Mrs. Vickie's Banana Bread

There are a few recipes that Wes makes sure that I get from his mom. He is very kind and lets me try making them with my own recipe but then sweetly says, "My mom makes great _____. Maybe you could ask her for her recipe." This is one of those times...

Mrs. Vickie's Banana Bread
(This recipe is eggless...for those of you who are allergic to eggs.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3 mashed bananas
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening or 1 stick butter
Combine and mix.

In a separate bowl, combine:
1 tsp. soda
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt

In another bowl, combine:
4 tsp milk
1 tsp vinegar

Mix the sour milk and the flour mixture into the bananas, alternating.
Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Enjoy!

A Berry Good Pie

I think this recipe originated with my sister, Ashley, but has been adopted by many.
This pie is so easy my dad can make it and so tasty that we make it 2 pies at a time! It is also FAT FREE!

Ingredients:
1 reduced fat graham cracker crust
2 cups frozen berry medley
1 can fat free sweetened condensed milk
2 T lemon juice
1 tub of fat free cool whip

In a blender, blend the frozen berries. Then, blend in the condensed milk and lemon juice. Pour mixture in the graham cracker crust. Freeze for about one hour. Top with cool whip. Keep frozen.

Mamaw's Green Bean Bundles

2-3 cans whole green beans
1/2 stick butter
1/2 c. juice from green beans
1/2 c. brown sugar
bacon slices
garlic powder to taste

Open cans and drain (reserving juice). Gather 8-10 green beans together in bundles and wrap 1/2 slice of bacon (if bacon is not pre-cooked, cook a little in microwave first) and secure with toothpick. Place in 9x13 dish. Mix butter, bean juice, sugar, and garlic powder and pour over bean bundles. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Spoon liquid over beans while baking.

Apple Dip

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 bag Butter Brittle Chips

Mix with electric mixer. Serve with sliced apples.

Hands Down Beller Family Favorite Cookies

This recipe was submitted by: Aunt Barbara

1 c. brown sugar
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
1 c. peanut butter
1 c. milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1st 5 ingredients, and then stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels

For Mother's Day Wes got me a subscription to the Food Network Magazine. It is loaded with recipes that I can't wait to try. They have a column called "Copy That" that has recipes of great restaurant foods that taste just like the real thing. When I saw this Auntie Anne pretzel recipe, I had to try it IMMEDIATELY! It was so good!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 package active dry yeast ( I used 1 packet fast rising yeast)
• 3 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
• 2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp butter, plus a few more for brushing on pretzels
• 1/3 C baking soda

Directions:

• Warm milk in saucepan until 110 F; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 mins; stir in brown sugar and 1 C flour. Dice 2 Tbsp butter and soften; stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 C butter and fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm spot about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

• Preheat oven to 450 F and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 6 pieces or 12 if your making the mini pretzels. Roll and stretch each piece with your palms into a 30 inch rope. (15 in for minis) Form each rope into a pretzel shape.

• Dissolve the baking soda in 3 C warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel into the soda solution and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden, 10-12 minutes.

• Melt a couple tbsp of butter and brush over the top.(The original recipe called for 8 TBSP of butter, and then to dip the whole pretzel in, but who needs all that butter?!) Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Chicken, zucchini, and prosciutto

I made this dish last night for dinner. Wes liked it a lot! He even ate 6 pieces of zucchini! What a big boy! Ha!

This recipe is from Real Simple Magazine. I changed it up just a bit for convenience sake.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 lb. prosciutto
3 small zucchini, thinly sliced into half moons
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced (I used jarred minced garlic instead-and the equivalent of 2 cloves instead of 1. We LOVE garlic.)
1 lemon

Ok, so, I didn't use prosciutto. I'm sure the recipe would be great with it, but its just too expensive. So, instead I used (which I know is nothing like prosciutto...) Buddig brand Turkey-its in the package sandwich meat section of the grocery store.

Directions:
Heat oven to 4oo. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Heat 1 Tablespoon of the oil in a large oven proof skillet (or if you don't have one, like me, transfer it to a oven safe dish after you use the skillet.) over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 2 minutes per side. Transfer to oven and roast for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, in a second skillet, over medium heat, heat the remaining oil. Cook the prosciutto until crisp, 1-2 minutes per side. (I cut up the turkey into small pieces and cooked until brown around the edges.) Transfer to a plate. (I put the turkey in the oven with the chicken to continue browning a little more.) Add zucchini, garlic, and the remaining salt and pepper to the skillet and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer the prosciutto, zucchini, and garlic to the skillet with the chicken, squeeze the lemon over the top, and toss. Divide among plates.

Hope you like it!