Fried Banana Bread

Trust me, it's lovely.  And please believe me that you DO NOT want to calculate the calories, all or which are totally worth it.

• Start with a high fat content banana bread recipe.  (Leah and I use this one.)
• Spray a non-stick pan with Pam.  
• Put your banana bread in the pan and pan-"fry" it with the Pam.  (You could use butter, but Leah and I actually found that makes the banana bread soggy and doesn't give it the nice crisp.  It has nothing to do with calories.)
• When your banana bread is nicely browned and the outsides are crisp, put the slices on individual plates.  
• Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on each hot slice of banana bread.
• Top ice cream with syrup (buttermilk of maple) and walnuts.  

This is one of my all-time favorites.  I'll upload a picture next time we make it!

Jamabalya

I like this because it's fast, easy, and a great way to use up leftover ham!! If you don't use ham in it, you may need to add more salt. I've been known to use all sorts of leftover meats in this though and it's always good! I just kind of throw in whatever I have, but this is a basic recipe.

2 Tblsp oil

1 ½ cups chopped onion

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 cups cubed ham, or chicken, or sausage (cooked)

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you want it hotter)

¼ tsp creole seasoning (or more to taste) optional

1 16-oz can diced tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

Rice

Saute onion, peppers, and garlic in oil until slightly brown. Add meats. Add seasoning, tomatoes and broth. Bring to boil. Serve over cooked rice.

Mom's Cranberry Salad

Okay, we've been trying to get this up for years.  I'm now delivering.  You're welcome.

1 box (3 oz.) orange Jell-O (It's Alive!)
1 envelope Knox gelatin
1 1/4 cup boiling water
8 oz. can crushed pineapple
12-16 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries
1 orange, peeled and pith removed
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup fresh celery, chopped

1. Dissolve gelatin and Jell-O in boiling water.
2. In your food processor (or blender), chop pineapple, cranberries and orange until all are in very small pieces.  (Do no liquefy.)
3. Add walnuts, celery and gelatin mixture to processor and pulse process briefly until mixture is desired consistency.  (A little pulsing goes a VERY long way.)
4. Chill until set - a few hours.

This yields 12 side dish servings, each of which have about 130 calories.