This is the first time I've made Biscuits & Gravy. I know. I don't know what my problem is. I guess I had this sort of premonition that if I made them, I'd eat way too much. But Clark really wanted so, so I finally gave in. Michael, much to our surprise [sarcasm sarcasm], wouldn't try it. He stuck to his eggs and bacon. The boy knows what he wants!

These are easy and not too time consuming, honestly. I always envisioned making biscuits was so difficult, but after investing in some rather cheap biscuit cutters, it wasn't hard at all.

Ingredients:

[BISCUITS]

makes 5 to 6 biscuits

- 1 heaping cup of all-purpose, unbleached flour; extra for dusting
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 C butter, softened
- 3/4 C buttermilk

optional: melted butter (for brushing the baked biscuits)

[SAUSAGE GRAVY]

- 1/4 pound sausage
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups milk

If you double your biscuit count, I would suggest doubling your gravy as well!

Directions:

[BISCUITS]

- Preheat the oven to 450F. Prepare your baking sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray.

- Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add in the butter, and using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter in until crumbly. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

- Remove from the fridge and add in the buttermilk slowly and stir just until combined. I did about 1/4 C buttermilk at a time, mixing after each addition.

- Turn the dough out onto a surface lightly dusted with flour. Knead the dough, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. Roll/knead until it is no longer sticking to your hands or the surface you placed it on.

- Pat or roll the dough until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into circles with a biscuit cutter dipped in flour. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter.

[SAUSAGE GRAVY]

- Brown the sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat, breaking it up it's cooking.

- Stir the flour into the sausage and sausage grease. Add in the salt and pepper.

- Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is slightly browned. Slowly pour in the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps.

- Lower the heat to low and cook, stirring until thickened.


Serve warm, together, as you like. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee.

Adapted from Taste and Tell Blog.

I love making meals in my crockpot. Let's face it: it is SO easy. I just stick it in there and (usually) don't have to worry about it.

Clark said this is his new favorite. I had to create a human shield to the food to make sure we had some leftovers as I planned. So, be warned.


Ingredients:

- 1 lb. stew meat (or boneless beef chuck roast sliced into thin strips)
- 1 C beef broth
- 1/2 C low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 C brown sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 4 tbsp sauce (from the crockpot after dish is cooked)
Frozen broccoli florets (I used about 2 cups)
White, Jasmine, or Brown Rice, cooked (I used brown)

You can also make fried rice to go with it! Check out a recipe here.

Directions:

- In your crockpot, whisk together the beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. Gently place your beef on top of the liquid, then toss to coat.
- Turn the crockpot on low and cook for four to five hours, or high for two to three. This depends on your crockpot, so check on it near the end. Mine took about 2.5 hours.
- When it's done, in a small bowl, whisk together your cornstarch and 4 tbso if sauce to create a slurry. Pour into the crockpot and stir to mix well.
- Add your broccoli florets (after the slurry), and cook on low for another 30 minutes to thicken up the sauce and cook your broccoli.

Serve over rice. Prepare to be amazed.

This recipe was adapted from Table for Two Blog.

Want more oriental dishes? Check these recipes out!

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken

[Baked] Sweet & Sour Chicken

[Easy] Mongolian Beef

Philly Cheesesteaks are probably Clark's favorite sandwich of all time. I've never, honestly, cared for them. Probably because it takes so much effort to eat them... but when I saw this idea on Pinterest I just couldn't pass up making them when hubby was home.

Super easy and, honestly, delicious. This coming from a girl who doesn't really care for the sandwich.

I am supposed to add, from Clark, that they do actually taste like the sandwich-- just without the soggy bread.

Ingredients:

- 2 - 3 green peppers (I only made 2, but had some filling left over-- probably enough for a whole other pepper!)

- 6 to 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 to 1 yellow onion, sliced








- 2 to 3 tbsp butter (I used a little extra for Clark's sake)
- 2 tbsp olive/canola oil
- 1 tbsp garlic powder, or 3 to 4 minced garlic cloves
- 8 oz roast beef (I just used prepared deli meat, thinly sliced)
- 8 - 10 slices of provolone cheese
- salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 400.
- Slice your green peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds/ribs.
- Over medium heat, saute your olive oil, butter, garlic, onion, and mushrooms for around 25 to 30 minutes.
- Slice/rip your roast beef into thin strips and add to your mix as well as your optional salt & pepper. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Place your peppers on a baking sheet and line each with a slice of provolone cheese. Fill each pepper with your meat mixture until almost overflowing. Top with another slice of cheese.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until your cheese is golden brown on top.


Serve with Beer Bread to make it extra yummy. Enjoy!

Before Clark had to head out to work again, his dinner request was homemade Mongolian Beef. It's one of his favorites to order for take-out, and since we're trying to cut back on doing that, we experimented. When all was said and done, Clark said it was the best Chinese dish we had made at home. Period. Apparently my Sweet & Sour Chicken has finally been surpassed.

Ingredients:

- 1 lb beef tenderloin [ I actually just used stir-fry beef for this because it's WAY cheaper. ]
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp grated/"powder" ginger
- 4 to 6 tbsp soy sauce [low sodium preferred]
- 2 to 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp Chine rice wine or dry sherry
- 3 to 6 green onions cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces [green part only]
- 2 to 4 tbsp oil for the pan [I used olive]

For Fried Rice Recipe go HERE*

- Directions:

- Mix together your soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine/sherry. Set aside.
- Heat oil in pan [I used a wok] over medium-high heat. Add your ginger and garlic. Sautee until garlic is browning.
- Toss your beef in cornstarch. Make sure to shake off any access cornstarch. Add your beef to the pan and saute until lightly browned.
- Add the sauce to the mix. It should boil pretty quickly. Lower the heat and keep stirring until the sauce begins to thicken and sort of glaze the meat. It should happen in a matter of minutes.
- Toss in your green onions a few minutes before serving. Turn the heat off after adding them.

Serve with fried or steamed rice.


Recipe adapted from chodivine.com.

Hello! My older sister (over at Standpipe & Sprinkles) was gracious enough to send me a temporary camera. Obviously that means I'm finally back on blogging schedule. So sorry that I went missing for a little while.

The good news is a lieutenant from our local police department drove over today to let us know that they caught the person who was stealing in our area! Now we just need prayers that our camera can be recovered.

This recipe is super easy, incredibly delicious... and did I mention easy? I am IN LOVE with my crock pot. Seriously. Especially when the hubs isn't around to help, it makes it so much easier to throw ingredients in the crock pot and let it work the magic so I have an easy-to-retrieve-dinner that won't create super fuss and panic in our house at "that time of day".

Ingredients:

- 1 lb stew beef
- 1/2 C cream of mushroom soup
- 1/2 C Sprite zero
- 1/2 onion, quartered
- 1 package of dry onion soup (I used Lipton)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

- Put everything in your crockpot. (Doesn't THAT look appetizing?)

- Cook on low for six hours, or high for about 3 to 4. Check on it half way through to give it a good stir and make sure nothing's overcooking or anything like that.

- Serve warm with some yummy sides!

Yep... that's it. What did I tell you? Super easy.

My husband said he imagined it was something like Julia Child would make (this is his way of paying me a compliment that he thinks I'll receive extraordinarily well... and it works). He did request that next time he thinks it would taste extra delicious served over mashed potatoes or something. I'm not sure that's Julia Child's style... but we'll go with it.

Inspiration for this recipe came from: LaaLoosh.com.

Want some more crock pot recipes? Check these out!
Kansas-Style BBQ

Baked Potato Soup

Spicy-Sweet Crock Pot Barbecue

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup