One of my husband’s favorite late night snacks is vanilla wafers with peanut butter. Our daughter likes it as well, but my favorite way to eat them is plain, dipped in milk.

I also use them to make banana pudding. I simply layer vanilla wafers, sliced bananas and vanilla pudding in a glass dish and then top everything with whipped cream. It gets better if it sits for an hour or two in the fridge … don’t put the whipped cream on it though until you are ready to serve it.

How about you? Do you have a favorite Vanilla Wafer recipe?

My neighbor’s cherry tree is out of of control and she just handed me a huge bag of these yummy fruits. There is no way we can eat them all as is before they go bad. Any ideas what I can make with them? Are there any easy ways to prepare something that stores well in the fridge or freezer? At this point, I’m even open to canning options.

These cherries are just so yummy, I’d hate to see them go bad. Please help!

My nephew will eat almost anything as long as it is covered in or cooked with ketchup. Since he’ll be staying with us for a few days, I’ve had recipes with this tomatoy condiment on my mind. I make a simple noodle dish that he really likes, and of course use ketchup in my meat loaf (and pour some on top while it bakes), but other than that, I haven’t really had any new ideas. Care to share your favorite recipe that uses ketchup?

Here’s mine

Boil some macaroni according to the package directions. In the meantime, brown some hamburger meat and season it with salt and pepper. Drain the cooked noodles and pour them in the pan with the hamburger meat. Squirt some ketchup on top, stir well and serve. I have yet to come across a kid that doesn’t like this simple dish.

We had the most wonderful romantic dinner last night. We went to a thai restaurant and the food was absolutely delicious ( the leftovers are waiting for me in the fridge), and I loved the way the cook incorporated peanuts into the dish.

That made me wonder if there are any dishes I could make at home that have peanuts in them. We almost always have some of them in the pantry, so I might as well use them to spice up our dinner routine.

Do you have a recipe you’d care to share?

I’ll start… this is a recipe I’m planning on making later this week. Doesn’t it sound delicious?

Asian Lettuce Wraps

* 2 teaspoons peanut oil
* 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
* 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch strips
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 teaspoon grated peeled ginger
* 1/4 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
* 2 tablespoons mango chutney
* 18 large Bibb lettuce leaves, cleaned and dried
* 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 2-inch thin matchsticks
* 1 cup snow peas, trimmed and cut into 2-inch thin matchsticks
* 4 green onions, trimmed and cut lengthwise into 2-inch thin matchsticks
* 3/4 cup honey roasted Georgia peanuts, roughly chopped

Directions: Heat oils in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the chicken for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and saute 1 minute more or until chicken is no longer pink. Lower heat and add chicken broth, peanut butter and chutney; stir until smooth and heated through about 3 minutes. To assemble, lay the lettuce leaves on work surface; then place equal amounts of the bell pepper, snow peas and green onion matchsticks in the center. Next spoon the chicken mixture on top then sprinkle with peanuts. Roll each lettuce leaf up and serve 3 onto each of 6 plates.

This year, the kids got an insane amount of chocolate from the easter bunny including several huge chocolate bunnies. They’ve ate most of their chocolates and various other candies by now, but bunnies are still sitting on the counter. I know if I open then, the kids will just have way to much chocolate at once…

I remember my mom used to make some sort of pound cake type thing with chocolate in it. She would break the easter bunny into pieces and use them in the cake. Unfortunately I don’t have the recipe and won’t be able to get a hold of my mom for the next few weeks. Did your mom do the same thing? Or maybe you are now making cakes with your kids’ easter bunnies? If so, please take a moment to share your recipe below.

Of course I’d also be interested in any other recipes involving chocolate easter bunnies that you may have.

We almost always have a big tub of plain yogurt sitting in the fridge. I use it instead of sour cream, for smoothies and as a breakfast treat topped with fresh fruit and granola. Here’s one of our favorite breakfast smoothies.

Berry Banana Smoothie

1 ripe banana
1 cup of yogurt
1 cup of frozen berries
ice
splash of milk or juice if needed

Blend everything and serve. If the banana isn’t very ripe yet, I add a bit of sugar or honey to sweeten it up.

How about you? What do you make with plain yogurt?

I’ve had a box of lasagna noodles sitting in my pantry … I bought it on impulse and haven’t done anything with it since. We’re not really big lasagna fans around here (so don’t ask me why I bought it), so I’ve been wondering if there is anything else I can make with these. Or maybe I just need a really good lasagna recipe?

I think mostly we’re just not too fond of the ricotta cheese. I’ve tried making it with cottage cheese before and we didn’t care for it either. Can you make a lasagna without any type of white sauce?

One of my daughter’s favorite cereal is fruit loops, so I usually have at least one box of this colorful cereal sitting in the pantry. After looking at it every day, I’ve been wondering if there are any recipes out there to make things with fruit loops. We’ve used it for crafts (fruit loops make cute necklaces), and as colorful and sweet decorations on iced cupcakes.

I’ve been thinking about crushing some up and making a pie crust (similar to a graham cracker crust) out of them, but haven’t tried it it. With some pudding filling and a few more fruit loops sprinkled on top, that might make a fun kiddie dessert.

I needed some fresh lemon for a recipe the other day. I ended up buying a pretty big bag of these citrus fruits, figuring that I would use them for “something”. Of course now that I have them sitting on my counter, I have no idea what to do with them. We could make homemade lemonade, but I’m sure there are all kinds of other yummy recipes that use lemons. Please take a moment to share some of your favorite lemon recipes as a comment below.

One thing I like to do is just slice up the lemon, then wrap some fish, the lemon slices and a bit of fresh dill in foil and grill everything. Turns out great every single time.

So, I’ve heard there are quite a few dishes from cakes to chicken recipes that you can make with diet coke. I enjoy a can of the stuff every now and then, and usually have a few of them sitting in the fridge. Might as well put them to good use and cook some new dishes for my family.

So far there’s only one recipe I’ve ever made with diet coke and that was a brownie like cake. You basically just mix a box of chocolate cake mix with a can of diet coke and bake it according to the box instructions. It turned out really good… like a gooey brownie.

How about you? Do you cook with diet coke (or any soda for that matter). If so, please leave your favorite recipe as a comment below.