First Camping Trip of 2012

I love camping and wish we could go more often. However, the Pacific Northwest isn't as conducive to year-round camping as Southern California where I grew up. It's also just too easy to get caught up in day-to-day living and think that there just isn't enough time to camp. These days, I just don't let that happen.

I have a good friend, Lynn, who is my camping buddy. She is determined to camp at least once a month during late spring and summer. It's a good thing, too; she keeps me on the ball so that we get our plans made before spring is half way gone.


We already had one "camp" experience this year but Lynn got most of the "experience". She came to our home and camped with her kids in the yard for a week. My #4 son got some tent time in but the rest of my crew (including me) slept in our beds. Lynn and crew were troopers though because even though it rained a lot of the time, they all slept in their tents. While they were here we made tamales, did yard work and moved wood along with lots of playing. I still needed to work so 3 different nights, I just did my shift and came home to fun.


Next week, we are going to Alsea Falls. We have never camped here before so I am very excited to see what it is like. I hope this is a place we love to return to! We will be going with Lynn's crew and another family, minus husbands. I will only have #3 & #4 sons with me. I plan the dinner menu for my buddy and I since we share a site and try to do most the cooking since she has toddlers to run after. Here is our menu and shopping list (it's not formatted pretty anymore. I'm a novice and can only do that in MicrosoftWord):

  Maybe I'll even write up a post after we get home and let you know how it all went!

Menu

Breakfasts:

Cereal & milk

Eggs (hb, fried, etc)

Bagels

Chorizo & taters

Lunches:

Hot dogs

Chili

Tuna Salad

Egg Salad

Lunch Meat

PB&J/H

Snacks:

Mellon

Apples

Oranges

Crackers & Cheese

Chips

Granola bars

Desserts:

S’mores

Pudding

Cookies

Suppers:

Monday: Taco Salad

Tuesday: Chickened Rice-a-Roni, salad, broccoli

Wednesday: Hamburger stroganoff on noodles, carrots, salad

Thursday: Tuna Patties, baked potatoes, broccoli

Friday: Polish sausages, mac-n-cheese, whatever is left

Food List

Doritos x3

Chili x8

Cheddar Cheese 4#

String cheese big bag

Swiss cheese 1#

Cream cheese 8x

Lettuce x9 romaine

Tomatoes x15

Avocados x12

Onions x3 bunches

Sour cream x3 lg

El pato x1

Olives x3

Chicken breast, cooked x6

Rice a roni x3

Butter 3#

Dressing x1 lg. bleu chs

Broccoli x2 meals

Hamburger 2#

Onion soup mix xjar (home)

Mushroom soup x3

Noodles x1 lg.

Carrots 3#

Tuna 8cans

Saltine Crackers

Cheese Its reg

Cheese Its pepper jack

Cheese Its parmesan

Ritz

Butter crackers

Eggs 3 dzn

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Season salt

Pepper

Salt

Oil

Polish dogs x1

Hot dogs x4

Buns x6

Mustard

Ketchup

Mayo

Bbq sauce

Pickles b&b

Mac-n-cheese x3

Potatoes 12 bakers

Graham crackers x2

Marshmallows x2

Chocolate x12

Pudding mix x4

Milk 2 gal.

Powdered milk

Cookies 6pkg

Bread x3

Egg salad

Tuna salad

Peanut butter

Honey

Jam

Cereal x3

Chorizo 1#

Tortillas 24 pk

Bagels x6 Asiago

Bagels x6 jalapeno/cheddar

Melon cantaloupe x2

Watermelon

Apples x9

Oranges x6

Granola bars x4

Chips x2

Mom’s drink mix x2

H/d foil

Hot cocoa

Tea

Tang

TP

Trash bags

UN-mom's day

We don't celebrate Mother's day in our house. I'm not my husband's mom so he doesn't do anything. We homeschool so no teacher is helping the kids make something for mom. My mom is deceased so that is a wash.

Quite frankly, it makes me feel like a failure. Not worth a special day. I try not to let it get to me but sometimes it just sneaks up and catches me unaware. I just get sucked into a vortex of sadness.

