Chewy Peanut Butter Bars (Mom triples it & puts it in a cookie sheet)

1/3 cup shortening
¼ cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup peanut butter
2 eggs

Mix all together.

1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Mix with other mixture. Add 1/3 cup coconut. Bake @ 325* 30-35 minutes.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

(My adaptations will be marked with the * in parentheses)

• 1/3 cup butter (could substitute applesauce)
• 1/2 cup honey (*organic cane sugar - we had just used all of our honey)
• 2 eggs (*1 egg + 1 tbsp of milled flax seed mixed w/ 3 tbsp water)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 handful chopped nuts (*didn't add)
• 1 handful chocolate chips (*didn't add)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and honey together. Add eggs, and mix well. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour, cinnamon and salt.
3. Add baking soda to the hot water, stir to mix, and then add to batter. Carefully stir in chopped nuts and chocolate chips. Spread batter into a greased 9x5 in. loaf pan.
4. Bake for 55-60 mintues. Cool on wire rack for 1/2 hour before slicing.

(Original recipe from here)

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

My granny's famous (well, famous to us) mac & cheese. This was one of my favorite meals growing up, and now I get to make it for my own family (who gets just as excited about it as I do)!

• 1 16 oz. pkg elbow macaroni
• 2-3 fresh tomatoes
• 1 16 oz. pkg extra sharp cheese (you don't have to use sharp)
• 6-8 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• pork sausages
• salt & pepper

Boil macaroni in pot with just enough water to cover and add about 1 tsp of salt. Grate the cheese in seperate bowl while the macaroni boils and wash/slice tomatoes in another bowl. Drain macaroni well. In a 2 quart pyrex dish, add one layer of macaroni, a layer of cheese, a layer of sliced tomatoes, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat layers one more time.

Beat 6-8 eggs, add the cup of milk, and pour evenly over casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 45-55 mins (you'll know it's done if the cheese looks evenly melted and the egg is fully cooked). Serve with pork sausage and/or salad.

*Note: you don't have to use the tomatoes and sausages in it if you don't want to. We usually don't add them because we don't have either of them on hand at the time. If you do want to use them (which, it is pretty yummy with them) then you could add the sausage to your layers in the casserole. I remember my granny doing that most of the time (not sure if they were cooked or not before she put them in with the casserole though).