Banana Pudding – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Posted on February 13, 2011 by kitchenandkids

The other day I was talking to my friend on the phone and she was making banana pudding – hmmm? That sounds good and easy, maybe I should make some for the boys. However, I remember the last time I made banana pudding – I didn’t get ANY. It didn’t even last 24 hours! Oh well, if they enjoy it, how can I deprive them. So, I picked up the ingredients for the pudding, except … I forgot vanilla wafers. I figured I would just have to make it the next day when I had time to go back to the store. Not so, once I told my sweet hubby my plans he quickly jumped in our car and sped to the nearest grocery store.

This time around I did get banana pudding, but it still did not last 24 hours, in fact, my husband was trying to get me to make more. Sorry, Dear, we don’t need the extra sugar!

Oh-So-Creamy Banana Pudding

1 (14 0z) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (6 serving) pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 c. cold water
1 (8 oz) container whipped topping
vanilla wafers
5 med. bananas, sliced

1.) In a large bowl combine the condensed milk and water.

2.) Add in the pudding mix, beat well. Chill in refrigerator 5 minutes.

3.) Fold in whipped topping.

4.) Layer approximately 1 c. of pudding mix in the bottom of a glass bowl, then lay vanilla cookies around the edge of the pudding and fill in the center with a layer of bananas. Repeat layers until the pudding is gone. The final layer should be vanilla wafers around the edge with bananas in the middle.

Note – To prevent the bananas from browning you can dip in lemon juice, my husband protested this step, so we had a few discolored bananas. I should have made the pudding when he wasn’t looking.

5.) Chill for 2 hours.

6.) ENJOY!!!

Other Great Desserts:
On The Twelfth Day of Christmas … Baklava

On The Eleventh Day of Christmas … Butter Toffee

On The Tenth Day of Christmas … Snickerdoodle Cookies

This post is linked to these other great blogs. Go take a look around for some other foodie inspirations.
Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays Dr. Laura's Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop at WhoIsLaura.com

Posted in In the Kitchen | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Create Your Own Heart

Posted on February 10, 2011 by kitchenandkids

Do you like to make things with your kids? Do you like to decorate for each holiday? Are you planning on giving Valentines to friends and family?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions then this is for you.

A super easy and fun craft to do with your kids. Make your own cute, clay hearts! The children loved to make these, from my toddler to my tween.

First and foremost, make sure you have everything you need to make the hearts.

Air Dry clay
Heart Cookie Cutters
1 straw
Paint (whatever you have on hand)
glitter glue
red ribbon

1.) Flatten your clay out, to about 1/4″ (We weren’t to specific)

2.) After you have flattened out clay, insert your cookie cutter into the clay – be creative – we had fun with doing different things.

Aren’t those little hands so precious? I just love ’em.

3.) If you would like to hang your hearts – use a straw to insert a hole into the top of your heart.

4.) With a toothpick or other household items add textures to your hearts.

5.) Let your clay hearts dry overnight.

6.) Using the paint of your choice, paint your hearts. Now moms… try to give your kids freedom. Their hearts might not look like what you envisioned, but you will love the hearts all the more if they were made by little hands.

We used watercolors because that is what we had on hand.

Example 1 – How precious is that?

Textured with a meat tenderizer.

Baby’s Heart – Yes, I painted it.

7.) Let your painted hearts dry. After drying, I used glitter glue to decorate the hearts – some with designs, some with dots, and then on a few I put the glue on them and thinly spread it out to make a glittery finish.

8.) Let the glue dry and then attach ribbon. Or you can pile them on a plate for a non-edible decoration.

Both of my kids loved this craft, and it was easy. I am not a crafty person, so for me to do it, it has to be easy.

Happy Valentine’s Day from my kitchen to yours.


Posted in Crafts, Holidays | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Beef … It’s What’s For Dinner

Posted on February 8, 2011 by kitchenandkids

After visiting my local butcher recently I learned that if I came back at 8 pm they discount their ground beef down to $.99 lb. Wow!! I was so excited. There are times that I need 10 to 15 lbs of ground beef, and this would be a great savings. So, as I was leaving the store I began to think of all of the great things I could make with ground beef.

I challenged myself to come up with 10 different things that I could make with ground beef on a budget. Then I thought what better thing to do than share the ideas with you. This time around it is simply the list with no recipes, but I will be adding recipes to coincide with my list over the next few weeks. Be sure to check back and get the recipes and pictures.

