Grandma’s Banana Pudding from scratch….there just aint’ nothin’ like this out there that tastes so good!  This is the most requested food dish that family members ask me to bring to holiday get-togethers and any other time I can.  My grandmother made some of the best treats ever and this ranks #1 on my list.  I’m republishing this due to it’s popularity so enjoy and check out her other recipes if you get a chance.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 heaping  Tbsp. Flour…and I mean heaping!
• 1/2 cup sugar or a little more;)
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• butter
• vanilla
• Vanilla Wafers (save some to crumble for the top)
• Bananas

DIRECTIONS:

In a saucepan, mix flour & sugar then add eggs and mix well.  Start your burner and slowly add milk; a little at a time stirring constantly.  Continue stirring until it has thickened.  After thick, add butter and vanilla to taste.  I would say about 1 Tbsp of butter maybe.  I double this recipe to make a bunch so it’s hard for me to give you accurate measurements.  Not too much vanilla either or it will taste almost chocolatey.  Maybe a 1/4 tsp??  Again, not sure.  Just taste it.

You’ll want to layer your wafer cookies and bananas for a pretty presentation.  I don’t do this though..I throw in a bowl..LOL.  I refrigerate mine over night because I like it VERY cold but you should refrigerate it for a few hours.

Ingredients…..

Here’s all the good stuff cooking in the saucepan……

While you’re cooking the the stuff in the pot, you can slice your bananas and layer your wafers & bananas. Don’t forget to keep stirring your pudding though.

Once your pudding is done, add the butter and vanilla.  Remember, I double my recipe so that’s why there is more in my pudding!

Now that it’s done, you pour into your dish with your wafers and bananas.

This is where the extra wafers come in.  Crush them up and sprinkle on top.

Sprinkle and Viola!

Remember to refrigerate….once nice and cold, sit back and enjoy!!!

Did you even know there’s a different between Chicken Fried Steak and Pan Fried Steak?  Well, there is.  Chicken Fried Steak uses an egg and milk batter, along with flour.  Pan fried only uses flour.  Which one do you prefer?

I did Chicken Fried Steak a long time ago but when I started cooking for the cowboys (up to 50), I learned to be a little more resourceful to save grocery money and did without the eggs and milk.  We simply use flour, salt, and pepper.  I find that the taste is just as good.  I just make sure that the steak is “saturated” in the flour and I season well.  I pat the flour in with my fingers and coat it a couple of times right before I’m ready to stick in the pan.

So how do you prefer yours? Pan fried or chicken fried? And if you have a great chicken fry batter, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section!

For our family the perfect muffin has to be healthy and also nut free (my daughter’s daycare is nut free), low carb for me and yet still delicious and moist for my husband.   I’m not an expert baker so I wanted something that would be quick and easy to make and relatively foolproof.   After combining a couple of recipes and tweaking a little we have found the one that works for us.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup coconut oil
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 6 eggs (at room temperature)
• ½ teaspoon coconut essence
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup Xylitol
• 1 teaspoon Stevia (Nu Naturals)
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups shredded coconut (we use organic unsweetened low fat)
• 1 cup coconut flour (best sifted – we use Bob’s Red Mill)
• ½ cup cocoa (best sifted – we use Green & Blacks Organic Fair Trade Cocoa)
• ¾ cup chocolate chips (we use Sunspire Organic 65% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Chips)

Preheat oven 375 degrees – To help keep the muffins moist we add moisture to the oven in the form of steam by placing a pyrex dish filled with water on the bottom of the over while preheating.

Directions:

1. Soften the butter and if your coconut oil is solid soften that too
2. In a large mixing bowl mix coconut oil, eggs, coconut essence, pinch of salt and xylitol
3. Separately mix the shredded coconut, coconut flour, cocoa and chocolate chips (keep some of the chocolate chips to sprinkle on the top of each muffin
4. Add half the dry mix into the wet mixture, add the heavy cream, add the remainder of the dry mix
5. Grease the muffin trays/cups.  We use spray coconut oil.
6. Spoon into the silicon muffin trays or muffin cups (we make 12 large muffins and 12 mini muffins)
7. Bake for 14-16 minutes.  For us the mini muffins are ready at 14 minutes so we remove these and leave the large muffins in for a few more minutes – since your oven may bake a little differently you can check them with a toothpick and the leave them in a little longer if necessary.

