Beth’s Banana Pie

Did you know? In a survey conducted in 1951 of the U.S. armed services, banana cream pie was the favorite dessert. Rice pudding was the least liked. In the 19th century, apple and other fruit pies were a fairly common breakfast item. Fruit pie was considered part of a good hearty meal before a hard day’s work. I’m all for that. I don’t see any evidence that ice cream was on the pie but it’s important to get that diary in too. Nearly twice as many people prefer their pie unadorned as those who like it 'a la mode,' with either ice cream or whipped cream topping. Me? I like it either way!

 Beth’s Banana Pie

2 medium ripe bananas, sliced

1 ready-to-use reduced-fat graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz.)

2-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk

2 pkg. (4-serving size each) GELA DELIGHT Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

2 cups thawed COOL WHIP FREE Whipped Topping, divided

Make It

PLACE half of the banana slices on bottom of crust. Set remaining banana slices aside.

POUR milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping. Spoon half of the pudding mixture into crust. Top with remaining banana slices; cover with remaining pudding mixture.

REFRIGERATE 3 hours or until set. Serve topped with the remaining 1-cup whipped topping. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

 

Stuffed mushrooms

There is a funny story about Charles Darwin's granddaughter Etty -- she rooted out and burned the stinkhorns in her garden secretly, so as to "protect the purity of thought" of her female servants. Another tip- keep mushrooms fresh longer by storing them in a paper bag instead of the plastic container.

Stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup wheat bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated cheese such as Pecorino Romano
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 28 large (2 1/2-inch-diameter) white mushrooms, stemmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Stir the bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, parsley, mint, salt and pepper, to taste, and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium bowl to blend.

Drizzle a heavy large baking sheet with about 1 tablespoon olive oil, to coat. Spoon the filling into the mushroom cavities and arrange on the baking sheet, cavity side up. Drizzle remaining oil over the filling in each mushroom. Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is heated through and golden on top, about 25 minutes. Serve.

BAKED SWEET POTATOES

This is a simple but excellent recipe for sweet potatoes. I have been using this same one for years. Cooking time is short enough to make this a fast dish after working a long day. Sweet potatoes are not just for the holidays!  I keep veggies like sweet potatoes fresh in the fridge. Line the bottoms of your crisper bins with several layers of paper towels to absorb the excessive moisture.  I change the paper towels once a week. This also makes the bins easier to clean.

BAKED SWEET POTATOES

3 lb. sweet potatoes, baked until soft
3/4 c. Crisp orange juice
2 tbsp. Home Churned Unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp. Marcum cinnamon
2 lg. Holly Hills eggs
2 tbsp. Diamond Falls brown sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

TOPPING:

1/2 c. Hilltop Mills flour
1/2 tsp. Marcum cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. Diamond Falls brown sugar
1/4 c. Home Churned Unsalted butter, room temperature

Equipment- knife, measuring spoons/cups, wooden spoon, 2 bowls, casserole dish 9 by 13

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Skin and mash sweet potatoes, add orange juice and Holly Hills eggs. Add Home Churned Unsalted butter, Marcum cinnamon and nutmeg beat until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in buttered casserole.

For topping-

Put together and then cut in until mix resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in pecans and sprinkle on top. Bake 20- 30 mins. Until hot and top is crispy and dry.

Cheese Flautas

Cheese Flautas

Here’s one I love to make with the kids. If string cheese isn’t for you can get a block of whatever you prefer and cut it into long thin rectangles. It will melt about the same. Josiah just gets a kick out of the string cheese. If you prefer flour tortillas, use them instead of the corn tortillas: they work just about the same except that you may not have to soften them in the microwave. We use whole wheat tortillas and like them very much that way.

            8 corn tortillas

            1 ½ teaspoons oil

            8 1-ounce sticks string cheese

Parent’s preparation – Preheat the oven to 375 F. Microwave each corn tortilla on a double thickness of paper towels for about 30 seconds to soften.

Show your child how to lightly brush the oil on the top side of the tortilla, and then flip over onto a cookie sheet. Place a stick of string cheese at one edge of the tortilla and roll up tightly. Set the rolled up tortilla with the seam side down on the cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and string cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the tortillas are crisp.

Super Cinnamon Apple Rolls

I used to buy pre-made refrigerated cinnamon rolls for Sunday brunch. I thought it was too much work to make them. (Then I looked at what was in them! Ekk. Have you?)

