Banana Cream Pies

1 instant vanilla pudding
1 instant banana pudding
2 8-ounce cream cheese (can do light), softened
2 c. milk (I used skim)
4-6 bananas

Beat softened cream cheese, adding half of the milk slowly. Add pudding and rest of milk. Beat till smooth and thick. Line sides and bottoms of TWO graham cracker crusts with bananas. Spoon in filling. Top with whipped cream or cool whip. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Note: I didn't want two pies, so I just halved everything. I used my kitchen scale to halve the puddings. And I hate whipped cream so I left it out. These pies don't need it. I used 2 1/2 bananas for the half recipe.

Pumpkin Waffles/Pancakes

2 1/2 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. ginger

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. cloves

4 eggs

2 c. buttermilk

1 c. pumpkin

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

1 t. vanilla

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl.

Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin, sugar, butter, and vanilla in another large bowl until smooth. While whisking, add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Cook like regular waffles (which the original recipe said) or pancakes (like I did with happy results). Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, or topping of choice!

Maybe I should have added nuts...Either way, they were great. Using our 1/4 cup measuring cup, we got just over 40 pancakes.

Rich Chocolate and Chocolate Pudding Cake

¾ cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
¼ cup butter
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 cup sugar
5 tbs milk
¼ tsp vanilla
heavy cream, for serving

For the Topping
2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
½ pint hot water
7 tbs dark brown sugar
5 tbs sugar
2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch square non stick baking pan.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter, chocolate and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, or in a double boiler, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the heat.
4. Add the flour mixture and stir well. Stir in the milk and vanilla extract. Mix with a wooden spoon, then pour the mixture into a prepared baking pan.
5. To make the topping, dissolve the cocoa powder in the water in a bowl. Let cool.
6. Mix the brown sugar, sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the pudding mixture.
7. Pour the water and cocoa powder mixture evenly over the surface. Bake for 40 minutes or until the pudding had puffed up and set on top. The water mixture will have formed a creamy sauce underneath. Serve immediately with whipped cream.

Nacho Cheese Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk (I used whole since I wasn't sure how skim would do)
7 slices processed American cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and stir in flour. Pour in the milk and stir until the mixture thickens. Stirring constantly, mix in cheese and salt. Continue to cook and stir until cheese has melted and all ingredients are well blended, about 15 minutes. If you'd like to add spice, you can add some tabasco sauce as well as chili powder.

(from allrecipes.com)