Candice is a co-founder of Bidmycleaning.com, an online marketplace for cleaning services.  Bidmycleaning was founded by her husband, Gavin and two partners.  Candice and Gavin live in San Diego and have an ‘almost-four-year old’ daughter, also known as the baking assistant.  Candice writes the Bidmycleaning Banter Blog where she talks about house cleaning, green cleaning and being eco-friendly.

Pizza is like the best ever food invention. You can eat it cold, hot, with meats, vegetables, and even as a dessert.  When I was asked if I wanted to try the new Fleischmann’s Pizza Crust Yeast,  I was like heck yeah! Any excuse to make pizza!  We were supposed to have family night but there were ranch duties that needed tended too. Luckily, I was able to spend pizza time with my 13 year old which was exciting because he’s at the age where he doesn’t want to be around his mom so much you know?

Anyways, he agreed and not only did we make some great pizza, we had a lot of fun.  I was cracking up at the “do I just pour?” and “is this how to do it?”.  We decided to make Pepperoni pizza first, then a dessert pizza.  This post will focus on the pizza dough and the dessert pizza but if you need a simple quick pepperoni pizza, all you need is the pizza dough recipe I’ll be posting, some pizza or spagetti sauce and your choice of toppings. It can be made to eat in 30 minutes.

Also, because I took A LOT of photos, I made a slide show for you so that the page doesn’t take FOREVER to load! Just scroll down towards the bottom for that.

30-MINUTE PIZZA CRUST DOUGH (can be found on the back of the Fleischmann’s Yeast package)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 3/4 – 2 1/4 cups of flour
• 1 envelope Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup of very warm water (120° to 130° F)
• 3 tablespoons oil

PIZZA CRUST DIRECTIONS

Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add water and oil.  Mix together until well blended; about 1 minute.  Add ½ cup flour gradually until dough forms a ball. Add additional flour, if needed, to handle.  Spoon dough out of bowl onto floured surface. Dough will be slightly sticky.  Knead on floured surface.  Knead until dough is smooth and elastic; about 4 minutes.  You can either press dough out to fill greased pizza pan or roll dough to a 12-inch circle and transfer to greased pizza pan.  Top as desired with pizza sauce, cheese and toppings.
Bake on bottom oven rack at 425° for 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is brown.

The Pizza Yeast from Fleschmann’s is new and I could definitely tell a difference in it. I think anyone who uses yeast a lot will be able to see the fabulous difference!  I thought I’d give you a close up of the ingredient that makes the whole recipe work!

APPLE CRUMB DESSERT PIZZA PIE

INGREDIENTS

• # 1 cups brown sugar, packed
• # 1 cups all-purpose flour
• # 2 ounces butter, cold, cut in pieces (1/2 stick of butter)
• # 1/4 cup of sugar
• # 2 cans of Apple Pie Filling

ICING INGREDIENTS

• Powdered Sugar
• Milk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400′.  Combine brown sugar, flour, and sugar in a mixing bowl; cut in butter until the mixture is like coarse crumbs.  Pour and spread Apple Pie filling all over Pizza Dough Crust; top with crumb mixture.  Bake for about 12-15 minutes. While pizza is baking, combine 1-2 cups of powdered sugar with a few tablespoons of milk to desired consistency.  You don’t want it too thick but not too runny either.  When dessert pizza is done, drizzle icing all over pizza pie!

To see my son doing all the work, check out the slide show made via whrrl!

One lucky winner will receive a $100 gift card!  WOOHOO!

HOW TO ENTER

Leave a comment answering this question–What is your favorite pizza topping? Maybe like us, you love pepperoni or mushrooms. Maybe you love dessert pizza and have your own favorite fruity topping! Share your ideal pizza with us!

Additional methods of entry, leaving each one in a separate comment, are:

• Share on a social networking site like Twitter or Facebook.
• If you’ve got some of Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast at home, create a pizza and share it via whrrl! (this gives you 10 extra entries)

Giveaway ends on Nov. 1st.  Good luck and enjoy!

Disclosure: Post is sponsored by ACH Foods, maker of Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast , however, my opinion of the product remains authentic as always.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies have to be some of the BEST cookies ever.  These cookies are slightly crisp on the outside with a soft and chewy inside, full of chunks of macadamia nuts and white chocolate.  Very drool worthy!  What is your favorite kind of cookie?