One Sunday we didn’t have choir practice for my daughter so we had some extra time. My son wanted cinnamon rolls but I didn’t have any in the fridge. I looked at their little faces and I figured that the dough I made for my cobbler topping would probably make good cinnamon roll dough. We had some extra apples that I needed to use up and knowing my daughter isn’t too crazy about raisins I thought I’d substitute the apples from where the raisins should go. (I think it would be really good to have the raisins and the apples but she would only pick them out so I just use apples.)  The kids like to help with the butter brush and the sprinkling part. They really don’t take very long and taste so much better. I always have icing left over so I have an excuse to make them again really soon!

Super Cinnamon Apple Rolls

Ingredients:

2 cups baking mix

2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup finely chopped apples

¼ cup flour (for cutting board)

Westcott Cooking Spray

Ginger Evans vanilla frosting, if desired

(Optional 1/2 cup raisins if desired)

Equipment-

Shallow baking dish 9 by 13, mixing bowls, spoon, measuring cups/spoons, and knife, cutting board, butter brush.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9"x13" pan.  Set aside.

Mix baking mix, white sugar, sour cream, and milk; beat until thoroughly mixed. Form into ball and place on floured cutting board. Knead several times. Dough should be not sticky and slightly stiff. Roll into rectangle, 12x10 inches. Spread softened margarine with butter brush, the whole way to both ends.

Mix brown sugar, and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough. Add apples and raisins if desired.  Roll up tightly, beginning at (long) 12-inch side.  Cut into 12 slices. Place slices, cut sides down, in pan.  Allow the rolls to touch each other. Brush melted butter over tops; sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Makes 12 rolls. Top with Ginger Evans vanilla frosting, if desired.

Homemade Crockpot Refried Beans

Homemade refried beans? Simple easy squeezy. If there is one food worth learning to make from scratch, it’s refried beans. Not actually fried either-- more soak, sauté and mush beans. After reading the label on the can I will never ever buy them in the can again. The canned, store bought beans are typically full of hydrogenated oils, colors, LARD and preservatives. It’s worth giving them a try!

Homemade Crockpot Refried Beans

Start with 2- 4 cups dry pinto beans. These are cheap, healthy and once you’ve picked out the dirt and grit you’ll feel very close to the earth. (Directions for cooking below.)

When deciding how much to prepare remember that 1 cup of dry beans equals approximately 3 cups of cooked beans. To prepare dry beans, place the beans in a large pot, cover with a generous amount of water (I left about 3 inches of water above the beans) and leave soaking overnight. Cover with lid but do not turn on heat.

The next day, drain and rinse the beans. Rinse until water runs clear. Cover them again generously with fresh water (about 3 inches of water above the beans) and use a slow cooker left on it on “warm” several hours. I leave them all day while I’m at work. It’s so stress-free; a slow cooker works wonderfully for this.

Now the “cooking” part-

·         3 T. butter for sautéing 

·         Cooked pinto beans (about 1-2 cups)

·         1 cup chopped white onion

·         5 cloves minced garlic

·         2 1/2 t. cumin

·         2 t. smoked paprika

·         2 t. kosher salt

·         1 t. chili powder (adjust to your tastes I use 2 teaspoons honestly)

·         1/2 t. black freshly ground pepper

·         A thinning ingredient like vegetable broth or water, I used homemade vegetable broth and the left over bean broth left from the second “soaking”

 Directions:

In a large pot or saucepan, sauté the onions in the fat until they are soft and translucent.

Add the minced garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes more.

Add the beans. If your beans are dry, you may need to add extra liquid (vegetable broth or water) Stir in the cumin, paprika, salt, chili powder, and black pepper. The trick is to keep the mixture moist and not dried out as it will then crumble.

Bring to a slow simmer and allow it all to cook on low heat for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If the mixture becomes dry, you may need to thin it with some liquid such as vegetable broth or water at this point. If you started out with extra liquid when you cooked the cooked beans, you may not need to add anything.

Once the beans have cooked for about 10-20 minutes more and the flavors have had time to combine, mash them with a potato masher, fork, etc. You’ll know when you apply pressure and the beans “give” easily. Mash until they are the consistency you prefer and serve warm topped with whatever you like!

Beth’s Best breakfast casserole

Beth’s Best breakfast casserole

This is good to fix on a Friday night and leave covered in the fridge over night for a hearty Saturday morning breakfast. You can bake it and have it ready to serve by the time everyone is dressed! Our family normally volunteers or goes on other adventures on Saturdays so I like for the kids to have something more than cold cereal to start off an exciting day. I let the kids cut the bread and sprinkle in the cheese.  I feel better using the turkey and the skim milk for my family since I know I’m reducing the fat in this recipe while still giving them something warm to start off the day.

