Keepin’ cool in the Texas heat, with this delicious, cold banana treat.  Adding chocolate and milk but keepin’ it light, this Banana Chocolate Shake will disappear, bite by bite.  I bet y’all didn’t know I was a poet huh?!  Hope y’all enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 whole Bananas, frozen, peeled and chopped
1 cup low-fat Chocolate ice cream
2/3 cup low-fat Milk
Light Whip Cream (optional)

Directions:

Combine bananas, ice cream and milk in a blender and puree until smooth.  Serve immediately.

All it takes is 3 ingredients.  What is your favorite recipe using bananas?  You have to know by now that mine is my grandma’s banana pudding!!! At our Walmart, we have a HUGE display of bananas and I always try to let Truett pick the ones he wants out.  I usually tell him to grab the ones that have a little more green to them since they’ll last longer.  We use bananas in smoothies, protein shakes, oatmeal, bread, and love to saute them in butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and drizzle it all over vanilla ice cream!

Who remembers these banana Popsicles?  TO DIE FOR!!

Very Berry Pound Cake with BANANAS!

Pina Colada Banana Pie

And Old Fashion Banana Nut Oatmeal

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

If you don’t already know, me and my 16yr old son are starting P90x.  This also means we have to eat healthier and the easiest, best way to eat healthy during the Summer, is to take advantage of the grill (and the man cooking..haha).  It’s no secret that Olive Oil is a healthy fat so we do try to use it often on everything from grilled vegetables to salad dressings.  Of course, we buy ours at Walmart and we use the Great Value brand mostly because of price but also use Mazola brand.  Do you have a favorite that you like?

Substituting olive oil, a monounsaturated fat, for saturated fats or polyunsaturated fats can:

• Reduce blood pressure
• Inhibit the growth of some cancers
• Benefit people at risk for or with diabetes
• Lessen the severity of asthma and arthritis
• Actually help your body maintain a lower weight

Just like anything else, cooking with heat can reduce the amount of nutrients but our mentality is – ‘it’s better than butter’.  We’ve, many times, slathered butter all over our vegetables before grilling and I know that this has to be a better option. We have used the Olive Oil spray and just sprayed them! And overcooking is not recommended….as you can see, we overcooked ours just a bit but that tends to happen when you’re watering plants, talking on the phone, and jumping on the trampoline in between!

I’d love to know how you use Olive Oil!  I’ve heard you can make lip balm using it and I know there’s an Olive Oil soap that is amazing.  I’d love to try other non-food ways to use the oil. Share if you know some!

You simple pour just a little bit of Olive Oil all over the Asparagus and sprinkle with salt & pepper.  You might even toss some Parmesan cheese too after they are grilled. YUM!

Ummm, yeah, stay focused when cooking people!! Clearly overcooked but still tasted great!

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

Pickled Eggs are not on my list of favorite foods but they are for my husband and son.  I love pickles and I love eggs but why anyone would want to eat a picked egg is beyond me.  With that said, I’ll share the recipe that me and my man used, in which, him and Tyler devoured each and every single egg as soon as 8 days hit!  Enjoy!

P.S. I’d double next time and make a lot more.

Some of you may already be familiar with Biscoff. They make a delicious cookie but have taken it a step further to create Biscoff Spread. It’s basically crushed up Biscoff cookie deliciousness put into a jar! I made a pie with it, of course. And no, it’s not really a banana crust per se but I did use them in place of a regular crust. How would you eat?

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

I can’t believe Easter is just around the corner and here in Texas, that means HOT weather is on the way.  We’ve already had some warm days so I’ve been on the prowl for easy, cool desserts.  I’m sure this Strawberry Mousse is something several of you already know about, but I’ll admit, it’s new to me.  I was planning on making chocolate mousse using Philadelphia Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese but couldn’t find it in my small town, so I settled for Philadelphia Strawberry Cream Cheese.  I’m glad I did, it was a big hit here on the ranch!

This is another one of the easiest recipes ever.  I beginning to wonder if I’m smart or lazy ’cause if any recipe requires too much work, I’m outta there!  Anyways, everyone in my house loved it and we had ages of 18 to 5.  Two thumbs up from the Falcon household!  I’m even thinking about taking this is a snack for the kiddos in Truett’s class.  Enjoy y’all!

These are your ingredients….super easy y’all!

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

Easter is just around the corner and I’ve been on the prowl for some Easter goodies to make for Truett’s class.  I’ve seen these ‘Easter Carrots‘ before but most of them were filled with candy; reese’s pieces, orange jelly beans, orange m&ms, etc.  Because there is a little girl in Truett’s class that’s allergic to red dye (and yes, orange stuff does have red dye in it), I chose to use Goldfish Crackers.   They’ll need something ‘bready’ to soak up sugar from all that Easter candy anyways!

