Creamy Banana Pudding

So sorry for the lack of posts lately. We will do better! I wanted to post this super easy and delicious banana pudding recipe. It is favorite in the Cashman family, and I am hoping it will be a favorite for y'all too!
Creamy Banana Pudding

1 (14-ounce) can EAGLE BRAND Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 (4-serving) package instant vanilla pudding mix (french vanilla works too)
2 cups (1 pint) whipping cream, whipped and sweetened with a little sugar (Cool Whip works too)
3-4 bananas, sliced and dipped in lemon juice( this keeps them from turning brown)
1 box of vanilla wafers

In a large bowl, combine Eagle Brand and water. Add pudding mix; beat until well blended. Chill 5 minutes.
Fold whipped cream into chilled pudding mixture ( save about 1/3 cup of whipped cream for the top). Layer pudding mixture, vanilla wafers, then bananas. Repeat layering, about 2-3 times, ending with whipped cream on top. Garnish as desired. Chill thoroughly. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.
*You can use a trifle bowl, casserole dish, or individual parfait glasses.
*I usually have 1 banana at a time in the lemon juice. After I layer the banana, I'll slice the new banana in the lemon juice and let it soak while I place pudding and vanilla wafers. This way, the bananas don't taste too lemony.

Enjoy!

Cruisin'

Having just returned from a relaxing Caribbean cruise, we've decided to make the plunge into blogging. No more excuses. After all, the office downstairs is finally clean, and now it's time to share a bit of our lives with y'all. (By the way, this is Greg, not Meli that is typing, just in case the y'all threw you off.)
We had a great time with the family on the MS. Noordam. Terry and Sue were very generous to take the whole brood (14 total) with them on a family vacation. It had been quite a while since being together with everyone.
We sailed out of New York, and visited Grand Turk, Tortola, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and San Juan. If you're wondering why we would fly to NYC to cruise to the Caribbean, it's because my beautiful sister Kelly and her husband Cardon (also beautiful) live there.

Here we are returning from our first scuba diving trip in Grand Turk. The sea life was abundant. A grouper was there that was so tame it swam next to us and let us pet it. We saw a large sea turtle, a giant crab, some stingrays, baracuda, and lots of colorful coral.
We decided to do a different sort of cruisin around St. Maarten. The island is the perfect size to explore in an afternoon on a scooter. We visited a couple of beaches for some swimming. One was next to the airport, and when the planes landed, the wind would blow/sandblast you, driving you back into the sea. We also visited the nude beach on the French side, which was pretty scary, and almost took away our appetites, except that the food was delicious. Just ask my nephew Kenton.
We are waiting to get the other pictures from our family. We will try our best to keep this blog updated with new and exciting things that are going on in our lives -- and when there isn't anything new and exciting, we'll just make stuff up.