I'm not going to let it take me down. I will focus my thoughts elsewhere.

And should I be blessed in the future with grandkids, I will make sure they learn the tradition of making mom's day special for their own moms.

Some recipes for sharing

Here are some recipes I have used at work for an Adult Foster Care Home. They were all well received. They also tend to be very frugal.

Carrot Bisque

3 tbls. butter
1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
1 onion, chopped
1tbls. fresh ginger
1 tsp. grated orange peel
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup cream or half & half

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add carrots and onions. Cover pan and cook until vegetables begin to soften, stirring occasionally (about 15 minutes). Stir in ginger, orange peel, coriander, and half the chicken stock. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Puree soup. Return to saucepan and add remaining stock and cream. Season with salt and pepper, cook over medium heat until hot. May be served topped with toasted pumpkin seeds.

German Purple Cabbage

2 Tbls. butter
2 Tbls. olive oil
4 c. thinly sliced purple cabbage
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 c. sweet onion (burmuda or walla walla)
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 c. chicken stock
1 1/2 Tbls. red wine vinegar
2 Tbls. brown sugar
1 bay leaf

In oil/butter, saute onion 5-10 minutes on med. high. Add cabbage, garlic and apples and continue to saute until cabbage is wilted. Add remaining ingredients and cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Biscuit-topped Creamed Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

2 onions, chopped
4 Tbls. butter
1 c. chopped red bell pepper
3 chicken breasts, cooked and deboned
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 c. sour cream
2 c. chicken broth (from cooking the chicken?)
2 c. frozen broccoli
1 recipe biscuits (20-24) -OR- 2 cans refrigerator biscuits

Pre-heat oven to 350*F. Saute onion and bell pepper in butter for 5-10 minutes on med. high heat. Mix in remaining ingredients EXCEPT biscuits. Heat through (either on the stove top watched carefully and stirred often, in the microwave or in the oven).
Put heated chicken mix into an oven-proof dish and top with biscuits.
Bake in 350*F oven for 20-30 minutes or until the biscuits are golden and the filling is bubbly.

Hungarian Pork & Cabbage

3 cups egg noodles, cooked

1 1/2 # pork sirloin roast or steak, cut in cubes
1/4 cup flour
1 generous tablespoon celery seed

Dredge pork cubes in flour/celery seed mix. Saute for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

Add:
1 generous tablespoon paprika
1 medium onion, chopped

Saute 5 minutes. Add:
1/2 shredded purple cabbage
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2-3 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Bring to a rapid simmer, reduce heat. Cook covered for 1 hour or until cabbage is tender. Add:
3/4 cup sour cream

Mix in well and heat gently until serving temperature. Serve over egg noodles with extra sour cream to pass.

Tomato, Corn & Cucumber Salad

3 tomatoes, peeled & wedged
1 cucumber, peeled & sliced
2 cobs cooked corn, cut off cob*
1/4 cup Asian sesame dressing

*When cutting corn off cob, leave kernels in “planks”

Toss together all ingredients. Chill. Serve.

Baked Fish

2# white fish fillets
1-2 lemons, juiced
1 1/2 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 6oz. can crab meat or shrimp
dill, parsley, chives

Grease metal 9x13 pan. Lay out fish in an even layer. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Spread in an even layer over fish.
Bake at 350*F for 20 minutes or until fish flakes. May be broiled to get the top nice and crunchy.

Creamy Rotini with Garden Marinara

3 Tbls olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, grated
1 lb. ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 eggs
6 oz. creamed cheese
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups rotini, cooked and drained

2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

Saute onion, bell pepper, garlic and zucchini in oil over medium heat until beginning to soften. Add crumbled beef and brown well. Add spaghetti sauce and bring to a slow boil, reduce heat to simmer and simmer for 30-40 minutes, allowing to thicken.

In a med. size bowl, mix cream cheese, eggs and Parmesan until well blended. Add cooked rotini and toss to coat thoroughly.

To assemble: in a sprayed 10x10 casserole, spread all rotini mixture. Over this, spread thickened, chunky marinara sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400*F for 20-30 minutes.

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