Easy Southern Freezer Biscuits

It's been a few weeks since I posted a recipe, so I thought it was time I shared one. The internet is overflowing with amazing recipes (and plenty of not so good ones, too). The problem with so many of them are the fact that most of them aren't suited for large families ~ especially those on a strict budget. There's nothing more that annoys me than clicking on a recipe quoted being for a large family on a budget and the lady posting has three children. Now, I'm not saying three children isn't a lot to handle, and perhaps a family of five is a large family to many, BUT I'm looking for cheap recipes to feed a family of eleven (and I realize that isn't the norm these days).

My ultimate goal is to feed my family of eleven for less than $5 A DAY. I know that sounds like a crazy low number, but it's true. Do I always achieve it, not hardly, but it's good to have goals. I would not say that we eat fancy foods or to the standards of the FDA and their idea of a 'balanced daily diet'. I try to keep the balance in the realms of a weekly picture ~ feeding my family more whole foods consisting of meals rich in fruit, vegetables, and protein.

A sample daily menu for my family could be: 

Breakfast: Homemade Whole Wheat Pancakes and organic maple syrup with a green smoothie

Lunch: Homemade Whole wheat cheese pizza with a salad and ranch dressing

Snack: Homemade oatmeal cookies

Dinner: Hamburger Sloppy Joe's on homemade buns and roasted potatoes

This particle daily menu would have our daily food budget hovering around $5 because most of the food prepared we grow or purchase in bulk. Feeding a large family on a strict budget takes long-term planning, cooking from scratch, and a lot of creativity. I almost treat it like a competition to see how low I can go to feed out large crew, while still making the food look appealing and taste good.

One my family's favorite breakfast recipes is homemade southern biscuits. They're a perfect recipe for those who are on a strict budget, like to cook in bulk, and want a no fail biscuit recipe. I have been making it for years and can't even remember where I found the recipe. I can assure you it was long before the internet, lol. 

Easy Southern Freezer Biscuits 

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cups shortening
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions 

Combine dry ingredients, add shortening, mix, add milk stirring until soft dough forms. Turn dough onto floured surface and kneed ten times. Roll out 1/2 inch thick and cut with biscuit cutter. To bake immediately place in 450* preheated oven for 10-15 minutes. 

If freezing; place raw biscuits on a cookie sheet and into the freezer, once frozen remove from freezer and place in a freezer bag, return to freezer. To bake frozen biscuits bake in 400* preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. 

Note** If you do not have buttermilk (which I never do) put 1 tbsp lemon juice in a one cup measuring cup and add milk to fill to 1 cup mark. Stir and let sit at least one minute. Use this to replace buttermilk.

I have doubled, tripled, and quadrupled this recipe dozens of times and they always turn out wonderful. Of course, I suppose, like all recipes, everyone has their preferences as to how they like their biscuits. But, for us, this is our go-to biscuit recipe. I even have some children who won't eat any other biscuits or will make comments saying they'd rather eat my homemade ones. Which is why when I'm making a batch, I like to make enough to freeze to eat on a later day. Yes, I am always planning for the next meal and how to make life easier. 

Feeding a large family on a strict budget can be done. I can assure you most folks don't have copious amounts of money to spend on food, even if they have many mouths to feed. Life is about balance. Are these the healthiest version of homemade biscuits, not exactly. But, I would say they're better than the store-bought versions, simply because there's no preservatives or fillers in them. And most importantly they are affordable and easy to make. That makes them a perfect recipe for this ol' country mama to many!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer