Easy Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Easy Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

by Engineered Mama ♥ 1 Comment

I almost wish I had never attempted to make sausage gravy. Now that I know how easy it is to make I will want it all the time… goodbye, swimsuit season. I’ll be eating my sausage gravy!

As for the biscuits… I didn’t even attempt those this time. Someday I’ll venture out to the land of homemade biscuits, but for now, biscuits in a can will have to do!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb sausage (I like Jimmy Dean country sausage but any kind will do!)
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions

  1. Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high until thoroughly cooked (approximately 10-12 minutes).
  1. Add flour to skillet. Adjust the amount of flour according to the amount of drippings produced by browning the sausage. Continually stir the sausage, drippings, and flour about 2 minutes.
  1. Add milk to the flour, sausage, and drippings mixture. Adjust the amount of milk according to the thickness of the flour, sausage, and drippings. Allow to cook and bubble while stirring for approximately 5 minutes. If the gravy becomes too thick, add more milk to the desired thickness.
  2. Serve over biscuits.
COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 10

COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 10

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Well, a typical Monday here with the exception of an extra child in the house (always a good thing!). We made pretend lattes, washed sink loads of dishes, ran around the house like crazy people, did a little school work, and made biscuits and gravy for dinner, which was a new one for me. If I had known biscuits and gravy was that easy I’d weigh 500 lbs by now… I never should have tried it-haha!

As I took the dog out for the last time this evening I couldn’t help but stand there and just listen. I listened to the nothingness and I’ve never heard so much quiet around our house. We’re close to a park and several fairly busy roads and it stopped me in my tracks to just hear it. The nothing. It wasn’t really eerie, which is what I wanted to feel, but it was peaceful. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel as peaceful as it should have because it was forced nothingness. None of us like being told we can’t have our normal lives right now, but I can’t argue that it isn’t peaceful, meaningful, and enjoyable.

Stay healthy everyone.

COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 9

COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 9

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Pretty lazy Sunday around here.  Tomorrow will be Manic Monday… we might get crazy around here.  A little schoolwork, a little cleaning, a little cooking.  Our house is a happenin’ place, people!  Hope you’ve all had a relaxing Sunday with friends, since we apparently aren’t aloud to go anywhere by law now… even though there isn’t even anything open…

Easy Chicken Quesadillas and Sauce

Easy Chicken Quesadillas and Sauce

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I honestly don’t know anyone that doesn’t like quesadillas, so this one is always a winner. I was searching for a good Taco Bell quesadilla sauce recipe (fancy…) and the one I came up with definitely doesn’t taste like theirs, but… I actually like it better, so I’ll call it a win! I altered a sauce recipe I found from Food.com, so check out their original if you’re interested!

I baked chicken for the quesadillas and used a homemade taco seasoning sauce recipe I found from allrecipes.com because I didn’t want to bust open a whole pack of seasoning just for a small amount of baked chicken. Use your own seasoning or prepackaged-either way, they turn out great!

Ingredients

Taco Seasoning

  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Sauce

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • Dash of chili powder
  • 3/4 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/8 tsp Gaelic powder
  • Dash of salt

Quesadilla

  • Chopped backed chicken (or any other meat or protein if you’d like!)
  • Taco size flour tortillas
  • Shredded quesadilla cheese
  • Shredded mild cheddar cheese
  • Vegetables (optional)
  • Salsa for serving (optional)
  • Sour cream for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. Prepare the sauce by mixing all ingredients and storing in the refrigerator until serving.
  2. Fully cook all meat or protein.
  3. Preheat a large skillet on medium heat and spray with cooking spray.
  4. Sprinkle quesadilla cheese on one half of a tortilla.  Add chicken, then sprinkle mild cheddar cheese on top of the chicken.  Fold the tortilla over the cheese and chicken.
  5. Add the quesadilla to the pan and brown one side of the quesadilla.  Flip the quesadilla over and brown the other side.
  6. Enjoy with quesadilla sauce, salsa, or sour cream.
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COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 7

COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 7

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Well, today is officially a week since our oldest last went to school.  We’ve survived! Woo hoo!  After going to the grocery yesterday and picking up a few things I knew I’d need to prepare meals for a while, I feel more relieved today.  After the storms last night we had warm weather this morning, so we were able to go for a walk and open the windows most of the day today.  This was handy considering the dog ran from me and peed behind the couch at 5 am after I had been up with him since 3 am because of the storms.  Yeah… he’s my favorite.  Moving couches and hardcore cleaning carpet is what I always want to do at 5 am after being up all night.

I digress… the tiny people ate their lunches and healthy snacks (minus the Reese’s Pieces) all day, our oldest did his school work (reluctantly, but we tried to make it fun, so he enjoyed it), I made dinner that EVERYONE actually ate (here’s the recipe if you need an easy crowd pleaser!).  The youngest actually had three bowls and I had time to make brownies with the oldest after dinner.

I was able to get 4 loads of laundry done and most of it folded and put away, which usually takes at least a week to do.  The youngest refused to take a nap,  but eventually passed out and I was able to get nearly half a day of work done while the oldest did some school work and made up his own art projects to do.  There was a lot of coffee today.  A LOT of coffee.

I’m starting to feel sad.  Not about not being able to go anywhere, but that life isn’t just normally this way.  This is how it should be.  Not too rushed, enjoying time with kids, and just taking things as they come.  No rushing to get the oldest on the bus, then the youngest to the grandparents, run to a store on the way to work, rush to get the oldest off the bus, pick up the youngest, wonder how I’m ever going to be able to get dinner finished before people starve to death or heck… just pick up dinner every night.

