SS: Southern Biscuits and Gravy Casserole

Yeah, I know. I said I was back and then flaked for a month. A month I would rather not re-live, actually. I did not do much cooking and I have no excuse other than I did not want to. That being said, I flipped through and found this little gem a few weeks back and I am not one to ever turn down biscuits and gravy so: challenge accepted.

I've said before that biscuits and gravy is a delicate thing. One should not pretend to know what they're doing - I'm looking at you, Cracker Barrel - because it can ruin people's lives. Seriously, that was over two years ago and I'm still scarred. However, the author of Skinny Suppers, Brooke Griffen, is a southern girl so I had really high hopes and happily rustled up these ingredients and went to town.

First, you whisk together some eggs and cheese and milk and stick that in a pan with some turkey sausage links plopped right on top. She has you bake it for what sounds like a reasonable amount of time. This is the part where I start to get reallllly skeptical. This is what it looks like when you take it out of the oven:

The cheese melted, so that's good...but overall this was still incredibly runny.

Now, I understand that because we are adding biscuits on top that will need to bake that we do not want the egg to be fully cooked yet. However, I did not feel that they should be this runny at this stage and cooked them for about 10 minutes longer, which didn't do much but made me feel a little better. Oh, I also took the liberty of adding chopped orange, red, and yellow bell peppers because this was dinner and I felt better knowing there were veggies in it...also, I like bell peppers in my eggs for breakfast so this wasn't too far of a stretch. 

While this is "cooking" she has you make the gravy. 

I always add way more pepper than called for because I like a peppery gravy.

This went as expected and without issue. Pour it all over the under-cooked egg mixture and toss some Pilsbury biscuits on top. Now. Because I felt that the eggs did not cook enough in the beginning, I cooked these longer than the suggested time. You will also want to do this. The biscuits will get a nice golden brown on top, but the egg will also have time to cook through. 

Voila!

Because I have children, or because I have a strange appetite - I'll own it, this is not my first recipe with biscuits on top. I have had recipes where, because the biscuits are close together and on top of food, instead of straight on a baking sheet, they never cook. What you are left with is cooked biscuit tops and raw biscuit dough on the bottom. This recipe had potential for absolute disaster because of the short cook time for the eggs and the nestled biscuit dough. All factors pointed to pizza here. 

I cooked the shit out of this. I think I just about doubled the cook time and it turned out nicely. I did find a few problem areas, but nothing to write home about. In the future I will cook the eggs until firm with a little jiggle and there should be no issues. As for taste? This was freaking delish. Tweak it a bit and you've got yourself a winner. 

Holler if you want the recipe cause my kid is crying and I'm about to make bedtime half an hour earlier fa sho.

TK: Cornmeal Waffles with Strawberry Syrup

Calvin woke me up at 5 am today. He stared at me in the dark until I opened my eyes and then he complained that he was hungry. Now. Backstory: I'm not the kind of mom who wakes up whenever my kids deem it necessary, no matter what time of night it is. I trained them both early on to be good sleepers so, unless they're sick, I don't get up until at least 7:30-8:00 and that's just all there is to it. Say what you will, but it works. Now that you know my tolerance level for interrupted sleep, I sent his ass back to bed, shut the door, and let him throw a little fit until I assume he went back to sleep. I have no idea, I passed back out.

When the baby started squawking around 8:30 I rolled out of bed, in a much better mood, and decided to make a nice, filling breakfast of waffles and homemade strawberry syrup to satisfy Calvin's tummy. I had this recipe marked for a weekend when I had time and, once again, I had all the ingredients for it in the house already. Freaking score.

So, while the kids played nicely in the other room with my salad spinner, I got to work as the best mom ever.

 Strawberry syrup on point

This recipe went well. I have no complaints and it was really nice making my own syrup. I really like the fact that there were only 4 ingredients and it was probably the best syrup I've ever had.

I got 6 waffles out of the batter, instead of the promised 4, but even they went off without a hitch.

Not as fluffy as promised, but I'll get over it someday I'm sure

So we've already determined the syrup was amazing. The waffles tasted about what you would think a cornmeal waffle would taste like. Together, they melded into pure perfection. The waffles carry a muted cornbread-like flavor, and are offset so wonderfully by the sweetness of the strawberries that they compliment each other quite nicely. Andrew and I scarfed this down like rabid wolves while the starving child had two bites and asked for orange juice and Lucky Charms. 

Guess you can't win them all.

There is a waffle under there...somewhere

Strawberry Syrup

1 pound strawberries

2 to 4 tbs. sugar, depending on your taste (I used 3 and it was perfect)

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Cut the stems off the strawberries and cut them into small pieces. Throw them into a small saucepan with the rest of the ingredients over medium-low heat. Stir every now and then, but let it come to a gentle simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Once it thickens up a bit, turn off the heat and let it cool.