  1. Mac and Cheese Lasagna – Easy and kid-friendly.
  2. Ground Beef Stroganoff – Easy and healthy.
  3. French Onion Salisbury Steak – A great way to turn ground beef into an elegant meal.
  4. Beef and Black Bean Chili – A customer favorite, we had this last week during our ice storm.
  5. Spaghetti and Meatballs – The recipe is already available here.
  6. Bacon and Blue Cheese Burgers – My pregnancy addiction.
  7. Steakhouse Shepherds Pie – A bit time consuming, but oh so good.
  8. Taco Soup – Great on Super Bowl Sunday, that is what we ate.
  9. Tacos – I make a big batch of taco meat and beans, and then we have tacos, nachos, burritos, chimichangas, tostados, etc…
  10. Mini Italian Meatloaves – I love these and so does my son.

I’m sure if I thought long and hard I could come up with some more ideas for ground beef, but I thought I’d better leave some for you guys. What are your ideas for ground beef?

Posted in In the Kitchen | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

So What Would You Do?

Posted on February 7, 2011 by kitchenandkids

So … what would you do if a teen-ager walked up to the front of your house and graciously helped themselves to some of your stuff?

Well, what did I do?

First, I drove around my neighborhood in mad mama mode. I figured if I’d seen the perpetrator I would have asked if he’d seen my (not so) lost dog, and got his help. Then I would have dialed the wonderful police for some assistance. However, I did not find that teenager. So…

I called the non-emergency number for my police to report the items that had been hand-picked from my porch. I figure the items are gone, but at least there is a record in case that kleptomaniac decided to show his face on my street again. My son got a great look at him. I think if we got him in a line-up, he’d be had.

Oh well, lesson learned for my precious 6th grader – put your stuff up!!!! Missing – one really cool BMX bike, 2 pellet guns and a sweet helicopter. Should I be mad at my kid or that kid or both? I think both…

Posted in Random Thoughts | 2 Comments

A Snowy Day At Last!!

Posted on February 7, 2011 by kitchenandkids

Yeah! It snowed! Not iced, but actually snowed! White, fluffy, beautiful snow!

(Now for those of you who have snow all of the time and think it is nothing to get excited about, remember, where I live it doesn’t really snow but once every 15 years or so. However, we had a nice snow last year as well.)

Yesterday I was talking about how my city closed down for two inches of ice, well, now it is actually snow and it is several inches. I am excited – the ice is so ugly, but the snow is pretty.

The best part of the snow is the kids can actually build a snowman, and one without ugly brown grass rolled into his belly. A pretty white one.

A little funny! As we do not live in a place where we need a sled, my son has taken his plastic bike ramp to a small hill, turned it upside down and is attempting to ride it down the hill. It is not working too well.  He has never seen a sled, so he does not know they have rounded bottoms, not square, flat bottoms.

As much as I love the snow I am in desperate need to get to the grocery store, I am running out of everything. And it is imperative I get there today. I do not want to have to fight all of the crazy people getting ready for their Super Bowl parties. As it is, it looks as if I am going to have to drive in this to the store, I refuse to go tomorrow. Thank goodness the grocery store is only a mile away.

Addendum: Since I was so busy playing in the snow, and trying to figure the grocery thing out, I did not actually get my blog posted, so I thought I would add in what Sunday looked like in my neck of the woods. First I should preface this with … The temperature was in the 2o’s all week, and by Saturday our high was 53 – so … so long pretty snow, I didn’t even get to make snow ice cream – shame on me.

Isn’t that just plain ugly? It either needs to stay white, or turn green FAST! Oh, and I just received a text saying we are under a Winter Storm Warning – possibility of more sleet and snow. I sure wish the weather would make up its mind.

Posted in Random Thoughts | 2 Comments

What About Yours …

Posted on February 3, 2011 by kitchenandkids

We have been snowed in for 3 days now. The funny thing is we only have about 2 inches of snow, but my lovely city is closed down. What about yours?

Trying to get a footing on the silly ice.

Now, for my northern friends you may find this hilarious, but for us Southerners who don’t see much snow this is reality. But, I guess I should say I live in a place where when it snows that is actually translated into ICE. I think last year we actually got some beautiful white fluffy snow, but normally it is hard-packed ice.

You might also be envious that on Saturday it was 75 degrees, but don’t be. By Tuesday morning it was 14 degrees with a real feel of -9. This coming Saturday they predict it will be 53 degrees – I guess the ice can begin its glacier melting. Then everything will be flooded. This obnoxious weather is what keeps us all sick around here. Our bodies don’t know what to do.

