Sausage, Biscuits, and Eggs

I am so excited to finally be able to add these recipes.  The sausage and eggs could have been added weeks ago, but a healthy biscuit has long eluded me.  Finally . . . . BISCUIT SUCCESS!!!  I will add photos and more egg recipes during the coming weeks.  And remember that eggs are not just a great breakfast.  They are a great quick lunch or supper as well.  Enjoy them anytime!!

Sausage

Combine the following:

1 pound ground turkey, beef, or venison

2 teaspoons sage (I prefer rubbed sage, but ground is fine)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (for a mild sausage, adjust to taste)

Now if you can do this about 12-24 hours ahead and let those seasonings mix and mingle in the frig, it will add depth to the flavor.  Even if you can't and you need to cook it right away, you will be pleased to find this an outstanding substitute for sausage with additives, preservatives and artificial flavors.  If you would like to make patties, it is helpful to add 1 raw egg to the mix - especially if you are using a very lean meat.  That is all there is to it - a great alternative to pre-seasoned sausage. 

Soaked Whole Grain Biscuits

Combine the following well and soak overnight (at least 8 hours) at room temperature:

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups live-cultured buttermilk or kefir

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted but just warm

Using a spatula or wooden spoon fold or stir in:

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder (aluminum free!!)

1 tablespoon sucanat (natural sugar)

1 teaspoon salt

Work that in as best you can and then dump onto a well-floured (unbleached flour) surface.  Finish mixing in those ingredients by kneading gently,  adding unbleached flour as necessary to create a very soft, but not sticky dough.  Don't add too much flour!!!!  Your dough should be very soft.  Too much flour will make a very heavy biscuit.  Don't overwork the dough!!  Just gently knead it until it is well mixed and smooth and very soft.

Pat the dough into a 9X13 rectangle.  Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 24 squares (You can cut with a round cutter if you want to.  I just think this is easier and no scraps left to re-roll.)  Transfer these squares to a well greased 13X9 stoneware pan or a large round cast-iron skillet.  I use expeller-pressed sunflower oil.  Turn the biscuits once in the oil.  They do not have to be soaked in oil (like my daddy does), but they do need enough oil to make them easy to pull apart once cooked (There is a method to his madness - besides they taste good and form a good crust with a little oil).  It is important that these biscuits be cooked close together - they should be touching in the pan before they are baked.  This will provide the support needed for a high rise - they will be light and fluffy.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes - until they are nicely golden brown.  I have reduced the heat slightly from my dad's recipe because the soaked wheat seems to cook a little slower and I didn't want them over-brown.  Your oven may bake slightly different - adjust the temperature as needed.  A very hot oven is necessary for a quick rise.

That's it - simple and even easier than cutting in butter or shortening.  It is really healthy, too.  Everything you could want in a biscuit and one that I will gladly serve every week.  My kids are relieved that I have finally found biscuit success and they have requested a double recipe on future egg days .

Fried Eggs

Most anyone can cook a fried egg, so I'm sure you are wondering why I would put this in here.  But I have struggled with cooking on non-stick cookware.  I know that there are chemicals in the non-stick surface that can leach into your food.  It is easy to give that up for lots of things, but when it came to frying eggs . . . I just couldn't fry an egg without making a terrible mess of the egg and the pan.  But I can now finally use my heavy bottom stainless steel skillet for frying eggs without breaking yolks and without a stuck on mess that is difficult to clean.  YEA!!

I thought that I would have to have those eggs swimming in oil, but not so.  It does require about 1/2-1 teaspoon of coconut oil or butter per egg, but the real key is LOW heat.  Preheat your small skillet on low heat for just a minute.  Add your butter or oil and let it coat the bottom of the pan.  Gently add your egg(s) to the skillet and cook on low until the white is really white and solid - no longer clear and runny.  Gently turn the egg and cook as desired.  We like ours very soft fried.  So we only cook a few seconds after turning.  Remove to a platter and add more butter/oil for the next eggs.  The eggs absorb little of the oil - so you will need to add less for your next round.  There is very little mess.  It almost never sticks and I almost never break a yolk. 

Our Favorite Pancakes

These are a soaked grain pancake that is hearty and delicious.  We most often serve it with Maple-Yogurt and fresh fruit, but it is even better with real maple syrup.  That is a treat!!  You can also add fresh/frozen blueberries to the batter for a very nice blueberry pancake.  We have these almost every Saturday morning.  I hope you enjoy them, too.  By the way, leftovers make a great snack or they freeze well. 

I would like to give credit for this recipe.  It is not my own and I use it just as it was given to me.  I do not know the lady's name.  It was an online connection from years back.  She had many children, too.  Thank you for blessing our family with this recipe.

Mix the following, cover lightly and let it soak overnight at room temperature:

3 cups rolled oats

2 cups whole wheat or other whole grain flour

3 cups buttermilk or kefir

1 cup plain yogurt

In the morning, add:

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 Tablespoons honey

4 eggs

nuts or blueberries, optional

Your mixture will be thick and a bit gummy.  Cook on a medium hot griddle until brown on each side.  They cook a little slower than regular pancakes because of the thick batter - so a lower heat is necessary to get them done all the way through.  Delicious!!!!

