Sausage Gravy Stuffed Breakfast Biscuits

 

 

White sausage gravy is something I grew up eating over homemade buttermilk biscuits.  I have a grandmother (my "Granny") from Kentucky and she made some mean biscuits!  And, she is the one from whom I learned to make sausage gravy.

I recently posted a recipe for Stuffed Breakfast Rolls, which got me thinking about a biscuit filled with sausage gravy that my mother-in-law used to order from a food delivery company (Schwan's) years ago.  I loved them!  Unfortunately, the company stopped making and selling them.  I have thought of them often over the years and decided to see how hard it would be to replicate that same idea.

The main key here is to make your gravy just a bit thicker than you would for regular sausage gravy over biscuits.  Then, you will be chilling the gravy in a gallon-size plastic bag in the freezer before filling the biscuits.

I must admit that although I have attempted to duplicate my grandmother's buttermilk biscuits over the years, they have never quite been a success for me.  (Remember ... I am baking-challenged to some degree!)  Therefore, I used Grand's canned buttermilk biscuits for this recipe.  This recipe will yield 12 stuffed biscuits, but uses 24 biscuits to make.

We had some of these leftover, so I wrapped them individually in foil and parked them in the fridge.  Just reheat them in the foil in a 350 degree oven for about 10 - 12 minutes.

Incredibly Easy Crusty Bread {No Need to Knead}

I constantly encourage my children to venture out and try new things - especially things of which they are fearful. I have been pushing myself to do the same when it comes to baking bread. I decided to do a little research into bread recipes and when I came across this one from Simply So Good, I was inspired to dive in and try it. And, let me just say that I am in love with this bread. So easy. So quick to prep. And, so delicious.

 

First of all, something I truly adore about this particular bread recipe is that it only has four ingredients {and one of them is water}. Secondly, there is no kneading. I repeat, NO KNEADING. {No dough hooks, paddle attachments or mixers either.} Additionally, I love that the recipe for this bread on Simply So Good's blog offers several options for add-in ingredients to make different flavor combinations. Think Orange, Cranberry and Nut Bread. Or, Lemon, Rosemary and Gruyere Bread.  Alternatively, you can just add in your choice of shredded cheese{s} to make Cheese Bread.

To make the bread, you mix four ingredients together in a bowl. Cover it and let it sit for 12 - 18 hours. Form it into a ball. Heat up a large pan {with the lid on}. Throw the dough ball in the pan. Bake. Cool. Devour.

I mixed the dough together at night in like, less than five minutes. So ridiculously easy.

Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Over Pasta

 

It was Sunday.

It was cold and rainy.

I was thinking soup for dinner.

Then, I came across this recipe on Little B Cooks' blog.  What a fun blog to browse!  Her recipe for Sun-dried Tomato Chicken was my inspiration for dinner. 

I made a few changes to the original recipe.  And, I served my chicken and sauce over pasta.

As a person who blogs about food and recipes, there are times when I try something new and then, later wish I had done the recipe a different way.  This dish was one of those instances.  Both my hubby and I agreed that using this exact sauce recipe with homemade meatballs would be killer!  The chicken was good, but this sauce is somewhat similar to say, a Swedish meatball sauce ... just infused a bit with the flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes.  So, I plan to try it with meatballs soon!

And, by the way ... if you think you don't or won't like sun-dried tomatoes, I urge you to try it in this recipe.  The flavor combinations are lovely and I know I will be making this sauce again many times in the future!

Our Annual Fall Hayride and Bonfire Party

 

Every year we host a big fall party on a late-evening Saturday in October that includes a hayride, a bonfire, some friendly games of volleyball under the stars and my Hayride Chili.  We usually have about forty - fifty guests of all ages ... family, friends, co-workers and lots of our children's friends from school.  It is always tons of fun.

We all have those special traditions that we remember from our own childhoods.  Our yearly fall party is one of those traditions that I know our children will treasure for years to come!

Roasted Ranch Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese

 

Okay.  I realize that several of my recent posts have included bacon in some form or another. I think it is partly due to the fact that a couple of weeks ago my grocery store had a killer deal (half off!) on thick, center cut bacon.  Of course, I stocked up.

Honestly, however, let's just admit that bacon is just so darn tasty!  There need be no excuse reason to eat it. In fact, last year we traveled from Michigan to Arizona for our son's college graduation.  We took a couple of days to travel into California to go to Legoland and due to our adoration of bacon, we made specific plans to go to Slater's 50/50 (a bacon-lover's paradise of a restaurant that we had seen featured months prior to our trip on a bacon-themed food show).  They grind bacon into their burger meat, offer a maple-bacon milkshake and serve bacon brownies.  It was heaven!

