Brenda's Best Banana Pudding.

First, open the cream cheese. Yes, I said cream cheese.

Next, talk about the "rocket ship." And then get freaked out when the rocket ship is turned on. In the meantime, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.

Open a can of sweetened condensed milk.

Arrange can with rest of ingredients (milk, vanilla pudding mix, and vanilla extract) for a photo op. If you're wondering why we're making banana pudding with vanilla pudding mix and not banana it's because we want a true banana flavor. As it "cures" in the fridge, the bananas will lend their flavor to the entire bowl. Now dump it all in the bowl and beat until smooth and "thickish." By this time your child likely has lost interest and went off to play... but not before stealing a couple cookies.

Gently fold half of a carton of whipped topping into the mixture. You want there to be some swirls of white in there. Then in your serving bowl make a layer of cookie wafers topped with some slices of banana. (On a side note, I recommend eating only the broken cookies. It's common knowledge that their calories don't count.) Pour half the pudding mixture on top, and then lightly shimmy the bowl around to even.

After making another layer of cookies and bananas, pour in the remaining pudding and shimmy to even. The shimmying is very important. You might want to have music on for that part. I was listening to The Clash, but you may choose what you like. Spread the rest of the whipped topping on the top. Refrigerate. You're almost done!

Lastly, use your non-photo finger to clean up the rest of the whipped topping container. Delish!

** What a bummer! I forgot to change the white balance setting on my camera, so sorry for all the yellow photos.

Brenda's Best Banana Pudding
8oz. cream cheese
140z sweetened condensed milk
3 cups cold milk
1 tsp. vanilla
5 oz. vanilla instant pudding mix
8oz. whipped topping
2-3 bananas
vanilla cookie wafers

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in sweetened condense milk, cold milk, pudding mix, and vanilla until smooth and thickish. Fold in half the whipped topping. Line serving bowl with cookies and sliced bananas. Pour in half of pudding. Add another layer of cookies and banana. Add rest of pudding. Top with rest of whipped topping.

Thanks, Brenda, for the great recipe!