Mama Loves Cooking - "Vanana" Pudding Pie

A classic favorite among families in America is Banana Pudding. Simple, fast, and super yummy, you love the taste of the pudding, bananas, and the best part, the Nila wafers. How about changing up a bit and making a pudding pie with a Nila crust?
-Be sure to prepare 4 hours ahead of serving. You chill it for 4 hours to secure the pudding's filling.

1 box of vanilla flavored pudding
1 box of banana cream pudding
2 1/2 cups of cold milk
1 cup of whipped topping
1 Nila wafer pie crust (Keep that plastic lid too!)
1 egg white
2 large bananas, peeled and sliced

Toppings you might enjoy: sliced bananas, whipped topping or Reddi Whip, shaved coconut, chopped walnuts or pecans, chocolate shavings.

1. Preheat oven at 375°.

2. Brush crust with egg white thoroughly. Make sure the edges get brushed with egg white as well.

TIP: Turn the pie crust in the light to see if you have missed any spots on the pie crust. You can see the egg "glistening" on the crust. The egg will harden the crust a bit and keep the crust together better.

3. Bake crust for 5 minutes. You will notice the crust has turned a little brown. That is perfectly normal and it's okay! Allow it to cool for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Take 2 1/2 cups of milk and pour into a bowl.

5. Add vanilla and banana packets of pudding. Whisk together.

6. Stir in 1 cup of whipped topping to the pudding mixture.

7. Put the mixture in the fridge for about 5 minutes.

8. Peel the bananas and slice into and 1/8 thick slices. Discard the round ends.

9. Arrange some of the banana slices in a circle on the crust.

10. Take the pudding mixture and spread an even, thin layer on top of the bananas. Make sure you can't see any of the bananas. (I apologize for the fuzzy photo.)

11. Arrange more banana slices in a circle on top of pudding mix in the crust.

12. Add more pudding mix on top of those bananas. The pie is now complete!

(Again, sorry for the fuzzy photo.)

TIP: You can use all of the pudding mixture, but I had some left over and some banana slices. So! I made a pudding cup and ate it. Yummy!!!

13. Lift the edges of the pie pan careful around the entire pie.

14. Place the plastic lid so that it fits perfectly in place over the pie.

15. Press the aluminum edging back over the lid, securing the lid in place. Wrap in plastic wrap or place a plastic Ziploc bag.

16. Chill for 4 hours. Serve with your favorite toppings!

ENJOY!

Mama Loves Cooking - Adding more flavor to ricotta stuffed shells - Super Stuffed Shells

Whenever I think of stuffed shells, I think of ricotta cheese. It’s a very tiny curded cheese that is VERY bland and does not melt so easily. So how can you make your stuffed shells POP with flavor? Check out my recipe and you’ll definitely turn this regular meal into a most flavorful meal!

Super Stuffed Shells
(Makes about 30 to 40 shells serving 6 to 8)

1 16 oz. box of large shells, cooked 16oz. (1lb.) container of ricotta cheese (can be skim or whole, your choice) 1lb. of ground beef 1 small box of frozen spinach or 1 bunch of parsley chopped 1 onion, minced 4 to 6 cloves of garlic, minced 1 cup of pizza blend cheese (Or for a mellower flavor, 1 cup of Italian blend cheese) 1 2lb., 13 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce (can be any flavor, but I recommend a sweeter sauce like a tomato, garlic, onion blend)



1. Start boiling water for your jumbo shells. Boil the pasta according to the box.

TIP: When you drain the shells, run cold water to cool the shells down. Discard any horribly split shells and unwanted pasta pieces. If a shell has a small split in it, don’t reject it. It’s still good! Separate the shells so that they don’t stick.

2. Chop onion and garlic until finely minced (chopped into very tiny pieces). (Chop parsley finely if you want to use parsley instead of spinach.) Set aside.

TIP: Mincing can be a very tedious task. Use a small food chopper (found at your local “Super Store” for only $10) to finely mince your onion and garlic.

3. Start to brown the ground beef. Add the minced onion and garlic. Stir together until mixed. Make sure that as you cook the ground beef that you use your spoon or spatula to chop up the meat finely.

Remember, this is part of the filling for the shells so you want it to be as fine as possible. Large clumps will only make it more difficult to fit inside of the pasta shells. Continuously stir the meat, onion and garlic mixture until fully cooked.

While your meat is browning:

4. Take the box of frozen spinach and microwave according to the directions on the box.

TIP: When microwaving the spinach, use a microwave safe dish and cover with plastic wrap like this:

This prevents the moisture from evaporating from the spinach which if it did, then you’d have dry spinach. Gross!

5. Empty container of ricotta cheese into a mixing bowl. Use an electric hand-held mixer to soften the cheese a bit more. Granted it’s soft already, but it’s been stuck in that container form for a little while. Using the mixer will allow for easy stirring later.

6. Add spinach to the ricotta cheese.

TIP: If your spinach has too much moisture to it, then drain the moisture by pressing a few paper towels on the spinach.