 

So, when I came across this recipe, it appealed to me in every way. I developed it into something kind of amazing and based on our preferences! It has become a real family favorite and is often even requested by relatives at family gatherings.

Stuffed Breakfast Rolls

 

This idea woke me up in the middle of the night a few nights ago.  Literally!  I had a dream I was making these. 

(I'm a pretty clever dreamer, if I do say so myself!)

My family members are huge fans of breakfast foods.

But, it is hard to get them to eat a lot super early in the morning when getting up at 5:45 a.m. for school.  They're just not usually that into a big, heaping plate of eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes or the like when they've only been up a short time.  So, they often just have a banana, a bowl of cereal or a yogurt.

So, after waking up to this idea in the middle of the night, I got to thinking that something small like a hand-held roll or biscuit stuffed with their favorite breakfast items might be a perfect little thing for them to eat on school mornings ... without being too filling and heavy.

Crispy Baked Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups

 

Joyously Domestic just celebrated its 100th post last week!  What a thrill to be able to write and share stories and recipes from my humble life.  And, the fact that I've come to have some pretty amazing loyal readers (as well as lots of new visitors each day) who stop by and read my musings and ramblings is the icing on the cake!  I thank you so very much.

I came across a yummy-sounding recipe for Crispy Chicken Tortilla Rollups on The Weekend Gourmet's blog awhile back that I have been dying to try.  I recently took the plunge and made these this week for my family.  They turned out fabulous!  I had to share here on JD. 

I, of course, made some changes.  For some reason, I can never just follow a recipe to a tee!  But, I did follow her concept and technique.  I highly recommend trying these for yourself!  And, although the recipe does call for brushing the tortillas with some garlic-infused oil after rolling, I love that these are baked and not fried!

Serves 4 - 6.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

 

Happy first day of autumn, readers!  It's been a rainy day here in Michigan, which was a wonderful reason for me to put a big pot of soup on this afternoon!

We have struggled with some major sickness in our household over the past week.

It trickled through each family member (including me) and even struck my hubby (who NEVER gets sick).  Visits to the doctor for all three kids, waiting in line at the pharmacy, trips out for more tissues and NyQuil, missed days of school and having half of my medicine cabinet contents lined up on the kitchen counter made for one long, trying week.

Thankfully, the kids and I are on the down-side of it.  I'm hoping my dear husband can catch up on some rest this weekend and kick all that is ailing him right now!

Needless to say, you may (or may not) have noticed my absence from the blogging world recently.  I wasn't online much during my sick days in bed ... nor was I cooking much.  Thank goodness for some made-in-advance casseroles and slow cooker meals that I had on hand in the freezer! 

I was happy to be feeling a lot better and to get back into the kitchen today to make this tasty, comforting Loaded Baked Potato Soup.  This was my first time making potato soup this way and the whole family agreed that this is a winner!

As a matter of fact, as I sit here late at night typing this post ... my mind keeps drifting off to thoughts of the leftovers stashed away in the fridge!  I'm not sure I want to wait until lunch tomorrow to have another bowl!

Slow Cooker Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

So, the first week of school is behind us.  We are all exhausted and thankful that the weekend is at hand!

It has been a bit chilly, rainy and dreary here in Michigan this weekend ... and I'm not complaining!  I adore fall ... and everything about this weekend feels like my favorite time of the year!  In fact, even though I prefer living in the city, one thing I do like about living in the country is being able to get a bonfire going on a weekend night like this!  And, that's just what we did earlier this evening after digging in to these delicious scalloped potatoes.

This recipe is my traditional go-to dish to make when we are craving scalloped potatoes and ham.  I know that there are many versions out there.  This is mine! 

A sprinkling of cheese in my version really makes this extra-luxurious!

This recipe serves a large crowd ... we often have people stop over on the weekends (which is when I usually seem to make this recipe).  And, we love leftovers of this, too!  I actually think this is better the next day!

I would estimate that this will serve 10 - 12 people.

Home Alone

Today we sent our youngest off to kindergarten.

(Sigh.  Whimper.  Sniffle.  Bawl!!!)

Our kids have never been in any kind of preschool or daycare.  I've always been blessed to be able to be a stay-at-home parent and I've cherished every second of it!

We have five children.  Our two oldest are my "bonus" kids ... they were five and three when I began a relationship with my (now) husband and first had the privilege of them being introduced into my life.  That was seventeen years ago.  I was twenty and there has never been a moment since that I didn't consider myself a mother.  Throughout the years, I went to college at night and took online classes ... and I've worked a few very part-time jobs here and there (mostly just at night when my husband could be home with the kids).  My last one was a year and a half ago and that was only ten hours a week.  They've rarely stayed with sitters.  It's just always been important to us that a parent be home with them on a daily basis.