Archives for May 2021

Just Like Grandma Made Biscuits & Gravy

May 22, 2021 Leave a Comment

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Biscuits and sausage gravy are my all time favorite breakfast food, hands down. Growing up, my mom made it for all of the special occasions, but also those every day moments, too. Family weekend breakfasts, the beach, you name it. Something about making sausage gravy for my own family just takes me back home to my roots. Over the years, I have worked to tweak my biscuits and gravy recipe, and I’m here to share it with you so that you can make your own special memories!

It really is so simple! If you’ve put off trying it, now is your time! First, brown your sausage in a deep skillet.

Add, and melt, your butter.

Then, add and stir in your spices.

Add the flour, stir to combine, and cook for a minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning.

It should look like this:

Slowly pour in your milk, and stir to combine.

Simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently, until your gravy starts to thicken up.

Totally irrelevant, but I am so a fan of cooking with gas stoves! I always thought people who were gas-snobs on those house hunting shows were a bit ridiculous. Now that I have one, I don’t think I will ever be able to go back! Things cook so much faster, and taste so much better!

You’ll notice your gravy start to thicken up as it simmers.

I stop when it reaches this consistency. Some people prefer a thinner gravy. If that’s you, don’t simmer quite as long!

Serve over fresh baked buttermilk biscuits. More often than not, I just use the good ol’ Pillsbury frozen biscuits that I can keep on hand (holla, Instacart!)

Seriously, is there a much more cozy, comforting breakfast than that? YUM!

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Servings: 10-12
Time: 20 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients:

1 lb ground sausage (I use mild)
4 tbsp salted butter (use the real thing!)
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3 cups of milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
1 tsp fresh black pepper (more or less to taste)
12 biscuits

Directions:

Preheat your oven and bake your biscuits according to the package directions.
In a large skillet with deep sides (love my non-stick one from Pampered chef!), break up and brown your sausage.
Add in your butter and stir it around until melted.
Add your spices and stir well to combine.
Add flour, stir it well until it coats the sausage, and cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Add the milk slowly, and simmer, stirring frequently.
Simmer just until your gravy reaches your desired thickness.
Split your biscuits in half and serve hot!

For real. So good! Do you love biscuits and gravy? Have you tried any other variations? Let’s hear it!

While you’re here, check out my favorite meal planning hack that saves me hours every week!

Want to stay home with your kids, while still making an income? Check out my Stay-at-home Mom’s Guide to Making Real Money Online!

Simple and Delicious Breakfast Ring

May 19, 2021 Leave a Comment

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“Rings” made on a pizza stone might just be one of my favorite meals to make! A good breakfast ring definitely lives up to the hype. This particular one is filled with scrambled eggs, flavorful sausage and melty American cheese, because my kids love it! However, once you master the art of the ring, you can fill it with literally anything.

A few other breakfast ideas include:

Egg, spinach and parmesan cheese for a Florentine-type ring
Egg, Colby-Jack cheese, sausage and sautéed peppers for a southwest style
Bacon, egg and cheese
Fried apples and cinnamon (yum)
Ham, egg and cheese
Strawberries and a cream cheese filling

You get the idea! So many ways that you could go with it. Maybe I will test them all and link them in here for you sometime! You can find even more ring recipe ideas HERE!

They look impressive, but don’t be fooled. Making crescent rings is actually really very easy. The buttery, flaky outside and the gooey inside is my idea of breakfast heaven, and this is one meal that I can typically count on my entire family eating well! The egg wash is optional, but I personally love the texture that it brings! If you choose to leave it off, yours will just be a bit more flaky, but still so good.

The key is having a good pizza stone. I am sure you probably could make these on a normal pizza pan, but the crescents may stick and they wouldn’t get that crispy-on-the-bottom goodness that you get from stoneware. Mine is a very well loved, well seasoned pizza stone (the OG!). If you don’t have one, you can grab the best of the best HERE. They are even dishwasher safe now which is amazing!

Okay, on to the recipe!

