Perfect for breakfast on the run, this Sausage and Cheese Biscuit Recipe has all the goodness of breakfast combined into one jumbo biscuit that is tender and filled with flavor.

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

cup butter

4 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese

5 Jones Dairy Farm Maple Sausage Links(1/2 of a 7 oz package), cooked and chopped

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the cheese and the chopped sausage. Pour in the milk and stir just until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Pour the mixture out onto a work surface dusted with flour. Knead just until it comes together – the dough will be sticky. Pat into a rectangle 10-1/2×7-inches. Cut into 6 squares. Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet.

4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Brush with the melted butter.

A different take on traditional biscuits and gravy, this easy breakfast casserole is a fun way to mix things up at the breakfast table.

Ingredients

1 can large, flaky biscuits (such as Grands)

½ pound ground breakfast sausage

3 Tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 and ½ cups milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F).

2. Prepare a small casserole dish (approximately 7×10) with cooking spray. Set aside.

3. Open biscuits, and cut biscuits into quarters.

4. Layer half of the quarters in prepared pan.

5. Bake for 10 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, prepare gravy.

7. In a heavy skillet, brown the ground breakfast sausage over medium high heat until fully cooked.

8. Sprinkle the cooked sausage with 3 Tablespoons of flour.

9. Use a wooden spoon to stir flour into sausage until completely absorbed.

10. Lower heat to medium, and cook flour/sausage mixture for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

11. Add milk, and stir to combine.

12. Add salt and black pepper.

13. Stir frequently until mixture comes to a slight boil.

14. Taste, and adjust seasonings as desired. (I usually add more black pepper)

15. If the gravy is too thick, add a bit more milk. You want the gravy to be thickened but not too thick, not “globby,” it should still be slightly runny.

16. Pour gravy over the cooked biscuits.

17. Layer the remaining uncooked, quartered biscuits over the gravy.

18. Place casserole dish on a baking sheet, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. If they start to over-brown, you can cover with foil for the last 10 minutes or so.

19. Serve immediately.

20. Enjoy!

These 3-ingredient biscuits are made easy with self-rising flour and coconut oil.

Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising flour, store-bought or homemadehttp://www.gimmesomeoven.com/how-to-make-self-rising-flour-recipe/

1/4 cup coconut oil (solid, not melted)

3/4 cup coconut milk*, or any milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Add self-rising flour and coconut oil to a mixing bowl, and use a pastry cutter or forks to cut the coconut oil into the flour until the mixture is like fine crumbs. Stir in the milk until mixture forms a soft dough and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Knead the mixture until combined, but be careful not to over-knead.

3. Turn the dough out onto a cutting board that has been lightly dusted with flour. Gently roll the dough out until it reaches a 1/2-inch thickness. Use a biscuit cutter (mine was a 2-inch circle) to cut out the biscuits, and transfer to a baking sheet.

4. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the biscuits have risen and ever so slightly begin to brown on top. Remove and serve immediately.

*I used refrigerated coconut milk from the carton, not the thicker coconut milk from the can.

Hundreds enjoyed a great lunch time fashion show today to raise money for Loaves and Fishes of the Rio Grande Valley.

The annual event raises about $30,000 for the Harlingen homeless shelter. It was held at the TSTC Cultural Arts Center in Harlingen.

Texas Secretary of State Carlos Cascos was a special guest at the show.

Read Wednesday’s Valley Morning Star for more on the event.

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As a Brownsville native now residing in Washington, DC, I have observed the dismay or anger some hold toward our current political state and the atmosphere inside the Beltway.

These people usually harboring these sentiments feel frustrated and jaded because they believe their vote is not enough to enact change and do not act outside the polls, especially when our congresspeople cater to wealthy donors and individual bankrollers funding their campaigns and partisan war chests.

Besides contributing to campaigns or funding a party, methods exist to ensure that our fellow Rio Grande Valley (RGV) residents living in their respective federal congressional districts are heard past the ballot box.