Besides sickness the other thing that makes this weather a challenge is you don’t know from day-to-day how to dress. Do I wear shorts and flip-flops or do I break out my fuzzy lined pants and Uggs? (Okay, I don’t really own any Uggs because I would only be able to wear them comfortably about twice a year, nor do I have any fuzzy lined pants.)

As I contemplate why my city has closed down I guess I could attribute it to two things. One is … we don’t know how to drive on ice, nor are we really prepared. Maybe 1 out of every 1,000 people have snow chains. (Do those still exist?) And two is our power plants aren’t quite sure what to do with these surges. My parents have been without electricity since yesterday (and if you read my post from last week my dad was in the hospital for pneumonia, so this is not a good thing) and we had our first rolling blackout. Interesting, but thankfully it happened while I was asleep and I did not have any alarms set to go off.

I look back on this past Monday when my husband and son said the cold front was coming in on Tuesday and not Friday and could potentially be bad and wished I’d listened. I figured it would be a typical snow/ice day – here one day, gone the next. So… I did not stock up on extra supplies (except toilet paper – that is one thing I do not want to be without), so when the electricity went out yesterday I thought – what in the world will we eat? All that came to mind was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, that is until the 1/2 a loaf of bread I have runs out. As you can see, if this lasts too much longer I will certainly lose the weight I so desperately want to.

You may be wondering, or actually probably not, what do I do on my snow days? I sit around and scratch my head wondering “Why in the world do boys want to be outside all day in this cold weather having pellet gun wars?” My son and his friend have been out in this horribly cold weather running the neighborhood, scouting out enemy territory and protecting their home front from possible invaders – I still have not figured out the enemy territory, but I strongly suspect it is the little girl down the street.

As for the rest of us … we are smart and have stayed in our wonderfully warm home and enjoyed every moment of it. (Please do not ask my husband about the enjoying part – he hates being stuck indoors. I am trying to make it easier on him, though. I have plenty for him to do.)

I hope the rest of you guys are staying warm, and I do not envy the cold weather that may be normal for you, but I would love to hear about it. Have a great wintery day!

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Waffle Dogs – Huh?

Posted on February 1, 2011 by kitchenandkids

For Christmas I got a Belgian Waffle Maker, so since then I have been waffle this and waffle that. I want to make savory waffles, plain waffles, fruity waffles, waffle sandwiches, sweet waffles … you can see where I am going with this. So on that note, one day while watching Diners, Dive-ins and Dives I saw this guy make a waffle dog – “Huh? Rewind.. I know I didn’t hear that right.” But, alas, I did … now my journey – how to make a waffle dog.

After much thought here is what I came up with for a waffle dog, and to my surprise they were very tasty, easy to make and definitely kid friendly.

Waffle Dogs

As I always say… gather your ingredients before you begin.

Waffle Mix –
This will be enough for two batches of Waffle Dogs or 1 batch of dogs and 2 waffles.

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. sugar

Mix all of the ingredients together. Store unused mix in an airtight container.

Waffle Dog Batter

1 1/2 c. waffle mix
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 c. buttermilk or milk (because I want the buttermilk flavor, but I don’t keep any on hand, I take 1/2 c. milk and add in 1 tsp. cream of tartar.)
1/4 c. pancake syrup

The Dog

1 pkg Eckridge Beef Breakfast Sausage

1.) Add mix to a medium-sized bowl, add in melted butter, eggs, milk, and syrup. Stir until well blended.

2.) Heat vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet over 3. Fill the pan with about 1/2″ of oil. You will know your pan is ready when you sprinkle a tiny bit of water in it and it pops. Do not over heat your pan or your waffle dogs will become charred. I know from experience.

3.) Pat dry the sausages, place in batter and roll to coat.

4.) After the sausage is thoroughly coated place into hot oil. Cook for about 1o to 15 seconds per side.

5.) Remove cooked waffle dog and place on a paper towel to absorb extra oil.

6.) With leftover batter, spoon mounds of waffle batter into hot oil and cook on both sides, then lay on paper towels. These are great little waffle puffs.

Enjoy this tasty breakfast treat from my kitchen to yours. They are also good sprinkled with a bit of powdered sugar.

For another great breakfast idea check out Scrumptious Baked Oatmeal.

