Here's an easy-to-make recipe. Serve it as a snack or a side dish. It's so simple (and delicious), that you can make it a sitter-night staple.

Ingredients:
4 Large Russet Potatoes
Milk
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Cooked Crumbled Bacon
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Sour Cream (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Wash potatoes, then cut them into cubes, leaving the skins on. Boil in water until they're soft, then drain and place into a bowl.

Mash the potato cubes with a ricer for smooth potatoes. But, if you like them chunky (like I do), use a fork or potato masher. The kids will love this part!

Add milk. I usually don't measure my ingredients, but I guess it's usually about two cups. Add a little at a time, making the mashed potatoes stick together without becoming too soupy. Mix while seasoning with salt and pepper.

Transfer the mashed potatoes into a casserole dish. Top with half the crumbled bacon, layer on the cheddar cheese, then add the remaining bacon. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another five minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top, if you like.

Jessica L. (of Mom Force fame) suggested this yummy (and healthy!) recipe. She found it on the Wholesome Toddler. While it's geared to toddlers, it's a great dish for the whole family.

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese is a great comfort food, but that doesn't mean it can't be healthy, too! Teach your kids to love their vegetables and have a well-balanced diet by adding butternut squash to the traditional cheesy dish. And, for more fiber and less carbs, go with whole wheat pasta.

Butternut Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk (keep it skim)
4 to 8 ounces of shredded cheese (experiment with favorite cheeses, but make sure you include cheddar)
1 package butternut squash

Directions:
Start a pot of your preferred pasta boiling and cook the butternut squash, following the directions on their respective packages.

Use a separate, medium saucepan and melt the butter on the stove, adding in the flour and stirring until you have a paste.

Add milk, whisking it in a little at a time, until you've added all the liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once it starts to boil, either remove the pan from the heat or turn it down to a simmer. Add in the cheese and stir (you can have the kids help you with this) to keep the mixture from burning. You're done once you have a nice, cheesy sauce to pour over pasta.

Once your pasta, butternut squash, and cheese sauce are all done, mix them together and pour into a baking pan. Make sure you've sprayed the pan, so it won't take you a week to clean off the baked-on pasta. If you like, you can add breadcrumbs, more cheese, or broccoli florets for color.

Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese has browned on the top.

Over the holidays our boys were thrilled to enjoy some fresh-baked goods hot out of the oven. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to start baking again regularly and share recipes with others on my blog.

What are your favorites? If you have a great recipe that's easy to make (think: "kid-friendly"), we want to know! Leave us a comment.

In the meantime, my boys loved this banana bread recipe. My friend Moe found it on CooksIllustrated.com, but I added some of my own "Sheila modifications"

Yummy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
(Makes one 9-inch loaf or great muffins, too.)

Some quick prep:
1.    Heat oven to 350 degrees and adjust rack to lower/middle position.
2.    Melt 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
3.    Use 4 bananas in this recipe (I like to freeze bananas that are overripe and then defrost them in the microwave for 2 minutes when I need them).
4.    Grease 9-inch loaf or muffin pan with unsalted butter and sprinkle flour on the bottom to keep batter from sticking.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl
•    2 cups all-purpose flour
•    12 tablespoons sugar
•    ¾ teaspoon baking soda
•    ½ teaspoon salt
•    Heaping ½ cup of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
•    OPTIONAL (which I don’t use because of allergies in my family) 1 ¼ cups toasted walnuts, chopped course (or about 1 cup when chopped).

Use blender and mix in following:
•    4 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled, large bananas, mashed well (better if overripe and previously frozen)
•    ¼ cup of vanilla yogurt (I use the Vanilla Bean flavored Wallaby Yogurt, from Whole Foods)
•    2 large eggs, beaten lightly
•    6 tablespoons of unsalted butter that was previously melted and cooled
•    ¾ teaspoon of vanilla extract

Fold banana mixture into dry ingredients by blending on light speed until batter looks thick and chunky. Scrape batter into greased loaf pan.

Bake until loaf is golden brown. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaf until it comes out clean. Depending on your oven, you'll have to bake for about 40-55 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Serve warm right away. If you're enjoying it later, heat slices in the microwave for 20 seconds before serving.

Enjoy!

(And don't forget to leave a comment with your own great recipes, too.)