Homemade Biscuits with PawPaw Hardy’s PB & S Spread

Get outta town with this one! Biscuits are at the center of every Southern table and I FINALLY learned how to make them.

I am still in the learning process. There is a recipe… BUT biscuit making is a serious art and apparently takes years to master. My first and second batch were great! My third, not so much. So hang in there and keep trying!

If anyone knows how to make the biscuits super fluffy, let me know. I’d LOVE a few tips!

This recipe came off of the White Lily Flour bag. My Aunt Carole says it is the best and if I were you, I’d trust her. Whew, she can cook!

Biscuits (Cat Head Biscuits… or so says my PawPaw Dub)

Time: 15 minutes
Level: Medium
Servings: 6 or so

2 cups White Lily Self-Rising Soft Flour
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup milk or buttermilk  (more if needed)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place flour in mixing bowl. With pastry blender or fork, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Blend in just enough milk with fork until dough leaves the sides of the bowl. Knead dough gently 10 to 12 strokes. Roll out dough into 2 – 2 1/2 inch patties. Dip a little in flour so they won’t stick.
 

Place biscuits in greased cast iron skillet with sides almost touching.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Yum!

PawPaw Hardy’s PB & S Spread

Time: 3 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 6 or so

1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. syrup
1 pad of butter, if desired

Mix all ingredients together.

Spread over biscuits or dip biscuits into the mixture. Yum!

Tips
- Make the PB & S spread. You will LOOOOVVVVEEEE it!
- You can use chunky or regular PB for the spread recipe.
- Grease the cast iron skillet with a touch of Crisco.
- I used soy milk for the biscuits this time because it is what we had. Don’t do that… I won’t do it again. They weren’t as flavorful.

Roasted Ranch Potatoes

These potatoes are probably common sense but we love them so much I figured I’d post. They are really versatile and easy to whip up in a pinch.

Roasted Ranch Potatoes

Time: 35 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 4

3 medium sized potatoes, any variety or you can mix and match
1 tbsp. dry ranch dressing mix
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 450°. Cube potatoes into bite sized pieces taking care to make all pieces roughly the same size.

In a zip-loc bag, put potatoes, dry ranch dressing mix, and olive oil.  Close bag and shake until all pieces of potato are coated evenly.

Pour out onto a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Turn potatoes and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown. Yum!

Tips
- My best friend, Alissa, introduced me to this one… swap the dry ranch dressing mix for onion soup mix.
- Make up your own spice blend in place of the ranch mix. Try using dill, garlic powder, cayenne, etc. Greek Seasoning is also a great choice.
- Dip them in whatever condiment you like if you want to or just eat them plain.
- Have any leftovers? Save them and mix them with scrambled eggs in the morning and serve wrapped in a tortilla with a little salsa. Yum!

Sausage Balls

Are sausage balls a Southern thing? I’m guessing they are… but I’m not really sure. Southern or not, sausage balls are amazing. Typically, they are made around the holidays and served as an hors devour.

But, I make them all year round… and I eat them for breakfast. You will change your mind altogether about these little delights when you add the condiment that screams sausage ball’s name. JAM!

You have to try it. Sausage balls freeze incredibly well so they make for a great quick breakfast when you are on the run. Just grab a few from the freezer, pop them in the microwave for 1 minute, slather on some jam, and you’re done. Breakfast is done in under 2 minutes. Can’t beat that.

Make some this weekend. You’ll have a few breakfasts lined up for awhile. These balls save in the freezer for up to 3 months. WORTH IT!

Sausage Balls

Time: 15 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 2 – 2 1/2 dozen balls

1 pkg. Black Label cheese
2 c. Bisquick
1 roll hot breakfast sausage

Preheat oven to 375°. In a medium sized bowl, melt the cheese in the microwave. Put it in 1 minute at a time. Keep checking on the cheese until it is gooey enough to stir. Add all other ingredients to the melted cheese and combine.  Roll the mixture into 1 1/2 in. balls and place on a cookie sheet about 1 in. apart. Bake until slightly golden brown, about 10 minutes. Yum!

Tips
- Seriously, try the jam. Blackberry is my favorite complement but all others taste just as good.
- If you want to freeze these guys, put them back on the cookie sheet once they have cooled and then put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Transfer the slightly frozen balls to a zip-loc bag for easier storage. Freezing them a little before bagging will help them not stick together in the bag. This will help you out tremendously when you only need to thaw out a few at a time.
- The breakfast sausage in the recipe is the kind that comes in a roll/tube type thing. You can find it next to the bacon.
- Black Label cheese can be hard to find sometimes. You can buy the Cracker Barrel brand from the grocery store or you can buy any brand of good sharp cheddar.
- If you want to add a little water to the recipe (maybe 1/4 c. or so) it will make your sausage balls a but lighter and fluffier. Mine are very dense and solid and some people like theirs a bit airier. Either way, they are great!

Banana Bread

What a dainty little bundt! One of my sweet co-workers just had a beautiful baby girl and so we decided to set up a dinner rotation to keep her mind out of the kitchen and on that little bundle of joy. I was picked to send dessert and decided to make banana bread. Since the dinner rotation will continue for a few weeks, I figured she would eventually have cakes and pies running out of her ears.