Posted in In the Kitchen | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

When Parents Grow Up

Posted on January 26, 2011 by kitchenandkids

This is short and sweet! I have not gone MIA, I have not decided blogging is not for me, I have not lost my ability to type. What I have lost is … nothing really.

Every time I have gone to work on a post this week the stupid site crashes. Does this happen often? Nope! Only when I am at my mom’s house. And, I have been here all week.

I love being able to go visit my mom mid-week, that is a huge bonus to homeschooling. Granted, when we do anything out of the ordinary it is impossible to get my son to do his school work. Which is another bonus to homeschooling, if he gets behind he just has to miss out on some swim time this summer and get caught back up.

Now… why would I go visit my parents mid-week for an entire week when they only live about 30 minutes away? Well… once your parents hit a certain age we get to pay them back for giving so selflessly to us. My brother got Monday when he had to drive 30 minutes to their house and help a very sick dad to the doctor. I got Monday night, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to dog sit, do laundry, make dinner and clean little things so my mom could effortlessly visit my sick dad in the hospital. Yes, I said hospital.

I am not happy about this, but my dad is a fighter and I think will eventually come out on top. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and my mom was diagnosed with a decision making disorder, she let a strong-willed man determine when and if he needed to go to the doctor. If my mom had gone with her gut instincts he would have been to the doctor Friday, not the ER Monday. But, alas he went and now he has to get poked and prodded until his lungs are clear, he can eat, and he has his strength back.

I hate it when my parents get sick like this. It makes me realize they are getting older and won’t be around forever, no matter how much I want that. But, it also makes me grateful for the time I do have with them. My dad is a cancer survivor, so the fact that I have gotten at least six additional years (so far) with him, I am ecstatic. And, as for my mom, she knows she has to stick around until my kids are out of college, and my youngest isn’t even two yet.

I am grateful that I live close enough to see them regularly. I am grateful that I live close enough to go help when they need it. I am just grateful for them in general.

Posted in Random Thoughts | 5 Comments

Huh? What About This Way?

Posted on January 17, 2011 by kitchenandkids

The other day my son went grocery shopping with me which is a huge help for me. He watches his little sister, he is a great gopher and an excellent cart returner. As we finished our grocery shopping adventure I sent him on a task to return the cart, I gave him distinct directions on how to get the cart back to the cart return place, however, in the infinite wisdom of a 11-year-old he thought he could do it his way. What was amusing to me was how my son got the cart stuck between our truck and another vehicle.

“Mom, I can’t get the cart over there. What now?” he asked. “I don’t know, Dear. If you had followed my instructions the first time you would not have found yourself stuck, now would you?” I replied. ,

How many of you have been given very precise directions from God only to think your way will work just fine and then find yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place?

I know I have done this on many occasions, and I am certain God gets a little exasperated at me just like I get with my son, the only difference is His voice isn’t as shrieking as mine can be. As we were leaving the parking lot I told him it wouldn’t matter if there was a mile between our car and the next, if I told him to go around and not through there was probably a good reason and he just couldn’t see it.

As those words of wisdom left my lips God tapped me on the shoulder and told me that many times when He has been specific about how I should or should not do something it is because He can see things that I cannot, and He knows what is best.

So from this life lesson as a parent, I hope I can listen to God when he is being a parent. I would prefer to do things the easy way, than my way.

Posted in God Inspired | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

If You Don’t See Me …

Posted on January 15, 2011 by kitchenandkids

If you don’t see me it is because I am getting back to my routine of home schooling, cooking for clients, house work, and general day-to-day stuff. However, there may be another reason – I have a new love …

I have always loved to read, but with each new book I lose space in my house, so I have been reluctant to get any new books, and unfortunately I am not good at using the library. I forget to get the books back before I owe an arm and a leg in late fees. One time the fees were about the same as buying a book at the local book store. I think that was the last time I checked anything out.

Back to my new love … my Kindle.

I love my Kindle!

I love to browse possible books to read, I love to download samples, and I love to play games on my Kindle.

Some days I begin with a bit of reading, a little Sudoku, and some browsing, then I realize – uh – oh no blog, no laundry, no dinner, and where are the kids? Okay, I am not that bad, but close – I have a vague idea where the kids are – I hear drums coming from my sons room, and I hear a little imagination coming from another room.

I hope everyone has an escape. It is important to our health. So, if you miss me for a few days I am probably in my little Kindle world.

Posted in Random Thoughts | Tagged , | 4 Comments