Tasty Treats By Michi

Mmmmm biscuits!  I looove biscuits.  Before I was on the diet, KFC was my guilty pleasure and their biscuits and gravy were the best! I hadn't eaten biscuits in over five years  and I thought it was about time I made up my own recipe to stifle the craving.  After a couple of tries, I have finally perfected it!  I personally can't have butter with my biscuits, so I just eat them with eggs and a veggie sausage patty (which is mouth watering good!).  They are also amazing with some light maple syrup. :)

The best part of this recipe is that you can double it and freeze the extra biscuits to eat later on.  That's what I have been doing lately and it's great to be able to have some warm and fresh biscuits every morning with breakfast!

Another awesome part of this recipe is how easy it is.  You may think that it sounds complicated, but you do not even need a mixer to make it (only a bowl, a big spoon, and your hands!) and the 20 minutes prep time spent is definitely worth it, especially if you double the recipe and freeze the rest to enjoy for a couple of weeks.  

Ingredients for Biscuits: 

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 kosher salt
• 2/3 cup of 1% buttermilk, shaken (I use McArthur) 
• 3 tbsp plus 1 tsp of vegetable oil (I use Mazola)
• 1 egg 

Ingredients for Egg Wash: 

• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp of milk (either the buttermilk or skim milk)

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well with a wooden spoon. 

In a separate bowl beat together the buttermilk, vegetable oil and egg.  Pour the egg mixture over the flour mixture and stir to combine with a wooden spoon.   Using your hands, make the dough into a large ball (make sure to grab all the loose pieces that didn't combine with the spoon).  

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough gently for 12-14 strokes.  Then, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out so that it's about 3/4 of an inch thick.  

Cut the dough with a 31/2 inch cookie cutter or biscuit cutter (or whatever you have that is closest to that size).  Roll up the leftover dough into a new ball and then using the pin, roll out the dough again in order to make more biscuits (you don't want to waste any dough!).  

Make the egg wash by whisking together the egg white and milk. 

Put the biscuits on an un-greased baking sheet, brush lightly with the egg wash and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.  This recipe yields about 10-12 biscuits.  

*If you are freezing the extra biscuits, roll out the dough, cut them, and put them into airtight baggies.  Do not bake them!  When you are ready to eat them, take out the frozen biscuits, let them thaw for a minute or so, put them on the cookie sheet and bake as usual.  Note: they make take longer to bake since they are frozen.*

Tip - freeze the extra biscuits in individual portions.  For example, I put two biscuits in each baggy since we only eat two every morning. n

Enjoy this delicious and easy recipe and please leave a comment if you make them! 

This has been a weekend staple at my house for as long as I can remember. The best part about it, is how incredibly easy it is to make.  You can use thick french bread, like I did, or you can use regular sandwich bread.  We usually had it with regular sandwich bread in my house, because that's almost always at hand.  I had some leftover French bread from dinner this weekend and since it was a little stale, this was the perfect thing to make with it!  

Thanks for teaching me how to make this yummy easy recipe, Mom! 

Ingredients: 

•  A few slices of French bread or regular sandwich bread (Figure 2-3 slices per person)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup of skim or 1% milk
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• Cinnamon
• 2 tsp vegetable oil 
• Powdered sugar and maple syrup for topping

Directions: 

Put the milk in a small mixing bowl with the egg and vanilla extract.  Beat the egg until its well incorporated into the milk. Sprinkle cinnamon on top so that there is a generous amount covering the top of the milk. 

Heat a medium or large frying pan with the vegetable oil on medium high heat. Dip each piece of bread on both sides in the milk mixture so its moist but not completely soaked. Put the soaked bread pieces on the frying pan and let simmer and toast on each side (be sure to watch them so they don't burn).  If you use French bread, you should be able to put a few pieces at a time, if you use regular bread, only one piece will probably fit on the pan at a time.  

Serve the toast immediately and top with some maple syrup, powdered sugar, and even fruit if you have it.  Yum! 

The bananas went rotten in the house (it's hard to buy fruit when only two people are eating it!) so I decided to make some banana bread.  I had a momentary freak out because I cannot find my bread loaf pan, but then I decided I would just make banana nut muffins instead.  They came out absolutely amazing!  This is actually a recipe from the Swank MS Diet book, I just altered it slightly.  Yum! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 and 1/2 ripened bananas (black!), about 1 cup when mashed
• 1/2 cup nonfat/low fat plain yogurt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (tasteless oil!)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts plus extra for topping (optional)
• Cinnamon for sprinkling 
• Brown sugar for sprinkling
• Pam for Baking

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

Break peeled bananas in chunks and place in standing mixer.  Blend on low for a few seconds, then on high until bananas are completely mashed and smooth. Add yogurt, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.  Gradually add the oil and mix some more.  

Once the mixture is smooth, gradually add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and mix everything together by hand.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and continue mixing until everything is incorporated and smooth.  

Spray a cupcake pan with Pam for Baking and fill each cup halfway with the batter.  Sprinkle some brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts on the top of each cupcake.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the edges of the cupcakes are slightly browned.  Enjoy this delicious treat! 

Bagel Sandwiches or "Sangwiches", as we like to call them, are my husband and I's favorite breakfast.  When you have fresh bagels, this is the best! Plus, it's pretty easy to make. The "sausage" patties are very delicious and I have served this sandwich to people who hate vegetarian substitutes and they actually loved it. Enjoy! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 whole egg with the yolk
• 1 egg white
• 1 bagel or two pieces of toast
• 1 Morningstar Sausage Patty 
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• Pam cooking spray

Directions: 

When you make this breakfast, you have to do three things at once, so it may take some practice to get it right and have everything hot and ready at once.  

First, start toasting the bagel or bread.  Then, put the sausage patty in the microwave and begin cooking it (this comes out much better than cooking it on the stove).  Make sure the patty is hot and fresh and not sitting out too long waiting for the egg to cook or bagel to toast, it will harden and be a bit inedible.

Once the bagel and sausage patty are starting to toast/cook, begin cooking the eggs. I like to use one whole egg and one egg white so that the egg is bigger and you don't add more fat by adding a second yolk.  Cook the egg over-easy, making sure not to break the yolk. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the egg. 

After the egg is cooked, the bagel is toasted, and the "sausage" patty is ready, put them all together and cut the sandwich in half.  Yum! 

*This little sandwich is also delicious with all egg whites and a wheat bagel or wheat toast.