I like big productions.
I think it’s what makes me successful as a theatre director. Don’t tell me that the stage is too small or the kids are too young or the time is too short. If we’re going to get up in front of people and perform, I want it done big.
It’s also why my webisodes are so time-consuming. It’s just not in me to NOT spend hours editing.
But it can also be a downfall.
When, at the end of the summer, I announced to my kids that we were going to do a day of freezer cooking like we did last year (during which we had SO much FUN!), I was rather deflated that the only response was a bunch of groans.
Overly dramatic groans.
I had to make a choice. Stick with my original lofty plans, or just do something. I didn’t really decide until we were at the store. Going down the baking aisle to get the ingredients for blueberry pancakes, the Blueberry Pancake Flipping Child saw the muffin mixes and begged to make Blueberry Muffins instead.
I gave in.
Then, while dragging the Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Pocket Helpers down their aisle, one started recalling (two month ago) childhood memories of the sausage biscuits Daddy bought for their fishing trip.
Which, of course, sent the other into deep, personally-offended melancholy because while she had heard the Sausage Biscuit Reviews, no one had saved one for her.
So, I decided to kill a whole slew of proverbial birds with a single stone and declared that we would not make the time-consuming-fairly-complicated-but-totally-worth-it breakfast pockets, but instead make crazy-easy Sausage Biscuits.
Their loud cheers in the freezer section confirmed that I had made a good decision.
We purchased two pounds of breakfast sausage and two 12 count packages of frozen store-brand biscuits. Total cost was about ten dollars. An hour of easy work later, we had 24 hearty breakfasts ready to go in the freezer.
I get held back by thinking that something is too simple. Why spend an hour doing something so easy when I could just make an individual Sausage Biscuit on any given morning?
Because I won’t make an individual Sausage Biscuit on any given morning.
And really, what is better? Visions of home-made from-scratch biscuits with freshly sizzled sausage . . . or something they can actually eat?
This was an easy kid-friendly kitchen project, but was even easier and quicker when I did it by myself last Friday.
I put the 24 frozen biscuits, with sides touching, on one cookie sheet.
While those were in the oven, I cut the sausage into twenty-four pieces. It was easy because there are cutting lines marked on the package!
Here’s a tip that doesn’t seem like a tip. Except that I had to teach it to my husband. On things like this, where you want the item you’re cutting to hold its shape, use a serrated knife.
It’s like a saw, and you use it like a saw. Don’t press down, but draw it back and forth until you’ve cut through. This is also how you cut a loaf of bread without smushing it.
I cooked all of the sausage patties at the same time in two large skillets.
Once the biscuits were done, I moved them onto cooling racks (on my cleared-off-so-now-it’s-usable dining room table). Last time, I let them cool on the cookie sheet and they didn’t come off well.
Then, I split each biscuit, put the sausage inside, and wrapped them in foil for the freezer. To eat, we take them out of the foil and microwave for 30 seconds at 30% power. In our microwave, they turn out perfectly!
Oh. And another mental block that held me back was the fact that I was sure that buying freezer biscuits and not-on-sale sausage was most likely not going to save us any money compared to buying pre-made breakfast sandwiches. Not that I would have bought the pre-made ones.
I was wrong. Since making these, I’ve priced the breakfast sandwiches in the freezer section at several different stores. Even on sale or at Costco, they run about 1.00 per sandwich. So, 24 for 10 dollars (and much yummier biscuits) is worth an hour of my time.
And now for our menu plan. Obviously, we’ll be having sausage biscuits for breakfasts.
Monday – Fajitas (leftover from last week)
Tuesday – Out to eat – Birthday Boy’s Choice!
Wednesday – Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
Thursday – Chicken Fried Rice
Friday – Out to Eat
Saturday – Potato Soup
I’ll be linking this up to Menu Plan Monday over at Orgjunkie.com.
That sounds good! I just might need to add that to my next freezer cooking day! Do you add cheese at all?
I’m definitely going to be trying these with my gf biscuit mix I have already on hand. As for the cheese… I think we’ll try to add it when it comes time to heat them up, I’ve found cheese like that do not reheat at the same rate as other things and it just all around seems like it’s a bad idea. If anyone else has had a different experience I’d love to hear it! I’ll also try to write back here in a couple of days after I try it.
Thank you so much for this post! My son & hubby loves sausage & biscuits, but it’s a rare Saturday morning treat. I never once thought about making them ahead so I can pull out one at a time. (Only problem here – I may have to make them up when everyone is gone – or there won’t be many left to actually freeze….)
Good idea! I wonder if bacon instead of sausage would work too?
I don’t see why not! Bacon just never makes it from the pan to the biscuits around here.
If someone wants an egg, too, it’s very easy to make one in a mug in the microwave. Here’s what I do: http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes-and-more/recipes/microwave-coffee-cup-scramble but with only one egg, less time and usu. not the cheese (b/c the shredded cheese is frozen and it would be a pain to get it out). don’t forget Canadian bacon is good, too!
p.s. thank you for the (quick!) response to my question re:charts.
What a great idea!
There is a bit of irony to be found in the fact the biscuits were from frozen, then cooked, then back in the freezer again 😉 lol. A great idea though!
So sorry, I haven’t been by in months! But what a great idea – make the helpers happy and you still saved money!
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for posting this! I don’t know why I never thought of it before, but I have 16 almost done right now for hubby’s breakfasts for the next few weeks. This is going to do good things for our budget!
That’s great!
I am PUMPED to try this recipe! We love sausage biscuits but I never make them, we usually just run by Jack’s in the morning to get them. It will definitely same me some money!
I love the idea of using frozen biscuits for this! I usually “cheat” big time – I canned biscuits and purchase pre-cooked sausage patties from Aldi. A 2-lb. package of the sausage costs about $5.
I’ve cheated too, but the cheated method, precooked sausage and biscuits from a can, too many calories, sodium and preservatives.
May I get your recipe for baked oatmeal???? and do you just keep this in the fridge to be used through-out the week, or do you freeze it????
Virginia, we only made it that once and somehow I don’t have the recipe! I did freeze it.
I love sausage biscuits with cheese, however, when i reheat the biscuits they always have hard spots in them from overcooking. Not good.