"Holly Housewife" has a few recipes

I was in serious Holly Housewife mode today!  My dear friend Amanda calls me Holly Housewife.  We eat lunch together at work and while I warm up my leftovers from the night before she always says, "What did Holly Housewife cook last night?"  So now the name sticks! 

These past few weeks have been crazy!  About 2 weeks ago I was hit with a pretty funky stomach virus that had me down for a good week.  Then, I had a awful sinus infection (assuming I got it since my immune system was already low) and then I got the worst fever blister that I have ever had in my entire life!  In between all of this, I was planning a surprise party for my friend Brandi.  Yesterday was the party and it went great!  Other than me being embarrassed for the massive mountain on my face  :(.... the birthday girl was surprised and everything looked perfect!  I will be posting these pictures soon on here.

So back to today.  Started off cleaning our whole home.  It was in desperate need of some cleaning lovin'!  After everything was spic and span I decided to make some banana nut bread.  I had 2 pretty ripe (black) bananas and when I peeled them they were perfect for bread.  Here is the recipe I use:

Martha Stewart's Banana Bread Recipe

1/4 Pound (1 stick butter), room temp
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 c mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 c sour cream
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F, butter 9X5X3" loaf pan. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs beating well. Sift the dry ingredients together and combine with the butter mixture. Blend well. Add the bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Stir well. Stir in the nuts and pour into the pan. Bake 1 hour until a cake tester comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
 This is the best recipe I have found for banana nut bread.  After cleaning the dishes and all I organized my recipe binder, then started on tonight's din din.  :) 

We had spiraled ham (with the brown sugar glaze stuff), homemade mac and cheese and some green beans. 

My sister in law Cari sent me a recipe for macaroni and cheese she had found in a magazine.  She said it was very good and thought it would be something we would enjoy.  So tonight I tried and it out and it was delicious!  We loved it!  She is a cheese lover and used sharp cheddar.  I used mild but I think medium would be perfect (for us) and also Jesse likes the larger elbow pasta over the small ones so we used large.  I also added some shredded cheese on top and also a little more extra in the sauce but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. Here it is!



MACARONI AND CHEESE

Serves 8 as a main dish; 10 to 12 as a side dish

1 (16-oz.) box small elbow macaroni or shell pasta

3 tbsp. butter

3½ tbsp. all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. ground mustard

1½ tsp. salt

3 cups milk

3 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese, divided*

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Set aside.

3. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat; whisk in flour until smooth. Cook, 1 minute, whisking constantly. Stir in mustard and salt. Gradually whisk in milk; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in ½ cup cheese; set aside.

4. Layer half of macaroni and half of remaining cheddar cheese in a lightly greased 13×9-in. baking dish. Repeat process with remaining pasta and cheese. Pour cheese sauce over pasta; stir gently.


Hope everyone has a great week, happy cooking and baking!  :-D