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound (2 cups) butter, room temperature
• 1 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 4 ¼ cup all purpose unbleached white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12 ounce bag) white chocolate chips or chunks
• 1 ¼ cup (4 ounces) macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS

• 1. This recipe makes a large batch of 48 full size cookies. The full batch will fit in a 5 quart mixer. Divide the recipe in half if needed.
• 2. Make sure the oven keeps the right temperature. The cookies may need a minute or two more or less than stated.
• 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• 4. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (no need to grease).
• 5. Measure flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and blend together. Set aside.
• 6. In a large mixing bowl, preferably a heavy-duty mixer, and using the paddle or beater attachment, beat butter until creamy.
• 7. Add brown sugar and beat again. Scrape down the bowl and add the granulated sugar. Beat until fluffy.
• 8. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
• 9. Add vanilla, beat and scrape again.
• 10. On low speed, add flour mixture 2 cups at a time, and mix well.
• 11. Mix in white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Mix only until blended.
• 12. Using a cookie scoop, place dough on prepared baking sheets, spacing evenly to allow for spreading.
• 13. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Do NOT over bake these cookies. They continue to bake for a few minutes after they are removed from the oven.
• 14. Transfer to cooling racks. Store in air tight container or plastic bag to stay soft and moist.
• 15. Makes 48 warm and gooey cookies.

HA HA. I have no clue what to call this but I know there are folks out there who have eaten this and if you haven’t, you’re missing out on a delicious vegetable meal! We were given a whole bunch of fresh okra and squash and I mean a whole bunch and I knew exactly what to make.

My husband used to daywork for other ranches a long time back and I can still remember him coming home telling me about this food. He never knew exactly how it was made but I was able to track it down and was very surprised at the simplicity of it. Isn’t it funny how some of the best tasting foods require very little prep? Every since that day, 9 years ago, we’ve made it a family favorite. In fact, we don’t even eat meat the night we have it. Just the mix.

INGREDIENTS

• Squash
• Okra
• Taters
• Flour
• Cornmeal
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Chop your vegetables.  Mix half flour and half cornmeal with salt and pepper.  Toss your vegetables in the flour mixture, coat, and fry up in the pan.  It’s the easy.   Another version, throw all the vegetables into the skillet to fry, adding a little cornmeal, salt, and pepper; no flour.

We like to use the flour though….seems to come out better.

Another meal here on the ranch, only 5 more days to go.  I NEVER cook pork chops or chicken for cowboys.  We get our beef furnished with our job so I might as well use that right?  But I needed a break from beef and decided to cook pork chops. Now of course, I had to fry them.  I mean, I’m feeding a bunch of hungry cowboys and they don’t want baked!  I decided to do skillet pork chops but without too much grease.  Hey, I’m trying to cut corners where I can you know.

These are SUPER easy and I used a big zip-loc baggie instead of a platter or bowl. One less thing to wash right?

INGREDIENTS

• * 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• * 1/2 cup crushed saltine crackers
• * 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• * 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• * 1 egg
• * 2 tablespoons water
• * 6 boneless pork chops, about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick
• * 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil or cooking spray

DIRECTIONS

In a shallow bowl or large food storage bag, mix flour, cracker crumbs, seasoned salt, and pepper. In a separate shallow bowl, lightly whisk together the egg and water. Dip pork chops into the egg mixture, then into the seasoned flour mixture. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, or spray with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Cook pork chops for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once, until no longer pink in the middle.
Boneless pork chops recipe serves 6.

Likes this plate?  You can buy it from Southern Living at HOME, through me!  Beautiful pieces in this collection!  Look for Villa Stoneware Salad Plates.

These dinner rolls are one of the easiest and most delicious bread recipes I have.  I first learned how to make dinner rolls from one of our previous employer’s wife, on the Fulton Quien Sabe Ranch.  She was a great cook and made many things from scratch but boy could she make a bread recipe now!  She always had to make double because each cowboy would eat 4 or 5 rolls each.  Yes, they were that good.

I haven’t made dinner rolls with her recipe for a long time and since I had to cook for the ranch today, I thought it’d be a good time.  Two important things about this recipe. Try to follow directions exactly to have the softest rolls ever.  So when it says little flour, use VERY little flour if any.  And when it says to butter them, be generous!  Enjoy y’all!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 envelope Active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup very warm water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup scalding hot milk
• 1 egg –lightly beaten
• 4 1/2 cups of sifted all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons of melted butter for brushing rolls

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle the yeast over very warm water in a large bowl.  (warm water should feel comfortably warm when dropped on wrist)  Stir until yeast dissolves.