Banana bread can serve two purposes. Dessert and breakfast. Since I already had some bananas that needed to either be thrown away or be blended up, I decided to go for it! I had a little batter left over so I even got to make us a small loaf. Jason was SO excited. He loves the stuff.

My mom and grandmother’s recipe calls for 1/2 c. of Crisco. I didn’t quite have 1/2 c. so I opted for oil instead. It still turned out great!

Banana Bread

Time: 1 hr.
Level: Easy
Servings: 6+

3 bananas, well mashed
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. flour (1 c. can be whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350°. Mash the bananas in mixing bowl. Add sugar, eggs and oil, mixing well each time. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture. Pour in greased 5×9 loaf pan and bake 55-60 minutes, or until golden brown. Pop out onto a wire rack and let cool. Yum!

Tips

- As you can see, I used a mini bundt pan and had enough left over to make another very thin loaf. I reduced the cook time to 40 minutes for the bundt and 20 minutes for the thin loaf.
- Try a slice toasted with either a smear of cream cheese or peanut butter.

-I sprinkled a little cinnamon on the top of the batter once I poured it into the pans. It added a little more flavor.

- For more flavor, you can add a little vanilla flavoring to the batter while mixing the wet ingredients.

Breakfast Sandwich

DELISH! This is a staple at my house for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I make it at least once a week, no joke. The variety is endless and it is relatively good for you, especially if you are on a protein kick.

You don’t have to make your eggs runny, but I would absolutely recommend it, and I don’t even like my eggs over easy! There is just something about that runny yoke that makes the sandwich creamier and meltier (yes, I realize that meltier isn’t a real word, but come on, shouldn’t it be? I mean, I don’t know how else to describe ooey and gooey and straight up awesome)  and it just melds everything together nicely.

Breakfast Sandwich

Cook Time: 10-15 minutes
Level: Easy-medium
Serving Size: as many as you wanna make but below is how you make 1.

2 slices of whole grain bread
1 slice cheddar cheese
1 tsp. olive oil
1 egg
2 slices turkey bacon, cooked
jam, peanut butter, mayo… just your favorite condiment

Top one slice of bread with cheese and toast both slices.  In a small, non-stick skillet, cook the egg in a touch of olive oil over medium heat, being careful not to break the yolk.

Don’t panic if you do… it’s no big deal. Top the cheesed slice of toasted bread with cooked egg and cooked bacon. Spread your favorite condiment on the other slice. Doing it this way makes everything stick together better. Put together like a sandwich. Yum!

Tips
- I used Ezekiel bread but anything will do. No, I’m not on a health kick. It was just on sale at Kroger for $1.50 so I decided to try it. It is actually really good. It’s a little spongier than the bread I’m used to. You can try this sandwich using a bagel, English muffin, or wrap it all up in a tortilla.

- Use any meat you want. Deli style lunch meat works great, especially ham and turkey.
- Change up your cheese choice. I love making this sandwich with ham and swiss or turkey and provolone. Just choose whatever you have in the fridge.
- Seriously, don’t let me lose you here. Just TRY putting peanut butter on you sandwich if you use bacon as your meat. It is AMAZING and melts beautifully. Ugh… my mouth is watering as I type! Try it and let me know how much you like it. This won’t be a regret.
- My husband likes to use mayo when I make it for lunch or dinner. You can also add a slice of tomato.
- Check out this yummy looking sandwich. She used pesto as her condiment: Breakfast Sandwich with Pesto
- If you wanted to put it all together and grill it like a grilled cheese, that works, too. And it is AMAZING done that way… the only kicker is that buttering the toast on both sides makes it a real artery clogger. And if it’s decent without it…then why even go there?

Fruit Smoothie

When my alarm goes off at 5 in the morning, I start to question my chosen profession. Why have I chosen, yes, actually CHOSEN, to wake up everyday before the sun does? Ugh.

The only thing dragging me out from under my warm and cozy covers is the promise of a good breakfast. I LOVE breakfast. If I am running behind and have to grab a bowl of cereal, I get off on the wrong foot. And no one wants their teacher to start the day off on the wrong foot…

I love making smoothies in the morning because they are quick and easy and seriously only take about 3 minutes more than pouring a bowl of cereal. Plus, you can drink them while blow drying your hair! My students don’t know it, but they should be thanking me for this recipe.

Fruit Smoothie

Cook Time: 5 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 2

1/2 c. frozen fruit, any variety
1 banana
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/2 – 3/4 c. milk
a good squeeze of honey

Pour all ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. Add a few ice cubes and blend if you want the smoothie to be thicker. Yum!

Tips
-You can use fresh fruit if you want to but make sure to add the ice cubes.
-You can substitute the honey for 1/4c. of either apple or orange juice or a little agave nectar.
-Add protein powder or flax seed oil if you’d like.
-This recipe is so versatile. I always add the banana but I change up the other fruit often. A single fruit is great but here are a few if my fav combos:

1. Blueberries and peaches

2. Strawberries and blackberries

3. Raspberries and blackberries

-This is a great way to use up bananas that are too ripe for anything but banana bread.
-This is also a great way to use up leftover fruit from making a cobbler or something else.
-You can use flavored yogurts but I chose plain because, in my efforts to grocery shop only once a month, plain yogurt can be used in many other recipes.

-Try doubling the recipe and drinking some as a snack when you get home from work or working out. It’ll keep you out of the chip bag when you walk in the door starving and you can’t wait until dinner.