Waffles

2 cups almond or dairy free milk (I used whole cause it's what I had)

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1 1/2 cups cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbs. brown sugar

1 1/2 tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp.cinnamon (I dumped a fair amount in)

2 tbs. olive oil (I swirled some in, but doubt very much that it was 2 tbs. FYI)

Cooking spray

1. Heat up your waffle iron. Mix the milk and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Whisk together your dry ingredients. Make a crater in the center and add the milk mixture and oil. Whisk it all together until combined.

3. Coat the plates of your waffle iron with cooking spray to prevent the waffles from sticking. Pour in the batter and cook until done. Top the waffles with the syrup.

TK: Shredded Carrot and Apple Muffins

This week's grocery store trip is going to be as minimal as possible, so I did not have high hopes for any new posts. I skipped over Cravings real quick, because her shit is usually expensive and complicated and I am not about that life as of late...so I decided to check out Thug Kitchen. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the recipes in this book use ingredients I already have. "Kitchen Staples" if you will. I settled on this muffin recipe because I had some old, sad carrots in the fridge and an apple on the verge of suicide. Voila.

This is your standard muffin recipe. Very easy. Well, it should have been quick and easy...but the boys were playing in the backyard while I threw this together and, if you don't know already, my youngest is on a constant mission to maim and/or kill himself. I had to stop a lot to go remove him from certain death. Usually he keeps that shit to a minimum, but today there must be a full moon or something because what should have been a 15 minute prep time was easily doubled. Oh well, he's still alive so there's that.

Back to muffins. Gather, mix, scoop, bake. Done.

They do look tasty.

Close up.

Now, I did make a few adjustments to these muffins so this could be my fault, but I wasn't a huge fan of these. Andrew and Calvin ate the shit out of them, but I'll force myself to eat them for breakfast because I hate wasting food. They reminded me of a bran muffin, which I've never actually had. But with a name like that I think it's safe to assume my presumption is true. Here's the recipe anyway:

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbs. baking powder

1  1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups almond or other non dairy milk (I used whole milk because that's what I had)

1 1/2 cups grated carrots, about 3

1/3 cup grated apple, about 1

1/4 cup olive or grapeseed oil (I mostly always swap out oil for plain applesauce, which is what I did here. But you would think that would add a little flavor as opposed to the other way around...)

1 tbs. lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I wanted to add these, but didn't have any. They would make a big difference I think)

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin pan or toss in some muffin liners.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients together with the apples and carrots until well combined. 

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overdo it or your shit will be tough as hell. Fold in the nuts if you're smart and are using them.

4. Scoop into the muffin cups and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Take them out of the tin and let them cool for like 15 minutes. 

Baked Pasta Alla Norma with Mozzarella Bombs

I've been eyeing this recipe for a while. I have a strange obsession with baked pasta and it still took me this long to make because the recipe is long and requires two recipes in one. I love to cook, but sometimes I get hella lazy and don't want to do any extra work. BUTTT, after actually reading the recipe I realized this is actually not that bad. It doesn't require any marinating, and for that I thank Chrissy ten times over.

This recipe calls for eggplant. Now, eggplant always brings up a particular memory. I must have been 19 or 20 at this time. My dear friend Oscar and I went out to dinner one night and I got pasta while he ordered eggplant parmesan. I'd never in my life eaten eggplant and was very curious to know what it tasted like. Oscar, knowing that at that point in my life I had an aversion to new foods and had a hard time hiding my displeasure, gave me a look and said "You won't like it". He did this to avoid a sour look on my face and possibly a loud outburst. I'd like to thank him for knowing me so well because, a short while later, I was presented with the opportunity to try it again - and reacted as predicted.

Ever since then, I've stayed away from it. Recently, in my wise old age, I've begun to experiment with it and have had pleasurable results. The most recent experiment was eggplant pizzas which I thought were delightful....the boys not so much. Nevertheless, I proudly purchased a beautiful eggplant with high hopes for this recipe.

Now, to begin, she has you peel the eggplant. You've peeled potatoes and carrots and stuff, right? Well, this is nothing like that. You ever tried to peel an eggplant? This is not a vegetable that wishes to be peeled. The skin sticks to it like...well...skin. I started off with a potato peeler, switched to a knife, cut off a few chunks that were not skin, ditched the knife, and then finally got a rhythm with the damn potato peeler and thankfully this is only one eggplant and not a 5 lb bag.

If you ever make this recipe, I encourage you to read it like 5 times to figure out what kind of dishes you'll need and how many. The second "problem" I ran into was the amount of dishes you need for this. First, you make the sauce (her recipe calls for a saucepan, I made mine a few hours ahead of time in the crockpot - I'll post the recipe here for you so you can make that call). Then you need a pan for the eggplant and oil. Then a separate pan for the noodles to boil. Then you need a big enough dish to dump it all in that can also go in the oven. So that's...4 pots. 4 pots.  For one recipe.

But I'll be damned if it wasn't worth every single pot.

This was perfect. Oh, sweet Jesus if this didn't hit my pasta G-spot then I don't know what will. Hidden inside this (and pressed on top) are little balls of crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside mozzarella. It's just such a nice treat when paired with the noodles and fucking amazing sauce. I had a bowl of this for breakfast this morning because today is a terrible fucking day and I needed a little pick me up. I actually had my friend Emma over when this came out of the oven and she declined trying any - because clearly she's insane. I ate it though and forced myself to act like a lady and not eat seconds from the pan. 

Let me shake my head out of this pasta orgasm I've got going on and get you her sauce recipe. 

I've made this before. This sauce was featured in the Spicy Tomato Skillet Eggs with Prosciutto. Do ya'll remember that one? I made it while drunk and I may have used a crock pot then as well...Ok, well looking back at the post I make it seem like we left it simmering on the stove all night...

Perfect Tomato Sauce 

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cups diced onion (about 2 medium)

2 tbs. finely minced garlic (about 4 cloves)

3 1/2 lbs. diced Roma tomatoes OR 1 - 28 oz. can diced tomatoes plus 1 - 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

2 tbs. chopped fresh oregano

2 tbs. chopped fresh thyme

1 tbs. chopped fresh rosemary

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

You can do like I did and toss it all in a crockpot, no saute-ing required OR her way:

In a 4 quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until translucent and beginning to turn golden, about 13 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute longer. Add the tomatoes, oregano, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, 25 to 30 minutes for fresh tomatoes, 20 to 25 minutes for canned. 

This sauce is legit, you guys. It's really freaking good either way you make it. Alright, lunch time - AKA more pasta time. 

SS: Cheesy Mexican Meatloaf

I'm just going to come right out and announce that I make an amazing meatloaf. I have a written recipe that is freaking awesome but, more often than not, I ditch the recipe and instead throw some shit together and it always turns out delicious. When I do that I almost always take the BBQ route, but I am not opposed to switching it up - hence the reason I chose this recipe for my next meatloaf night.

Now, the name Mexican meatloaf is really kind of a turnoff for me. I love Mexican food and I love meatloaf...but together? I was skeptical, but what the hell. Life's short. Let's fuck up a pound of beef.

This is pretty easy. In standard meatloaf form, you throw a bunch of shit together and press it into a loaf pan. I actually never use a loaf pan though. I usually scoop the meat into a muffin tin and make individual meatloaves. I do this for two reasons: portion control and it takes about 20-25 minutes to cook through as opposed to over an hour. I have zero patience, especially when I'm hungry...though I'm sure most of you know that already...

Really the only problem I had with this recipe was what the hell to pair it with. Do I make rice? Mashed potatoes? What the hell goes with Mexican meatloaf??? After about fifteen minutes of asking Calvin and fifteen minutes of hearing his three year old voice tell me he really doesn't care, I gave up, said fuck it, and cut up some damn strawberries. There. Side done.

A nice, cheesy aerial view for ya'll

I tried to get a good side view of the layers of meat and cheese. Tried.

The verdict: This wasn't bad at all. I did put ketchup on mine because I think that ketchup makes every kind of meatloaf taste better, but Andrew ate his rather quickly and Calvin only kind of complained. Success. 

Cheesy Mexican Meatloaf

I don't really want to type out the nutrition info, but it's got 357 calories for 1 slice. Slice the damn loaf into 6 slices. 

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed

1 - 7 oz. can fiesta corn, drained - I used frozen cause I didn't have this

1 - 4.5 oz. can chopped green chilies - undrained

1 - 1 oz. packet low sodium taco seasoning

2 egg whites, beaten - yeah I did not beat those two little egg whites, sorry

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs 

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese 

1/2 cup medium tomato salsa  - I used what I had. 

1 tbs. brown sugar

12 medium tomato, diced

2 jalapeno peppers, sliced

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

2) In a bowl, combine the beef, beans, corn, green chilies taco seasoning, egg whites and bread crumbs. Mix it all together.

3) Place half the beef mixture in the bottom of your loaf pan. Spread 1/2 cup cheese on top. Top that with the other half of your beef mixture. Bake for 1 hour.

4) In the meantime, mix together your salsa and brown sugar. Once the meatloaf has baked for one hour, spread the salsa mix on top and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of that. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. 

5) Let the meatloaf rest for 5 minutes before cutting. 

6) Garnish with the tomatoes and jalapenos. I did not do this because I was giving it to my kids, but I'm sure the extra kick would have been legit. 

