December 23, 2024

GCH: What’s on Your Plate? — Beef Tips & Rice

November 25, 2012 by

I love meals like this one….delicious, and oh so easy!  It’s a family favorite.  I hope your family enjoys it, too!

_______

Beef Tips & Rice

(no picture available this time)

Ingredients:

2 lb Sirloin Steak – cut in 1-inch strips

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

½ cup Beef Broth

½ cup White Cooking Wine

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch Dry Dressing Mix

1 pkg Lipton’s Dry Onion Soup Mix

Mushrooms, optional

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients, except the Sirloin Steak, in a large bowl.  Mix well.  Place Sirloin Steak in crock pot and cover with mixture.  Stir.  Cook on low for 6 hours.

Serve with Rice (White or Brown), Egg Noodles, or Mashed Potatoes.  Other options is to add broccoli florets, carrots, or cabbage.  This is a recipe that is very easy to add options and still have a delicious dish!

Bon appetit,

Christi

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , ,

GCH:What’s on Your Plate? – Roasted Winter Veggies & Broccoli Craisin Salad!

November 19, 2012 by

Thanksgiving week!  Oh boy…here we go!  Don’t you just love it?  I do.  My favorite foods on the table are always the side dishes.  So this week I am going to share two recipes.  Maybe one of them might even end up on your table this year!  Both of these recipes also fall into the healthy but oh-so-yummy category, too!

The first recipe is for Roasted Winter Veggies.  I love roasted veggies…the melange of colors, and textures, and flavors; the nicely caramelized bits; the few little pieces that hover just this side of burnt!  Making roasted veggies is a very forgiving recipe, too.  I have the veggies ready to go into the oven the moment the turkey comes out to rest and be carved.* There are a few basic ingredients; but then you can add and subtract to your heart’s content.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil

1 medium butternut squash, halved, seeded and peeled

1 large Vidalia onion, peeled

3 large Yukon Gold potatoes  (or 4-5 medium red potatoes), peeled

1 bag (12-16 ounces) carrot chips (or baby carrots)

1# brussel sprouts, trim end off and remove outer leaves (if large, cut in half)

1 small head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into 1+1/2″ florets

12 ounce pkg Baby Bella mushrooms, stemmed and cleaned; cut into appropriate size

3 medium red beets, peeled (rinse your hands after handling the beets..unless you like a pink tint to your nails and fingers!)

1 tablespoon each: sea salt,  freshly ground pepper

 

Directions: Prep the veggies, washing anything that needs it. Place two really large low-sided roasting pans (sometimes called cookie sheets with sides) into the oven and preheat oven to 425. Cut everything into approximately 1+1/2″ pieces; don’t cut the veggies too small as all they will shrink a bit while roasting. Just try and have everything fairly close to the same size.

Place all the veggies, EXCEPT for the beets, into a really large bowl (or stockpot). Pour most of the oil over the veggies (add the rest if necessary), add salt &pepper, then gently mix together making sure to thoroughly coat each piece of veggie. Pour onto the heated pans. Then place the cut-up beets into the bowl stirring to coat, and add them to the veggies on the roasting pans. It is important that the veggies are not piled up on one another. You do not want them to steam but to roast.  They should be in a single layer. It might be very snug but they will shrink slightly as they roast.

Roast for 30-35 minutes ‘til the most dense veggies are done when poked with a fork.  I like to <attempt> to turn the veggies over after the first 15 minutes; that way more sides of each piece will caramelize; yum.  Be fairly quick during this turning process as you don’t want to leave the oven open very long!  Once you have determined that they are done, remove from oven.  Turn off the oven.   Carefully taste, adding additional salt and pepper (I always add more!) and place into your serving bowl.  <3

A few other things to keep in mind:

If you are preparing this recipe…and there is nothing else in the oven…follow the directions in the recipe.  HOWEVER, if you are making this on Thanksgiving Day: put the pans into the oven for about 10 minutes before you take the turkey out.  Then while the bird is resting, and being carved, and the gravy is being made, the veggies can be roasting. When the turkey is removed, bump the heat up to 425.  Fill the heated pans, and place them back into the oven.  Roast the veggies for approximately 30-35 minute, check that the densest veggies are done and, if so, remove the pans from the oven and turn off the oven.