Ingredients:

6 slices Texas Toast white bread, crusts removed

12 to 16 ounces Jennie-O turkey sausage, cooked and drained

8 oz. Country Crossings Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

6 Holly Hills eggs, beaten

2 cups skim Save-A-lot milk

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Westcott Cooking Spray

Equipment-

Shallow baking dish 9 by 13, mixing bowls, spoon, measuring cups/spoons, and knife

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Cut up 6 slices of bread into 4ths and place in the bottom of the pan. Allow to over lap. Sprinkle cooked crumbled sausage over bread pieces. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the sausage. Mix eggs, milk and mustard together; pour over casserole. Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes. Serves 4.

Children see, children do.

Children see, children do. We all know that we are supposed to be good role models for our kids in the hopes that they will be good people, too.

Philippians 3:17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

Jesus is without a doubt the most influential person who has ever lived on this earth. He never led a nation, never commanded an army, and never wrote a book, yet today, Jesus is the lightning rod that guides and divides the world. Jesus not only taught us what to do, he did these things himself. In Matthew 6:5-8 Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray, and there are several examples of Jesus following through as an example.  We see in Mark 1:35, “Jesus rose early and went to a lonely place to pray”. He often referred to God as “The Father” and us as “children”. In Matthew 19:14 Jesus allowed children to disrupt his busy day at a time children were considered property. Jesus knew we need to raise the aware­ness of all adults that re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for chil­dren’s well-​be­ing goes be­yond par­ents and family.

Jesus was a great example to people as he showed us how to “honour thy mother and father”. According to the Bible, while Jesus was on the cross, he told John to take care of His mother Mary, telling him that she was to be treated as if she were his mother and she was to consider John as her son. That is a good example making sure that His mother was taken care of by someone He trusted.

He showed us how to sacrifice and to help other by healing, physically, emotionally and spiritually of those around him.  He fed the starving, healed the sick, and said "Love thy Neighbour". I think it is clear that Jesus believed that moral conduct depended on an internal commitment and interest in being good.

Jesus knew that all adults have an influence on each other within their community and that they can make a difference to children's wellbeing.  His behavior was constant and is a good reminder for us all to be better versions of ourselves.

 Prayer-

Dear Father, I am blessed today to be one of your children. Let us remember that as children see, children do. As adults we are not just ambassadors of our respective cultures, but also ambassadors to a younger generation.

Amen.

.

Beth’s Pretty Pecan Chicken

Beth’s Pretty Pecan Chicken

(Prep time 20 min.)

This is a terribly simple to prepare dish; it takes only a short time and tastes great. I made it one night when I came home from work late and had planned to follow another recipe. In my haste I didn’t follow the directions correctly and came up with this instead. My husband loved it. My 8-year-old son, Josiah enjoys crushing the pecans and takes the job very seriously. He uses a rolling pin. My company always loves it and I enjoy making it for friends when they visit since it takes so very little time in the kitchen to prepare and tastes so elegant.

Ingredients-

6 oz Fisher Pecan halves, crushed

4 chicken breasts (boneless is best)

1 cup regular or honey mustard sauce

1 table spoon hot/ spicy (if you like a little zip) mustard

2-3 table spoons Bramleys Golden Honey

Westcott Cooking Spray

Optional – 4 small red potatoes and 4 carrots cut in pieces, 3 tablespoons Corbin Farms butter

Equipment-

Shallow baking dish 9 by 13, 2 shallow bowls, spoon, measuring cups/spoons, and knife if adding the vegetables

Preheat oven to 350 degrees & lightly spray a shallow baking pan, (9 by 13 is good especially if you want to add the carrots and potatoes). Set dish aside. Make sure the pecan halves are extraordinarily crushed. The finer the better. Put in shallow bowl/ container big enough for the chicken to be dipped in. Set aside. In another shallow bowl stir in the honey and mustard (s). Mixture should be thick. Take the chicken breasts (washed and dried) and dip in the mustard mixture. Cover completely. Then dip chicken in the pecans. Roll to cover completely. Place in cooking dish, drizzle any left over mustard mixture on the breasts. If desired put cut up potatoes and carrots dotted with butter and placed around the edge of the dish.

Bake for 45-60 min depending on chicken’s thickness.  Serve with tossed salad and rice or noodles. Watch towards the end of baking time so that the nuts don’t turn black. If needed turn to 300 degrees for the last 20 minutes of baking. Serves 4.