These Easter carrots are one of the easiest crafts to make and will make your little bunny grin from ear to ear.  Truett helped me by cutting ribbon so let your kiddos help if possible. It just makes the experience that much more fun!  You can find Easter crafts & recipes at Walmart (which is where I bought mine) and be sure to check back soon. I’ll be posting a couple of other easy goodies that anyone can make!

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

Since St. Patrick’s Day is coming around quickly, we’ve been making all sorts recipes; everything from pot of gold treats to shamrock pie.  Since the weather is warming up here in Texas, we wanted to cool things down a bit and decided to make this super easy Lime Sherbert Cooler.  It’s the easiest thing to make and kids love it! Truett helped with the scoops, I poured the drink, and we topped off with Reddi-whip!

Enjoy y’all!

P.S. I was told that I spelled Sherbert wrong, that it should be Sherbet. LOL  Well, I decided to google it and we both are right, although I Sherbet is the most common used.  Oh well….

sher·bet  (shûrbt)n.

also sher·bert (-bûrt) A frozen dessert made primarily of fruit juice, sugar, and water, and also containing milk, egg white, or gelatin.

I get so tired of recipes that get all dressed up with all sorts of ingredients.  It’s not that I don’t have an appreciate for flavor, fine foods, and variety but I guess I just have more of an appreciation for simplicity; the foods that our Moms and Grandmas made.  It’s not just that, it’s the fact that everyone is struggling so much in today’s economy that, well, who can afford all those fancy ingredients, you know?  I remember the days that our cupboards were bare, nothing in the pantry, freezer, or fridge.  We had beans, noodles, tomato sauce, milk, bread, eggs, and taters.  Those were our staples and by simply adding one or two extra ingredients, you could make anything out of it.

Macaroni and Tomato Sauce has been a family favorite for many years. I can remember my grandmother making it for us, then my mom, and now me.  You know, maybe it’s just that, knowing that it’s been something the family has eaten for many, many years that keeps me wanting to stick to the simple meals, the family traditions.

Simply boil your noodles with salt, drain, and put back in pot.  Pour in cans of tomato sauce (use as many or as little to suit your taste) and let simmer for just a bit.  You can add pepper to the pot but I make everyone add their own.  You may not know this but pepper and tomato sauce combined can become quite spicy so I try not to add too much to mine or Truett’s.  Enjoy!

Skinner pasta has been around for years.  I don’t know if it’s in your part of the good ol’ USA but it’s a staple in Texas grocers.   I guess their red, white, and blue packaging speaks for itself, if you know what I mean.  You don’t even have to see the name of the brand because you instantly recognize it, know it, and use it.

{GIVEAWAY}

One lucky winner will be able to create their own mealtime memory with this fabulous gift set which includes the following:

• Two boxes of Skinner Pasta
• One colander (like my pretty red one in the photo above)
• One set of Texas-themed serving utensils
• Two Skinner Pasta recipe cards

HOW TO ENTER

———>Simply leave a comment below sharing your Skinner mealtime memory and if you don’t have one, check out their huge selection of recipes and see what tickles your tastebuds!

As always, I encourage you to visit the sponsor of this giveaway and help them celebrate their 100th anniversary by sharing your Skinner mealtime memory with them (which ends on May 14th–you can win some great prizes over there!). They’d love to hear it and see your photos!  You can find them on facebook and on Twitter at @SkinnerPasta

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Additional, optional entries, leaving each one in a separate comment to count.

•  Join the  My Wooden Spoon’s Facebook Community.  I’m always giving freebies like ecookbooks over there!
•  Follow @ACowboysWife on Twitter
• Subscribe via email and you’ll get updates when I post them! (You must confirm your subscription)

Giveaway ends on March 18th around 10pm CST.  Good luck y’all!

Disclosure: Similar prize package was provided for my time & efforts to create this post. Prize was also provided (sponsored).  All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be because that’s how I roll.  Duh.

You may also know this shamrock pie as a grasshopper pie but I like shamrock better. The thought of a ‘grasshopper’ pie just doesn’t sound to appealing you know?  Anyways, some folks use pudding but I chose ice cream!  It’s the easiest recipe ever and looks pretty, leaving your mouth minty fresh!   Nothing like St. Patrick’s Day  to make anyone feel a wee bit Irish eh? Shall we get on with it?

If you’re looking for something for the wee ones, check out these Pot of Gold treats!

Whenever I make desserts, Truett always asks me to make him something special and I really never do.  I thought I’d make him his own St. Patrick’s Day special treat; a Pot of Gold.  Now I realize this looks like a lot of work but it wasn’t bad at all.  And in the end, it made me feel a wee bit good to see Truett get so excited over it.

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.