Everything was coming along pretty well.  I called my mom five or twenty times while I was preparing the food, mostly so that she could walk me through the gravy making process.  I thought I had it all figured out and soon, it was time for us to enjoy our meal together.

But the gravy.  Somehow between hanging up the phone with mom, calling my boyfriend in for the meal, and serving the food – the gravy (if, in fact, we can call it gravy) had turned into a thick, heavy paste like substance.  How could this have happened?

Never fear.  My boyfriend was very kind.  He simply got a butter knife and spread chunks of gravy onto his meat and potatoes.  Then he proceeded to eat heartily, and even complimented me on the great flavor of the food.

Yeah, he was a nice one all right.  I shouldn’t have let that one get away.  Oh wait.  I didn’t.  A few months after I made him choke on gravy, that nice boy asked me to marry him.  I guess he figured that if he could survive my gravy, we could get through anything – thick and thin.  (Ha, get it?  Thick and thin?  The gravy was thick.  Get it?  Okay, it wasn’t that funny.)

I have since then perfected my gravy making skills, much to the delight of my boyfriend husband, and all of our darling offspring.  Here is my sausage gravy recipe and a picture tutorial that will hopefully spare you all from making the same pasty mess that was once my “gravy”.

Homemade Sausage Gravy

1 pound turkey sausage (I like using this homemade recipe.)
1 Tablespoon plus 3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour (I use freshly ground white whole wheat)
2 1/2 cups milk
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Begin by browning the sausage with one tablespoon of butter in a large skillet until it is cooked thoroughly.

Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, stirring it around until is has melted.

Sprinkle in the flour.  Stir it around with the meat and butter until it is absorbed.

You should now have kind of a thick, meat mixture in your skillet.  Turn the heat on your burner up to “high”.

Pour in the milk, and stir constantly.  I find that I must leave the burner turned to “high” in order for the gravy to thicken.

Continue to stir over high heat until gravy becomes thick and bubbly.  Remove the gravy from the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Trouble shooting your gravy:  If your gravy turns out too thick, simply add more milk, small amounts at a time, continuing to stir, until gravy is the desired consistency.

If your gravy fails to thicken, mix a “paste” of 2 Tablespoons flour with 3 Tablespoons of water.  Stir the mixture into your gravy, little bits at a time until the gravy thickens to desired consistency.  Do NOT sprinkle flour directly into the gravy.  That’s how lumpy gravy is made.  :)

We love this gravy served over these Whole Wheat Biscuits.

Have any fun stories about boyfriends or gravy you’d like to share? :)

I can’t decide which I like best about this dish:  looking at it…or eating it.  I love that the red and green peppers make this fritata look festive for Christmas.   This is very easy to make and can be put together ahead of time and baked just before serving.   If you want to add a little extra protein, throw in some leftover cooked chicken or sausage.

Sweet Pepper Fritata

1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup chopped green pepper
3/4 cup chopped red pepper
2 Tablespoons butter
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Saute onion and peppers in the butter for 5-7 minutes or until veggies are tender and your family comes running into the kitchen to see what smells so good.  Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a bowl.  Stir sauteed vegetables into egg mixture.  Pour into an ungreased pie dish.  Bake in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the fritata comes out clean.  Serves 6-8.

Which would you rather do – look at this, or eat it? Or maybe you could just really enjoy looking at it while you eat it.  ;)

(Be sure to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win one of four $10 gift certificates to the Heavenly Homemakers Shop, as a part of our Christmas Brunch!)

As you know, I’ve done a fair amount of experimenting lately with Coconut Flour (which isn’t a grain, but it does add variety to our healthy baked goods).  Recently, my dear friend Angie sent me this Pumpkin Waffle recipe, and then another dear friend Jenny (who is Angie’s sister) affirmed how good these are – so I went for it.  This recipe calls for several different grains and none of them are wheat.  Look at me, growing in my grain varieties!  Hey, it’s not difficult when you have good recipes like this one.  In fact, my kids loved them and my pickiest eater even said, “Wow, these taste like your homemade donuts!”  I think we have a winner.

