Banana Nut Cake

I started to not post this recipe. The first day I ate it I found it to be dry and not really very tasty. Then the second day it was better. Today it was wonderful. So I am posting with the suggestion that you make this a few days in advance. As with any dessert with fruit it becomes more moist the more days it sits. So leave it alone and let it sit. Try not to be a hog about it and eat a whole dry cake on the first day.
1 1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. soda (baking soda that is)
3 mashed bananas
4 Tbsp. buttermilk ( at the bottom of the post I will tell you how to sub with sour milk as I do not keep buttermilk lying around really)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar. Add well beaten eggs. Stir in mashed bananas. Sift flour and soda. Add alternating with the buttermilk. Add nuts and vanilla. Bake at 350 in a greased 9X13 until done. I suggest you start with 30 minutes.

Icing
1 8 ounce cream cheese
1 stick butter softened
1 pound powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecan

Mix cream cheese and butter. Add sugar. Stir in vanilla and pecans.

SOUR MILK
Measure 1 cup milk.

Add 1 tsp. plain vinegar or lemon juice. Stir ingredients.
Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Milk should began to curdle slightly. You now have sour milk for your baking needs.

Chicken Salad

I tried to think of a clever name but it is what it is. Now when you look at the recipe it will seem shameful that you would make a chicken salad in such a way. But it is so good so just try and let the guilt go as you sink your teeth into this baby.

4 to 5 chicken breast cut into bite-size pieces. (Ya'll know I just use the whole bird for this part)
1 stick of butter melted
2 cups mayo (thats mayo not miracle whip!)
1/2 tsp. curry powder (DO NOT LEAVE THIS OUT)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 cups red seedless grapes cut in half
1/2 toasted sliced almonds.
I use pecans instead of almonds. It's an Oklahoma thing.....

Cook the chicken (duh). Melt the butter in the microwave and let it cool on the counter. Chop cooked chicken into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Toast almonds (aka pecans). In a bowl, combine butter and mayo with a wisk until creamy. Add curry and garlic; stir until well blended. Stir in chicken, grapes and toasted almonds. Refriderate until well chilled. The end.

Menu Plan Monday

I am just going to tell you my dinner plan. I have no idea what we are having for breakfast. I didn't follow my plan totally last week. One night I ended up making pancakes instead of dinner. Hopefully this week I will have more new things to show you.

Spinach Lasagna
Mama's Spaghetti
Orange Chicken
Chicken Pot Pie
Hot Dogs

Nothing fancy this week. I have a lot of chicken in the freezer if you can't tell. I made some Chicken Salad over the weekend. We had company all the way from Yukon, Oklahoma! I will share that recipe. The Lasagna and the Pot Pie. There, maybe if I tell you I am going to I will really make the time to post these! Kim

Granola Bars

Let me start by saying I had no idea how to take a photo of these so that's the best I could do. These are so good! But I don't know that I would call it a granola bar. More like a cookie to me. Whatever, they are so yummy and easy. CLICK HERE for the recipe. I have been making a lot these recipes lately and have enjoyed cooking Tammy's food very much. I did cut the recipe in half and also I used a 9X13 pan instead of a jelly roll pan. Also I used marshmallows not marshmallow cream. She says you can use either. My only reasoning was that the marshmallows were cheaper at the store. I hope you will try this. We loved these.

Nikki's World Famous Tuna Casserole

Okay. Maybe it's not "world famous" but I really like it. This is super cheap to make and super good to eat. Now, you will notice in Nikki's recipe she says that we should crunch some chips up for the topping. I don't usually have chips in my house so I used bread crumbs which turned out nice. What's that? You want to know why I don't have chips? Is is because she is so healthy you ask yourself? No, it's because I am a hog and if there are chips in my house they last about ten minutes before me and Mini Me (aka Meredith) get our hands on them and eat them up. So anyhow if find yourself without chips try some bread crumbs or just leave off the topping. It's good like that too. But the chips version is the best in my humble opinion.

Cook 4-5 oz. wide egg noodles
Combine 1/2 cup mayo with 1/2 cup milk
Stir in one can of condensed cream of celery soup (you can also use cream of mushroom)
Add one cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/2 tsp garlic salt
Stir in cooked pasta and one can of tuna
Pour into a casserole dish
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes
Remove lid, add crunched potato chips as a topping and bake 5 more minutes uncovered.
Enjoy!

Solpapilla Cheesecake (The best recipe)

Alright. Let's just get straight down to business. You may or may not have had this dessert. I have seen several versions of it in my day. THIS IS THE BEST RECIPE. I got this from a gal named Karen. I have cherished it ever since. You will always get compliments on this baby. Here's how you should make it. This photo is a half recipe. I only had two cans of crescents in my fridge so I thought I would do a half so I could do a half batch of the Salmon Turnovers later this week. Besides I won't kid myself that I won't eat this whole pan because I will.

2 cans crescent rolls
2 cups sugar
3 (8 ounce) cream cheese softened(yes that is what I said)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) melted

Preheat your oven to 350. In a large bowl cream 1 1/2 cup of sugar, cream cheese and vanilla. In a 9X13 pan, sprayed with non-stick spray, place one of the crescent rolls. Pinch the seams closed and flatten to edges. Spread cream cheese mixture over top. Cove with second crescent roll (pinch seems closed). Mix 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Pour melted butter over the top of crescent roll and then top with sugar mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Note: I took this photo before I put it in the fridge.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's whats on the menu at the Reid house this week. Nothing super fancy but a few new recipes for you. Maybe I will do some new desserts and sides this week also. I believe in the menu plan! It helps me to stay organized. I know what I will be making so there are no last minute trips to the store and no temptation to eat out or drive thru. This works great for us. I will post new recipes after I fix them.

