Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits

This recipe is actually inspired by a Paula Deen recipe. It is close to the Paula recipe but I have made it so much that it has become my own, I have added to it, taken things out, and swapped ingredients if I didn't have something on hand. It is a very popular item in our house for breakfast/brunch!

What you will need:

1-package Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup blueberries

Topping:

2 tbsp flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup slivered almonds (sometimes I use oatmeal if I don't have almonds)

4 tbsp cold butter

What to do:

In a food processor put the topping ingredients and pulse until they come together and set aside.

 In a cast iron skillet (it does not have to be a cast iron, any oven safe pan or dish will do) melt the butter and brown sugar together and take off the heat as soon as the two come together.

 Place the biscuits on top of the butter/b.sugar mixture. Next evenly top the biscuits with the blueberries, finally the topping. 

 Place in a 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. ENJOY

Chicken, Spinach, and Cheese Taquitos

My kids love anything in a tortilla shell. I thought I would get sneaky and hide some nutritious things inside the tortilla and see how they do. It worked pretty well for the first time around and I will definitely be doing it again. The nice thing about something like this is you can change out ingredients with whatever you have on hand.

What you will need:

1-10 count package of tortillas (I used flour, you could use whatever you like)

1 lb cooked chicken (I used the chicken that I portioned up from the whole chickens I bought and froze)

4oz cream cheese (1/2 of a regular package)

1/4 cup sour cream

1 cup Mexican blend cheese

1/2 small onion

1 clove of garlic

2 cups of fresh spinach 

salt and pepper

5 tbsp of butter or cooking oil

What you do:

Put 1 tbsp of the oil or butter in a pan with the onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add the spinach and salt and pepper and cook until the spinach has wilted down. In a large bowl mix room temperature cream cheese, sour cream, the spinach mixture, chicken, and the Mexican cheese. Spread a thin layer evenly on all tortillas and roll them up tight.

 I put them into a pan and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours so they were able to set, you would not have to do this step.

In a large pan melt the remaining butter or oil and begin browning all the tortillas. Make sure to brown them evenly on all sides, this just takes a few minutes.

 

 Place browned tortillas in a 9x13 casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes on 375 degrees. 

 Serve with your favorite Mexican side dish (rice, beans, chips etc.) I made Spanish rice with green chilies and cheese! ENJOY

Carrie Carrie quite contrary...How does your garden grow!?

We have been blessed with amazing weather this spring and it really has my green thumb itching to dig in the dirt. I have been plotting and thinking about what to do this year and I already have some seeds going. This is what I'm planning....

Herbs:                         Vegetables/Fruit:

Rosemary                    Zucchini

Oregano                      Cucumbers

Thyme                         Peas

Parsley                        Beans

Lavender                      Peppers

Mint                             Tomatoes

Basil                            Blueberries

                                   Spinach, green leaf lettuce, arugula

Homemade chicken stock

I was at the store doing some major grocery shopping and there were whole rotisserie chickens on sale 2 for $10.00. I got 2 and when I got home divided them out into 4 portions. I put them into the freezer so when I make something like chicken alfredo or chicken taquitos (what we are having for dinner tonight) I already have cooked chicken ready, it just needs to be thawed. After I was done picking the chicken apart I really didn't want to waste the perfectly good chicken carcases, so I decided to make some stock.

What you will need:

2-chicken carcases (skin, bones,and all)

1-large onion (skin and all)

1-stock of celery

1-clove of garlic (skin and all)

5-carrots

4-medium potatoes

handful of parsley (not necessary, I just had some in the fridge, so I put it in)

salt and pepper

water

What to do:

In a large stock pot put the carcases and all the vegetables with salt and pepper and add water until it covers everything. Cook in the stove top on a low heat setting for about 2 hours. Strain all the liquid into a bowl and let cool. I divided my stock and put it into 16oz storage containers and put them into the freezer. The next time I make a soup, a hot dish, gravy, or anything else that calls for stock I have it. Store bought stock is very convenient but when you have the ingredients to make your own it is totally worth it.

 

I got a total of 6-16oz containers of stock out of this batch. 5 I put in the freezer and 1 I kept in the fridge.

Not my mama's monkey bread

What you will need:

2-cans Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits

1-stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1-tsp cinnamon

non-stick cooking spray

bundt pan

What to do:

 Melt the stick of butter on the stove top in a small pan and add 1/2 cup of the brown sugar (reserve the rest of the brown sugar for later). Cook the sugar and butter mixture for just a couple of minutes until it is combined well and looks like carmel and take off the heat. Spray the bundt pan with cooking spray and pour 1/2 the warm carmel mixture into the pan. Place both cans of biscuits into pan on top of the carmel. Sprinkle evenly the cinnamon on the biscuits and then sprinkle evenly the remaining brown sugar. Finally pour the remaining carmel on top of everything. Place in a 400 degree oven and bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. ENJOY