Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Who knew? Who knew, I could have something so yummy one might think it came from a restaurant in my own home, certainly not I.

Tonight I was puttering around in the kitchen, preparing to pan fry our turkey mignons when a thought struck me. Biscuits, I wanted biscuits for dinner. However, I didn't want ordinary biscuits. I NEEDED wanted biscuits with a hint of garlic, biscuits filled with cheddar goodness.

I gathered up some ingredients:

• baking mix, we had Jiffy brand on hand. I found that Jiffy tastes as good as that brand in the big yellow box, but is about a dollar cheaper.
• milk
• garlic powder
• cheddar cheese

1. Measure out baking mix according to recipe on box. Since we are a small family, I halved the recipe.
2. Add some garlic powder. I did not measure it out, just sprinkled it on. 
3. Mix the garlic and baking mix together.
4. Grate your cheese and add to the mixture. I simply cut a hunk of cheese about the width of two fingers off my 10oz. block, probably about 1 oz.
5. Add required liquid. My baking mix called for milk. 
6. Stir 
7. Spoon onto cookie sheet. I use my Pampered Chef stoneware so I do not worry about my baked goods sticking. If I were to use my metal cookie sheet, I would have used parchment paper to line my pan first.
8. Bake as directed

My recipe made 6 biscuits. Miss M ate three biscuits, so definitely a hit with the kid.

Enjoy

Roasted Vegetables

Mr. Wheeler LOVES roasted vegetables, a fact I have just recently learned after almost 12 years of marriage. Tonight I made roasted vegetables, and tonight I took the easy way out.

• 2 medium sized red potatoes (remember we are a small family of three)
• 2 medium sized red onions
• 2 carrots
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 packet of Lipton's onion soup mix
• splash of olive oil

1. Wash your potatoes, cut them into similar sized chunks. Place potatoes into a zip-loc bag, or if you prefer a bowl that will be large enough to mix all your ingredients.
2. Peel onion. Leave a smidge of the root attached so that when you cut your wedges your onion maintains its shape. Cut onion into wedges, I cut each of my onions into 6 wedges. Add to cut potatoes.
3. Peel (or not depending on preference) carrots, cut into similar sized chunks. My carrots were like me, short and squat, so I cut them in half. Then I cut the bottom halves into half again and the tops into fourths. Add to other cut vegetables.
4. Peel garlic and add to other vegetables. I have taken to buying my garlic already peeled, it is just easier for me since we use a fair amount of garlic in our house.
5. Sprinkle vegetables with soup mix, add enough oil to coat vegetables evenly. I love to use a zip-loc bag for this step because then I can close it up and give it to Miss M to shake it up. She LOVES to help in the kitchen.
6. Spread coated vegetables on baking sheet. 
7. Bake at 350F for at least 45 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Tonight I baked them at 350F for 25 minutes and then at 425F for 20 minutes when I added my chicken to the oven. Turned out great.

Enjoy!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

We LOVE potatoes at the Wheeler house. However since doing the South Beach Diet a few years ago we have trained ourselves to restrain on indulging ourselves too often. When we do have potatoes they are usually mashed and either Garlic Mashed or Ranch Mashed. I'll save the Ranch Mashed recipe for another day....

If you are in a hurry you can just peel your potatoes, cut them into cubes, place them in a saucepan with a pinch of salt and enough water to cover them. Then you can add a few peeled cloves of garlic to the pan to boil along with the potatoes. They will mash up real nicely. Along with our love of potatoes we also LOVE garlic, so we are usually heavy handed around here. This is a recipe with no actual measurements, when it comes to the garlic, use amounts your family will enjoy. Using this method makes the garlic taste strong and sharp.

Today I had some time on my hands so I decided to roast my garlic. Roasting your garlic will make the garlic subtle and sweet. First I cut the top off my head of garlic. Then I placed the head of garlic on a piece of tin foil set in a small baking dish. After I drizzled olive oil, salt, and pepper on the garlic, I covered it in the foil.


I baked the garlic in the oven at 350 degrees Farenheit for about an hour. You know the garlic is done when it is soft. Let the garlic cool completely. Once the garlic has cooled, squeeze it to get the cloves out of the skin.

Once you are this far you can store your garlic in the refrigerator for about a week.

Tonight I peeled and cut enough potatoes to feed the two of us. Boiled them in salted water. When they were done I drained the water and then put them back on the burner that I turned down to low. Doing this will allow any extra water to evaporate. About half of my roasted garlic were added to my cooked potatoes, then I mashed my potatoes and garlic. Once they were mashed I added about 2 TBsp of butter cut into small pieces to my mash. A Dash of salt and fresh ground pepper will make your potatoes even tastier. Finally I add a couple of dollops of sour cream. Stir well, taste, if you like more sour cream then add more...this recipe is all about what tastes good to you and your family.

Tonight we had this with Fast Marinated Flank Steak.


Enjoy!