Buttermilk Biscuits

So I was looking for a good recipe of Biscuits. I have tried several others and they just do not turn out very good. So, I stumbled across Paula Deen’s recipe for Buttermilk Biscuits and made them. OH MAN! They were SOOO good. I used a cast iron skillet to bake mine. For reference, I also baked a few on a cookie sheet, and they did not turn out as good. So I highly recommend using the cast iron skillet. If you don’t have one, you can get one at Wal-Mart for like 12 bucks. I wish I had taken pictures, but I did not. Anyways, try these out! So yummo!

Ingredients

* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* Pinch of cayenne pepper
* 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
* 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
* 1/4 cup butter, melted and divided
Steps

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly. Gradually add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Dough should be sticky. Do not overwork dough.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness with a floured rolling pin. Cut 12 biscuits with a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter. Place biscuits in a cast iron skillet or hoecake pan that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray and brush tops with half of melted butter. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until lightly browned. Brush with remaining melted butter before serving.

* Sausage Gravy:
* 1 pound Paula Deen Breakfast Sausage by Smithfield (either hot or mild)
* 3/4 cup flour
* 4 1/2 cups milk
* 1 tablespoon Louisiana Style hot sauce
* 1/2 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
* Salt to taste
* 2 tablespoons butter

While biscuits are baking, start gravy. In in large saute pan or cast iron skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat until browned and crumbly. Reduce heat to medium and add flour to sausage; mix thoroughly. Cook until flour browns, about 4 minutes stirring constantly. Add milk slowly and increase heat to medium-high. Continue to stir. Add hot sauce, pepper and salt. As the gravy comes to a boil, it will thicken. If too thick, add additional milk. After boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and add butter.

To serve place two of the buttermilk biscuits on each plate and top with sausage gravy and garnish with freshly cracked pepper.

Chicken Pot Pie

I have heard lots of other bloggers talk about The Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook…heard the recipes were good…and decided to give one a try before I run off and buy the cookbook. So we made the Chicken Pot Pie tonight…and it was oh so good. A home run with all the kids and the honey! It was actually her Leftover Turkey Pot Pie, but I put chicken in it. I diced my chicken up and fried it in LOTS of butter! Once it was almost cooked I added the veggies and continued with the recipe as she has it. The pictures are from my Chicken Pot Pie, but if you want to hop on over to the Pioneer Woman…she has some pretty amazing pictures too!

Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

1 pie crust (1/2 of Perfect Pie Crust recipe)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 cups leftover turkey, light and dark, diced or shredded (or both!)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
splash of white wine (optional)
1 cup heavy cream
Frozen peas (optional)
Fresh thyme, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

From 2010-03-28

Melt butter in a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until translucent (a couple of minutes.)
Add turkey and stir. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

From 2010-03-28

Pour in chicken or turkey broth, stirring constantly. Splash in wine (you can leave this out if you’d like.) Pour in cream. (May add frozen peas at this point if you’d like.)
Bring to a slow boil and allow mixture to cook and thicken for a few minutes.

From 2010-03-28

Add salt and pepper to taste (do not underseason), and fresh or dried thyme to taste. Do one final taste at the end and add what it needs.
Pour mixture into a casserole dish or deep pie pan.
Roll out crust so that it’s about 1 inch larger than the pan you’re using.

From 2010-03-28

Place the crust on top of the pot pie mixture, and press crust into the sides of the dish. Cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake for 30 minutes or until very golden and bubbly.
Allow to cool for a little bit before serving.

From 2010-03-28

Serve with a large spoon.

Little Pizzas

My friend Becky gave me her recipe for little pizzas. My kids LOVED them. And I thought they were pretty good too! I am sure others have done this. I had never tried it or heard of it. But we will definitely be doing them again on a night that I need a quick meal.

Start by opening a container of Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits. Place them on your cookie sheet, and roll each one out.

Then open up a jar of Prego Sauce. Choose whatever flavor floats your boat! We did mushroom. Dump a little on each pizza.

From 2010-02-20

Then add as much mozzarella cheese as you like.

From 2010-02-20

Then add whatever topping you want. We did baby pepperoni’s

From 2010-02-20

Follow the directions for cooking on the back of the Pillsbury can. And there ya go, and easy meal. Make it even easier by serving it on paper or foam plates!