At this point, if the meal is not ready to be brought to the table, place the veggies into a serving dish, and place back into the oven ‘til you are ready to go. Other veggies to consider: asparagus, broccoli, parsnips, sweet potatoes, fingerlings, fennel. Leftover roasted veggies?  (Hard to believe, but…) Use them as the key ingredients to roasted veggie lasagna, roasted veggie chowder, roasted veggie omelet or frittata, roasted veggie burritos…the list could go on and on.  These are particular dishes I have made.  How kind would you be to yourself but to have one of these chosen as a quick and easy meal to come home to after Christmas shopping-til-you-drop?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

And here is the recipe for the second side dish: Broccoli-Craisin Salad.  This is a beautiful raw salad, a very healthy but oh-so-yummy addition to the side dish array on your Thanksgiving Day table.  It has a slightly smoky (from the bacon), slightly sweet (from the honey), slightly tart (from the vinegar), very mellow taste.  I have had MANY supposed broccoli haters be prompted to try just one tiny taste…only to find they enjoy it and come back for more!  We enjoy this salad all year long!  Hoping that your family enjoys it, too!

Ingredients:

2 heads broccoli crowns, cut into small florets*

1/2 pkg Craisins (dried cranberries)

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2  cup sour cream

1/4 cup honey, warmed

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 cup sunflower seeds

freshly ground pepper

 

Directions:

In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, and vinegar; set aside. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Take mayo mixture and pour over broccoli mixture, tossing gently to thoroughly coat. I pour the dressed mixture into a large zip-top bag to go into the fridge.  Every once in a while, give the bag a flip-over and a couple of squeezes to massage the yumminess all around!

Then when your meal is ready to go onto the table, just pour the salad out into a serving bowl.  Easy-peasy!

Should be prepared at least 4 hours beforehand, up to 8 hours or so. Just prior to serving, stir in the sunflower seeds and ground pepper to taste.

* The biggest hint I can offer to you for this salad is to cut the broccoli florets as small as you possibly can.  I consider it a labor of love and, oh, so worth it!  It is MUCH more palatable to have little florets in your mouth as you munch on this salad rather than a large hunk of broccoli!  Trust me!  You can do the chopping ahead of time, even a day or so, and simply store in the fridge. 😉

Honestly, I have been known to sit in front of the television while doing it! <3

Have a wonderful, thanks-filled Thanksgiving Day! May we each always remember how very much we have to be thankful for and give thanks to the One Who so perfectly and abundantly and graciously provides for our every need!

Psalms 30:12

To the end that my tongue and my heart and everything glorious within me may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. <3

God loves you!  and I do too.

Coleen <3

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GCH: What’s on Your Plate? – Food For Thought…..

November 18, 2012 by

Today, I want to take a little different approach to this blog, and share some food for thought for this holiday season.  I know the holidays can be a trying and lonely time for some, and I pray that my message today will speak right to your heart!  <3

Image from
www.bibleverses.com

Isaiah 26:3

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

*=*=*=*=*=*

John 14:27

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I now give and bequeath to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.  [Stop allowing yourself to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]”

*=*=*=*=*=*

Proverbs 16:7

“When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies live at peace with him.”

*=*=*=*=*=*

2 Thessalonians 3:16

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace (the peace of His kingdom) at all times and in all ways [under all circumstances and conditions, whatever comes.]”

We can clearly see here that the Lord instructs us to live in peace, in all circumstances and conditions.  But what about times when “life” happens, and you just don’t feel like living in peace?  Or it’s hard to walk in peace because of the circumstances?

Sometimes we have things happen in our lives that are devastating.  They rip the rug right out from under us.  They cause much stress, anger, bitterness, and more.  How in the world are we to walk in peace during those times?

First, we have to recognize who or what is causing the stress, anger, bitterness, and lack of peace in our life.

John 10:10

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance to the full, till it overflows.

The “thief” is satan.  (I refuse to capitalize his name!).  His job is to cause destruction, steal and kill my life, and my joy.  He is the god of the world (for now).  He is a fallen angel that has set his ways against God and all that God stands for.  Anything he can do to turn us from God, or cause those who are not yet walking with God to think that God’s love is not real, he will. It’s his pleasure to try to ruin the children of God!

Cancer, adultery, rape, molestation, divorce, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and more, are just a few of the tactics that satan uses to destroy God’s children!

But what about hatred, grumpiness, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, depression?  How do we enjoy life, as God wants us to, if our hearts are filled with these things?

You wake up in the morning and you just feel this heaviness that has set its sites on you.  You just can’t shake it.  You feel numb.  You feel like a zombie.  Nothing looks or tastes good.  Even the sunshine outside looks miserable to you!

