Fruity Dessert Salad

If you've ever needed a potluck salad or a yummy fruity side salad, or just something delicious to add to your favorite summer meal and wanted to get RAVE reviews...then this is the salad for you.  It's INCREDIBLY easy (5 min total time) and oh so delicious!  The compliments will never stop!  You'll have multiple requests for this recipe.  No lie.  Young and old LOVE this berry salad.  There are very few ingredients and yet TONS of flavor!  It's especially nice in the warmer summer months because it incorporates partially frozen berries.  Are you curious about this one yet???  I'm wanting to make another batch of it right now...just so I can sit down and devour it all myself!

{fruity dessert salad}
2 small packages of pudding (either white chocolate or cheesecake...both taste fantastic!)
1 large container of strawberry yogurt
1 large container of frozen whipped topping
16 oz. frozen berries of your choice (partially thawed)..I use the giant triple berry package from Costco.
3 large fresh bananas, sliced
1 lb. fresh strawberries, sliced

Combine the pudding and the yogurt in a LARGE bowl until combined.  It will be lumpy and that's okay.  Fold in the frozen whipped topping....notice lumpiness going away...  Add the fresh and frozen fruits and continue folding till combined.  Serve immediately for best flavor.  Refrigerate.

 If you have extra time, do not thaw the berries.  Just add them frozen and they will be partially thawed by the time you need them.  Just be sure to keep refrigerated till serving!

Enjoy!!!

Cookie Carnival::Chiquita Banana Breakfast Cookies

We finally remembered to bake along with the Cookie Carnival Bakers! Wahoo! My kids really wanted to make the banana cookies. So we did. They had a blast baking them, but really we didn't think they tasted all that great. They were super super crumbly, too. Oh well. The kids had fun getting messy in the kitchen with me. That's what's really important anyway...that we have FUN!

{Chiquita Banana Breakfast Cookie Recipe}

TWD::Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe comes from Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities. Kimberly, THANK YOU for choosing this yummy recipe. My whole family has enjoyed it!!

I have three favorite smells in the kitchen. 1. Baking homemade bread 2. almond extract 3. freshly grated nutmeg. This recipe comes in with two of the three favorites! Okay, technically just one, but since it's a banana cake, it smelled just like banana bread. NUTMEG! I {HEART} it when I freshly grate it and I {HEART} the flavor in foods I'm eating.

The other component I'm a huge fan of that is in this recipe is coconut milk. That milk is AMAZING! Such small amounts lend such amazing flavors! I really think this banana cake would've turned out better if I had made it in a loaf pan like a bread and still frosted it. It was super crumbly, but VERY delicious!

Where are my pictures, you ask? Nada. My kids felt they needed to be taste-testers this time and couldn't wait to dive right in...hands and all! Yeah...and forgot to laugh and take pictures of the whole ordeal, too. So sorry. You'll just have to drool all over pictures from the other TWD Bakers this week. OR you could go to the link below to Kimberly's blog and see her amazing pictures while you get the recipe to make it yourself!

{Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake Recipe}

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This is not your typical cake. It's leaps and bounds better. It's a delicious cross between banana bread and the most deliciously moist cake. You'll definitely want to make this yourself. Especially if you have any bananas turning a shade or two darker than yellow. Yes. This is one of those incredible ways to use them up...that is IF you have bananas going bad. We don't very often, so when I get to use them in something, I prefer making this cake instead of bread.

BANANA CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the following together:
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 1/4 tsp. soda

Then Add:
2/3 c. butter, at room temperature
4 mashed bananas, large

Beat thoroughly, then add:
2 large eggs
2/3 c. buttermilk or plain yogurt
2/3 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix until well combined. Pour into a greased & floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. When cooled, top with Cream Cheese frosting. Recipe below.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter

Combine all ingredients until smooth.

TWD::Cocoa-Nana Bread

It's not often that a recipe of Dorie's fails to impress me, but this one did. I love bananas. I love chocolate. Generally I love them together, too. I can't quite put my finger on why this time it wasn't a perfect pairing because on paper it was! I tried improving it by topping it with a cream cheese frosting. Nope. So, instead of gobbling this entire recipe up. I opted for the least-amout-of-waste-as-possible idea...I removed the cream cheesed parts and cubed the rest. Bagged it and put it into the freezer. I'm hopeful that it will be amazing paired with fresh fruits and whip cream and/or puddings in the form of a trifle somewhere in the future.

Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean another Tuesdays with Dorie blogger didn't LOVE it. Check out what other TWD bloggers thought of this bread. You can also see how our host for this recipe fared by going to her website Stephanie of Obsessed with Baking and get your copy of this recipe if you'd like to try it.