Perfect Biscuits Every Time! {Recipe}

We enjoy biscuits A LOT in our home...mostly because we can cover them in delicious sausage gravy ;)  There is nothing quite like a warm, buttery, flaky biscuit straight from the oven that you can slather with butter and jelly, make into a breakfast sandwich, or enjoy with sausage gravy.  I used to buy the mixes (and I'm sure I will pick up a box in the future again) but this recipe is so easy to make and doesn't even require buttermilk - which I never seem to have.  This recipe has never failed me and after much tweaking it is my go-to biscuit recipe.  The biscuits rise up nice and fluffy and the lots of butter ensures a tender, delicious biscuit each and every time.  

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbls sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4  tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup COLD butter
1 egg
1 cup milk



Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

The secret to excellent biscuits is COLD BUTTER.  Really cold.  Many times the biscuit dough gets worked so much that the butter softens before the biscuits even go in the oven.  Try cutting the butter into small pieces and stick back in the fridge pulling out only when ready to incorporate into the dough.

A Morning Full of Natural Bliss #NaturalBlissWM #CBias

Ahh, coffee.  Waking up early to another jam-packed day full of activities makes me want to just close my eyes and go back to sleep.  Of course, that's a little hard with a 3 year old whispering "Mommy time to get up!" in your ear.  (Why can't children sleep in????)  Oh well, that's what coffee is for right?  

Now I'll be perfectly honest.  I can't drink black coffee. To really enjoy my coffee, I HAVE to have some yumminess added in.  Sadly, many creamers have lots of ingredients that I can't even pronounce and I know that's not good for me.  Fortunately Coffee-Mate has just come out with Natural Bliss creamer.  

Natural Bliss contains only FOUR ingredients and is all-natural.  With three delicious flavors to choose from - Caramel, Sweet Cream, and Vanilla - I knew that this was one creamer I HAD to try.  I  quickly printed out a coupon good for $1.00 off of 2 Natural Bliss creamers here and headed off to Walmart to do some shopping.  You can check out my shopping trip here on Google+.

The boys and I made it to Walmart and Reece found all kinds of things he needed including a couple Avengers books.  Yup.  I let my 5 year old cruise Walmart with his Batman cape.  I'm just cool like that.  We checked out the creamer section at Walmart and found all kinds of options.  Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss really stands out on the shelf in it's bright white bottle so be on the lookout!  I chose the Caramel flavor because that sounded so decadent and I love decadence in the morning!  I particularly love decadence that comes in the form of only 35 calories per serving :)

The following morning I made some coffee and got out my Caramel flavored Natural Bliss creamer.

Fun Activities for the Family!

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time you know that Family Fun is my favorite magazine for kids.  It's full of entertaining ideas, craft projects, yummy recipes, and games.  Last June, Family Fun Magazine launched Badges of Fun - a yearlong program that celebrates family time.  Each month, families have had the opportunity to earn themed badges by participating in fun activities together. This month is the LAST MONTH and the badge is Get Active!   

To earn the badge your family needs to complete one of the suggested activities.  There were three activities this month: Take a Hike, Hop on Your Bike, and Play in Your Yard.

I was sent an activity kit to get my family active and having fun.  The first activity was to take a hike.  We created this trail tote by painting the bottom compartments of an egg carton in various colors.  I tasked the boys with filling each compartment with items found in nature in matching colors.  Bryce took charge of the painting and we set off to find all sorts of colorful items...

Tips for Top-Notch Tomatoes

Tomatoes are an essential plant for any garden.  They come in dozens of varieties, grow quickly, and are an incredibly versatile ingredient in your kitchen.  Perfect for salsas, sandwiches, and sauces - tomatoes are well worth the effort in the garden.  Almost everyone can plant tomatoes no matter how much space they have.  Tomatoes thrive in containers, planters, and in the ground.

Here are some helpful tips to keep your tomato plants in tip-top shape this summer:

Do not overwater your tomato plants. Tomatoes prefer a constant moisture level which can be achieved with a drip system or regular and timely watering. Mulching helps to achieve even water-saturation levels.  Be sure to mulch around your tomato plants - so helpful! 

Fertilize!  Feed your tomato plants regularly.  Follow the instructions on your fertilizer to make sure you are not over or under-fertilizing.

Taking A Timeout Thursday {No.30}

I hope everyone had a beautiful and relaxing Mother's Day!  I have a new laptop thanks to my hubby and I am loving it!  My old laptop died the day after we bought this one and I wasn't able to get all my files transferred over so I'm hoping to get that taken care of soon.  Kind of scary :(  

We have been enjoying our backyard and all the wonderful things happening in our garden.  Each morning the boys and I go out and pick some fresh strawberries, check on the progress of our seedlings and enjoy the beautiful weather.  This morning the boys each picked a cherry to eat and assured me they were delicious even though I know they need at least another week or two.  Here are some pictures I took this morning of our garden:

You can see the cherries are turning red (which of course means we now have bird friends), the hydrangea is getting a little color, the tomatoes and plums are growing, and we are just enjoying it all!  I hope that each of you are taking some time out of your busy schedules to just stop and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us all.  

Please remember to visit a few other posts while you are here and leave a comment - everyone loves comments!

Here are this week's features...

The Top Three:

Whopper Cake by Julia at Stars & Sunshine
This cake would be a show-stopper at any party!  So gorgeous and sooo yummy!

Java Cheesecake Brownie Pie by Louanne at Louanne's Kitchen 

Don't even think about your diet - just dive right in!!  Can you think of a dessert more heavenly?  Not me!

 Homemade Gel Air Fresheners by Kristin at Homespun With Love
So pretty and easy to make too!

and my personal favorite is...

NEW 2 Box Cheerios {Giveaway} - 2 Winners! #MyBlogSpark

As a Sam's Club and Costco member, I make a lot of bulk purchases throughout the year.  We eat cereal A LOT and Cheerios has always been a family favorite.  Adding some sliced strawberries or bananas makes this breakfast cereal quite a treat!

I enjoy the value I get when buying in bulk at a club but what I don't enjoy is the over-sized packaging that is difficult to deal with!  The new 2 box Cheerios packaging format makes Cheerios an even smarter purchase because the new 2 box Cheerios contains two individual boxes, making them easier to store and easier to pour!

Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish each of you moms out there a very, very Happy Mother's Day!  Make sure your family treats you right and spoils you rotten today - you deserve it!  

If you follow me on Facebook you might be aware of the computer issues I've been having.  Well, my husband has heard the complaints too and came home yesterday with a fabulous new laptop!  I'm calling it my Mother's Day gift :)  I've still got to get a lot of programs set up and personalize it and all that but I'm typing right now and my computer isn't shutting down - SO HAPPY!

Enjoy your day!