You feel fat, ugly, mean, nasty, miserable.  You don’t want to talk to anyone.  You just want to be left alone to work through this, if you can.

How do you get past these feelings?  How do you live beyond these things?

____________________

I will say right here that I am absolutely NO expert in this area, but I have learned a few things over the last few years, that I would like to share with you.

I have a tendency to suffer from depression.  Moderate depression.  I’m not talking about clinical depression here, which is far worse and more serious than mild to moderate depression.  If you suffer from clinical depression, please seek counsel from your doctor and/or your pastor.

I do not have any degrees in counseling or psychology.

I am just a person who has struggled with these types of things in my life, and the Lord has brought me through it.  That is what I want to share with you today.  The how’s…..

People used to tell me “Christi, you just need to get over it.”  Yes, I could clearly see that.  But what I didn’t know was HOW!  How was I suppose to just “get over it”?  How do I get past the anger, bitterness, depression, unforgiveness, and even more emotions that sometimes can toy with people’s emotions and hearts?

Stay in the Word.  Stay in the Word.  Stay in the Word.

It can’t be that simple, can it?

When people would tell me this in the beginning, I would think “Right! I’m in the Word every single day! I’m still struggling!”  But you know what?  I had to keep on keepin’ on, as the expression goes.  My “cure” wasn’t going to happen overnight!  I had to learn how to be at peace with who I was and what God was doing in my life!  Without His peace, I struggled every day!!!

 I could only learn about His peace through His word!  

Staying in the word doesn’t always been reading the bible all the time!  It can also include good books by Christian authors.  Watching DVD’s from Christian evangelists.  Turning on praise and worship music to allow your mind to be filled with the word through music!  There is so much more to it than just reading the bible!

You will also notice that in order to suffocate the negativity in our lives, means that you actually have to get up and do something!

 Do something to fight the negativity!

You can’t just sit there and expect it to just go away on its own!  You have to actually do something to fight these emotions daily!  To read the bible, you have to get up, go get your bible, and turn the pages, correct?  To listen to music, you actually have to get up, go to the stereo, choose the music and then turn the stereo on, correct?  You have to ­do something first!!!

James 1:22 — “But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it…”

To be a “Doer”…

means you have to DO SOMETHING!

So what are some things that we can do to remove the negativity out of our lives?  Below I have listed some tips that have helped me over the years.  If you have other tips, I’d love for you to share them in the comments section below.  The tips below are listed in no particular order.

  • Read the Word
  • Pray
  • Listen to Praise Music
  • Go for a walk
  • Go outside barefoot
  • Call a friend
  • Go to lunch with a friend
  • Take a warm soothing bath
  • Find a hobby that will take your mind off of problems
  • Seek Counsel
  • Go for a massage
  • Get a new haircut
  • AVOIDS NEGATIVE PEOPLE!
  • Try to find the GOOD in your situation
  • Stop saying negative things to yourself
  • Practice breathing slowly
  • Read a positive book curled up in bed
  • Ask someone to be your “vent partner”
  • Practice grace under pressure
  • Be responsible for your feelings
  • Learn to meet your own needs
  • Exercise every day
  • Learn the words to a new song
  • Write a note to a far away friend
  • Keep a journal
  • Practice a monster smile
  • Quit trying to “fix” other people
  • Get enough sleep
  • Talk less and listen more
  • Volunteer at a Shelter or Food Pantry
  • Freely praise other people
  • Have a support network of people, places and things

These are just a few tips on how to get past a negative attitude and walk in peace and joy!  But truthfully, it all starts with YOU!  What will YOU do to change your circumstances?  Choosing to do something means that you give God Glory for what happens in your life, and you have put satan in his place and he does not win!  He learns that you will not tolerate the weapons that he puts in your life, to keep you down!

I will also say that these tips are not for just a quick-fix.  These are not things you get from a drive-thru window!  They are things that you need to do on a consistent basis!  You can’t just expect life to change overnight, especially if you are dealing with some pretty tough situations!

Don’t just do something….Give it time to work!  Whatever you do, don’t give up!!  Let Jesus set you free!!!!

.

I pray this message reaches at least one person!  I know for myself, things did not change overnight.  I had to be patient and allow God to do what He needed in my life.  I am here to tell you that the steps I have shared with you here today, WORK!!  But YOU have to put some effort behind them first!

