Food Storage Friday: Best-Ever Buttermilk Biscuits

Brittany here. I'd like to introduce you to the yummiest biscuit recipe I own. I recognize that biscuits aren't the healthiest everyday fare and contain trans fats from the shortening, and I feel I ought to advise you to make these only occasionally to keep your arteries clear. However, I will not be turning down any such biscuit--steaming and flaky--fresh out of the oven, now or especially during a crisis. But that's just me.

Ingredients: homemade Bisquick recipe (or see recipe below for from-scratch ingredients), cream of tartar, baking soda, powdered milk to make milk and lemon juice to sour it, and sugar.

Combine all dry ingredients, add the buttermilk (1 T. lemon juice or vinegar + milk to equal 1 cup), and stir together.

Knead gently on floured surface, only 10 to 12 times. Don't over-knead or your biscuits will be tough.

I can't remember where I read this, but it was a genius idea: instead of rolling out your dough and using a biscuit cutter or a cup, just cut it into squares. That way you won't have to keep rolling out the extra dough, which risks making your biscuits tough.

My claim to fame is that I used the pizza cutter to cut them. Note that it didn't help make my pieces equal, though. That's why my husband is the pizza slicer around here.

Place on pan and put in oven at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Oh, mama.

These are seriously fabulous. Really. But just make them twice a year, okay?

Best-Ever Buttermilk Biscuits (Better Homes and Gardens Complete Book of Baking)

2 c. all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
2 t. granulated sugar
1/2 t. cream of tartar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 c. shortening
2/3 c. buttermilk

1. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Cut in shortening with pastry blender. Add buttermilk and stir just until moistened. Knead gently on floured surface only 10 or 12 times. Roll or pat out, and use a biscuit cutter to make circles or a pizza cutter to make squares. Bake in 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Serve warm, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Bean Series: Dry Beans - Cost Comparison and Conversion (Guest Post)

This is the second article in a 4-part bean series. Check out the entire bean series: Week 1, Week 3, Week 4.

Cost Comparison

Are dry beans really cheaper? How much cheaper? I wanted to find out. I estimate canned beans to be running about 60 cents per can these days, and dry beans around $1.20 a pound.

Since a pound of dry beans makes the equivalent of four cans of beans, that would be about 30 cents per can, plus electricity for cooking. I finally found a page that gives the per-hour cost of running an electric stove: 7.5 cents. So if you cook your beans for two hours, you'll pay 15 cents. That would make 45 cents total, and if you cook more than one "can" of beans at a time, you'll pay even less as you can split the cost.

Canned beans: 60 cents for 1 1/2 cups

Dry beans: 35-45 cents for 1 1/2 cups

Converting dry to canned beans

Here is a conversion chart that I compiled to help me use more dry beans. All numbers are approximate, of course, but they've worked for me so far.

A standard can of beans is 15 ounces. Small bags of beans you get at the store are usually 1 pound, but sometimes 2.

1 15-ounce can of beans equals

· 1/2 cup dry beans, before cooking

· 1 1/2 cups beans, after cooking

1 pound dry beans equals

· 2 cups dry beans, before cooking

· 6 cups beans, after cooking

· 4 15-ounce cans of beans

1 part dry beans equals

· 3 parts cooked beans

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Stay tuned next week for tips on incorporating dry beans into your menu and lifestyle.

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Mrs. Mordecai is a twenty-something homemaker and mother. She chronicles her homekeeping adventures at Be It Ever So Humble.

How To...Make Family T-Shirts (for a 72 Hour Kit)

A good optional thing to have in your 72 Hour Kits, especially if you have small children, are matching family t-shirts.


In case you were separated from your family, it would be much easier to say: "Have you seen a small girl in a pea-green t-shirt with the number 4 on the back?" rather than saying "Have you seen a little girl, this tall, with ______color hair?"



All you need are some matching t-shirts and transfer paper. I found these shirts on clearance at JoAnn's for under $2 each.



Choose something to go on your t-shirts. I chose a family nickname for the front and numbers for the back (Mountain Man gets to be #1). Another family I know has a Dr. Seuss character plus "Thing #1" "Thing #2" and so on. Another fun idea is to buy fabric markers and have each child color on his or her own shirt (a fun FHE activity). It would provide a great opportunity to talk about stranger danger, or family emergency plans while coloring on clothes.

One caution: don't include your child's name on their shirt! I would go so far as to say, don't include your last name on your shirts. I hate to seem paranoid (actually I don't really care if I seem paranoid or not), but you don't want your kid to go off with anyone who calls out their name. Child predators are everywhere, even present during emergencies.



Just thought you'd be curious about my blog to-do list, someday I will do another Q&A.


After deciding on a text or image for your shirts, print out a practice sheet on regular printer paper. You don't want to waste valuable transfer sheets. Also, read the instructions on your packet of transfer paper. Some will have you reflect your image before you print it out. Mine didn't but I reflected it anyway---so the '4' will be backwards. If you see a child with a backwards '4' on a pea green t-shirt, please return her to me immediately.



Let the transfer sheets dry for at least 30 minutes after printing. Then trim them down to size. Some transfer paper will go on clear around the edges (just imprinting the image) and some will copy the white as well, so read the instructions.



All transfer paper that I've ever used has you use a hard surface (like a wood cutting board) for ironing, instead of an ironing board.


Cover the cutting board with a pillowcase and iron out the wrinkles on the pillowcase and the t-shirt before starting.



The iron should be on a 'no steam' setting. Position your backwards '4' where you want it to go, and apply as directed by your instructions.


Just for your information, this isn't the type of transfer paper I used this time, but it's the kind I prefer to use.



Put each person's t-shirt in their 72 hour kit so if an emergency situation comes, each person can don their own shirt right away to be prepared in case you get separated.

It's okay to hope that you never have to use them, I am.


P.S. I purchased adult 'small' shirts for my children even though they are small. I can tie up the shirt in a side knot 80's style until they are older and I don't have to worry about rotating them...ever.