Multi-Grain Pumpkin Waffles and Pancakes

1 cup sorghum or barley flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
4 tablespoons maple syrup or sucanat
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups milk (or coconut milk if you’re going for dairy free also)

Whisk together dry ingredients.  Beat the wet into the dry ingredients to combine.   Cook the batter in a waffle iron – greasing well between each batch.  Or, add a few extra tablespoons of milk and cook the batter into pancakes.

I can attest to the fact that it’s best to keep your waffle iron greased well to keep these from sticking.  Otherwise, these were easy to make and incredibly delicious.  And we just added some multi-grain variety to our diets.  It wasn’t even painful.  ;)  Remember, my nine year old thinks these taste like donuts.  That’s a multi-grain transition anyone can make!

What grains do you eat at your house?  Have you ventured beyond whole wheat yet?

I guess that must mean that this dough is definitely a “she”.  He’s can’t multitask as well as she’s can.  This is not an insult to the he’s – no not at all.  I’m thankful that God made males able to focus on one thing well.  We females can multitask so well, it’s sometimes hard for us to focus on just one thing.  Trust me, I’m a she.  I know these things.  (See, like right now I’m typing this, thinking about the meat thawing in my kitchen for lunch tomorrow, making a plan for what to do with the apples on my porch and creating a chore list for my kids – all at the same time.  It’s amazing that my post makes any sense at all.  Case in point.  So far, this post hasn’t made a whole lot of sense.  After all, I’ve just assigned a gender to my whole wheat dough.)

So back to my point, because surprisingly, I really do have one.  I love this Whole Wheat Dough.  I use it a lot.  I think you will love it too.

Versatile Whole Wheat Dough

3 to 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat flour)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup plain yogurt

Mix all ingredients and knead together until a nice dough has formed.  (If you’re using store-bought flour, you will probably not need all 3 1/2 cups of flour.)  You can roll out and use this dough right away, or you can allow it to sit on the counter-top overnight (covered) in order to break down the phytates in the wheat and make it more digestible.

If you do allow the dough to sit overnight, it is best to knead this dough for several minutes before you try to roll it out.  :)

What to Make With This Versatile Whole Wheat Dough

(Click on the links above the pictures to find the specific recipes.)

Pizza Crust

Poptarts

Pigs in a Blanket

Mini Apple Pies and Pockets

Pizza Pockets

I bet if I think real hard, I can come up with several more ways to use this dough.  Have you tried making this dough before or any of the above recipe ideas? You MUST try it – it’s buttery, flaky, healthy, tasty and EASY!

And if you think I’m weird calling my dough a “she” you should hear me talking to my frozen/thawing chickens as I prepare them for soup.  Wouldn’t you just like to be a fly on the wall in my kitchen sometime? Oh the things you would learn about me then.  ;)

But last week when we had some fresh, local peaches in our kitchen, I made a quick and healthy peach syrup that is oh-my-goodness good.

You need exactly two ingredients to make this: peaches and sucanat.  The two together cook to form a syrup.  No water necessary.  :)

Homemade Peach Syrup

3 fresh peaches (or 2 cups frozen)
2 Tablespoons sucanat

Slice peaches into a saucepan.  Stir in sucanat and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the peaches are tender and the ingredients have formed a syrup.

You can add a few shakes of cinnamon if you like.

In case you need them, here is my Simple Soaked Pancake recipe and my Whole Wheat Waffle recipe.

What’s your favorite way to top pancakes and waffles?

As several of you requested, I’m sharing my healthy variations to Crystal’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.  These were a big hit yesterday morning when I served them in our marriage class.