Constituents from the RGV need to proactively do more in demonstrating their civic presence by contacting their federal representatives personally.

If you have a problem with a federal agency regarding a program you are a part of, the district office is available to assist you thanks to the congressional district caseworkers.

On the other hand, if there is a piece of legislation, a crucial vote on a topic affecting you, or an issue in which you are passionate about, you should call the Washington office, where they focus more on policymaking.

Now, in order to make your opinion heard effectively, ask the intern if you could speak to the legislative assistant or correspondent handling the issue so she can listen to a voice from a constituent. Lastly, the best way to have a congressperson consider your viewpoint is to meet with him personally in DC or when he visits the congressional district. In regards to people visiting the District of Columbia for vacation, I also implore people to stop by the congressional offices to speak with a staffer to sway the representative’s vote on a pressing national issue or inform her about the effects of legislation at home.

I want to remind everyone that the number one lobbyist a representative or senator can meet with is we, the people. By having more people engaged and informed about the legislative process and the organization of a congressional office, constituents can regain the leverage lost to those in the upper-income echelons of our society.

Alongside the Valley Morning Star, our fellow citizens should also read state, national, and global publications such as The Texas Tribune, Texas Monthly, NPR, Time, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vox.com, The Economist, The Atlantic and The New York Times to become more aware and knowledgeable of affairs outside of the RGV.

In this manner, our constituents will be better able to fight apathy through enlightenment and better differentiate which issues have to be dealt with at the state level in Austin or nationwide in Washington.

Trust me on this one, I am as what the national media describes as a “Washington Insider.”

Sincerely, Alejandro Zendejas Washington D.C.

MERCEDES — Vanessa Marie Perez led a large group of volunteers over the weekend cleaning up the city.

“We filled up 28 bags of trash,” said Perez, chairman for Keep Mercedes Beautiful. “We are out there for three to four hours and we went out there and did what we were going to do.”

The event was in conjunction with the Great American Trash Off, Don’t Mess with Texas, and Put it in the Can man for Keep Mercedes Beautiful.

HARLINGEN — State sales tax revenues for the city of Harlingen showed a strong increase in April compared to the same month in 2015.

Harlingen’s sales tax revenues this month are 9.5 percent higher than last year’s, indicating a strong retail start to 2016. It marked the ninth time in the past 12 months the city has shown growth in sales tax receipts.

Sales tax revenues released by the Texas comptroller’s office in April reflect spending for the month of February.

“As our workforce increases and jobs are created, we are seeing a continued improvement in retail sales,” said Raudel Garza, chief executive officer at the Harlingen Economic Development Corp. “We are growing at a rate that we pretty much expected for this year.”

Since the beginning of the fiscal year, Harlingen has shown an increase of more than $288,000 over last year’s year-to-date sales tax receipts, a rise of 2.64 percent.

Michael Lamon, president of the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors said, “Harlingen will once again achieve retail sales of more than $1 billion in the city. Only McAllen and Brownsville top that number.”

Elsewhere, Raymondville saw its sales tax revenue take a 4.37 percent decline year-over-year, from $108,000 to $104,000 this year, as the impact of the Walmart closure begins to be reflected in tax numbers.

Rio Hondo saw its sales tax revenues for the month increase 55.69 percent.

Other significant increases for the month occurred in Los Fresnos, with a gain of 38.69 percent, Primera at 24.55 percent and Combes at 14.75 percent.

But it was Santa Rosa which topped the list with a year-over-year increase of 131.32 percent.

Party in Red

HARLINGEN — The American Red Cross South Texas Chapter is holding it’s Party in Red, a taste of the Valley on Thursday at the Jackson Square Event Center, 301 E. Jackson Street.

The evening of tasty tapas from more than a dozen local restaurants will be complemented by music and fun mystery bags.

Running from 6 to 9 p.m., tickets are $25 each.