Easy & Delicious Breakfast Ring

Servings: 8-10
Time: 45 mins
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients:

10 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup half and half
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 tsp pepper- to taste
1 lb of breakfast sausage, cooked and crumbled
8-10 slices of American cheese (or 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese)
2- 8oz tubes of crescent rolls

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, whisk your 10 eggs until combined, and then stir in the half and half, salt and pepper.
Break up your sausage and brown in a skillet (this one is the BEST! Zero oil needed and the eggs don’t stick at all!) until cooked through. Drain and then set aside.
In the same skillet, scramble your eggs until fully cooked and then remove from heat and set aside.
Separate your crescent rolls into triangles (you should have 16), and then arrange them on your stone with the wide ends to the center, slightly overlapping.
Work your way around, with the pointed ends of the roll hanging over the edges of your stone.
Using your fingers (or a Baker’s Roller), flatten the wide ends together, making base surface for the ring.
Combine your egg and sausage, and then spoon the mixture evenly in a circle onto the flat surface of the ring (you may have a little bit left over).
Lay or sprinkle your cheese over this mixture-ring (if using American slices, you will want to break them in half).
Very carefully lift the pointed ends of your crescent rolls over the filling and tuck the tips under the center, sealing the ring.
Work your way around the full circle.
Add a tsp of water to your egg yolk and whisk it well.
Use a basting brush to paint the mixture onto the top of your ring.
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown and crisp on top!
Use a pizza cutter to cut into wedges and then crush it!

This is a great recipe to make for shower brunches, too! Very simple and cost effective, but they look so impressive!

While you’re here, check out my favorite meal planning hack that saves me hours every week!

Want to stay home with your kids, while still making an income? Check out my Stay-at-home Mom’s Guide to Making Real Money Online!

If Mama ain’t Happy, Nobody is Happy…

May 18, 2021 Leave a Comment

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I have heard this phrase my whole life. I always took it at face value. Make sure mama is happy, no matter what, to ensure our own happiness. The idea being that if I- as the mama- am not happy, it is on my family. Somehow their fault. Their priority should be to serve me and make sure I am never upset, frustrated, stressed or disappointed.

Jesus has been turning this concept upside down in my heart for the last month or so. I don’t think this is the heart that He wants for us. It definitely is not the posture that I want to parent (or wife) from.

As a mama, we have to own our funk (with so much grace for ourselves, too!). We have the power to set the tone for our home and our family. A happy mom is one of the best gifts that we can give to our children. And here is why:

Scenario one:

The kids are up a lot at night, and I am super tired. I don’t hear my alarm and oversleep, starting my day off late. I rush through my quiet time and start looking at the overwhelming “to do” list in front of me.

My husband wakes up and is a little bit short with me, in his own tiredness. I am empty, so I have no grace for him. Mood up. I send him off into his workday with tension between us.

By the time the kids get up, I am trying to be peaceful, but my heart is unsettled. Immediately after breakfast, my three year old starts asking for a snack, and throws a fit when I tell her she has to wait. The baby cries to be held when I try to set her down so that I can get things done. The house is a mess. Chaos.

My kids have a rough day. I see their behavior as inconvenient to my to do list. I do not respond to tantrums with grace. I spew my frustrations on my child. We carry on our day in tension.

I feel like I am coming from behind all day. The mess, and cleaning it up, stresses me out, and I place blame and allow resentment to creep in, rather than accepting that that is just what happens when humans live in houses.

We do the dinner time battle and then the bedtime battle. Once the kids are finally down for the night, I catch up on all of the things I feel like I didn’t get done and go to bed feeling just a little unsettled.

A whole day of life has passed. Tension. Frustration. Exhaustion. It can be so easy to look externally for the cause of this. And sometimes, mama, it really truly is beyond us. Despite our very best efforts. But so much of the time I can trace a rocky day back to the posture of my heart at the beginning, and then can see the thread of my attitude affecting us all throughout the day.

“If mama ain’t happy, nobody is happy.”

Scenario 2:

My alarm goes off in the morning. Despite being tired, I drag myself out of bed extra early. (Not a morning person over here). I leave plenty of margin in my day. I take my time with a fresh cup of coffee and a slow quiet time and really allow Jesus to fill my spirit.

I focus my heart and listen to a Godly podcast while I do a little work (I love The Living Easy Podcast best!). When my husband wakes up, we have a light conversation that allows him to go into his day calmly.

When the girls wake up, I feel refreshed. I have been with Jesus and I want their little souls to feel that. We do our breakfast routine with worship music playing on Alexa. My heart (and mood) is light and I am creating that space for my children as well.

The typical toddler tantrums happen. But because I have filled up on the grace so freely offered to me, I have more patience. I am able to deal with them more kindly and redirect. I am able to parent out of love, rather than fear. Morning saved!

Because I had a productive time before wake ups, I have more space to fill my kids’ cups with attention. We have a light morning and a happy afternoon.

