biscuits and gravy for dinner!

biscuits and gravy for dinner! THIS IS my husbands fav meal! i finally FINALLY mastered the biscuit's! I used to use bisquick and make drop biscuits because i just could not make a good "normal" biscuit... the trick? DON'T ROLL IT SO THIN! lol they don't really... rise much so i basically just pat the dough out a bit to about 1/2 to 1 in thick.. yes you heard me! and cut it out and put it on a sheet and .. it cooks threw just fine, i was worried about the center but.. no problems at all.

this is the one i use now.
2 cup flour
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk or buttermilk

mix the flour baking powder and salt together. now with your hands ( oh its just more fun this way people!) rub the shortening in to the flour mix. you want to do this tell its all little coarse crumbs. smaller then peas. now mix in the milk.. i just use my hands because well.. it saves a dirty dish and at the end it will not be that big a mess as you think. after you get it mixed up mine is always still a bit to wet so i throw in a 1/2 a hand full of flour on top and mix it in just a little. it all comes together then nicely.

dust the counter just a little bit and drop the dough on it and i use my hands and just push it down and out tell its about 1/2 to 1 in some were in there... just smaller then you actually want the biscuit to be. i use a cup to cut it out and put it on a ungreased pan

400 degrees for 10 - 15 min .. start checking after ten and wait tell its golden brown on top.

if you want drop biscuits instead? use a spoon not your hand :) use melted shortening or oil, i use oil, and up the milk to a cup. mix it and you want it to be thicker then pancake batter , you want to be able to spoon the wet dough up and put it on the pan and have it stay there. if its watery or runny you need more flour.

cheesy biscuits? after you mix it all up, either way normal or drop, just throw in a hand full of shredded cheese and mix it up at the end!

lazy banana bread

Well damn, its been a week now and my shoulder is still in knots. I have been trying to not do anything involving a rolling pin :). Now we are sick so this week I don't fill ok with baking for the fire station guys.. What if i got them sick? omg! so I am just dieing wanting to bake!

What can i do that is easy but still baking ! well i have cake mix in the backing area, and bananas .... hmmmm....

Lazy banana bread:
what do i need:


1 box of white/ yellow cake mix
2 mushed up bananas
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon

what do i do:

Now, easy mix it all in a bowl
Now poor in greased pan(s)
Now bake at the temp on your box... the ketch ? I had to bake it for 1 hr.. must have to do with the bananas in it lol. Or my stove... soooo i Started checking after 35 min ( from the box time) and then 15 min after and so on. I used two pans for mine.


Ok so i don't have a pic to share.. It did not last long enought! It was so light and airy ( i think i over whipped it in the mixer lol but that is how we love it). It tasted like banana bread only not as dence. I think you could put a little more cinn and nutmeg to the mix, I'm going to try it next time.

This is FAMILY APPROVED!

Sourdough Honey Whole Wheat Bread

wow that is a mouth full. This is such a good recipe. Its a dense bread but the honey gives it just the right sweetness. Im really pleased with this find. I stole this from cooks recipes check them out!

so lets see first you will need your starter. the recipe said to let it sit for 5 days before using but i could only wait 3 and it still came out great. Its now in the fridge waiting to be feed every week!

sourdough starter:
what do i need:

1/2 cup warm water
1 (1/4 oz ) package active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons
2 cups warm water
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 tablespoons sugar
what do i do:

Now sprinkle yeast over the 1/2 cup warm water, stirring to moisten yeast. Let is sit for about 5 min to foam up
Now combine the flour, sugar and remaining warm water in a small bowl, stir until smooth
Now add yeast mixture
Now move into a glass container or crock
Now cover opening with cheesecloth and set aside at room temperature for 5days
Now refrigerate for 2 more days, now it is ready ( remember to stir each day)
Now as you use the starter always replenish it by replacing each 1/2 cup starter with 1/2 flour and warm water.
Now your starter should be stirred once a day and "fed" once a week
Now to feed it you will take out 1/2 a cup of starter and replace with 1/2 cup flour mixed with warm water


the hard part? waiting!

ok so your week has passed and NOW you get the good part!

sourdough honey whole wheat bread:
what do i need:

1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons
1 cup warm water
2/3 cup sourdough starter mix
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
4 cups whole wheat flour

what do i do:

Now turn the oven on to 400 degrees
Now dissolve yeast in warm water
Now mix together the yeast, sourdough starter, honey, salt and shortening togather
~ now as i see it you have 3 choices at this point~
1. put it all in your bread machine so you don't have to do any of the work! and just use the dough setting
2. dump it in your stand mixer and dump all 4 cups of flour in and then knead by hand for a few min to finish it off .
or 3 the one i do add 3 cups of flour, i find it easer to finish the dough off buy hand with the last cup of flour to get a good fill for when its done and not over do it , dump about 1/4 of your remaining flour on the counter and dump your still wet dough on it.coat your hands in flour and start the kneading. you will end up using most the cup , keep kneading until not sticky anymore and elastic.
either way you will end up done!
Now grab a bowl and poor some oil in it, you will want to be able to coat the whole ball of dough with it.
Now cover it up and let it rise!
Now its doubled its size.. 30-45 min
Now PUNCH IT!
Now shape it ( i used a normal loaf pan )
Now put in the pan and cover ( i spray top with butter cooking spray to keep from drying out )
Now about 30-45 more min to double and in the oven it goes 400 degrees for 35-40.