7. Add shredded cheese mixture. I highly recommend using the pizza blend because the cheddar will add some tanginess to the stuffing mixture. I promise, it’s very yummy.

8. When the meat, onion, & garlic mixture is fully cooked, drain all of that unwanted grease from the mixture.

9. Add meat, onion, & garlic mixture to the cheeses and spinach. Stir together using a spoon until well blended. This mixture is too thick for an electric hand-held mixer.

10. Preheat oven for 350°.

11. Spray baking pans (You’ll need at least two.) with cooking spray. Do not use cookie sheets. These pans are too shallow for the shells.

12. Spoon a little over a Tablespoon of the stuffing mixture into each shell. Line the shells in rows until your baking pans are full or until you have run out of shells or mixture. Cover each pan with foil tightly.

13. Bake for 20 minutes.

14. Warm the sauce in a sauce pan about 10 minutes before pulling the shells out of the oven.

15. The shells will be nice and hot after 20 minutes are up, so be careful pulling them out of the oven. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes.

16. Place desired amount of shells on a plate and spoon sauce over the shells. Serve as is, with garlic bread and/or salad.

ENJOY!

Introducing Mom Loves Today's newest contributor!!! Say hello to...

Ashley!

Mom Loves Today wants to extend a HUGE welcome to our newest contributor, Ashley R. Ashley will be starting with us this week, specializing in her very own food column:

'Mama Loves Cooking ~by Ashley'

Ashley is a 24 year old WAHM from Virginia. She has an adorable 2 year old daughter, Sophia (aka The Mini) and a loving and supportive long time boyfriend, Justin. When she's not busy being a mom, Ashley loves social networking, anime, video games, gardening, painting, and above all--cooking and baking.

Follow Ashley on twitter: http://twitter.com/linkismyhero
and make sure to check back soon for her first super yummy recipe!

Wii Can Be Fit with #KidsWeigh - Learn and Win!

With childhood obesity reaching an all time high across the country, many parents struggle with how to help their children maintain a healthy weight with proper nutrition.

Dr. Joanna Dolgoff, the official doctor of Camp Shane and a board certified pediatrician, has created Dr. Dolgoff's Weigh, a traffic-light system that allows kids to learn which foods are healthiest without counting calories. To spread the word about her site and program, Dr. Weigh, is sponsoring a Wii Fit contest to help you get your family up and moving this summer!


To Enter:
To enter to win the #KidsWeigh Wii Fit contest, check out client testimonials and fabulous Dr. Weigh success stories then fill out this secure contest form telling us which story was your favorite!

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Want a chance to speak with Dr. Dolgoff about your nutritional questions and win more prizes?

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This contest ends Friday, July 24th at 11:59 a.m. ET.
and is brought to you by Momfluence.

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Momfluence Summer Guide

(photo by G Viciano)

Looking for some great products to make your summer that much more fun and enjoyable? Looking to pamper yourself while the kids are off at camp? Or maybe you're dealing with summer bumps and bruises. Momfluence has collected some reviews of great products that you need to know about! Check out what our reviewers had to say about these great summer finds. And don't forget to stop by the Momfluence member giveaways listed at the bottom for some summer winning!

Featured Products

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Delsey Helium Fusion Carryon - If you are hitting the road or flying the skies this summer for your family vacation, the Delsey Helium Fusion carry-on offers a lightweight solution for packing your travel essentials.





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More Summer Fun

iTurtle

Playdoh Spaghetti Factory

Submergency

Nerf NFL Progrip Football

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Boochie Game

Good For The Kids

Talking To Toddlers


Two Belles and A Bead Engraved Necklace

Cardstore

Jumeau Handbags

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Member Reviews/Giveaways

Bonggamom - $50 Tiny Prints Gift Certificate

IceFairy's Treasure Chest - KiNeSYS, Purex 3-in1, and more

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Riding With No Hands - 20 Piece Rubbermaid Set

Consumer Queen - FurBuster

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Robyn's Online World - Kodak Digital Frame

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Lattes and Life - Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs & http://www.lattesandlife.com/2009/06/parents-choice-infant-formula-savings.html">Parent's Choice Formula

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From Cribs to Car Keys - EcoStore $25 Gift Certificate and more

Miscellaneous Finds 4 U - Tiny Prints and more

All Momfluence guide reviews are product-provided, featured positions were purchased by vendors. Member reviews and giveaways are not associated with Momfluence.

Walmart article feedback needed!

Good Evening all!

My first article for Walmart's Baby Buzz Blog has been posted. If it does well I may be able to to contribute again. If you all could take a few minutes and read my post and leave a comment I would REALLY appreciate it. I wrote on postpartum depression and had to 'downsize' it twice due to length, but I still think it turned out pretty well.

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/Community.aspx?id=125

I would be happy to comment on a post for you in exchange. Just let me know you commented and leave the me the link below so I can comment for you.

Again I REALLY appreciate your comments. This is a huge opportunity and I want to be able to have the honor of doing it again.

Thank you so much!