Banana Split Cake

My cousin Sally first made this slice of heaven about 10 years ago and I have LOVED it ever since. About three years ago I made it and took to my mom's house for Christmas - where my Aunt Cheryl got hold of it - now guess what I have to bring EVERY year for Christmas to mom's?

Cast of Characters:
1 box of Nilla Wafers
2 sticks of butter
½ cup of sugar
2 eggs
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
½ tsp of salt
3 bananas
1 pt of strawberries
1 can crushed pineapple (WELL drained)
1 large tub of cool wHip
1 bag of Toll House Mini-Morsels

Crush the wafers, by whatever means necessary (I use my food processor). Melt butter, add crushed wafers, sugar and butter to a 9x13 pan, mix until well combined. Bake for 20 minutes in a 350° oven. COOL COMPLETELY!!! I can not emphasize this enough!!!

Set the butter and eggs out until they are at room temperature. Crack the eggs into a bowl, and add the butter. Mix on hgh speed until well blended, add the powdered sugar and mix slowly until all the sugar is incorporated, add the vanilla and salt, then beat on HIGH for no less than 20 minutes!!! Put mixture on the completely cooled crust, refrigerate over night.

Slice the bananas, and strawberries, drain the pineapple in a colandar, then put it into a kitchen towel and squeeze out the last of the juice. Layer bananas, berries, and pineapple. Cover with cool wHip, and top with morsels.

White Chili

MMMMMm - there are as many chili recipes in the world as there are stars in the sky. This is one of my favorite variations on the classic tomato and beef recipe.

Cast of Characters:

1 package of Chicken tenders
1 package of boneless skinless thighs
1 large can of chicken broth
1 large yellow onion
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 can of garbonzo beans
1 can of canellini beans
2 tbs of cumin
1 tbs of chopped garlic
2 cups of water
1 tbs of oil
2 tbs flour
2 tbs oilive oil

Dice the chicken and cook over medium-high heat in oil until lightly browned. Remove chicken, add diced vegetables saute over medium heat until the vegetables are soft. Add the rest of the ingredients. In a separate small skillet, combine olive oil and flour, lightly toast the flour in the oil making a nice roux. Let the chili boil for an hour, add the roux and cook until thick.

Let me know what you think...

Alpha Inventions

This is a MUST for all bloggers, you go to this website alphainventions.com and post the address of your blog, the next thing you know you have 40 hits in 20 minutes! I posted my Soup Blog, as well as my Child Care Answers blog (childcareanswers.blogspot.com) and they are both now doing incredibly well.

Why can't I think of this stuff?

Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Clone)

Hey everyone - I have been out of the loop for a while. Working on a blog for work and getting a ministry up and running at my church.

So today I decided it was time for a new recipe, ZUPPA!

Cast of Characters:

• 1 lb. Italian Sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers (optional!)
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 strips of bacon
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 large cans of Sue Bee Chicken Stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb diced potatoes (about three large ones)
• ½ lb. Kale 0r Swiss Chard
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 2 Bay Leaves

1. In a large soup pot, brown sausage with red pepper flake. Drain, set aside in a bowl (you can put a paper towel under it to collect any excess fat.
2. In the same pot, cook the bacon until crisp. Crumble. Set aside.
3. Remove all but 1 Tbs of the drippings, sautee onions and garlic, until the onions are clear.
4. Add the broth (or stock if you prefer it will be richer), the sausage, bacon, and potatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes.
5. 10 minutes before serving add the chopped kale or chard, then the cream, bring back to a boil.
6. Serve in a bread bowl.

Spaghetti Soup

This is a soup that is TRULY comfort food for me. My grandmother made this at least once a week when she was living. She just called it spaghetti, but I have since come to think of it as "soup" since it is not served in the traditional Italian way of sauce over the top of cooked noodles.

Cast of Characters:

1 - 1.5 pounds of bround beef
1 medium onion
1 can of tomato juic
1 box of low sodium beef broth
1 small box of THIN spaghetti noodles

Brown the ground beef and add the onion, cook until the onion is transluscent. Drain. Return to the pot add tomato juice and broth. Bring to a boil and add 3/4 of the box of noodles broken into thirds. Stir this until the noodles start to get limp to make sure the noodles do not stick together. Cook simmer until the noodles are "al dente", serv hot with garlic bread and a side salad.

Killer Veggie Soup

Vegetable soup is one of my all time favorite recipes. My mom made the best and I try to follow in her footsteps. So let's make a HUGE batch now!

You will need a 20 quart stock pot to make this soup in as it is a LOT of soup!

Cast of Characters:

4 ears of corn on the cob
1 pound of fresh green beans
1 pound new (red) potatoes
1 bunch of three broccoli stalks
1 head of cauliflower
2 small green zuchinni
2 yellow squash
1 medium head of cabbage
2 large onions
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
5 bay leaves
1 bunch of parsley
1 box of frozen peas
1 box of frozen lima beans
1 large pot roast or 2 packages of stew meat
2 tbs olive oil
1 can of tomato juice
1 can of tomato sauce
2 cans low sodium beef broth (or boxes)
salt & pepper to taste

Whew!

If you bought or have a roast, cube it up. Add the oil to the pot and let it get hot while you cube the beef. Once the oil is hot add the meat and brown it really well, making sure to get some carmelization on the bottom of the pot. Once the meat is brown and sizzling in the pot, add the tomato juice, sauce, and beef broth. Simmer over medium heat for a couple of hours. While the meat cooks take the time to cut up all the veggies into bite size pieces. For the broccoli, remove the heads, use your veggie peeler to remove the outter skin of the stalks and cube them up too. Quarter the cabbage, cut out the core and just slice it up. Stand the corn on their ends and run a knife down them to remove the kernels. I put everything into a big stainless steel bowl and put it into the fridge while the meat cooks. After a couple hours of the meat cooking add in ALL the veggies at once, bring back to a boil over high heat, then drop the heat to low and simmer for another two hours (I said it was GOOD not FAST). Just before serving add the parsley and try to find the bay leaves, they are not very tasty.

Serve in a DEEP bowl!

Soup's On! (Campbell's Clone)

Hey everyone! Winter is practically upon us here in the midwest and at my house that means one thing - soup's on!

I love love love tomato soup, but have you seen how much sodium is in one serving? Since turning 40 earlier this year, I have been paying more attention to Nutrition lables. One 1/2 cup of soup mixed with 1/2 cup of water the label is at the left - 1/3 of your daily sodium in one little serving of soup - 1 cup. I don't know about you but I can eat the whole can myself. So one can is 11 oz. = 1 1/3 cup which is about 2.5 servings per can, which equals almost a whole day's worth of sodium - in ONE CAN! I think they are trying to kill me.

So I have come up with a delicious healthy alternative that you can make and freeze in your own little kitchen!

What you will need:

4 carrots
4 ribs of celery
2 medium onions
2 29 oz. cans of No Salt Added Tomato Sauce
1 can low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 can of tomato juice

In a large soup pot add the rough chopped veggies and the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 3o minutes covered. If you have a stick blender, puree in the pot, otherwise puree in a blender in batches. (If you save the chicken broth can you add the batches to it.) Add the rest of the ingredients and heat back to boiling, simmer over low heat for about an hour to reduce it a bit.

Now comes the fun part - add ins:

Add a couple cans of chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup of heavy cream for tomato bisque.

Add 2 Tbs of cumin for and a can of low sodium salsa for mexican tomato soup.

Add a package of your favorite cheese.

Add mozzarella and chopped pepperoni for pizza tomato soup.

Let your imagination run wild! Drop me a line and let me know how it turns out for you!