This is a wonderful loaf! I am not usually a fan of sourdough but this recipe just might make one one. enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Well I have been wanting something new and mom suggested Zucchini bread soooooo here i go! I know i have eaten this before .. a LONG time ago and I don't remember it being to bad.

So we ( my daughter and I ) went to making up the batter, which comes out very thick at the end. After getting the batter to go into the pan LOL and cooking for an hour it looked great. nice and brown on the outside, and nice and moist inside. I suppose that i was a little prejudged before i tried it tho because i expected it to be pretty sweet like banana bread. Its not to sweet. so the first bite was a pondering moment. it taste good, i could taste all the good spices ( they used like pumpkin pie spices ) and i used hazelnuts because its what i had on hand and it taste pretty good with it. I my first piece i was like HMMM what do i think of this. LOL I did go back for another piece and totally enjoyed it more this time.. my hold back on the first bite was i expect "SWEET" and its not out there like that. So after thinking it over i decided that i liked it enough to post it. The true test tho will be tonight when the "man" tries it! LOL

so lets get to it!


turn your oven on to 350 degrees

Zucchini bread,
what do i need:

2 cup sugar 3 eggs 1 c oil 1 tbsp vanilla 2 c coarsely grated, peeled, loosely packed zucchini ( 2 med zucchini worked for me, i
peeled then and grated then roughly choped them on the cutting board t
to make smaller pieces )
2 c flour 1 tsp salt ( OMG I FORGOT THE SALT IN MINE!!! SHIT)
1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 1 TBSP cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp cloves 1 c chopped nuts 1/2 c raisins (i didn't use)

what do i do:

Now if you have not already turn the oven on to 350
Now in lrg bowl ,beat eggs until frothy ( i don't know why! )
Now add sugar, oil and vanilla to the eggs and beat until thick
Now stir in zucchini
Now shift dry ingredients and add to zucchini mix to it
Now stir in nuts and raisins
Now grease two 9x5 loaf pans
now bake 1 hr

walla!

Yumm Bread!

I was telling you about this bread the other day as i was throwing myself a rather large pitty party :) and i wanted to share the recipe. It actually started as a white bread recipe for two loafs but this year when i went to make it i realized..after starting it.. that i really didn't have more white flour! i had about 1/2 that was needed and that was it... hmm so either i through it away or i mess with it a bit and see what happens... I hate to waste stuff :) soooo i pulled out the wheat flour and the rolled oats and made a new bread. It came out REALLY good! It probable helps that we eat wheat bread now anyways lol but this came out soft and yummy!

so here we go! I want to share the yummyness!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
first the ingredients.

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 packages instant active dry yeast ( i used just normal yeast and if u don't have the packs and just the jar its 2 1/2 tsp per package)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt ( I use two but david likes his salt! )
------------
1 cup of water
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
------------
2 large eggs
------------
2 - 4 cups white flour ( I know that is a big diffrance in flour but stay with me here )
2 cups wheat
1 cup rolled oats ( you can cut this out and just add another 1/2 cup of flour )

ok now you know w hat you will need, let me tell you how to put it all togather.

1.combine the top portion , flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the mixing bowl you will be useing to mix all the dough ( I use my kitchen aid mixer.. got to love that thing! )

2. heat the second portion in a saucepan, the water, milk and oil. your not looking to boil it here just to warm it all up I belive this is to help activate the yeast faster ( i have found with other recipes that ask you to heat the liquid i like it better )

3. lightly beat your eggs up and add to the flour then the warm liquids on top of it and mix this up for about 3 minutes on medium.

4. now add in your 1 cup of oats and 2 cup of wheat bread and mix it up well. now take the rest of your flour and i add it 1/2 cup at a time until It's handable to start the kneading.

this is were i had problems forever was when to start the kneading and when it was done . So what i do know is take it out when its just a tinny bit sticky still and i flour my counter VERY well and my hands and drop the dough down and start kneading it. ( bring the right corner in and with the heal of your hand push it out and away from you , turn slightly to the left and bring the right corner in againd.. repeat )

I will add about 1 -2 cups of flour in at this point. I just keep kneading it until it stops being sticky and needing more flour. when i can do5 or 6 turns of the dough with out coming away with a sticky palm then your good to go.

now i take a large bowl and add about 2 tablespoons of oil to it and drop your dough in there and roll it around so the whole thing is very well couted ( to prevent drying which will give you a hard hard crust ) now put some plastic rap on the dough or a towel on top works just as good... you just want to keep the air OFF and the oil ON. now walk away and leave it for about 45 min to double in size.

PUNCH IT DOWN! lol i like that part. take it out and divide it in to and form into what ever loafs you want. you can use bread loafs or cookie sheets to make round loafs

let it stand for another 30 min to rise again and i will spray the loafs with cooking spray at this point to again keep the top from drying out and avoiding the dry rock crust that i use to get and recover then.Turn on your stove at this point to 375degrees. You want that stove nice and hot for the first rise in the oven.

Now my other trick to keep a soft yet brown crust is to use tin foil on my loafs for the first 1/2 of the bakeing . This way you get the first rise ( the first 10 min of the baking is when your yeast go CRAZY and that is were you get your puff in your bread)
then I remove the foil to get the nice brown top on it.

you want to cook at 375 degrees for 45 min ( i have cooked both loafs togather at this time and they came out done) cove with the foil for 20 min then remove to brown.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

WALLA!

maybe later ill give you my POTATO BREAD recipe :)

I put the lines in so it would be easer to copy and past to print .. Im not to blog smart yet and have no idea how to make a printer friendly page :(