Biscuits

2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425.

Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.

Cut in the shortening. (I use my standalone mixer to do this.)

All at once, add the milk and stir until a soft ball is formed.

Turn the dough onto a floured board or counter and knead 20-30 times. Roll or pat the dough to 1/2" thick and cut with a drinking glass or biscuit cutter into circles. Place the circles onto ungreased baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes.

Options: Just drop the biscuits by the spoonfull if you don't care about the shape.

Cheese Biscuits: Add 1 cup grated cheese before cutting in the shortening and increase the milk to 1 cup.

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They're good plain, but they're also good with a bit of grated cheese added. You could add some garlic powder or minced garlic, chives, or other herbs also. I use my KitchenAid mixer to mix these up rather than doing the hand "cutting in" or the food processor.

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese
4 Tbs shortening
1 cup milk or buttermilk or sour milk

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the cheese and mix that a bit. Add the shortening and mix in (or cut in if you're doing it properly by hand) until well mixed. Add the milk all at once and mix just until moistened.

Drop by soup spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. You should be able to make 9 or 10 good sized biscuits from this.

Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes.

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1 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
2 Tbs. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 5x9 loaf pan.

Mix together sugar, oil, eggs, and milk and beat well. Mix in salt, baking soda, baking powder and nutmeg. Stir in mashed bananas and blend well. Add flour and nuts and stir just until blended.

Put into loaf pan and bake 45-60 minutes.

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If you're like most of us, you're somewhere in the conundrum of needing to save money, but not necessarily having as much time as many of the hardcore frugality books would suggest. I believe in taking a firm stance right in the middle of the road! Read what you can and follow those ideas that make sense to you in your lifestyle. Some new ideas will be easily worked in to your life. Other you can set aside, at least for now.

When I have time, I like to make up a few mixes to use when I don't have time! My kids love nothing better than pancakes for breakfast. I often make a batch on the weekends and then just pop the leftovers into a freezer bag. They can pull them out as needed and toast them, for either breakfast or an after-school snack. I go back and forth on using the baking mix below. Sometimes I use the pancake recipe I included elsewhere. Other times, I use this.

• 4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup instant nonfat dry milk (or buttermilk powder if you prefer)
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening

Combine everything but the shortening and mix well with a wire whisk. Use a pastry blender or a heavy duty mixer to cut in the shortening until it is mixed in thoroughly.

Store in airtight container. Use like any store bought baking mix to make pancakes, muffins, waffles, and biscuits.

Use within 10-12 weeks.

• 2 cups baking mix
• 1 2/3 cup milk (more if you like thinner pancakes)
• 1 egg

• 2 cups baking mix
• 1 egg
• 1 2/3 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons oil

• 2 cups baking mix
• 2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine mix and milk until the dough is stiff and sticky. Knead it on a floured board 8 to 10 times. Roll out until it is 1/2" thick and cut into circles. If you don't have biscuit cutters, use a glass or can. Bake 10 to 15 minutes. Makes about twelve 2" biscuits.

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