Breakfast
Blueberry Waffles (I use waffle mix and dump in blueberries, make a double batch because waffles freeze well. Then you can just take out and reheat)
Muffins
Granola Bars
Egg in a Hole (This is heaven in bread)
Oatmeal

Dinner
Tuna Casserole (I'll post the recipe after I make it and take a pic. Super good)
Fried Chicken
Crab Alfredo
Salmon Turnovers
Sloppy Joe

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I finally put up a thing so you can subscribe to this blog. Just put in your email address and every time I post a new recipe it will come straight to your inbox. Now won't that be wonderful.

Pico (Joe Reid Style)

Jamons Grandpa Joe makes this dip in the summer when all the veggies are in season and I love it! I tried it myself. I didn't think mine turned out at good as his but Jamon thought it was lovely so I decided to go ahead and post. You will need.
jalapenos (just to taste)
3 tomatoes
1 large onion
2 bell peppers.

I won't lie. I kinda made that up. Just use as many as you like of each. Roughly chop the jalapenos (I took the seeds out) and soak them in vinegar (I love vinegar it is the most amazing thing!) while you chop the onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Then drain the jalapenos and add all the veggies together. Serve with tortilla chips. This dip is good!

Mexican Chicken Casserole

This is one of many Mexican Chicken dishes that I make. My current favorite. It came from Carol Adams originally but has been modified by my Mother and aunt and then me. But we give credit where it is due, don't we girls? I use the leftover chicken after I cook a whole bird for this recipe. For more frugal cooking ideas check out The Grocery Cart Challenge.
2 cups cooked chicken (give or take)
2 cups cooked white rice
2 cans green chile's (I use one for the sake of the mini me's)
2 cans cream of chicken (or mushroom or celery) This is my addition. My Mom uses only one can but what does she know?
8 ounces grated Velveeta (yes you can grate it just try it and see)
8 ounces grated colby/jack (I use cheddar sometimes, Mommie Dearest uses the jack blend)
Mix it all up and bake at 350 for 30 minutes uncovered. Now how easy is that? And you know it's good.

Tuna Patty

Oh yes. The tuna patty. Who cares right? Well I haven't been posting much and I happened to remember to snap a photo of these so I thought I might as well post it. This is Paula Dean's recipe that I have been using forever. The first time JR asked me to make a tuna patty I had no idea how to do it. My Mom didn't make these because Mickey Bailey (that's my Father) hates tuna more than anything on the planet Earth. I on the other hand make the patty often. JR loves them and so do the kids. They are cheap, quick and easy. How could you go wrong? Sometimes I serve these on a bun (Paula calls it the Tuna Burger) but normally I serve them like this. Plain Jane style.

Ingredients

2 (6-ounce) cans solid white tuna, drained
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped pimento, optional
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared horseradish (you must add this for the great taste that leaves you wondering what that is, even if you hate horseradish like I do!)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine the tuna, bread crumbs, and egg, and stir lightly. Add the onion, celery, pimento (if using), lemon juice, horseradish, garlic, and pepper, and mix again. Form the mixture into 4 patties. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook the patties, covered, until golden brown. Carefully flip the patties and cook the other side for 5 minutes. Finish baking in the oven until golden brown.

Fried Okra

Summer is here. Which means lots of veggies and fruit from the garden around the Reid house. Everyone in our family grows a garden so we get creative using the produce. You will see some of that later in the summer when I get sick of fixing the same old things. Everyone in my family cooks okra different. If you have fresh okra just rinse it off. Then cut it into small slices. Leave out the ends. Then I put mine in a bowl and add about a half cup of flour and cornmeal to cover. Then add salt and pepper. If I have fish fry mix I use that because it's already seasoned. If not I add some season salt to give extra taste. The pour enough oil in a large skillet to cover the bottom. I cook it on medium high and turn occasionally. Since I do most of my cooking during the kids afternoon nap I cook this until almost done. Then I put it in a pan and stick it in the oven with whatever else I am cooking. If I am not cooking anything else then I cook on about 250 until I am ready to serve.

Buffy's Punch

Here is a punch recipe that everyone always goes crazy for. Should you be having a shower soon (the baby or wedding kind, I do not suggest bathing in this punch) you should try this. It is good. I wouldn't post it if it weren't, right?
ps. I never ever post a recipe that I don't think is super good. Sometimes I make food, take the photo and then decide it is not worthy of a post. I don't want to steer ya'll in the wrong direction! Oh, and here is Buffy's recipe.

1 can frozen orange juice
1 can frozen lemonade
1 lg can pineapple juice (not the frozen)
1 lg can of Apricot nectar- hard to find but I have found it at the Homeland (side note: I heart Homeland!) on Danforth in the juice aisle
2 tea bags steeped in 2 cups of hot water for 20 min
2 cups sugar
6 cans of water

Mix all ingredients and freeze in an ice cream tub or in freezer bags 1/2 full. It is really tasty if you freeze in an ice cream tub and scrape it out and mix with 7-up/diet 7-up. It is harder to break up in the freezer bags but that is what I do most of the time because my freezer isn't big enough to hold an ice cream tub.

Chicken Lasagna

I tried out this recipe I saw at Tammy's Recipes. You know when I make a recipe I like to show you a picture of what mine looks like. That way we can see how it really turns out when a regular gal such as myself makes it. I thought this was a tasty treat. I could tell JR didn't really LOVE IT! But he ate it just the same. His Momma didn't raise no fool after all! My kids ate a large helping which they never do so that was a treat. I also ate a large helping but nothing out of the ordinary there. HERE IS THE RECIPE. I hope you will try this. The Alfredo sauce was divine.