My three year old helps me cook dinner while we all listen to some fun music. I clean up and we have some family time before bed. My stress levels are lower, so the little things don’t trigger me so badly. We deal with what we can and I have grace for what I can’t.

After bedtime, my husband and I settle in for some grown-up time, watch a favorite TV show and go to bed in peace.

Mama was happy, and everyone else was happy, too.

“Our hearts and attitudes can make a major difference in how the hearts and attitudes of our family handle their own tough days.”

Now hear me, ladies! I am by no means saying that we have to feel the burden and responsibility for everyone’s happiness all of the time. That is a toxic line of thinking. Our families are human and humans have bad days and bad emotions. Spiritual warfare is real, and it affects us even with the best of intentions.

I am simply pointing out the truth that I am being taught: our hearts and attitudes can make a major difference in how the hearts and attitudes of our family handle their own tough days. We have this beautiful power to either escalate or de-escalate. To bring Jesus into their mess.

When my husband reacts in a way that hurts my heart, I can either be snappy back (my default) or I can leave room for grace, knowing that hurting people hurt people. He is a good man with a good heart and there is likely some internal battle or funk that is causing him to act this way. I can see him through a lens of grace and adjust my attitude accordingly.

When my three year old loses her ever-loving mind because I would not allow her to raid her candy bin at 8pm, I have two choices. I can either yell over her and trigger a catastrophic power struggle that throws off the rest of our night, or I can see her through the lens of empathy. I can see her disappointment and the irrational place that her small mind is coming from and gracefully discipline if needed, redirect and show love.

The choice is ours. But we cannot do it on our own! By our own strength, we are not enough. We never will be. And the pursuit of trying to be “enough” all on your own will run you ragged, sweet mama. Isaiah 64:8 reminds us that we are the clay, but He (the Lord) is the potter. As Sarah Mae says in her book “Having Martha Home the Mary Way,” Clay cannot mold itself. And on our own, we cannot create scenario 2 consistently.

So here are a few practical steps:

1- Give God your first!

Whatever that may look like for your schedule, put your interaction with the Word before your interaction with the world. If you have the ability to get in a 45 minute quiet time, amazing! If you need to grab a quick devotional before work, that is far better than nothing, my friend. Embraced by Lysa TerKeurst is an awesome one! Listen to a good Podcast on your morning commute (another shout out to The Living Easy Podcast! So good!). Most importantly, check your heart and pray away any funk you are feeling before you get around your family.

2- Grace. Empathy. Repeat.

For yourself and for those around you. When something raises your defenses, take a breath. Try to see the intention behind the behavior rather than the action. More often than not, when I act in a way that I am not proud of, it is not my intention to have acted that way. My heart is in the right place, even if my action is not. We need to see that in others as well. Show reckless grace, in the same way that Jesus has shown it to you.

3- Pray, pray pray!

I can’t do it without prayer. On the hard days, I feel like I am constantly asking God for strength. Know that if we ask, He will answer. Sometimes that looks like a simple utterance to Him asking Him to close my mouth and help me to not lose my mama mind, and that is ok!

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” – 2 Peter 1:3

4- Take care of yourself!

As much as you can, get enough rest. Exercise regularly. Eat well. If you struggle with depression or anxiety (postpartum depression mama over here), seek help. See a Christian therapist if you need to. Take the pills if they help. Do what you need to do to set yourself up for success.

I want to honor Jesus in my home by displaying the fruits of the Spirit. I want my husband to feel joy in my presence, and not a constant tension. I want my children to look back at their childhood and have happy memories of good times with a mama that loved them. Not a mama that yelled and lost her mind all of the time. I want my home to be a breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief for all that enter it. So I am reminding myself day in and day out:

If Mama ain’t happy, nobody is happy.

While you’re here, check out my favorite meal planning hack that saves me hours every week!

Meal Plan Monday: May 17th-23rd

May 17, 2021 Leave a Comment

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After a week off for vacation, I am back with this week’s Meal Plan Monday! Filled with fresh flavors, healthier choices and easy directions, this one doesn’t disappoint. I have so much fun curating these not only for my family, but for yours. If you are new around here, make sure you check out my meal-planning mom hack that saves me (and you!) hours every week!

Scroll on to plan, and click the pink links for the recipes!

Monday: Bruschetta-Topped Chicken with Roasted Vegetables and Garlic Bread

Bruschetta is one of our favorites, so when I saw it on top of a chicken breast as a dinner option, I was so game! This looks incredibly easy and absolutely delicious!

