Necessity.....

is the mother of invention, so I'm told.

This winter has been a bugger.  About the time I think I will venture out, the temperature drops and the snow falls and the wind blows.  I just don't do cold well at all.  I admit it.  I am wimpy when it comes to frostbite.

This past summer and fall I screwed up - sort of.  I concentrated on canning meat and Farmer's Market produce.  I also spent time building up my stock of dehydrated vegetables.  I'm glad I did, for I have been eating from those stores all winter.  But what I neglected were the foods that I need to purchase.  I thought that I could get those things over the winter.  We had such mild winters the past several years that I foolishly believed this winter would be no different.  Nope.   Didn't happen.

So since I haven't been able to get out and about as I would like to, I decided to get creative.

My dogs love treats.  I am nearly out of them.  I usually buy the little boxes of doggie treats.  I know that they will survive without treats, but the pooches give me so much enjoyment that it seems only fair to give some happiness back to them.  The recipe I have used before when I make treats calls for oatmeal and eggs, both of which I have been out of for a while.  This recipe requires neither.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Water
3 Cups Flour

Mix all ingredients together to form a dough.
Roll out the dough and cut into long strips, then into the size of treat you want.
Place the treats close to each other on a baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

I made a batch this morning.  The dogs love them.  And they don't cost as much as the store-bought treats.  Win - win.

I am not a huge breakfast eater, but I do like a little something in the morning with my coffee.  Usually I make a couple of eggs with toast.  Or an occasional cookie or three.  But since I am out of eggs that wasn't going to happen, so I tried this recipe I found on katzcradul's YouTube channel.  She has lots of recipes and gardening and canning videos and common sense preparedness information.  The following is word for word.

SAUSAGE-CHEESE BISCUITS
1 pound bulk pork sausage
2 cups all purpose flour (can use 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 white)
5 tablespoons lard (or other solid fat)
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup grated cheddar cheese - mild or sharp
1 cup buttermilk (more or less to make a very sticky dough)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook sausage in skillet, breaking apart into little pieces, just until barely done. Drain and discard sausage grease. Chill flour and fat if possible. Stir dry ingredients together. Mix fat into flour until it resembles course cornmeal. Add cheese and sausage to flour. Stir in buttermilk, just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto lined or greased baking sheet(s). Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until tops are slightly browned. Remove from oven. Place on a rack to cool, and prevent bottoms from getting soft. Eat immediately or store in an airtight container. Leftover biscuits must be refrigerated or frozen. Enjoy!

I made me a batch this morning.  They are to die for.  I used bacon grease that I keep in my fridge and crumbled bulk sausage I had canned this past fall.  I didn't have buttermilk as I keep only powdered milk on hand, so I made some up and used that, and they turned out fine.

Some say when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.  I have never been one to follow the crowd, so I make dog treats and sausage cheese biscuits instead.  And I think I remember a recipe from an old cookbook on cooking during wartime, when supplies were rationed, for a cake made without eggs.

I think I'm on a roll!