Life without ... store bought rolls & biscuits

Today I want to talk about making your own biscuits. And I don't mean anything fancy. I'm talking simple drop biscuits.

Before the label reading began, I used to buy all kinds of rolls & biscuits from the stores. Pillsbury & store brands could almost always be found in our fridge. Another thing we always had in house was Bisquick. So between those tubes & that box, we always had the ability to have some bread with dinner, handy. how could one ever give that up? Easy....

First to go were those tubes of rolls. While not that expensive really, they had extra ingredients in them that we didn't need. I moved first to using the fresh baked rolls from Costco & drop biscuits with Bisquick. Then I left the rolls behind altogether for just the biscuits. Then I left Bisquick behind.

So what do I do now? I use a simple recipe from my old trusty cook book. Very simple drop biscuits that taste better than any roll from a tube or store & even better than the ones made with Bisquick.

Here is the recipe I use now:

Baking Powder Biscuits (drop biscuit variation used)
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
For drop biscuits increase milk to 1 cup

heat oven to 450
cut butter into flour, sugar, baking powder & salt in medium bowl, using a pastry blender (my fav) or criss-crossing knives until mixture looks like fine crumbs.
Stir in milk until dough leaves sides of bowl. (next was the actual biscuit rolling out stuff)
Drop dough by 12 spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove immediately from baking sheet.

Now ... I have a non stick sheet & I have not used anything on it & they come off fine. I also use real butter (organic if I have it), non aluminum baking powder, sea salt, organic sugar & organic milk.

They come out so light, & so good....

... that I have no real reason to ever buy them from a store again or waste my money with a box of Bisquick. I now know exactly what is in my food. It doesn't take long when you have a decent pastry cutter & the taste is so worth it!!!

I must note that with the Bisquick I used to make cheesy garlic drop biscuits which were heavenly. I have not yet made those without the Bisquick. I will find a good recipe tho, & try them soon. For now, hubby & I are enjoying the taste of these.

one year later

This post was from my personal blog when I had them separated...
I noticed yesterday that it has been one whole year since I put anything in here. a whole year. Wow. And so much has changed in this last year. We moved to Florida in March. We moved back in August. Hubby worked from September to December 3rd. And he''s been laid off since. While we were in Florida my spiritual side seemed to almost vanish. I spent more time being sad, lonely & depressed than I did enjoying being near family & friends. I learned there are fewer real friends than I thought. I learned you can't ever really go home. I learned you can't step back into a world you left because time changes you.

The spiritual side of me seriously went dormant while we were away form here. Is it back? Not quite to my liking yet, but I can say I feel so much better, even with the current circumstances, being back up here. That has to mean something.

So one of the main reasons we went was to be there for my husbands father. He has made pretty much a total recovery. My mom is doing alright, but she put things in a way that made me love her even more. When we told everyone we were leaving & coming back here my mom was sad. But she understood because we told her how miserable we were, trying to live there. She told me how she wished all her family could be right there but she knows we all have to live our lives. I love her for that.

In my last post I talked about how this Valley seems to be a stopover for many. I know now that our time here was not finished. I'm not sure what exactly we have to do here, but I vow to try & enjoy every minute of it. I have noticed that since we've been back, I have felt a pull to be more ... in tune with Nature & learn more. Now I just need to find the discipline to accomplish that.

I also mentioned that I saw us not staying in Florida forever. Seems that was true, & even much shorter than I thought. Do I still see us going to the southwest? I'm not sure. I have been so wrapped up in being back 'here' I have not given it much thought.

I also said I had made peace with moving. I think I lied. I tried to convince myself that I had made peace with it. I tried to convince everyone else too, that it was what we needed to do. We did it & we can't undo it. All we can do now is learn from it.

I hope this year brings lots of learning for me.

Life without ... a microwave

I've not had a microwave now since mid October of last year. Amid the downsizing we did last year one of the many things that went was our microwave. I just figured once we were settled, we'd look at getting a new one.

Our kitchen here is rather small with limited counter space. I looked around for a small microwave for awhile. But the money we had was going quick & I could not decide on whether to spend the money or not, so I didn't. The more I thought about it & the more I talked with my hubby, the more we decided that we really could do without one.

I have heard & read about micro waves & what they can do. They are not exactly good for us to be exposed to. They cant be all that good for the food either. Besides, we lived without them before...

So here we are, living happily without one. People wonder how do we heat up leftovers? Well, either in a skillet or in the oven. Simple. And I have to say, everything tastes so much better than when it was just reheated in the microwave. And once you get used to it, it really doesn't take that long. What about popcorn? We bought a hot air popper. I love the taste. Melt a little butter to drizzle over it with some sea salt & you have a fabulous dessert or snack. Yes, real butter. And salt. It's all about moderation!

I used to eat Kashi frozen meals for lunches. Well, without a microwave, that would take forever to heat in the oven so ... I just don't eat that anymore. And I don't buy things anymore that are meant to be heated in the microwave. Simple as that.

Now, there have been a few occasions where we have said it would have been nice to have one. I heat water in a kettle on the stove for hot drinks. We don't have leftover coffee to reheat so that is a none issue. If there was any left, I would just turn the coffee maker back on & let it reheat that way. Or, I could put it in a pot on the stove & heat it. I know, coffee connoisseurs are gagging at those thoughts. But I'm not one of them. Mostly we just don't have coffee left over!

There ya go .. you can live life without a microwave. And you can enjoy it! Honestly. In certain aspects of daily life you have to make adjustments for this. But, it's not a big deal. It all comes down to a choice we make. Will we ever have one again? Maybe. But I honestly think all it would get used for is a clock, maybe a timer & to have a way to heat up heat packs.

Can you live without one?