My husband grew up enjoying his Granny’s homemade chocolate gravy & biscuits when he would visit her house. He has talked about this tradition many times over the years, and I always thought I would try to make it sometime. I kept putting it off because I’m not an experienced gravy maker, and I thought it would be difficult. It’s not!
Granny is visiting with us right now, so I wanted to make this family favorite for her & Hubby to enjoy…and to introduce it to our daughter to pass on the tradition.
It turned out so YUMMY, and was simple to make. I admit, I was a little nervous in the middle of the cooking process because I thought it wouldn’t thicken up, but it all turned out perfect and just required a bit of patience.
Want the recipe? Ok, I’ll share! I didn’t take pictures of the process, but I’ll try to do that next time.
CHOCOLATE GRAVY
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup butter
* 4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 2 cups milk
Directions:
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add cocoa and flour, then stir until thick. Stir in sugar and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick. This will take several minutes, so be patient – it’s worth the wait!
This is best served immediately, but the cold leftovers are also very tasty!
** Click here for a printable version of the chocolate gravy recipe **
I also made homemade biscuits to pour the gravy over, although it’s good enough to just eat with a spoon! If you want a good recipe for biscuits, here is a great one from the AllRecipes website.
I came across an article in Eating Well magazine from their Nov/Dec 2010 issue discussing food dyes. I already knew that synthetic dyes are scary stuff, as we have been avoiding them in our family for 3.5 years now, but it’s nice to see more studies being done. In some countries, these dyes are banned completely, but that hasn’t happened (yet!) in the United States.
In this particular study mentioned in the article it was found that,
“children who consumed a mixture of common synthetic dyes displayed hyperactive behavior within an hour of consumption”
We’ve seen plenty of evidence of that in our daughter, that’s for sure!
We are talking about the dyes listed in the ingredient list as a color followed by a number such as: Blue 1 and 2, Citrus Red 2, Green 3, Red 3 and 40, Yellow 5 and 6. Do your own research on the ingredients and dangers of these toxins. Did you know they are made from tar and petroleum? Yuck! Who wants to eat crude oil?
One thing to note as you are looking at the labels is that the terms “artificial color,” “artificial color added” or “color added” indicate that nature-derived pigments were used since synthetic dyes must be listed by their names.
Start watching the ingredients of the foods you buy, and I bet you will be surprised how many of them contain these synthetic dyes. Vanilla pudding, and even white marshmallows contain dyes to get it “just the right shade”. M&Ms, cereals, chewing gum, Kool-Aid, Jello, maraschino cherries, Doritos, Sun Chips – it’s everywhere!! Some blueberry waffles don’t even have blueberries in them – just blue colored bits.
Good News! There are healthier alternatives available. We’ve been able to find comparable dye-free substitutes for just about everything (Except candy corn! Someone make an organic version, PLEASE!). If you are looking for some dye-free candy alternatives for your family and you don’t have a Whole Foods Market nearby, check out NaturalCandyStore.com! We shop from them frequently, stocking up on things like candy canes for Christmas and cotton candy before we go to the fair. Right now they have lots of cute natural Valentine Candy available!
If you are looking for other suggestions to replace dye-filled foods in your pantry, let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction. We’ve had no trouble having cupcakes with sprinkles, ice cream sundaes with cherries, or even cereal with marshmallows – it’s just about finding the right products.
Obviously, this isn’t a problem when eating meat, veggies, fruits, and whole grains. That’s why I only focused on all the sweet treats in my suggestions. I find that a lot of parents are afraid to make the change because their kids are used to having these treats and they don’t want to take them away from them. You don’t have to – just switch to a better product. For their sake – and yours!
Strawberries & Cream Crepes, served with a side of “Cheesy Eggs”
My husband is the King of Crepes! Before Bug was born, Hubby’s mom bought us a crepe pan and a crepe cookbook. Those 2 things are in the top 5 most-used gifts we’ve received! We’ve had to replace the pan a couple times since because we use it SO often for all sorts of things. He can even flip them!! See?
Recently we had our first try at making Gluten Free pancakes, and they were delicious! We couldn’t tell the difference from what we used to make. We made Strawberry & Cream Crepes. YUM!! Make them yourselves, and see what you think.
Crepe Batter Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups milk OR your favorite dairy free milk substitute
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter OR light olive oil
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour mix (Use your favorite – we used Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
Light olive oil or canola oil to grease skillet
Preparation:
Crêpe Batter- Pour milk, egg, melted butter OR olive oil and vanilla into a blender pitcher or a medium mixing bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together and add to the blender or mixing bowl. Blend or whisk just until combined and smooth. The batter should be the consistency of thin pancake batter. Add more milk, one teaspoon at a time if the batter is too thick.
Note-Batter can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to one day. (We always make it the day before)
Directions:
Heat a low-sided 8-inch skillet or crêpe pan over medium high heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon oil to the skillet and brush to coat the bottom of the skillet. (Do this before making each crêpe) Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the heated skillet. Swirl the skillet until the bottom of the pan is covered with batter. Cook the crepe for about 1 minute- the crepe should be barely moist on top. Use a thin spatula to loosen the edges of the crêpe, slide the spatula under the crêpe and gently flip it upside down. Cook for about one more minute, just until golden and transfer crêpe to a cooling rack or plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.
We turn the oven on 200 degrees F, and place the cooked crepes on a cookie sheet to keep warm if using right away.
Filling:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
Mix together by hand, or in a food processor.
Topping:
I took a bowl full of frozen (no-sugar-added) strawberries, microwaved till soft, added 1/4 cup or of sugar, then tossed it all in the Vitamix and pureed till smooth. Use your favorite berry, or a mixture!
Assembly:
Place crepe on plate.
Put 1/4 cup or so of filling down the middle of crepe.
Fold like a burrito – tops/bottoms in, then roll from one side.
Yesterday, I had a meeting to go to that took me just a couple blocks away from a very dangerous place. A place that could seriously affect my budget, and my health. A cute little popcorn store that sells gourmet popcorn.
They have a combination I like to call “Bliss” – a mixture of White Cheddar & Caramel popcorn mixed together. You can have a bite of sweet. You can have a bite of salty. Or, you can get crazy and put them both in your mouth at the same time for a moment of pure bliss. MMMM!
Dangerous I tell you! I bought a medium size bag to bring home to the family, and a “mini” bag to take with me to the meeting. I did offer to share, and a few took me up on it, but I’m still sure I managed to eat at least half the mini all by myself. I enjoyed every single bite, too!
I also just noticed on the website that they have a dark chocolate popcorn. I never noticed that in the store before. Guess I’ll have to go back
One of our favorite things about summer is enjoying sweet, juicy watermelon! This summer, we made a new twist on an old favorite. It’s tasty enough to be a treat, and healthy enough to have for breakfast!
Servings: We made this for 3 people, but there was plenty of everything to make twice that many as long as you have more bananas!
Difficulty: Super Easy!
Prep Time Needed: 10 minutes for chopping fruit
Cook Time Needed: None!
Ingredients:
3 bananas
Medium sized watermelon sliced in half (you will at least need a large piece a few inches thick for making the scoops)
1 cup diced fresh blueberries
1 cup diced fresh strawberries
1 cup diced pineapple (fresh or canned)
3 TB strawberry all-fruit preserves, heated
1 cup your preferred yogurt (we use plain, nonfat yogurt and sweeten with honey or applesauce)
1/2 cup grated unsweetened coconut
Directions:
1. Slice bananas lengthwise and place in bowl.
2. Using an ice cream ball scoop, top bananas with 3 scoops of watermelon.