If you’d like to read more about how I adapt a recipe to make it healthier, check out this post.  You’ll find a free, downloadable recipe conversion sheet which you can tack onto your refrigerator to reference when you need to convert a recipe.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (adapted from MoneySavingMom)

3 cups whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground hard white wheat)
1 – 1 1/2 cups sucanat
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs
2 cups pureed pumpkin (or one 16 ounce can)
1 cup melted coconut oil (or butter)
1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer either homemade chocolate chips or soy free chocolate chips)

In a large mixing bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.  Add eggs, pumpkin and oil.  Mix well.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Spoon batter into 24 paper lined muffin cups.  Bake in a 400° oven for 16-22 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown.

These are easy to put together and make your house smell just like the fall season is supposed to smell.  Pumpkin and cinnamon smell awesome.  Plus, adding chocolate to a muffin never, ever hurts my feelings.  :)

At a recent youth event, my friend Lisa mentioned something about her Coconut Flour Cheese Biscuits.  I immediately dropped my plate and fork, leaped over the couch to the other side of the room and tackled her onto the floor, begging her to please share her recipe.

Of course you know I’m kidding.

Her name is really Louanne.

Okay no, I’m kidding again.

Her name really is Lisa and when she mentioned her Coconut Flour Cheese Biscuits I didn’t actually drop anything or leap over anything or tackle her.  I’m not that crazy.

Yes, kidding again.  You all know I’m crazy.

But still, she was nice enough to give me her recipe without all the drama.  The drama is what I felt inside when I heard that she had a new great coconut flour recipe to offer.

So here, without any shoulder shaking, leg grabbing or tearful pleading is my friend Lisa’s awesome recipe:

Coconut Flour Cheddar Drop Biscuits

¼ cup coconut oil or butter, melted
1/3 cup sifted coconut flour
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Blend together eggs, coconut oil or butter, salt, and onion powder. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in cheese. Drop batter by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. For a cheesier biscuit increase cheese to ¾ cup.

This recipe makes about 10 biscuits.

If you’re curious, here’s a post I wrote explaining more about why I love coconut flour.  And also, one of my readers just let me know that this great deal for coconut flour is back up and running.  How very thoughtful of them to re-stock five minutes before I posted this recipe.  :)

Disclaimer:  No friends were harmed during the acquiring of this recipe.

Have you tried coconut flour yet?  Do you love it?

A few months ago when I went to my friend Tracy’s Shelf Reliance party, I ordered a big can of freeze dried blueberries for an excellent price.  I love having those blueberries on hand – and they work perfectly in these Blueberry Streusel Muffins. 

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard or soft white wheat)
1/3 cup sucanat  (you can use brown sugar or honey if you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup blueberries, fresh, frozen or freeze dried

Mix dry ingredients together well.  Add egg, butter and milk, stirring until all ingredients are mixed.  Gently stir in blueberries.  Scoop batter into 12 paper lined muffin tins.  Sprinkle with Streusel Topping and bake in a 400° for 20 minutes.

Streusel Topping:

3 T. sucanat or brown sugar
1 T. butter, softened
2 T. chopped nuts (optional)

This is one of those easy recipes that your kids can help you make.  I feel like it is super important for you to get your kids into the kitchen with you so that they can learn the basics of cooking. 

In fact, you wanna know a little secret?  I’m frantically working on a (big) new ebook/curriculum that guides you in depth through teaching your kids to cook.  I hope to have this project finished in the next few weeks (months?) so that you can have it when the new school year begins – hopefully?! 

Anyway – now you know.  I’m not sure why I didn’t tell you earlier – it’s too much fun to keep a secret!  I’m super excited about this and hope to create a resource that will be helpful to all.  I’ve even “borrowed” some little girls to help make the book a little more well rounded.  :)

This may be one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on – combining two of my favorite things in the world:  kids and cooking.  Stay tuned for more information about this book as I get closer to finishing it.  And if you hear me squealing at any time during the next few weeks, it’s because I really am having that much fun with this project. 

Yeah, that little darling in the above picture is cute enough to make all of us squeal.  ;)

Coconut flour is high in fiber, high in protein, making it a wonderful addition to your diet.  I find coconut flour at Tropical Traditions or Amazon.  I’m so in love with this stuff that I might just write a post all about it someday soon.

