Tuesday Tips (on Wednesday): Saving money on dinner!

Before I begin today's post, I have to share with you that a dear friend of mine (who assisted in the birth of my daughter -- the woman held my leg for 2 hours while I pushed!) is currently in ICU and may not make it through the day.  She suffered some sort of severe heart condition yesterday (attack or failure) and is bleeding internally from her liver.  Surgery this morning was unsuccessful to stop the bleeding.  She is on medication to try to stop it, and her blood pressure seemed to be stabilizing earlier.  Another surgery today would compromise her vitals, so if she makes it through the day, they will try again tomorrow.  Please pray for her, her husband, and for her family.  She is 35 and has 5 daughters (ages 3-15).

Today's tip is about saving money on your grocery budget by serving breakfast for dinner.  We usually have some sort of breakfast food once a week or once every other week for dinner.  Another great way to save is to serve a non-meat meal...if I do this, I usually try to serve some sort of beans or something with protein.  Last night we had Chip Beef Gravy over Buttermilk Biscuits, Scrambled Eggs, and Fruit.

Buttermilk Biscuits (printable recipe HERE)

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup buttermilk

Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl:

Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.

Add buttermilk (or in this case, milk with a splash of lemon juice):

Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened:

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 or 5 times.  Roll dough to 1/2-inch thickness; cut with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter.

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.  

Bake at 425* for 13 to 14 minutes or until biscuits are lightly browned.

This recipe comes from the following book that I received as a wedding gift.  It is a go-to book for many recipes!

this is what my kitchen sink looks like after I make biscuits:

Chip Beef Gravy (printable version HERE)

4 tbsp. margarine

4 tbsp. flour

2 pkgs. smoked beef slices, chopped into pieces

3-4 cups milk

1 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

Just a note -- the smoked beef is CHEAP (like less than $1 per pack):

Melt the margarine in frying pan.  Add the chopped beef and fry for about 1 minute:

(LOOK at all that butter!  Paula Dean would be proud!)

Sprinkle the flour over this mix:

Stir until evenly distributed:

Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly.

Season with salt and pepper.  Let mixture thicken over medium heat.  Serve over toast or biscuits.

This recipe comes courtesy of my mom, who received it from a friend from church.  It can be found in the following cookbook, of which I am privileged to own the ONLY copy. :-)

Today I'm linking up over at Courtney's blog...check it out!