Be Blessed & Be a Blessing to Others,

Christi

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GCH: What’s on Your Plate? – Bread Pudding

November 17, 2012 by

Bread Pudding is one of those dishes that makes me sentimental. It’s a dessert that my dad would get whenever we’d go to a local buffet. I’d spy it at the dessert station, and I’d go back to the table and entice him with, “Dad, they have bread pudding.”  Every single time I make it I think of him. I’ve tested and tweaked various recipes, until I came close to perfection, and I’m sharing it with you today.

Ingredients:

  • 3 to 3  1/2 c Italian bread, enough to fill the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish
  • 1 3/4 c sugar
  • 2 c milk
  • 6 medium eggs
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • ground nutmeg

For topping:

  • 5 Tblsp butter, softened
  • 1/2 c light brown sugar, packed
  •  1 1/4 c pecan halves

For brandy sauce:

  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 stick butter
  • 3/4 c sugar
  • 1/3 c brandy

Directions:

1. The day before, cube bread (good size cubes) and put in an uncovered bowl. Let sit on counter overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 340 degrees. (F)

3. Grease a 9×13 baking dish.

4. Place bread in the baking dish.

5. In a bowl, beat 6 eggs. Mix in 1 3/4 c sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, and milk. Pour over bread, making sure all the bread is covered. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Let sit for 15-20 minutes.

6. Place the topping ingredients in another bowl and use a pastry cutter or wooden spoon to mix. Sprinkle over the top of the bread.

7. Bake uncovered for 50 minutes, or until the pudding is set.

8. Remove from oven and allow to cool while you make the brandy sauce.

9. In a medium saucepan on low-medium heat, combine all sauce ingredients except the brandy. Once the butter and sugar are completely melted, turn the heat to low, stir in the brandy and mix continuously for 2 minutes. Pour over pudding.

10. Serve warm. (May be served with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.)

 

 

Praise God! Let’s eat!

Shandy

___________

Please be sure to visit Shandy’s personal blog, Aprons ‘n Pearls

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , ,

GCH: What’s on Your Plate? The International Pantry

November 15, 2012 by

Most of the recipes on GCH: What’s on Your Plate are for delicious dishes that may not even require a trip to the store to make tonight.  That might not be the case with my contributions!  If you’ve always wanted to try a Mexican, Korean, or Indian recipe but didn’t know where to start, I’m here with a primer for some basic things to stock in your pantry and refrigerator.

The Korean Kitchen

I am biased:  I love Korean food!  There aren’t any complicated techniques to master (I’m looking at you, French bistro cuisine!) and it relies mostly on fresh vegetables and a few simple condiments.  I highly encourage you to find an Asian or Korean grocery store and try some recipes out.  Here’s what to buy to get you started.

Sesame Oil:  This dark, nutty oil is a base flavor in most Korean recipes.  Any brand is fine, and your neighborhood Safeway or Kroeger may stock it in the Asian aisle.

Soy Sauce:  You probably already have this.  Kikkoman is definitely in your grocery store right now!

Rice Vinegar: A delightfully sweet-tart vinegar that is fresh-tasting and light.  I use it often in salad dressings.

Garlic:  In James Clavell’s classic samurai novel Shogun, the Japanese guards refer to Koreans as “the garlic-eaters”.  They meant it as an insult, which is incomprehensible to me!  Garlic is very healthy for you, and is found in many cuisines around the world.  I mean, imagine Italian food without garlic!  I buy it whole because it’s cheaper that way, but if you don’t want the trouble of mincing it to order, feel free to buy a jar of minced garlic to live in your fridge.

Green Onions:  You know, just your basic green onions.  And unless you’re making dessert, you can almost guarantee a Korean recipe will call for minced green onions.  Thankfully, if you buy them in an Asian grocery, they are going to be shockingly cheap to purchase.  In fact, every Asian grocery store I have been in has fresher vegetables at better prices than the American grocery store.

Ginger:  A common flavor agent in Korean food.  Buy a whole “hand” of ginger, or buy minced ginger to go in your fridge.  Be sure to buy regular minced ginger, and not the pickled kind they serve with sushi.

Doenjang:  Pronounced “den jong”, this is fermented bean paste.  It’s basically a stronger, chunkier version of Japanese miso paste.  This flavors many soups and stews, and lends a meaty, salty savor.  It can live happily in your refrigerator for a good year – after all, it’s already fermented!  When you buy it, read the ingredients – make sure there are no added flavors, like anchovies, and that you’re getting just plain doenjang.  Most brands feature helpful illustrations to help us non-Koreans out!