Add sugar, the 1/4cup butter and salt to hot milk and stir until the sugar dissolves and butter is melted.  Cool mixture to 105 to 115 degrees.

Add milk mixture to yeast, then beat in egg.  Beat in 4 cups of flour, one cup at a time to form soft dough.  Use some the remaining 1/2 cup flour to dust a pastry cloth.  Knead the dough lightly for 5 minutes, working in the remaining flour (use if for flouring your cloth and hands).

Place dough in a warm buttered bowl; turn greased side up.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1  1/2 hrs.

Punch dough down and knead 4 to 5 minutes on a lightly floured pastry cloth.  Dough will be sticky, but use as little flour as possible for flouring your hands and the pastry cloth, otherwise the rolls will not be as feathery light as they should be.

Pinch off small chunks of dough and shape into round rolls.  Place in neat rows, not quite touching, in a well-buttered 13x9x2 pan. Cover rolls and let rise in warm place until doubled, 30-45min.

Brush tops of rolls generously with melted butter, then bake in a 375′ oven for 18-20minutes or until nicely browned.

Serve warm with plenty of butter.  I pour melted butter on top of the rolls right when the come out of the oven.

Recipe makes about 2 dozen!

I served up my rolls in my brand new, very pretty Tuscan Everyday Baker.  I love that color!

Let me know if you make them!

Not as healthy as the Beef Rolls but using lean cuts of beef does make a difference.  If you’re not sure on what qualifies as a lean cut of beef, check out the lean beef section at Beef, it’s what’s for dinner.  They have a handy wallet card for download so that you can carry with when you go to pick out your cuts of beef.

I had a few problems with this one and I think it’s just my small town but I was unable to find shiitake mushrooms and blue cheese.  I should have chosen a different recipe but once my man saw it, there was no turning back.  So I substituted portobello mushrooms and mexican crumble cheese for the two.

All three of my guys LOVED it!!  They were drooling as I was making it and kept asking, “when will it be done?”.  I don’t eat mushrooms but the flavor was very good overall.  I was really surprised at how fast making this was.  I really had a good time and was very pleased with the outcome.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 beef round sirloin tip center steaks, cut 1 inch thick (about 8 ounces each)
• 4 slices thick-sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 small shallots, thinly sliced, separated into rings
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
• 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, diced
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS

Cook bacon in nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon to paper towels, reserving 2 to 3 tablespoons drippings in skillet. Set aside.

Meanwhile combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in small bowl. Add shallots; toss to coat. Heat bacon drippings over medium-high heat until hot. Add shallots. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until well browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet with slotted spoon to paper towels. Set aside.

Reduce heat to medium. Season beef steaks evenly with remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place steaks in same skillet; cook 14 to 15 minutes for medium rare doneness, turning occasionally. Do not overcook. Remove to serving platter; season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Keep warm.

Add mushrooms and water to skillet. Cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add cream. Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until cream is almost absorbed. Stir in cheese and bacon.

Spoon mushroom mixture over steaks. Top with shallots. Sprinkle with parsley

Notes:

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes
• Total recipe time: 40 minutes
• Makes 4 servings
• This recipe is an excellent source of protein, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, iron, selenium and zinc.

We are breakfast eaters around here so I can’t really afford to buy premade stuff like those bags full of pancakes or boxes of waffles.  It’s much cheaper to make my own from scratch and I have to say, much better tasting in my opinion.  They are very simple to make and even had my toddler help throw some powdered sugar on top for fun!  We eat pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon.  YUM!  If pancakes aren’t your thing, try a traditional breakfast, bacon brunch bites or country fried sandwich.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk ( I usually add a bit more to my desired consistency)
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

Mix your dry ingredients together, then add in your wet ingredients.  Mix until smooth and to desired consistency. I pour into a measuring cup I have with a pour spout but you can use whatever.  Pour out onto semi-hot griddle; not too hot or the middle of your pancakes won’t cook through.  I use my tortilla griddle.  When it’s bubbled up on one side, flip!  Serve with your favorite syrup, fruit or sugar!

HINT: For more flavor, add a bit of vanilla!