Jared's Favorite Banana Pudding

Jared got this recipe from a co-worker when he used to work at the credit union. I have tried & failed more times than I can count on getting this pudding to set up. I followed her recipe, but I think there must be too much of something in my failed attempts that was preventing it from working. The good news even the mistakes tasted delicious, just extremely runny. I finally mastered it, with some modifications.

The Ingredients:

16 oz of Heavy Whipping Cream

3.4 oz box of INSTANT banana/banana cream pudding (the small box)

14 oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup of cold water

1 box of Nilla Wafers

5-7 bananas

Directions:

Using a whisk mix all ingredients except banana & wafers in a bowl. Whisk, by hand, for 2 minutes. Refrigerate for 3-5 minutes to set up.

In a small oblong pan, or square pan (8x8 or 9x9) place wafers, flat side down, in the dish. Layer sliced bananas on top of the wafers. Top with half of the pudding mixture. Repeat with wafers & bananas. Top with remaining pudding. Remaining cookies can be crumbled on the top.

1st Annual Easter Egg Drop an Egg Duathlon Stats

Well it was just 3 of us that braved the wind this morning for our duathlon. I think it went really well. If you missed this time around, I'll be planning another event for about 6 weeks out as soon as I can stand again. Here are our stats.

Banana Bread

This recipe is from my fantastic friend Summer T. I love her recipes because they make me look like I am a excellent cook. This recipe is idiot proof. It consistently taste great every time. It's the perfect balance of sweet and muffin-y banana flavor.

This was my last piece I made 4 days ago. It still taste moist & delicious!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas (brown & mushy ones work best!)
2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
- Combine the margarine & sugar until smooth
- Mix in the eggs. Add the mashed bananas.
- Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Bake at 350:
Bread Pan bakes for 1 hour
Big Muffins bake for 20 minutes
Mini Muffins bake for 15 minutes.

Family Picture

I won a free family photo from Smiley's Studio in Fort Worth! My bib number was randomly selected from when I participated in the Turkey Trot over Thanksgiving. We just got the photo back, and here it is!

We'd like to send a big thank you to Smiley's for our free family portrait. The photographer was very patient with our busy children. The studio was very accomodating with our schedule. We had to reschedule twice due to sick kids. The studio was great about helping me narrow down to just one picture. The only downside about Smiley's is the price. I wanted to order one extra 8 x 10 of the kids and it was going to cost $300 for one picture. Needless to say, we just have this one! However, if you have an extra $300 I can recommend them!

Adam's Book Shelf

The 2nd project from spring break is Adam's book shelf. A weekend snow storm extended this project to this week. This was another hand me down item. I didn't take a before picture, but it was just boring brown wood.

The exterior & shelves are Olympic Star Spangled (Lowe's)

The back walls (top to bottom) are:

Pluto (Disney Color by Behr Home Depot) (this is more orange, less peach in real life)

Gilded Pear (Glidden Home Depot)

Corn Husk Green (Behr Home Depot)

It took 1 quart of the blue total for the bed & shelf. I just got paint samples for the other ones. I know they are all different brands, I seriously just walk through all the colors and pick ones I like. I'm not particular to brand for projects like this.

15 Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 pkg. 15 bean soup

3/4 - 1 lb. deli ham cut in 1-2 slabs, cut into cubes (I like Prima Della Honey Ham)

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 - 15 oz. can diced or stewed tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

juice from 1 lemon

1-2 cloves minced garlic

Directions:

Soak beans overnight.

Drain, and place beans in a crockpot. Generously cover beans with new water.

Stir in all other ingredients.

Cook on high 4-6 hours, or low for 6-8 hours.

Note:

You can omit the ham and make this really cheap. It comes with a mystery ham flavoring packet, but I never use it. I've found this at Walmart, Krogers & Albertson's. (This recipe is on the back of the package)

So good on a cold day!

Adam's Bed

During Spring Break I thought I'd get to some of those projects that I'd been neglecting. I've been wanting to update Adam's bed. This bed was given to us by family, and it is the perfect bed for a rough, little boy. It's solid wood so he can climb all over it and it's not going to fall apart. We love it. However, it's been through a couple of boys, so the finish has been taking a bit of a beating.

I thought I'd offer a before, during, & after tutorial for painting furniture. I'm no expert, this is the way that works for me.

Ideally, I would start by sanding everything, but someone stole my sander when I left the garage open. I wasn't up to sanding this beast by hand. It's better if you don't skip this step. (I slightly regretted it later when I got a few knicks.) Be sure to prop the bottom of the furniture to keep the legs from sticking to the floor when you paint.

2 coats of Glidden Gripper Gray Primer (Home Depot)

4 coats of Olympic Star Spangled (Lowe's)

topped with 2 coats of polycrylic (Home Depot).

Let each layer dry before adding the next coat. (Each coat took about 30 minutes, then hours for drying) Read directions on can for drying times. This took me all week to really make sure everything was dry before moving on to the next step.

The protective top coat is a polycrylic from Home Depot. I wasn't crazy about it. It was really runny, and showed all my brush strokes when dry. The satin finish was too shiny, so I'd try something else in the future.