Welcome to the weekend, my friends! It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is the week after next. (Unless of course, you’re Canadian and Thanksgiving was celebrated a month ago. In that case, Happy belated Thanksgiving, friends!) Wasn’t it the first of September just yesterday? 

I’ll be spending time this weekend immersed in the oh-so-exciting tasks of cleaning out the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer to make sure we’re ready to go for the holidays. While I’m at it, I should probably make sure that we get the patio furniture put away before the first snow arrives too.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Ground beef Philly cheesesteaks are a tasty, convenient twist on the classic Philadelphia sandwich. This skillet version is prepared using ground beef instead of thinly sliced ribeye or sirloin steak, making it a quicker and budget-friendly option.

If you want something a little different for your Thanksgiving this year, this roast turkey with herbs and wine is a great way to go. Using this method, you can cook a 12-pound turkey in under an hour.

This homemade brown gravy is delicious on turkey, chicken, beef, potatoes, poutine, and more – best of all, it’s easily made without any meat drippings.

When you combine crisp, tender green beans with earthy artichoke hearts, and bathe them in a garlicky cream sauce, the result is a whole new kind of green bean artichoke casserole that is certain to be a win on your holiday table.

These roasted Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes (with bacon!) combine savory, sweet, and smoky flavors perfectly.

Pieces of fudge and chocolate-covered peanuts dance through swirls of rich fudge sauce in this tin roof sundae ice cream.

All the awesome buttery sweet pecan pie goodness of the classic pie in a cobbler-style dessert that you can stir together in just a few minutes? Absolutely! This Pecan Pie Cobbler was a HUGE win from the very first bite.

What I’m CRAVING: My friend Gina’s Tuna Waldorf Salad caught my eye this week and it sounds like the perfect lunch for after church tomorrow. I’m going to grab some grapes and more apples at the store tonight.

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are these tiny reading li

Paula Deen Banana Pudding

Not Yo Momma’s Paula Deen Banana Pudding is a fluffy mixture of creamy pudding and whipped cream with cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Plus it’s served with Chessman Cookies on the bottom and on top!

I loved banana pudding anything as a little girl. If lip smackers had been smart when I was entering jr high they would have made bank off of a lip gloss for banana pudding anything. 

Did you buy Lip Smackers as well? Something like, white cake batter, or Dr Pepper? Those were the good ol’ days. 

Paula Deen’s Not Yo Mama’s Banana Pudding 

Paula Deen Banana Pudding, or the full name, Paula Deen’s Not Yo Momma’s (or Mama’s) Banana Pudding is a little bit deceiving so I just want to get this out of the way first, it’s not a banana pudding recipe. 

I mean, it is. There are banana slices under the pudding. But the actual pudding is a french vanilla pudding whipped up with sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese. 

That’s a legit pudding dessert. 

Ingredients for Not Yo Momma’s Banana Pudding

Here’s your quick grocery list to make your banana pudding with Chessman Cookies. 

• Chessman Cookies: traditionally used in a classic recipe for banana pudding and can be found on the cookie aisle
  • Fun Fact: This recipe is sometimes known as Chessman banana pudding!
• French Vanilla Instant Pudding Box: make sure it is instant pudding and not cook & serve pudding
• Cool Whip: if you can’t find a 12oz tub of Cool Whip, use 1 and half of the 8oz tubs
• Cream Cheese: make sure it is room temperature so that it doesn’t get lumpy
• Sweetened Condensed Milk: adds sweetness and creaminess to the dessert
• Milk: combines with the pudding mix the create the pudding
• Bananas: ripe bananas are the best for their sweetness and bold banana flavor

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Substitute for Chessman Cookies

Vanilla Wafers are the best substitute for Chessman cookies if you can’t find them. Chessman Cookies are usually by the Pepperidge Farm brand so look by the Mint Milano cookies.

How to Make Paula Deen Banana Pudding  

1. Set the Cool Whip in the fridge or on the counter for a faster thaw.
2. Whisk milk and the instant pudding mix together in a small bowl. 
3. In another bowl, blend the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk with a handheld electric mixer.
4. Fold the Cool Whip into the cream cheese mixture. 
5. Stir together the vanilla pudding mixture and cream cheese mixture. 
6. Layer 1 bagof cookies on the bottom of a 9×13 dish, top the cookies with a layer of bananas. 
7. Pile on the pudding.

Hi friends! Happy Friday! The weekend is heeeeere. What do you have going on? The girls have birthday parties, and Sunday is my bday.

To be totally honest, I always get a little bit of the birthday blahs. I feel like another year is a reminder of all of the things I haven’t yet accomplished, and I’ve never been super into the birthday pomp and circumstance. This is why I usually like to go camping, but I canceled our Sedona trip since we’re all recovering from the flu.

I didn’t have the mojo to get us packed and ready to go. So instead, we’re doing brunch with the family, and taking it easy.

I wanted to do a little something special here to celebrate the ol’ 3-9, so from now until Monday at midnight, you can get 6 months of Fit Team for $197. (Note: this is a membership and can be canceled at any time.)

ALL of your fitness programming, done for you, plus bonuses to make meal planning easy, recipes, playlists, and community support, all for less than $33 per month.

You can sign up here!!

FAQs and more info can be found here. If you have questions, please let me know – I’d love to help! This is the lowest price Fit Team will be and after Monday, it will go up to regular price, which is $297.

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. Please shout out anything you’re loving in the comments section below.

Friday Faves 11.10

Read, watch, listen:

How do you parent a tween?

New Mean Girls musical trailer.

Loving this predictable yet sweet read.

My friend Brittany recommended this book on IG, so

Weekly Menu Plan – Nov. 13 to 19

Here is your menu plan for the week!

Monday: 10-Minute Garlic Butter Chicken

Tuesday: Southern Mac and Cheese

Wednesday: French Dip Sandwiches

Thursday: Sausage and Peppers Gnocchi

Friday: Pizza Night!

Saturday: Chicken Noodle Soup

Sunday: Apple Chutney Pork Chops

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Nov. 13 to 19

Chopped fudge pieces and salty, chocolate-covered peanuts dance through swirls of rich fudge sauce in this Tin Roof Sundae Ice Cream.

Tin Roof Ice Cream

This was my Grandpa McGinnis’ favorite ice cream. I never really liked tin roof ice cream much as a kid, as peanuts in ice cream just weren’t my thing. But, as an adult, I sure do love this homemade version.

Maybe it’s that the peanuts are covered in chocolate. Maybe it’s the decadent fudge sauce. Or, maybe it’s the chewy chunks of fudge. But, when you put all three of them together, there’s no maybe about it. Each spoonful is magical.

With this tinroof sundae recipe, you can use pretty much any fudge you may have on hand. At my house during the holidays, that makes this recipe a very appealing choice in the fall and winter seasons.

If you don’t have fudge on hand, I’ve got you covered. You can whip up a batch of this incredible homemade fudge in just 5 minutes. Just leave out the pecans, and it will be perfect for this ice cream.

With over 70 ice cream recipes here to choose from, there’s sure to be an ice cream for everyone! If you’re new