Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

There is a chill in the air and fall is definitely upon us.  Yesterday was a dreary and rainy evening.  During the evening hours, I was cozy watching the World Series on TV and text messaging with a friend about the events of the game and hoping our beloved Royals would rally.  Sadly, they did not, but the Series isn't over yet!  During our text conversation,  she asked me if I had added anything to the blog lately.  Well, I had to confess, that things have been busy and I have just not been feeling very creative in the kitchen and no, I haven't had an entry in several months.  

The guilt set in.  

I have been craving biscuits and sausage gravy for the last few days, so I decided it was time to take care of that craving, and I would leverage the basic recipes for photos and a new blog entry.  I've historically not been a baking powder biscuit fan, because I've never seemed to master them.  They often were more like hockey pucks rather than the light, fluffy creations I expected them to be.  For these reasons, I generally take the easy way out and get a tube of biscuits from the grocery.  

Well, I won't be doing that any more!  This is my new go to recipe for light fluffy and flaky buttermilk biscuits that I can easily mix up with ingredients I have on hand.  These biscuits are not my recipe, credit belongs to Cooking Light.  I'm excited to find an easy recipe that fits my biscuit expectations and am excited to share the recipe with you.  

So without further ado, here's the biscuit recipe that can be quickly pulled together for a tasty breakfast.  They would be fantastic simply slathered with butter or with some jelly or a drizzle of honey.     

But for the royal treatment, whip up a skillet full of gravy to make you feel warm and cozy!

Cheesy Sausage Balls

While surfing Pinterest the other evening, I found this sausage ball recipe and decided it might be something nice to try for breakfast.

I get up really early to ride the bus to work, so in addition to packing my lunch, I also pack breakfast to take along.  A few minutes in the microwave once I'm at work and I have a nice hot breakfast.  Studies have proven that we function better if we provide our bodies fuel for the day. I can vouch for that! Along with my coffee, I have to have some type of protein to start my day.  It helps keep my hunger under control and prevents those embarrassing tummy growls during meetings!  

What I liked about this recipe is that it truly is low carb.  It does not contain baking mix that many sausage ball recipes call for.

These would also be great appetizers or game day nibblers.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Ladies and gentlemen....start your blenders (or food processors)!

These muffins are delish and are so easy to make.  You just dump the ingredients in, blend and bake!

Again, I find a lot of inspiration on Pinterest....these were also based on one of those finds.

I substituted ricotta cheese for the plain greek yogurt since I didn't have any plain yogurt in the fridge and the result was still yummy!

I'll be packing one of these this week to have along with my morning coffee when I get to work.  

Blueberry Muffins (Gluten Free)

It's been a couple of weeks since I've added a new post to the blog.  Last week I was visiting family and friends and while I did whip up a cauliflower salad, I didn't think to take photos for posting it, so I'll save that for another time (it will be worth the wait).

My quest continues to morph my eating habits into healthier ones and the hardest part of that is that I like my sweet treats.  Pie, cookies, ice cream, all are things I love and giving them up just isn't an option.  Unfortunately, I'm not good with "moderation" in those areas because they are things I like!   

In my efforts to find a way to work an occasional treat in, I have been doing a lot of reading and learning (hopefully).  Along the way I discovered coconut flour.  You use a fraction as much as regular all-purpose flour and because it absorbs liquid, recipes require more liquid.  I'm not adept at the substitutions on my own yet, so there will be some experimentation going on in my "lab" (aka kitchen) as this determined wizard learns more about baking with some alternative ingredients!  It will be a while before I'm comfortable "winging it" and converting a normal recipe.  So, for now, until I get the hang of things, I'm sticking with recipes that I've found on blogs, etc. and making some adjustments that won't cause a catastrophic failure of the recipe!

Coconut flour is high fiber and high protein, so that fits right into a low carb style of eating for those of you who are doing low carb diets or are thinking about it.  This recipe is also gluten free, so my friends that are dealing with celiac or are just eliminating gluten from their diet will be happy with this recipe as well.

I must come clean on my recipe fau paux.  When I made these this morning, I used 1 cup of blueberries rather than the 1/2 cup the recipe calls for.  Surprisingly enough, the muffins still turned out amazing!

This recipe calls for blueberries, which I nearly always have on hand, but you could also get creative and substitute other fruits, such as strawberries if you aren't a blueberry fan.

Blueberry Muffins
Yield:  6 Muffins

Ingredients:

3 eggs
3 Tablespoons Stevia in the Raw
3 Tablespoons melted Coconut Oil
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup sifted coconut flour (you must sift)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup chopped roasted almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line six muffin cups with paper liners.
Melt the coconut oil by heating a pan until hot, removing it from the burner and add the coconut oil to melt.
Blend all ingredients except the berries using a hand mixer or blender until smooth.
Fold in the berries.
Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the chopped roasted almonds.
Pour the batter into the lined muffin cups.
Bake for 16 minutes.

...and That's What's Cooking at Cathys ~ Enjoy !

Lemon Poppy Seed Belgian Waffles

Last night I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and was looking for something that I could make with ingredients I had on hand. 

I decided it would be waffle night!   Seems I tend to gravitate to breakfast when I want a quick and easy supper.  Maybe that's a throwback to my childhood when we had scrambled eggs for supper sometimes, or possibly because if I eat pancakes in the morning they just seem to stay with me all day long!  Regardless of the reason, I love breakfast!

Peppered Smoked Bacon

To accompany the waffles, you need something salty to counter the sweetness of the syrup right?  What could be better at that than thick sliced, peppered, smoked bacon?   I preheated my oven to 425, put the bacon strips on a jelly roll pan, sprinkled them liberally with cracked black pepper (no need to pay extra for that at the grocery) and popped it into the oven to bake for about 10 minutes, turning them and cooked another 5-7 until it was crispy.  Be sure to keep an eye on it so you don't over cook (burn) the bacon.
I prefer this method of cooking bacon because it results in nice flat strips and you don't have a greasy stove top to clean up and risk getting burned with popping hot fat.   Not to mention you can cook nearly an entire package of bacon at one time.  You can keep leftovers in the fridge in a baggie and save yourself some change by not buying the pricey pre-cooked bacon at the supermarket.


To make life a little simpler, I keep Krusteaz Belgian Waffle mix in the pantry.  There is nothing wrong with having a helping hand and this waffle mix produces a wonderful result.

Last night, I did decide to dress it up a bit, adding my own special touches.   I used the quantities listed on the package for 2-3 waffles.  Keeping the waffles warm in the oven so they didn't lose their crispiness.  If you are making a larger quantity, you will need to adjust the amount of lemon juice, lemon peel and poppy seeds.



Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles
Ingredients:
  
1 1/2 cups Krusteaz Belgian Waffle mix
1 egg
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup water less 2 Tablespoons
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons dried lemon peel

Directions:   

1. Add all ingredients into mixing bowl and mix until well blended.  If you have a bowl with a pouring spout, put it to use here.  It will make getting the batter into the waffle maker super easy.
2. Preheat and spray your belgian waffle maker with non-stick spray.
3. Cook the waffles according to the directions.  
4. Place the cooked waffles directly onto the oven rack in a 250 degree F oven to keep them crisp.

To serve top with your favorite toppings.  I finished mine with warm blueberry lemon compote and some whipped cream.

Yield:  3 waffles

I served the waffles topped with Blueberry Lemon Compote and a dollop of whipped cream and a few fresh blueberries.  A side of thick sliced smoked peppered bacon completed the plate.