Learn about the mission of the local chapter and the mission in helping residents of the Rio Grande Valley. Wear red to support the American Red Cross.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Anna Putegnat at [email protected] or 956-267-3014.

Ready for a 5K?

PALM VALLEY — The city of Palm Valley will hold its second annual 5K fun run and walk Saturday at the Harlingen Country Club.

Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the race starts at 7:30 a.m. Preregistration is available at Footworks in Harlingen and Palm Valley City Hall.

The cost is $15 for the 5K, $5 for those 12 and under and a 1-mile walk/run for kids is free.

Trophies will be given to the top three male and female runners and medals in each age division.

PV Day

PALM VALLEY — The first Palm Valley Day Celebration is set for Saturday in the main entrance of the Harlingen Country Club with the 5K fun run/walk as the kickoff.

The Palm Valley Day celebration will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. During the event, Mayor George Rivera will recognize Palm Valley Day with an official proclamation and the city’s new logo will be unveiled.

There will be open houses from 1 to 3 p.m.

Festivities include bounce houses, face painting, food, live music, obstacle course, pet fashion show, pony rides and much more.

RAYMONDVILLE — The city’s fire station and community center are ready to receive a facelift.

Tonight, city commissioners are expected to award construction bids to renovate the two buildings.

Officials plan a limestone façade to make the buildings blend in with the adjacent police station, which opened in December, City Manager Eleazar Garcia said yesterday.

Garcia said the project’s $300,000 budget will fund the interior and exterior renovations of the 2,500-square-foot fire station and the 600-square-foot community center.

For nearly two years, the community center served as temporary headquarters for the police department’s dispatchers and patrol division while crews worked to build the police station.

In December, the department moved into its new $1.8 million police station.

The 9,000-square-foot police station replaced a cramped, 4,000-square-foot building that served as department headquarters since the mid 1980s at 523 W. Hidalgo Ave.

Since March 2014, patrol officers and detectives worked out of makeshift offices after moving out of their old building that was razed about two months later.

While patrolmen and dispatchers worked out of the community center, the department’s three detectives turned a City Hall office into an investigations unit.

HARLINGEN — The Valley Morning Star was among dozens of newspapers statewide to be honored during the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors convention in El Paso this weekend.

The Star earned a first, two seconds, two thirds and four honorable mentions in the annual awards competition, which honors the work of daily newspapers across the state.

“We are very proud of the work we do every day here at the Valley Morning Star and these types of awards can be looked at as confirmation and validation of the skills our personnel have and display on a regular basis,” editor Lisa Seiser said.

Reporter Fernando Del Valle was part of a pair of awards, including the Star’s lone first-place in it’s 2A circulation category.

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Del Valle’s coverage of Red Tide on South Padre Island received the top honor for specialty reporting. Del Valle wrote several stories about the Red Tide and all were included as one entry.

“There were no judge’s comments on this, but I felt Fernando’s coverage of Red Tide met all of our criteria when writing stories,” Seiser said. “It was thorough in its description and continuing coverage and it told a story of how those on the island were dealing with the effects. It was just really good and the judges agreed.”

One of the second places was for the Star’s team effort to cover the prison riot in Willacy County in February of 2015.

The Star also received a second place for its efforts regarding Freedom of Information. These were based on the efforts from the newspaper, including former reporter Emma Perez-Trevino, to obtain documents from the city of Harlingen related to several different situations.

Star reporter Raul Garcia received a third place for best video over two minutes for his production about Shop with a Cop. Sports reporter Mark Molina received a third for his breaking sports story, “Killer finish” for his coverage of the Life Begins after 40 golf tournament in 2015.

Page designer Ana Villarrutia received an honorable mention for her headlines, while Perez-Trevino received honorable mention for her investigative work regarding the connections between Cameron County tax assessor Tony Yzaguirre and his staff.

Photographer Maricela Rodriguez received an honorable mention for her video of less than 2 minutes on the Harlingen community garden.

The Star’s website also received an honorable mention for online newspaper.

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