Banana Pudding Cake!

Here's the banana version of the Chocolate pudding cake in the post below! Change out the cake mix for banana, use banana pudding, reg. whipped cream rather than chocolate and I shaved some white chocolate on top! I liked the banana better than the chocolate myself! reminded me of banana cream pie! enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding Cake!

Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 boxed Chocolate cake

2 cans chocolate pudding OR I buy 2-4 pkgs. of snack pack since they are cheaper

1 bar cream cheese (1/3 less fat)

1/2 C. powdered sugar

1 tub Chocolate Cool Whip

1 C. crushed oreos (Opt's)

Bake cake according to box, cool. Mix 1 can (or four snack packs) of pudding with powdered sugar, and a bar of cream cheese until smooth. Poke holes all through the top of the cake with the round end of a wooden spoon. Spread 1 can (or 4 pkgs.) of pudding over cake spreading evenly so pudding will slowly fill in the holes. Spread cream cheese mixture over this layer and top with Cool Whip for the top layer. Sprinkle with crushed Oreos and refrigerate several hours. You could also just sprinkle chocolate sprinkles on top or shaved chocolate. I happened to find a white chocolate duck for our cake for Easter Sunday...it was so funny! You can also do all of this with Vanilla flavors or Banana (which is yummy) by exchanging the cake/pudding/cool whip flavors! yumm Top the Vanilla one with sliced strawberries and the banana one with toasted pecans or coconut!

Looking at things like a child......of God!

Here's a little paragraph from a devotional I was reading the other night that I thought was neat. (from: 10 Minute Time Outs For Moms by Grace Fox)

In his book Who Put the Skunk in the Trunk?, author Phil Calloway tells about two eight-year old's insight on life:

The one asked the other, "Wouldn't you hate wearing glasses all the time?"
The other responded, "Nope. Not if I had the kind Grandma wears. She sees how to fix lots of stuff, and she sees lots of cool things to do on rainy days, and she sees when folks are tired and sad, and what will make them feel better, and she always sees what you meant to do even if you haven't gotten things right just yet. I asked her one day how she could see that way, and she said it was the way she had learned to look at things when she got older. So it must be her glasses."

I want to see things like that, like God does!

Chocolatey yummyness!

Chocolate Chip Cheese ball:

1 pkg. cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 C. powdered sugar

2 T. brown sugar

2 t. vanilla

3/4 C. mini chocolate chips (I used reg. sized)

Mix well and put into serving dish and refrigerate several hours or at least overnight. OR shape into a ball shape and roll in crushed oreos. I just put it in a pretty glass dish and sprinkle with some of the choc. chips! Serve with graham crackers broken into sections or the graham sticks! I double this recipe for parties but a single recipe hits the spot when you are hungry for cheesecake!

Banana Mallow Pie!

This was my Grandma's recipe and oh so yummy! I don't use the marshmallows in the recipe, I don't like the texture but you might!

Banana Mallow Pie

Crust: 2 C. shredded coconut

1/3 C. melted butter

Melt butter in skillet, add coconut to skillet and cook over low heat stirring frequently until coconut is toasty and browned. Press this mixture into a 9 inch pie plate up the sides to form pie crust. Chill.

1 pkg. Vanilla pudding mix

1 3/4 C. milk

1//2 C. heavy cream, whipped to directions (you could use 1 tub of Cool Whip)

1 1/2 C. mini marshmallows

2 bananas, sliced

Preparing pudding with the milk. Cover and chill until set (according to pkg.) Cool if using cooked pudding. When set and cooled fold in whipped cream (whip cream according to pkg.), add marshmallows. Slice bananas into the bottom of the crust and cover with filling. Refrigerate several hrs. before serving. Serve with more whipped cream and toasted coconut if you wish! The crust is what makes this pie so divine! I loved it when my G'ma made this! (this is a stock photo by the way, not my own pie, although I wish it were because that would mean I had a piece NOW!)

Tonight at our church we had a Maunday Thursday service. We all eat stew together as a family at tables and then the children broke off to go to their program and our family was either in the kids program or helped! Our children's minister did a Seder supper with the children, that was such a blessing! The Seder supper has several different components to it but mainly there are foods that represent the different things having to do with Passover and Easter such as Green beans that represent Spring and new growth, salt water to represent tears, horseradish that represented the hard work of the slaves. I was overwhelmed watching all these children ages 5-5th grade soaking up the story as our children's leader told about each item on their plates at their amazement and intrigue into what each thing represented. I was praying right then and there, Lord forgive me for not taking the time to really reflect on what this all meant and stood for and what it led up to, our Savior's death on a cross.

We also spent a night at a hotel last night with my parents, my brothers step daughters, his son and our kids and my mom read how after Jesus rose he appeared to different people. I was really impressed at the questions my nieces asked about sin and what it meant that God would come again, this is all new to them.

When Jesus rose from the dead he gave his disciples instruction to continue his work on earth and that was for us to do as well!!

My prayer for you all is that you will find a small time this weekend to spend in your own personal time or with your kids to think about what this season really means, not sadness but LIFE! and the work we are do be doing for Christ! There are so many cool ideas now for Easter, like those resurrection eggs or movies like Prince of Egypt that are ways to make it fun for kids to associate Christ's death and Easter.

I keep thinking of a song this week, so I put it on my blog Playlist, "I've Just Seen Jesus!" can you imagine what THAT must have been like? WOW!! Happy Easter to all my friends!