Gochujang: Pronounced just how it looks, “go chu jong”, this red paste looks scarier than it is.  If you like Sriracha hot sauce, you’ll love gochujang.  It is hot, fruity, sweet, and complex.  Koreans love this fiery paste and will sometimes serve a side dish of whole green onions to dip in gochujang.  That’s a little hardcore for me, but in smaller amounts, it is a tasty and welcome splash of spice.  And to make it easier, doenjang is always sold in a little tan tub, and gochujang is always sold right next to it, in a little red tub.  Don’t worry, you can’t confuse them.

Kimchi:  The iconic dish is the Korean version of sauerkraut – pickled cabbage that will cure any cold!  There are also radish and cucumber versions.  Pick up a jar and see if you like it.  I love it, and I love the huge dose of Vitamin C it gives me.  Koreans eat kimchi and rice with every meal.

Rice:  This is not the Uncle Ben’s variety.  You’ll need short-grain, Japanese-style rice.  Two popular brands are Calrose and Shirakiku.  And yes, it’s supposed to be sticky!

Everything else for your Korean recipes will be vegetables or some meat.  Common vegetables used are zucchini, spinach, carrots, mushrooms, eggplant, cabbage, onion, and bean sprouts.  These should all be purchased fresh, of course, and for the most part, once you have the basic condiments, you can go to the regular grocery store for the other things you need.

Indian Ingredients

Indian food is a delightful way to explore different flavors, textures, and techniques.  It’s also a wonderful choice for vegetarians, or people looking to cut down on meat, since recipes using beans and vegetables abound.  Here are some basics to get you going.

Curry:  As I mentioned last week, curry comes in powder, paste, and sauce form – but I would avoid the sauces, since they are diluted, and you can’t control the salt, heat, or viscosity of the finished product.  Instead, go to your regular grocery store, and look in the spice aisle.  Last time I was there, I counted six different curry powders!  They are all similar, in that they probably contain turmeric, mustard, coriander, and cumin.  But they diverge there, and each has other spices – ginger, cayenne, cinnamon, allspice – in a different balance of flavors.  I recommend that you buy two different brands.  Open them, smell them, and see which you like better.  I have three right now – one is sweeter, one is more bitter, and one is hotter.  I use them in combination, or pick which one goes better with the recipe – the sweeter one for squash or carrots,  the hotter one for meat.  As for pastes, these are more specific and uniform – one brand’s Madras curry paste will be very similar to another brand’s.  I like Madras, as it’s a very balanced mix of sweet, bitter, spicy and hot.  It’s another condiment that doesn’t take up a lot of space in the fridge, lasts forever, and adds a unique kick to everything it mixes with.

Whole spices:  I can’t recommend whole spices highly enough!  Now just to be clear, I’m not a zealot:  please buy ground cinnamon and not sweat and curse over trying to grind down a cinnamon stick for your next batch of snicker doodles!  But if you did a taste-test of prepackaged ground cumin versus whole cumin  toasted and ground at home, you’d go kick that name-brand jar right out of your spice cabinet!  I always have whole cumin, mustard, and coriander seeds on hand.  Believe it or not, Mexican and Indian cuisines share a lot of flavors:  garlic, cumin, onion, peppers, and cilantro, just to name a few.  The cumin will certainly not go to waste if you do any kind of “international” cooking.

Rice:  Sorry, you can’t use Japanese / Korean / Chinese rice in Indian cooking!  But Indian, Thai, and other south Asian cuisines use the same rice: either basmati or Jasmine rice, and you can find both in white and brown varieties.

Everything else in Indian food should be purchased fresh.  Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, spinach,lentils, chickpeas, and green beans are all common ingredients.  Indians also make great use of chicken, so if you cut out red meat from your diet, check the multitude of chicken presentations.
Sorry this was so long.  I just got excited sharing the little bit of knowledge I have of what some people may consider non-traditional cooking.  Now get out there, and be a culinary adventurer!
Explore, experiment, and enjoy! — Dana
For more, visit me at Frugal Girlmet!
Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

GCH: What’s on Your Plate? – Biscuits & Gravy

November 13, 2012 by

Southern Breakfast with Biscuits & Gravy… mmmm mmmm good!

