Biscuits & Gravy

I was raised on biscuits & gravy on the weekends. My mother made it all from scratch every Sat & Sun morning.

To this day I crave a heaping pile of it every weekend! Somehow, I  have managed to avoid it for about 6 months now. I know this is a stretch and probably just wishful thinking, but is there such a thing as low fat or low cal gravy?

Posted on the East Coast of Florida and Jonesing for some Biscuits & Gravy!!!

Ohhhh.......B's 'n G's! Soooo yummy :) I have contemplated trying to make a gravy with turkey sausage and non-fat milk....and reduced fat biscuits. But really, in the end, I decided that biscuits and gravy are too good to be messed with, and thus will limit my intake to just every once in awhile, and enjoy the real goodness :)

It may not sound right, but you can cut quite a few calories by using a light soymilk or rice milk, use margerine or nutritional yeast instead of butter, and just use a tiny dab of oil to make the roux.

Soy Milks tend to be sweeter, so you'll have to add more salt than usual.

Dude, 6 months without something that was a big part of a weekend!  You're willpower astonishes me.

Have yourself a biscuit and gravy, and don't feel bad about it.  A little splurge every now and then actually helps the diet along.  Do you ever eat maintenance calories?   That would be the perfect time to indulge.

Turkey sausage actually tastes pretty good - the texture is a bit different, though.  I actually don't like gravy, so I'm not sure how to make it, but the turkey sausage doesn't have a lot of fat, so I'm not sure how you would mix it with flour (I think that's the general idea of gravy, isn't it?)  Maybe add a bit of chicken stock to it? 

 I don't know if you make your own biscuits, but you can make them with whole wheat flour, and maybe even substitute some of the fat for applesauce - I haven't tried it in biscuits, but it works really well in cake and bread.

But honestly, one or two weekends a month - it's not going to ruin you to have the full fledged thing - just limit your portion to one biscuit and its gravy.

My dad makes biscuits and gravy every Sunday still.  It was a big part of my childhood.  Now I am a vegetarian, and don't eat the sausage anymore.  I have made it using sausage soy crumbles by morning star, I used the methods that speedyt suggested to make the roux, and used soy milk.  My kids loved it, and I thought it tasted good. It wasn't what my dad makes, but passable.

I just use a Franz sourdough english muffin (130 cals) in place of the biscuit, and I use ground chicken sausage (do NOT like those crumble things) and evaporated skim milk for the gravy.  It's not too horrible on calories.  Around 300 for the whole plate of food, and that includes the cornstarch as well.

I think I will just have the Biscuits & Gravy the way Mom made it and enjoy it.I  will cut some calories and get some exercise to make up for it. 

I just hate to start getting into the "Cheating" mindset. It's too easy to forget about the exercise. 

This may be a totally stupid question, but what exactly is biscuits and gravy?  There is obviously more to it than biscuits covered in gravy????  (Sorry, I'm a Canadian girl!)

Here is a link that provides a recipe & pictures.

http://tinyurl.com/ox3jjd

The gravy is a milk based gravy with sausage crumbled into it. It is ladled over biscuits. A real southern delight!

Dang! I shouldn't have googled the pictures!!! THis is torture!!!

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to be torture!  LOL  I was just curious.  The foods other people and cultures eat fascinates me!  I am sure that I eat some things that seem strange to other people too!

Here is a recipe I found on hungry-girl.com (I haven't tried it myself though)

Ingredients: 
1 meatless sausage-style breakfast patty (like one by Morningstar Farms or Boca, or two of Yves' small patties) 
1 light english muffin 
1/2 cup Unsweetened Original Almond Breeze 
4 tsp. whole-wheat flour 
dash salt 
dash pepper 
dash onion powder 
To taste: additional salt, pepper and onion powder, garlic powder, minced dried onions 

Directions: 
Prepare breakfast patty according to package directions (either in a pan with nonstick spray, or in the microwave). Once cool enough to handle, cut patty into small, crumble-sized pieces. Set aside. 

To make the gravy, combine Almond Breeze, flour, salt, pepper, and onion powder. Mix well. Place gravy and sausage crumbles in a small pot, and heat stovetop over a medium-high flame. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat to medium, and continue cooking and stirring for 1 - 2 minutes (until gravy thickens). Remove from heat. Season gravy generously with additional spices (to taste). Separate the english muffin into halves and warm in the microwave. Then pour the sausage gravy over the open-faced halves. Enjoy! 

MAKES 1 SERVING

PER SERVING (entire recipe): 235 calories, 5.5g fat, 752mg sodium, 34g carbs, 9g fiber, 1g sugars, 17g protein -- POINTS® value 4*

Here's a biscuit recipe from sparkpeople:

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail. asp?recipe=158499

McCormick Turkey Gravy Mix and Heinz fat free Roasted Turkey gravy both have 20 calories per 1/4 cup serving