Sour Cream and Broccoli Baked Potato Cakes

You know it never fails, I always misspell "broccoli" every time. I always put two "L's" for some reason. Anyway. This is yet another recipe that I made and failed to post. I found it while skimming through for some snacky food to make. Lucky for me, I remember making this very well because these were really, really, REALLY freaking good. Yes, I know. I spoiled the ever anticipated taste review early. I'm feeling rebellious today. Come at me.

This is easy peasy. Bake some potatoes in the microwave, scoop out the meat, mix some shit in a bowl and form into patties. I did make one small change and used plain Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream because that's just something I've always done and you really can't tell the difference. Collin can't even tell and he's the king of trying to catch me in shit like that. He hasn't caught me yet and I swap things out for healthier alternatives all the time. I made cauliflower fried "rice" once and he didn't even know that there was no rice in it until I told him. Mmmm that was so good. Making a mental note to make it again soon.

Moving on...Alright. Chrissy loves to fry things that really could be baked in an oven. Or maybe I just really suck at frying things. To be fair, both of those statements are probably true. Either way, frying these in a pan just didn't work. I did get smart, because this isn't the first time I've been frustrated by her love of pan frying, and only fried one to start in case it fucked up. I am so glad I did that. In addition, her cook time is just off completely. She tells you this should take about 6-8 minutes total and it took about 15 frustrating minutes to get one to cook through. I really think that when you make it to celebrity status you get a special magic oven/stove in your "welcome" goody bag. Fortunately, these can easily be baked in a regular person oven - and it eliminates the extra butter and oil you use for the pan. I just stuck them on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes per side.

The one on the left came from the pan frying method. The one on the right was oven baked. 

These were so good. I wish I had potatoes so I could make them right now.

Even through all of my frustrations, these came out so good that she really should market this recipe more. The ingredients are minimal, prep work is short and once you sort out the baking method this is really a quick and simple weeknight dinner. *adds to meal plan*

Stretchy, Artichoke, Spinach and Buffalo Chicken Dip and Spiced Pita Chips

I was going to add this in with the deviled eggs post, but for fuck's sake the names of these recipes are so long. I made this along side the eggs because, you know, deviled eggs and spinach artichoke dip are pretty much the nectar of the Gods.

Ok, so this dip is....involved. You have to marinate shit and when I read that I almost closed the book and walked away, but then I remembered that Sandikins had requested food and I couldn't leave my girl hanging. So I pulled out some chicken and marinated that shit. Sandi, if you're reading this it should make up for that Natty Light I stuck you with toward the end of the night. Now. I really thought I had the two chicken breasts that this recipe requires, but instead I only had one really sad-looking, small chicken breast. I decided to put it out of it's misery and so this had half the chicken it should have had. Oopsies.

While the chicken was doing its thing I thought it wouldn't be a bad time to start making the pita chips. This was pretty standard. Mix the seasoning together, cut up a few pieces of pita bread and then you toss them together. This is a good place to note that she tells you to toss the pita bread in a bowl with the spices to coat. Just dump it all in a big gallon bag and shake that shit up. It eliminates a dirty dish and you won't get flyaway seasoning all over the place. Anyway. Then you spread them on a baking sheet and bake. I also bought a bag of pita chips at the store because you always need a backup. This is important to remember as you read on.

It occurred to me while in the grocery store (with the kids in the cart and Calvin yelling because Andrew kept reaching over and pulling his hair - good times) that I have never had the need to buy artichoke hearts and really had no idea where they were or what kind to buy. It did not help that I went to a Kroger whose floor plan I was not familiar with. On a Saturday. This was challenging, but because I'm a fucking boss and a half I found them, did the rest of the grocery shopping and solved the hair pulling crisis of 2017 in half an hour.

The rest of the recipe is pretty standard, except you will need a dish towel to wring out excess water from the spinach and the artichokes - a practice I have utilized before and more often then I ever thought I would. You then toss some stuff in a bowl and mix. I recommend just ditching the spoon and using your hands, but you do you. Then you bake for like 35 painful minutes. Luckily, I had deviled eggs to shove in my mouth in the meantime.

She tells you to put blue cheese on top. I did not do this and used a cheddar mix instead because I clearly don't know how to follow directions.

This was...okay. I did eat those fantastic deviled eggs right before I tried this so maybe that is what made this taste like such a letdown. The pita chips were good, but did not retain their crunch. This might have been my fault though because I made them earlier in the day and sealed them in a ziploc bag for later. I wound up tossing those in the trash this morning and opening up my backup chips. As far as the dip goes though, it was pretty bland. I mixed some hot sauce in with it to give it a little something extra, and it was better...but for all the work you go through I really expected something mind-blowing. I do have a lot of this left so I'll have to find a way to doctor it so it doesn't go to waste. Maybe the blue cheese would have made a world of difference and I royally fucked up. Oh, well. You live and learn.

It does look good though.