Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

Happy Friday! Woo-hoo! I love Friday's!! My niece, Avery, turns 3 tomorrow and I get to make her a Hello Kitty Cake , and I'm so excited! I'll be doing a pink bow instead of red since she's a super girlie girl princess! Okay, now on to our brunch today..this was SO good! I've never had biscuits and gravy before. It's just not something we really eat where I'm from (Vermont) but now that I've lived in Texas for a little over 5 years, I've tried tons of stuff that I never would have. The family was all out to lunch this past Saturday and my sister in-law Angie was talking about biscuits and gravy because we were all eating biscuits at the restaurant and after that I couldn't stop thinking about what it would taste like, and I've also seen it everywhere since moving here. I had to try them! Biscuits and gravy truly taste southern. I wish I could have taken the easy route and got the canned biscuits, but I just hate those. So I got a package mix, that said I should get 8-10 and I did get 8, but they were on the flat side as far as biscuits go. I like mine a little fluffy. Next time, I think I will just make my own, which will also be a first for me. If you've never had this before, I would totally make it asap! Daddy - you would LOVE these, I'am totally making them for you when we come home!!

Ingredients:

Biscuit Mix or Homemade Biscuits (my mix yielded 8, thinner biscuits. Whatever brand/recipe you choose will be fine, you will have to be the judge of how many you need. I used half of the sausage roll and it was a perfect amount for 8 biscuits.)

Half-Pound Ground Sausage

1/2 Tablespoon Butter

1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Milk

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Bake biscuits according to your package, or recipe, directions. In a fry pan, add your sausage and break up into small pieces and cook until browned. Add butter, and let it melt. Add flour and mix it thoroughly into the sausage, cook for about 1-1 1/2 minutes, then add milk and let it boil for about a minute at the high heat you used to cook the sausage at, then turn to low once it thickens. If it gets too thick you can add more milk. Add salt & pepper to taste. Split open biscuits and spoon gravy over them.

Streusel Coffee Cake

What's up everyone? It totally doesn't feel like it's been 14 days since I last posted. That's crazy! I don't think I've ever gone that long without posting. Sorry guys! I guess time really flies by when you're busy. I made this coffee cake last week when I wanted something sweet for breakfast. It was pretty awesome, except for the fact that I over-cooked it so the edges got hard and un-appealing to eat. When you think it's about done, just check it with a toothpick. I don't ever burn stuff, so it was a bummer for me, but I guess we all have our days. I will totally make this again and again. The filling swirled into the middle is delightful and nice and gooey and cinnamon-ey (?). Try this one morning with a cup of coffee - perfect breakfast!

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 Cup Vegetable Shortening

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Milk

1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

FILLING:

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

2 Teaspoons Butter, melted

Directions:

Cream thoroughly the sugar, shortening, and egg. Stir in milk. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir into wet mixture. Pour half of the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan. Combine ingredients for the filling and sprinkle half of the mixture over the batter. Pour the remaining batter over the filling and even out, then sprinkle with the rest of the mixture. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

Lasagna Roll-Ups

Good morning! I hope everyone is enjoying the start of the 3-day weekend! (sorry to those who don't get one) I've been wanting to make these for some time now, and I just got around to it last night. I'am kicking myself for not making them sooner! They were so so SO delicious. I loved them, and so did my hubbie. He said they were one of the best things I've made. I knew he would like them, that's pretty much why I made them, he's a sucker for anything with marinara sauce. They were a little bit time consuming, but SUPER easy! Please don't pay attention to the provolone in the picture, I didn't end up using it. I was going to put some slices under the roll-ups, but decided not to. Make these TONIGHT! I'm so glad I did, I don't think I've ever been so excited for leftovers! Have a great day everyone! :o)

Ingredients:

9 Lasagna Noodles

1 Jar Marinara Sauce

1/2 Pound Ground Beef

8 oz Mozzarella Cheese

3/4 Cup Ricotta Cheese

1/3 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Half of a Medium Onion, diced

Salt & Pepper, to taste

(This makes 9 roll-ups, you can use more/less ingredients depending on your desired amount)

Directions:

Start by filling a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, add about a teaspoon of salt and then drop in your lasagna sheets. Stir them around once they've softened up to completely submerge them under the water. In a skillet, add your diced onion and crumble your ground beef over it. Once that is cooked, drain off all of the excess fat. Transfer beef mixture to a big bowl and let cool for about 10 minutes. Once your pasta is done (cook it to al dante), lay something (like cookie sheets, or wax paper) on the counter top and drain the pasta and carefully lay out the noodles flat so that they can cool off. While your pasta is cooling, add your ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and 1/2 of your mozzarella cheese to the ground beef mixture; mix thoroughly. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees before you start the rolling process. Take a large baking dish and layer the bottom with a little bit of marinara sauce for a base for the roll-ups. Spoon some of the ground beef mixture onto a lasagna noodle and evenly spread it all the way, covering the whole noodle, making sure not to put too much so that it's easy to roll up. Starting at the bottom, roll the noodle all the way up to the top, and then place it in the baking dish. Repeat process until you've finished, then spoon on the rest of the marinara sauce, covering all of the roll-ups. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.