Soaked Grain Cranberry Nut Muffins

This is another soaked flour muffin.  Soaking in a slightly acidic liquid helps to break down the proteins in the flour so that they are easier to digest and so that the nutrients are more available for absorption.  These are some of my kids very favorites! 

The day before (12-24 hours before you need them), soak the following in a glass bowl:

3 cups whole wheat flour

the zest of 1 large orange

the juice & pulp from 1 large orange plus:

enough buttermilk (or kefir or a 1:1 mixture of plain yogurt and water) to equal 2 cups of liquid when combined with the orange juice

In the morning you are going to find a goopy mess. (If you have made the banana muffins, you know what I mean).  Continue on, you did it just right.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Add the following to your soaked flour:

3 eggs

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup maple syrup, honey, or natural sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil, cooled to warm

1/2 bag of cranberries (6 ounces), chopped or not

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Stir this together until it makes a batter.  It will happen.  It doesn't even take that long, it's just different than you have done it before.  It will look something like this:

Plop your batter by 1/4 cup fulls into your greased muffin pans - till they are about 3/4's full. Place the pans in your hot oven and bake for about 20 minutes.  You might have to adjust the temperature depending on your oven.  These cook a little slower than most muffins and you don't want them to get over brown before they are done in the middle.  At 20 minutes I usually take 1 muffin out and break it in 1/2.  If it looks done, but is gooey, I turn the oven down and let it cook another 5-10 minutes.  Once they are done, remove to a wire rack and let them cool for a few minutes.  These muffins freeze very well so any extras can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for a month or two. 

Rebecca made this display and took the photo.  It is making me hungry.  I think I'll go start some more muffins . . . I can enjoy them sometime tomorrow night .  It is a price worth paying for nourishing foods!

Soaked Grain Banana Muffins

These muffins use a technique that you may not have ever used before - soaking your whole grain flour to make the nutrients more available for your body and to make it easier to digest.  Look for a page on the soaking process soon.  You don't have to understand it to try the recipes.  They are really easy - just a different way of preparation.

12-24 hours before you want the muffins (I do it sometime the day before we want these for breakfast):

Soak: 3 cups of whole grain flour (wheat, spelt or kamut)

         2 cups of cultured buttermilk or 1 cup plain yogurt mixed with 1 cup water

Stir together well in a glass bowl.  Cover and leave on the counter overnight (12-24 hours).

In the morning you are going to stir your flour and find a goopy mess.  Congratulations!  You did it just right.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add the following to the soaked flour and mix well:

3 eggs

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup maple syrup, honey, or natural sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large ripe bananas, mashed

chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Now you can stir that as you add things or you can dump it all in and stir at the end.  I usually have J.T. stirring as I add the ingredients.  Now J.T. is 3 so you can imagine that it is not a thorough stirring, but that is the way I do it.  If your butter or oil is hot from melting - don't pour it right on the eggs .  Ask me how I know.  The texture is going to be different than a muffin batter that you are used to.  But just stir it up really good.  I take over the stirring at the end so that it is really combined well.

Grease your muffin pans.  Plop a big scoop of batter in each cup - about 1/4 cup or 3/4's full.  This recipe will make about 2 dozen muffins - if that is too many for you, they freeze really well.  (I triple the recipe so we'll have some left over for snack.)  Now, place them in the hot oven and wash up the dishes - there is only one bowl, one stirring spoon, and a measuring cup or two.  That is my favorite part!!  They will need to bake about 20 minutes, but watch them.  They cook a little slower than a regular muffin.  You might need to turn the oven down to 350 in order for them to get done all the way through without being over brown.  I bake mine on 350 convection with 4 muffin pans in the oven at once.

Once they are done, remove, cool just a bit, and enjoy.  These hold over really well - so if you need to make them the night before, just start the soaking before breakfast and make them after supper.  If you need to hold them longer than that, place them in a bag in the refrigerator.  They are very moist and a real food - they spoil quickly at room temperature.  They also freeze nicely.

Hope you enjoy this very healthy version of an old favorite!!

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is probably the most common hot breakfast cereal.  This post will cover regular rolled oats and steel cut oats that can be cooked in the crock pot.  Our family prefers the steel cut oats, but we eat both.  They are both soaked for 12-24 hours.  Someday I'll post more about why this makes them so much better for you, but for today just know that the soaking in a slightly acidic solution helps to break down everything in the grains that is difficult to digest.  It also makes everything that is good for you more available for absorption.  Ancient peoples around the world always soaked their grains before cooking.  There is wisdom in the old ways - even if they didn't know exactly why they did it.  They did do it and now we are beginning to realize that instant everything is not better.

That being said, please do not buy instant oatmeal - or the little packets of flavored stuff.  You can make all those varieties for yourself and with the benefit of a truly nutritious breakfast.  Here is how:

Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

I believe that 2 cups of oats will serve about 4 people.  I cook 7-8 cups for 12 people, but I know that the boys eat more than 1 serving.  The ratio of oats to water is 1:2. 

Crock Pot Steel Cut Oats

Different crock pots cook differently.  These directions work well in mine (I cook 3 cups oats and 12 cups water in a large crock).  Experiment to find what works well in your slow cooker.  This is my favorite breakfast on busy days.