Today I’m sharing my recipes for biscuits and gravy, a Southern staple.  Any Southern girl who’s worth her salt has a good recipe for biscuits & gravy in her back pocket… everybody’s recipe is different and everybody thinks theirs is the best one 😉  Well I’m no different…. These are actually my dad’s recipes.  He loved to cook and had several of his own signature dishes.  Most every Saturday morning while I was growing up, I would awaken to the smell of bacon.  Mom and I would walk into the dining room to see a breakfast buffet set up on the table, including biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and bacon.  He even made the hash browns from scratch!  I’m not that good, I use store-bought hash browns and I usually persuade my husband to make our scrambled eggs since his always turns out better than mine!

Let’s get started!

 

Biscuits

 

The Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour

5 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup milk

You’ll also need extra flour for your counter top and extra butter to butter the tops when they come out of the oven.

You’ll also need:

Bowl

Large spoon

Cookie sheet

Biscuit cutter or cookie cutter

 

Instructions:

First, mix the flour and butter together in a bowl, using your fingers to work the butter into the flour.  This will take a few minutes, so you can use this time to pray and thank God for butter 🙂 When it looks like little peas in the bowl, it’s done.  I have to admit, I hate getting all that mess under my fingernails, so I use a latex glove for this part.  I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested.

Next, add the milk and mix it in.  Then dump the mixture out on a floured surface and sprinkle flour on the top, then press it out with your hands until it’s about ¼ inch thick.  We like big, thick biscuits, so I leave mine thicker than this, it’s up to you.  Also, instead of messing up my counter top with all that flour, I use a very large baking sheet as my surface.  Then I can just take the baking sheet to the trash can and dump all the excess flour and eliminate all that mess on the counters!

Cut out the biscuits (you can use a cookie cutter or do what I do, I use a large drinking glass to cut them out) and place them on a cookie sheet.  No need to grease the cookie sheet, there’s plenty of butter in the biscuits to keep them from sticking.   Now you’ll notice in my photo above, one of the biscuits is quite large.  That’s what we always called the “pone”.  This happens when you get to the end of cutting out your biscuits and you have about enough dough left for one or one and a half biscuits.  Don’t bother pressing it out and cutting it again, just mash all the dough pieces up good with your fingers and flatten it out, then put it on the cookie sheet.  The pone is always the most desired biscuit of the bunch since it’s a little larger…. I always give this to my husband 🙂

Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes.  When the biscuits are finished baking, remove from oven and butter the tops.  If you make small-ish biscuits, this recipe will make 10-12.  But I like big biscuits, and I cannot lie  – (sorry I couldn’t resist!! LOL) so I only get about 6 biscuits from this recipe.  You can double it up if you want to make more.

 

Now for….

Gravy

 

The Gravy

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 ½ cups water

½ cup oil (or bacon / sausage grease if you prefer)

½ cup self-rising flour

½ teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

You’ll also need:

Bowl

10-inch skillet

Whisk

Instructions:

Before you begin, mix the milk and water in a bowl and set aside for later.  Then put the oil in your skillet and turn the burner on high.  When the oil is hot, add the flour and salt (and pepper if desired.  I always wait until it’s done to add pepper and more salt, but it’s up to you).  Stir constantly with your whisk until it’s as brown as you want.  I like brown gravy, so in order to get a good, brown gravy as my result, I have to let my flour and oil get pretty brown because after you add the milk and water, it gets a few shades lighter.  Just make sure you don’t let the flour and oil burn.  Burnt gravy doesn’t taste good, just a FYI 😉

When the flour and oil mixture have browned enough for your taste, quickly pour the milk and water mixture into the skillet and whisk rapidly.  Reduce the heat and continue stirring with your whisk to get all the lumps out.  When it gets to the thickness you want, take it off the heat.  My rule of thumb is to stick a spoon in the gravy and hold it over the skillet.  You want the gravy to cling to the spoon and slowly drip off back into the pan.  If it immediately drips off the spoon, it’s too thin.  If it clings to the spoon and doesn’t want to drip off at all, then it’s too thick and you need to add a little water to it.

Now you want to finish the rest of the fixin’s for your breakfast buffet…. Scrambled eggs, bacon (we like turkey bacon best), sausage, hash browns, or whatever else your little heart desires.  Pile it all on a plate, thank God for it, and enjoy.  I hope your family will enjoy this little taste of the South as much as mine does!

God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food!

<3 Shauna

_____________
You can also find Shauna on her personal blog, www.workhomeplay.net.

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page