World's Greatest Nana Puddin' ****

There are a zillion banana pudding recipes in internet-land.  I combined my favorite parts of each and came up with this one.  I let the 11-year-old come up with the name, lol.

This was another winner for us.  To show how far behind I am, this was actually my contribution to our Thanksgiving get-together.  What little bit was leftover from dinner was scarfed down at breakfast the next morning.  I think it's safe to say we'll be having this one again. ;-)

WORLD'S GREATEST NANA PUDDIN'
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy)

2 boxes Nilla Wafers
6-8 bananas, sliced
2 cups milk
1 (5 oz.) box French Vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz.) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer.
Using a different bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together, and mix until smooth.
Line the bottom of a large trifle bowl with a layer (or two!) of cookies.  Layer sliced bananas on top.
Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.
Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended.
Line the bottom of a 13×9 inch inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.
Pour some of the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with another layer of cookies.  Alternate layers until you get the top.
For garnish, crumble a few cookies and sprinkle on top.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cranberry Kielbasa Bites (Crockpot) ***

This was my second new appetizer recipe for our Christmas Eve gathering.  Super simple, but very flavorful.  My boys (even the grown-up one, lol) ate this one up.  They all loved it.  It's similar to the Lil Smokies or meatball recipes that use the grape jelly, but I think that the cranberry adds a nice mellowing factor to it.  The grape jelly ones are just a tad bit too sugary-sweet for me, but the tartness of the cranberries kind of tone that down a bit.  Whatever it was, it was a winner for us.  My kids ate the few remaining leftovers for snack the next day and still loved them! (Sorry, but there's no pic on this one either.  I was too busy trying to get everything ready and out the door in time for the party!)

CRANBERRY KIELBASA BITES (CROCKPOT)
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ TheFrugalGirls)

1 can Jellied Cranberry Sauce (14 oz.)
1 bottle Heinz Chili Sauce (12 oz.)
2 links Hillshire Farm Beef Polska Kielbasa (12 oz.)

Slice Kielbasa links into round pieces 1/4"-1/2" thick.
Place sliced Kielbasa pieces in Crockpot
In mixing bowl, stir together Jellied Cranberry Sauce and Chili Sauce.
Pour sauce mixture over Kielbasa in Crockpot.
Cook on HIGH for 1-1/2 hours, or LOW for 2-1/2 hours, or until hot.
Serve with toothpicks and Enjoy!

Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts ***

I am so far behind on my postings that it's not even funny.  Hubby was unemployed for a while, and everything was so crazy that I mainly just stuck to old tried and true recipes.  I'm going to try to catch myself up on all the new stuff we've tried, though, so you've been warned. ;-)

These were AMAZING.  I mean, our family is crazy about Brussels sprouts and bacon, so there really was never a question.  I took these to our family Christmas Eve celebration, though, and even the folks who don't like Brussels said that they were good!  The general consensus is that they don't even taste like Brussels, since the bacon flavor is so predominant.  However you want to look at it, they were great.  Not to mention easy.  I can honestly see doing these as a side dish over the weekend or something (when you have a bit more time).  I used those sprouts that come cleaned and in the steaming bags, mainly just because I'm lazy.  Worked perfectly, though!  I forgot to take a pic of this one, but if you follow the link, you can see hers.  Mine were basically the same.  Some of the larger sprouts worked better when cut in half, so mine we're necessarily as pretty.  Ha!

BACON WRAPPED BRUSSELS SPROUTS
(luckymommyto2boys ~ Amy ~ FitFoodieFinds)

12 strips of bacon
12 medium/large brussels sprouts
pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375*F and line a baking sheet with tin foil.
Then, prep brussels sprouts by washing and patting dry with a paper towl.
To make bacon wrapped brussels sprouts. Place a brussels sprouts at the top of a piece of bacon. Then roll it up, your bacon inside the brussels sprout and place on baking sheet. Season with pepper, to taste.
Bake at 375*F for 30-35 minutes depending on how crispy you like your bacon.
To serve, insert a toothpick into each sprout.