This is another recipe I found over at The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch. I knew I wanted to make it as soon as I saw it. A few people were a little bit leery of the coconut/lime/banana combination, but it. was. amazing. Seriously. The bread was moist and delicious, and the light tang of the lime glaze just sent it over the top. I have some rotting bananas in the kitchen that are just begging me to make this again.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ripe bananas, flour, sugar, powdered sugar, baking soda, plain yogurt, eggs, salt, butter, vanilla, coconut, lime, and rum (I used coconut rum).

In a bowl, combine two cups of flour

3/4 teaspoon of baking soda

and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Stir with a whisk to combine and set aside.

In a large bowl, add 1/4 cup of softened butter. And actually, putting together this entry, I’m pretty sure that’s 1/2 cup of butter in the bowl. Oh well, 1/2 cup of butter was still freaking delicious!

Add 1 cup of sugar

And beat until well combined.

Add the eggs one at a time.

Beat well after each addition.

Add 1 1/2 cups of mashed banana. For me, this was 3 large bananas.

1/4 cup of yogurt

3 Tablespoons of rum. The recipe called for dark rum. I used coconut rum because hello? Coconut banana bread? And it’s what I had.

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix that up.

Gradually add the flour mixture

mixing until just combined.

Add 1/2 cup coconut.

Stir it in

Then pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.

Sprinkle coconut on top, then bake at 350 for one hour.

Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto the wire rack, and it’s time for the lime glaze.

In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup powdered sugar

and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of fresh lime juice.

Whisk it together

and drizzle it over the top of your still warm bread.

I am salivating at these pictures, y’all. This bread was SO good… do yourself a favor and try it as soon as you can!

Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze
Cooking Light Magazine (found at Grumpy’s Honeybunch

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk to combine.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool bread completely on wire rack.

This is my favorite salad in the whole world. You may have guessed that from the title. Jenn’s Favorite Salad is actually now the name for this salad that my grandma put together a long time ago. It never had a name, and every time I requested it, I called it “my favorite salad.” Eventually the name stuck. This is the salad that I’ll keep eating long after I should. You know what I mean– eat dinner until I’m definitely full, but I’ll still sneak a few more bites when I take my plate to the kitchen. It is an excellent side dish for Italian food like Spaghetti, Lasagna, and Stuffed Shells.

My sister-in-law enjoyed this salad so much the first time she had it that she asked if we could call it Jenn *and* Ash-lee’s Favorite Salad.

I said no.

Lettuce, onion, hard boiled eggs, miracle whip, sugar, apple cider vinegar, milk, salt and pepper.

Start by tearing up your head of lettuce into a large bowl.

Add in a handful or two of diced onion.

And dice up several hard boiled egg to put in there. There are four eggs in this picture.

In a small bowl, add some miracle whip. This is about 3 large spoonfuls. There are no measurements for this salad, much to my dismay, but I love it so much I’m willing to forgive it, and my grandmother for not measuring.

A couple handfuls of sugar.

Some apple cider vinegar.

And finally some milk.

Stir it all up, and give it a taste. You can adjust the ingredients if necessary. I think another splash of vinegar was added to this dressing.

Now, if you’re not ready to serve this salad, go ahead and set everything aside. When you ARE ready…

Go ahead and add some salt and pepper. You don’t want to add it before you’re ready to mix it up and serve it because the lettuce will start wilting.

Pour the dressing on top.

Mix it all up, and start drooling. Wait… maybe that’s just me. Serve immediately. This salad won’t keep overnight, so eat up!

There are a LOT of recipes out there for stuffed shells! I was trying to figure out what to make for Mother’s Day dinner when everyone was coming over to my apartment. I had a box of stuffed shells languishing in the cupboard, so I decided to use them. I didn’t realize it would be so hard to pick a recipe! I searched and searched, and eventually chose this one that I found at Taste of Home. I could have looked all day, but I needed to get the grocery store. I chose this recipe because I wanted one that had meat *and* cheese, and didn’t need too many additional ingredients from the store. In the end, it went over very well with the family, and you wouldn’t go wrong with these!

Jumbo pasta shells, onion, Italian sausage, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, egg, salt, pepper, cinnamon (optional), dried minced onion, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, sugar, tomato sauce.

Put your diced onion in a large skillet. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m not a big fan of onion. After I took the next picture, I decided this was too much onion and took some back out of the pan.

Add one pound of Italian sausage.

Cook the sausage and onions until the sausage is no longer pink.

Drain the sausage, and transfer to a large bowl.

Add 8 oz of cream cheese, cubed up. It will combine easier this way.

and 1 egg.

Stir until the cream cheese and the egg are well combined with the sausage.

To this mixture, add 1 cup of the mozzarella

2 cups of cheddar cheese

1 cup grated parmesan. Yes, I used the stuff in the green can.

1 cup small curd cottage cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 /4 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. This is supposed to be the optional “secret” ingredient. I probably wouldn’t bother with it the next time.

Mix it all up until it’s well combined.

Meanwhile, cook the shells according to the package directions. Drain, and then rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Cooling them off will also make them easier to handle!

Stuff each pasta shell with a generous spoonful of the meat and cheese mixture. I ran out of the stuffing mixture at the same time I ran out of room in my 9×13 pan, but I still had some shells left over. I did use more than the 24 shells called for in the recipe.

In a separate bowl, dump in your 29 ounce can of tomato sauce.

Add 1 Tbs dried minced onion

1 1/2 teaspoons basil

1 1/2 teaspoons parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon of sugar

and 2 cloves minced garlic (1 teaspoon of the stuff in the jar)

Stir it all up.

Spoon the sauce over the shells in the pan. Cover with foil. At this point, I put the pan in the fridge because I wasn’t expecting my dinner guests for several hours yet. When you’re ready, bake (still covered) at 350F for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, remove the foil. Sprinkle a cup of mozzarella cheese on top, and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes for the cheese to melt.

Cheese Stuffed Shells
Taste of Home

1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup 4% cottage cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
24 jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
SAUCE:
1 can (29 ounces) tomato sauce
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1-1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Domino® or C&H® Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the spinach, cream cheese and egg. Add 1 cup mozzarella, cheddar, cottage cheese, Parmesan, salt, pepper and cinnamon if desired; mix well.
Stuff pasta shells with sausage mixture. Arrange in two 11-in. x 7-in. baking dishes coated with cooking spray. Combine the sauce ingredients; spoon over shells.
Cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 12 servings.