From 2010-02-20

Spaghetti Sauce

This is my homemade recipe for spaghetti sauce. I made it up a long time ago. I am sure others have come up with similar things! But this is my version.

Here is what you are going to need:
3 Tb olive oil
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 large can of petite diced tomatoes
fresh mozzarella
salt pepper
sugar
basil
fresh parsley
bay leaf

I start by heating up about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, once it is heated I add 1 chopped onion….heat this until the onions are translucent! Then add 4 cloves of garlic chopped, and 1 bay leaf….heat for about a minute. Then add 1 large can of petite diced tomatoes. Let this simmer for about 8 minutes.

From 2010-02-20

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Smothered Chicken

So this is my Smothered Chicken recipe. It is delicious. My kids love it. My husband loves it. Guests love it. I think you will love it too!

Here is what you need to do first:

In a bowl, dump some flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. I just dump to taste for the salt and pepper, and about 1 teaspoon of paprika.

Then in your frying pan place 5 tablespoons of butter, let it melt.

Then Roll your chicken breasts in your flour mixture, making sure to coat it really good. Then place them in your melted butter.

From 2010-02-15

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Peach Crunch Cake

This recipe I found on Bakerella. It is so easy. So yummy. So go buy yourself some peaches and try it out!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Start by dumping 24.5 oz jar of sliced peaches in light syrup in a 13 X 9 dish. The whole thing. Just dump it in. Once I dumped mine in, I took a knife and cut them up a bit.

From 2010-02-13

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Chicken and Dumplings

So I wish I could say this was my recipe, but it actually belongs to Tim McGraw. It is really good! And if you click on the link below you can watch Tim McGraw and Faith Hill cook these together!

Tim McGraw’s Chicken and Dumplings

* 1 small chicken
* Water
* Pinch of salt
* 1 cup chicken broth
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons butter shortening
* 1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Boil chicken in a pot, adding salt to taste. When tender, pull chicken from the bone and return to the pot, adding broth.

From 2010-02-13

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A birthday GIRL!!

Krystina is 3! Can you believe it! She is such a sweet little girl!

From 2010-02-04

And we had Rainbow Cake.

From 2010-02-04

And it was so yummy! I forgot to buy candles, so we only had 1!

From 2010-02-04

We love you Krystina! We are so thankful that we have you back in our life! We have been through valleys and mountaintops with you, and we would not trade it for anything.

From 2010-02-04

You have captured our hearts and will forever hold a special place there! I hope you know how much we love you. How much Jesus loves you. That is the greatest thing in life, to know Him.

From 2010-02-04

You don’t need a spoon, just dive right in! It is YOUR birthday!

From 2010-02-04

These girls are double trouble! And the best of friends!

From 2010-02-04

I hope all your wishes come true!

From 2010-02-04

I know the friendship that has formed will be forever! We love you forever! Through thick and thin. We will always be here to support you. To hold you. Love on you. We cherish you!

From 2010-02-04

Yummy Recipe

I made this tonight, and it was SO good. I wish I had a picture to show you, but we gobbled it all up before I could take one! I found it on Rachael Ray’s website! Enjoy!

* 1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
* 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* Salt and pepper
* Two 6-inch hoagie rolls, split
* 1 clove garlic, halved
* One 1-pound package frozen cheese tortellini
* 1 pound green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise
* 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
* 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 500°. Arrange the tomatoes cut side up on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet, drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil on top and season with salt and pepper; roast until tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the tomatoes and any juices to a large bowl.

2.

Meanwhile, during the last 5 minutes of roasting, brush 1 tablespoon olive oil onto the cut sides of the hoagie rolls, season with salt and toast in the oven. Rub each toast with the garlic clove.

3.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions, adding the green beans for the last 2 minutes of cooking; drain. Add to the tomatoes along with the mozzarella, parsley and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil; toss and season with salt and pepper. Serve with the garlic toasts.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I got up early this morning and made the kids Pumpkin Spice Muffins. Which they love. They love anything pumpkin! This is very good with a little butter on top of each one!

Mix all these ingredients together:
1 Cup of Pumpkin
1/3 Cup of Vegetable Oil
2 eggs
1 Teaspoon of Pumpkin Spice
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 and 1/4 Cup of Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
1 and 1/2 Cup Flour ( I pour the flour in slowly, so it does not clump)

Once mixed well, place any size amount that you want into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. This is so easy, and everyone in our house loves these! Enjoy!

From pumpkin muffin