I actually love cooking and baking, but I hate cleaning up because every evening is so rushed after school, work, homework, and the list goes on and on.  Simple is best.  Simple allows us to take it all in.  I’m a creature of habit and hate change, but this change… this change is good.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 6

COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 6

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Foggy day here in the DYT.  I ventured out for a “quick” grocery trip that turned into much longer than expected.  I had a list of things I thought we may need and I figured I’d get a little Easter candy shopping done just in case.  Just in case of what I’m not really sure… total shutdown maybe?  I don’t know.  Just seemed like it would give me some sense of normalcy somehow.

Anyways… this post is dedicated to all of the individuals who are working overtime in grocery stores all over America.  Every aisle I went down contained at least two employees stocking, cleaning and scrubbing, and doing everything they could to keep the stock coming in and the store as clean and safe as possible.  Lines weren’t long, a lot of lanes were open, and the employees seemed tired, but optimistic.  Please be kind to your local store employees.  They’re risking their health serving us and they’re pulling long hours away from their families, so be kind and make their lives a little easier!

Easy Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

Easy Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

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I’ve made this a few times this winter since the cold and flu season hit us HARD this year.  I figure it might be a good comfort food for everyone right now, so here’s my adjusted recipe from Family Fresh Meals.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use frozen since it’s usually what I have on hand)
  • 2 cups carrots peeled and chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion diced (I use frozen chopped onion-no smelly chopping!)
  • 3 stalks celery chopped
  • 3-4 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaves
  • 7 cups chicken broth
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 cups (or more… we love noodles… I use more!) wide egg noodles, cooked per package directions
  • 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

  1. In a 6 quart crockpot add in whole chicken breasts, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, olive oil, thyme and bay leaf.
  2. Next, add in chicken broth and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Cover and cook on low heat 6 – 7 hours or high heat for 3 1/2 hours.
  4. Cook egg noodles per package directions.  I usually cook an entire package of noodles and save the remaining noodles for another dish the next night.  Two meals out of one?  Yes, please!
  5. Remove cooked chicken breasts and cut into bite sized pieces. Place chicken back in to the crockpot and add in egg noodles and parsley.
  6. Enjoy!
COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 5

COVID-19 Quarantine – Day 5

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No pictures today.  No cute little crafts to display.  Reality has set in.  It has set in that the world has lost its dang mind.  Completely.  It’s raining, which is making it all the more depressing and ominous because if it continues, I know I will be getting zero sleep tonight due to the neurotic chiweenie that claims residence in our domicile.  The kids aren’t here, since I’m working from home (which… per my previous post, Karen, you can’t fully commit to working when kids are home… you just can’t).

You know, the weird thing about all of this isn’t the virus-I couldn’t give two craps about the virus.  I’m not afraid of it or its affects-it’s no worse than the flu (do your research, don’t argue with me… it’s DIFFERENT… not worse).  What kills me is the response to all of this and the mass hysteria that has ensued.  Sheeple are scary.  VERY scary.  The amount of misinformation, panic, and outright incorrect information floating around is astounding.  I’m also perplexed (although not terribly shocked) about how willingly everyone is to allow full government control of this entire situation.

Hear me out for a minute here… I realize the entire point is to “flatten the curve” by “social distancing”, but if I hear those two phrases again someone will receive a quick punch to the face.  Everyone gets it… we all get it.  Stay away from other people.  But honestly, you’re grocery shopping.  You’re around people.  You WILL see people.  I’m just shocked that responses are “protect those with low immune systems!”.  Yeah, we get it.  But when do the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many?  Here’s a little example: one child in an entire school has a mild peanut allergy.  Should the school ban peanuts entirely due to one child? No.  The answer is no.  Everyone is too quick to answer, “Yes! Do what we can to protect the one!”.  No.  Not even close.  You are demanding everyone else take care of the one.  Now, don’t get me wrong… proper hygiene, stay home when you’re sick, make common sense decisions, but come on.  An entire country quarantined for the few that this will affect?  Those with low immune systems should be urged to self-quarantine until it runs its course.  The flu?  Ever heard of it?  Did you know that over 80,000 people in the United States alone died from the flu in the 2017 – 2018 flu season?  You didn’t?  Now you do.  The CDC estimates that there have been 22,000 – 55,000 deaths due to the flu since October 2019 and 370,000 – 670,000 hospitalizations due to the flu during this time period.  How many have died worldwide from coronavirus, you ask?  8,944 worldwide.  Approximately 56 of every 1,000,000 Chinese citizens tested positive for coronavirus.  Doesn’t sound so scary now, does it? Yeah, yeah… I know not everyone was tested.  Still, not as staggering of a number, is it?  Why are we treating this different than the flu that has already killed as many as 55,000 people in the United States since October? Why????

This virus spreads fast, it’s semi-unpredictable and hasn’t been studied extensively, so precautions are being taken to not overcrowd hospitals.  I’m not debating that that doesn’t need to happen, but what I’m debating is HOW it’s happening.  The blatant fear mongering that’s taking place at a state level is astounding.  Stop “guesstimating” numbers to scare people.  Present facts.  Stop telling me you’re getting take out for dinner to support local business… guess what?  All local mom and pop business are now in economic RUIN.  People’s financial lives have been destroyed completely.  So, you economically devastate a large majority of a country to protect the small minority that are immunocompromised?  There’s something more to this.  Time will tell…

For now, have fun at home with your loved ones, peeps!