I don’t recommend substituting whole wheat flour in this recipe. Coconut flour and wheat flour are not created equal.  If you want a Whole Wheat Banana Muffin recipe, check out this one!  We love it!

Coconut Flour Banana Muffins

1/2 cup Coconut Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 eggs
4 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, melted
1/4 cup honey
2-3 ripe, mashed bananas
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Mix all ingredients together, then pour batter into a well greased (or paper lined) muffin pan.  Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

I never put nuts in muffins because 5 out of 6 of us don’t care for them in our baked goods.  How ’bout you?  Are you a nutty kind of person?  (I really mean to ask if you like nuts in your muffins…not if you consider yourself to be nuts, but feel free to answer according to how you’re feeling today.)

You know how I mentioned that we go through a lot of eggs at our house?  Six dozen last week to be exact.  This week I was able to get my hands on 11 dozen farm fresh eggs and I am so very excited.  It’s obviously the simple things in life that make me happy…proven by the fact that having 11 dozen eggs available this week for my cooking pleasure has made me almost giddy. 

What do we do with all those eggs you ask?  Well, there are six of us, five are male and four of those five male people can’t seem to get enough food right now.  We also have extra people eating at our house quite often, so our six turns into eight or more on just about any given day.  I bake a lot, so I stir them into whatever I’m baking.  We easily go through an entire dozen for breakfast if I’m making scrambled eggs or a casserole, and more than a dozen if I make crepes.  These Coconut Flour Muffins are incredible…and they take up quite a few eggs.  And, I often put eggs in our smoothies or “milkshakes” for added protein and nutrients.  (Again, let me reinforce that we ONLY eat them raw if they are organic, free range, farm fresh…otherwise I’m afraid of them.)

If I have lots of eggs available to me, I go for it and I don’t hold back!  Eggs are brain food.  I pay between $2.00 and $2.50 for a dozen farm fresh eggs, depending on my source.  For the quality of eggs I’m getting, I consider this to be a great price.  So even though we go through a lot of eggs…what an economical source of nutrition!!!  How else can I feed my family an entire meal for just over $2.00???  (Okay, yes, they eat fruit and stuff with their eggs…you see my point though, right?)

If you haven’t tried our Easy Breakfast Casserole, please go get yourself some eggs and try it.  It’s the simplest little breakfast casserole I’ve ever made and my family eats the whole pan.  Actually…they don’t eat the pan.  Hungry boys though they are, they do have their limits.

I  have now adapted the Easy Breakfast Casserole recipe to become an easy, make-ahead Mini Crustless Breakfast Quiche recipe.  You can make these and serve them fresh, or you can bake them the night before and re-warm them in the oven the next morning for breakfast.  You can even bake them and freeze them to have available for future grab and go meals.  You can make them for lunch or brunch.  These little quiches are super versatile!

Mini Crustless Breakfast Quiche

12 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1  cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar, but you can use whatever cheese you want!)

Begin your quiches by whisking together the eggs, cream, salt and cheese in a large mixing bowl.   Sprinkle in any “add in” ingredients you wish (a total of 1 cup of add-ins).  Stir them around with a fork.  Scoop mixture into 24 well buttered regular sized muffin tins.  Bake in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the middle of each quiche doesn’t jiggle.

Add In Ideas:

Cooked sausage (I have a wonderful recipe for turkey sausage here.)
Chopped ham
Chopped and cooked bacon
Leftover baked potatoes, cut into chunks or shredded into hashbrowns
Sauteed veggies
Raw spinach
Cooked chicken
Taco seasoned meat

Obviously, you can cut this recipe in half to make 12 regular sized muffins sized quiches!

I’m curious, just because I’m fairly certain some of you might be shocked about our egg consumption…how many eggs does your family go through in a week?

This recipe is gluten free!  I’m planning to add this little Gluten Free button to all of the Heavenly Homemakers recipes that are naturally Gluten Free, so you’ll know with one quick glance!