Tuesday: Easy Skillet Tacos with Wedge Salad with Chipotle-Ranch Dressing

We take Taco Tuesday pretty seriously around here! These skillet tacos are a fun twist, and any reason to use my Pampered Chef cast iron skillet is a win for me!

Wednesday: Sheet Pan Cheesy Pesto Chicken with Steamed Rice

Pesto is always a yes for me. Cheesy pesto is a no brainer! I am hooked on sheet pan meals these days, too. Easy clean up and tons of flavor. I typically use my Stone Bar pan (hint- they are dishwasher safe now!) and it gives me even more flavor!

Thursday: Chicken and Broccoli Casserole with Honey-Glazed Carrots

If you grew up in the south, casseroles are a way of life. The word “casserole” immediately makes me think of my mama. She is the casserole queen! I admit, I don’t make them nearly as often as she did, and maybe I am doing my kids a disservice! This one looks so good- creamy with some crunch on top! I am excited to try it out. My Cast Iron Bakers are my go-to pan for meals like this!

Friday: Beef Ramen Noodles Sesame-Ginger Salad

For the longest time, I avoided Ramen dishes because it gave me flashbacks to my college days. If you know, you know….

I was browsing the Budget Friendly Meal plan this week because we just got back from a Vegas vacation and I am feeling the pinch. When I saw this pop up, I knew we needed to try it out! Fresh ingredients can spice up even the most basic meals, and I am so excited to give it a whirl!

Saturday: Everything Bagel Chicken with Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli and Tomatoes

Everything Seasoning is life! I love this kind from Trader Joe’s. Chicken breasts covered in it? Yes! We are enjoying these lighter meals this week too, after a week and a half of travel and fast food.

Sunday: Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Hasselback Chicken with Butter Lettuce Salad

I maybe have a problem. I am addicted to hasselback chicken breasts! You can stuff them with almost anything, and it is an easy-but-impressive dinner! A great knife like this super sharp 5″ utility knife makes it so much easier, too. A delicious and healthy way to round out the week!

I love being back in my routine, and I hope this week’s Meal Plan Monday gives you some fresh dinner ideas! Let me know what you are trying!

If you have (or want) a Blackstone Griddle, you have to check out some of our favorite meals to make on ours!

Easy Iced Coffee at Home

May 14, 2021 Leave a Comment

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I’m so excited to share one of my latest obsessions with you guys! illy was sweet enough to send my tired mama self a case of their Classico Cold Brew to try out and review for ya’ll, and it did not disappoint! If you love coffee, you seriously need to go ahead and order yourself some. This easy iced coffee is a super flavorful afternoon pick me up that both my husband and I have been enjoying thoroughly. Scroll on to see how I make mine!

I always make my iced coffees in our stainless tumblers (grab this cute leopard print one here) to keep it cold longer so I can sip slow. I fill the cup about half full of ice.

Just pop open a can of illy Cold Brew and pour over it.

Add cream and your favorite sweetener to taste. You could also get crazy and make this mocha my adding chocolate syrup or flavor it with coffee flavoring syrups (I linked some of my favorite below).

Stir and enjoy!

Told you guys. Mad easy, and it saves me my afternoon Dunkin’ run. Which, in turn saves us money!

I had honestly not really heard much about illy until recently. I saw one for the first time on our trip to Las Vegas this week. Definitely a new name on the coffee market to me and I am so excited to support them. They are for sure going to be a big hit!

You can save 10% on 6 coffees shipped straight to your door using this link and code COFFEE10! If you like espresso, you can even score a free espresso machine when you sign up for their capsule subscription!

Have you tried illy? If so, tell us what you think!

Check out some of these gorgeous tumblers on Etsy!

While you’re here, check out my favorite meal planning hack that saves me hours every week!

The Best Blackstone Griddle Recipes

May 12, 2021 Leave a Comment

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The sun is shining. The weather is finally warming up. You have dusted off your grilling tools and are standing in front of your brand new Blackstone Griddle (if you haven’t joined the club, you need to! Grab one here). Or maybe you have had one for years and want to play around with some new recipes. Whatever your level of expertise, I’ve put together a list of some of the best Blackstone Griddle Recipes to help you kick off your grilling season right! Try some of these crowd pleasers and be the griddle master! (Since we started living the Full Time RV Life, we love our Blackstone even more!)