. Yum.


If you would like to add nuts I suggest walnuts, chopped. Add them at this point and stir.

Pour into greased loaf pan. Add a layer of nuts on the top if you have a plain version and a nut version so you can tell them apart.

NOTE: I have a mini loaf pan which takes the same amount of batter as two regular loaf pans.


Bake 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients:
1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese softened
1/3 cup sugar
4 cups assorted fresh fruit such as strawberries, bananas, kiwi, blueberries, etc (any fruit really)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cookie dough on round baking stone, spread out in circle and cook 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

For topping, combine cream cheese and sugar and spread over cookie dough, then start placing on the fruit.
FYI It works better if you start from the outside edge and work your way inward, unlike what I did working from the center to the outside edge because then I had to overlap them from the wrong side...

Tomato Basil Squares

Ingredients:
1 (10 oz.) pkg. pizza crust
2 C. (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 oz. (1/4 C.) Parmesan cheese, grated
2 T. fresh basil leaves, snipped, OR
2 tsp. dried basil leaves
2/3 C. mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, pressed
4 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using lightly floured pizza roller, roll out pizza crust on rectangle baking stone to within 1 in of edge of stone. Sprinkle crust with one cup of the mozzarella cheese; set aside.

Grate Parmesan cheese. Using kitchen shears, snip basil.

In 1-quart bowl, combine the remaining mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, basil and mayonnaise; mix well. Press garlic over cheese mixture. Mix well.

Thinly slice tomatoes; arrange in single layer over mozzarella cheese on crust.

Place mozzarella cheese mixture over tomatoes spread to cover evenly. Bake 15-20 minutes or until top is golden brown and bubbly. Cut with pizza cutter. Serve with miniature serving spatula.

New Orleans Crab Dip

Ingredients:
4oz fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1 package (8oz) imitation crab meat, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 1/2 tbsp Cajun Herb Seasoning Mix

In a bowl, microwave cream cheese on high for 30 seconds until softened; whisk in mayonnaise.

Chop crab meat. Chop celery & pepper.

Add crab meat, celery, bell pepper, garlic & seasoning mix to cream cheese mixture; mix well.



Spoon crab mixture into chilled bowl.

Serve with Canapé Bread Slices.

Yield: 12 servings

Touch Down Taco Dip

Ingredients:
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
small piece of onion
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup black olives
2 garlic cloves
1 pkg. (1.25 oz) taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 small tomato
tortilla or corn chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Spread refried beans into bottom of deep dish baker.

Combine cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning in bowl. Press garlic; add to cream cheese mixture.

Core tomato and chop. Chop onion and olives. Sprinkle tomato, olives and onion over cream cheese mixture.
Top with cheddar cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes or until hot. Serve with sour cream and chips.

Microwave variation: Microwave on High for 3 minutes; turn. Cook on High an additional 2-3 minutes or until mixture is bubbly around edges.

Cheesy Spinach Pinwheels

Ingredients:
1 can (8 ounces) Pillsbury(R) Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1/3 cup gourmet spreadable cheese with garlic and herbs*
4 slices (1 ounce each) thinly sliced deli ham
1/2 cup packed spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 375°F. Separate dough into four rectangles on
smooth side of Large Grooved Cutting Board. Press seams to seal.

Using Small Spreader, spread each rectangle with about 11/2
tablespoons cheese to within 1/4 inch of edges. Top with 1 slice ham
and spinach leaves.

Starting at short side, roll up each rectangle; pinch edges to
seal. Cut each roll crosswise into six slices using Serrated Bread Knife for
a total of 24 slices. Place slices, cut side down, on Large Round Stone.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven to Stackable
Cooling Rack. Serve warm using Mini-Serving Spatula.

Yield: 24 pinwheels

Nutrients per serving: (1 pinwheel): Calories 60, Total Fat 3.5 g,
Saturated Fat 1.5 g, Cholesterol 5 mg, Carbohydrate 4 g, Protein 2 g,
Sodium 160 mg, Fiber 0 g

* Cook's Tip: If desired, 1/3 cup regular cream cheese spread, 1 garlic
clove pressed with the Garlic Press and 1/2 teaspoon Pantry Italian
Seasoning Mix can be substituted for the flavored gourmet spreadable
cheese.

Bean Salsa

Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo chick peas - drained and rinsed
1 can black beans - drained and rinsed
1/2 yellow pepper
1 green pepper
1/2 white onion
Italian Salad Dressing

Chop onion and peppers and place into large mixing bowl.

Drain and rinse both black beans and garbanzo beans

Mix all ingredients in bowl. Add Italian Dressing to coat mixture - maybe 4 Tbsp. Serve with Tostitios.

Puppy Chow

Ingredients:
9 cups Corn Chex, Rice Chex, Wheat Chex or combination
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.


In microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir.

Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated.


Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.


Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool.

Let settle for an hour. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Peanut Clusters

Really tough recipe here... but you may or may not know it...

Ingredients:
Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts
Chocolate Almond Bark

Depending on how much you want to make... Melt almond bark in microwave safe bowl (I did five squares here).

Eyeball the peanuts - or just dump in the whole jar (I would not do this with the jar in the photos, but the regular jar would be perfect.) Stir. If all the peanuts are completely covered, add more for a more peanutty experience. I basically add peanuts until there isn't enough Chocolate to cover them.
Take a medium scoop and drop clusters onto wax paper. Let them sit and harden for an hour. Store in an air tight container.

Chicken Salad

Now mind you, I've never made or tasted Chicken Salad. I didn't know what to expect. But since I've started to eat a little mayo here and there I thought I'd give it a shot. To me... it was great... but it made too much for just me and Jerome so I shared a bit with coworkers!

Ingredients:
1 whole cut up fryer, cooked either boiled, baked or I suppose fried (or just use one of those precooked chickens from the grocery store like I did!)
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup Sour Cream
Salt
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
Pepper
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
2-3 stalks of Celery
3 Green Onions
2-3 cups Grapes

Slice grapes in half... unless you have unusually large grapes like I did and that case I just sliced them.
Chop your celery. Note to self, Jerome complained about the size of mine - apparently I have to make it invisible for him.

Don't forget to chop the onions too...

I let the precooked chicken cool before handling it a bit - basically while I was gathering ingredients, rinsing the fruits and veggies, even when I was prepping the "sauce". Then I cut the chicken up into bite size pieces. I placed the chicken, grapes, onions, and celery in a bowl and gave it a quick toss.

In a separate bowl I mixed the mayonnaise, sour cream, brown sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper together. You need to get it to the right taste... so you may need to add more sour cream if it's to sweet for you or more brown sugar if it's not sweet enough. All in your taste buds... or in my case... my husband's taste buds.

Once the "sauce" has the right taste to you and your family pour it on top of the chicken, veggie and fruit mixture and mix until everything is nice and coated.

You can eat this straight out of the bowl like crab or potato salad or do what we did the first night and make it the main course by toasting two pieces of wheat bread, add a few pieces of bacon and call it a night. YUM!