Hot Potato, Hot Potato...

Potatoes. I’ve never been crazy about them but my husband grew up with them served at every meal for most of his youth. At least that’s what he says after we heard the story about him walking up hill all the way home. In the snow that was over 4 feet deep. That part I can believe he lived most of his younger years in South Dakota. So when I (regrettably) asked The Husband to pick up “a few potatoes” on his way home I should not have been surprised by the dog food sized sack he slung on the counter. Seeing that they were not a staple for me growing up I wasn’t thrilled but made oven fries, potato soup etc. One night we had some leftover chili (made with turkey as we don’t eat red meat) that I slapped on a baked spud. Since I was raised by a vegan I was amazed at how darn good it was considering it was a lowly potato. In fact call Mr. Potato Head for a police badge. It was criminally delicious.  No wonder Wendy’s sells them by the dozens.

Chili-Topped Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

4 russet potatoes (1-1/4 lb.)

About 4 cups left over chili or 1 can (15 oz.) chili if you’re in a bind

½ cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

¼ cup (Light) Sour Cream

Kosher salt

Canola oil to coat

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees and position racks in top and bottom thirds. Wash potato (or potatoes) thoroughly with a stiff brush and cold running water. Dry, then using a standard fork poke 8 to 12 deep holes all over the spud so that moisture can escape during cooking. Place in a bowl and coat lightly with oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place potato directly on rack in middle of oven. Place a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any drippings. Heat chili.

Bake 1 hour or until skin feels crisp but flesh beneath feels soft. CUT potatoes; watch out, there will be some steam, top with chili, cheese and sour cream.

NOTE: If you're cooking more than 4 potatoes, you'll need to extend the cooking time by up to 15 minutes.

Serve with steamed broccoli florets tossed with Grated Parmesan Cheese.

Lauren’s lunch

"The third time He said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?....Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.' Jesus said, 'Feed My sheep.'" (John 21:17)

Lauren is one of Hannah Rose’s best friends and has been for several years. She’s a sweet girl with wonderful manners and comes from a modest back ground. Her father works landscaping in the summer and odd jobs in the colder months, her mother works part time nights as a call in person for a cell phone company. Her family doesn’t own a car. This limits Lauren’s social opportunities and she is often home alone by herself. She has told us when she visits how much she enjoys dinner at the table with our family as often her meals are made in the microwave and eaten alone. It reminded me that besides the physical hunger people face sometimes there is a spiritual hunger that's integrally wound in the fabric of our human existence.

This year the girls started high school and we were troubled to hear from Hannah Rose that Lauren had missed so much school that her family had to go to court. We were further alarmed when Lauren fainted during band class and Hannah Rose overheard Lauren tell the band director she hadn’t eaten anything in 2 days. She said that Lauren looked pale and thin and missed school again the following day. I told Hannah Rose “you invite her over ASAP, we’ll fix a special dinner and get some meat on her bones.” I said this jokingly but after the kids went in bed Ken and I discussed our concern. But what could we do? Lauren’s parents had been extremely protective of her and standoffish when the girls were dropped off at gatherings and sleepovers. When we offered to take Lauren with us to the zoo her mother refused to let Lauren go. They didn’t seem like they’d accept help even if we knew what to offer. How do you go from caring to intruding with people you don’t know well?

The next night at supper Hannah Rose was eating like a horse. She commented that she had lunch with Lauren that day and when she saw Lauren didn’t have lunch money she gave Lauren half of her lunch. I said we were concerned about Lauren and hoped that everything was ok. Then I noticed about a week later that we were going through the lunch supplies of granola bars, fruit cups and peanut butter at an unusual rate. I thought about it but didn’t mention it until I saw Hannah Rose’s lunch bag one morning. It was so stuffed the top wouldn’t close. I asked her later if she knew how we managed to burn through a whole box of granola bars and a loaf of bread in 2 days. She looked at the floor and mumbled “I have been packing 2 lunches every day so Lauren has something to eat too.” Wow, Ken and I had talked for over an hour about what we could possibly do to help and Hannah Rose figured it out in a second. So, I suggested that she add extra stuff to our grocery list and use a bigger lunch bag.

Let us pray-

As He is the bread of life in our lives, we must listen to His call to us and share that bread of life with others each day. By God's grace we are obliged to obey Jesus' calling to "feed My lambs; feed My sheep" so that many may come to Him. With all the troubles that this world is facing, disregard for the welfare of others, the only true answer is for us to share Jesus with everyone and thus fulfill our mission from Jesus to "Feed My Sheep." Amen