Breakfast From Food Storage

I was in a hurry this morning.  I needed to finish a few things around the apartment before watching my granddaughters dance this afternoon via live feed from Nationals in Kansas City.  (Who am I kidding.  I am retired.  I don't have a schedule.  Just makes me sound important to pretend to have one.)  At any rate, I decided to go with quick and easy for breakfast, which turned out to be lunch as well.

I buy very few convenience foods, so the ones I have are usually homemade.  Today I had a hankering for biscuits and sausage gravy.

A few weeks ago I made some homemade Bisquick mix, so I used it to stir up a pan of biscuits.  They were good.  Not as good as my homemade from scratch biscuits, which are awesome, but good, none the less.  While the biscuits were baking, I got out a jar of homemade chicken gravy mix and got a couple cups of gravy heating on the stove.  When it had thickened, I added a half-pint jar of home canned crumbled sausage and let it simmer.  Some say that you should not can sausage that contains sage, but this sausage has sage in it, and it turned out really good.  In the time it took to bake the biscuits, breakfast was ready.

I love my food storage.  It makes life so much easier for me.  I now go to the grocery only to replenish what I have used or if there is something on sale that week that I want to buy.  Last winter when the snow was falling and the sidewalks were full of ice, I only had to go out to the store a couple of times, and that was by choice and not by necessity.  Sometimes folks laugh at me when I am busy canning hamburger or tomato sauce or peaches.  They can't figure out why I bother.  After all, those things are on the store shelves, so why go to all that work.

In the middle of winter when it is cold and windy, or in the summer when storms are predicted and people are standing in line to buy a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, that is when I have the last laugh, because I am snug in my little apartment, happily doing whatever I want to do without having to run to the store.

Here are the recipes for my homemade convenience foods.  I have gleaned these recipes from the internet and have no idea of their original source.

Homemade Bisquick Mix

9 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/3 cup double-acting baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups shortening which does not require refrigeration

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Cut in the shortening (I used a hand held electric mixer) until the mixture resembles cornmeal.  Store in an airtight container.

To make biscuits, stir together 3 parts Mix and 1 part water.  If too sticky, add more mix.  If too dry, add more water.  Gently knead about 10 times.  Cut biscuits, place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned.

Homemade Chicken Gravy Mix
Makes about 2 cups of mix.

1-1/3 cups powdered milk
3/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix well and store in an airtight container.

To use, whisk together 1 part Mix with 2 parts water.  Stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
Note:  I usually quadruple this recipe and store it in quart size canning jars.  I use it not only for gravy, but to thicken chicken stew or chicken pot pie, and often will use it in place of a can of cream soup in a casserole recipe.

Food storage - Makes all the sense in the world to me.