The Unplanned Menu Plan

Yes, it's Wednesday, and I'm just now posting this.  I don't have a specific menu plan for the week, but there is definitely a plan.  We are going camping this weekend, so things are a bit crazy.  Yes, it's our first trip of the season, actually first trip in over a year and a half.  And it is the first ever camping trip for two little munchkins.  Can we say adventure?!

Photo was taken by Kaia with my phone.  Not a great photo, but you can see what life is like for me.

We are considering leaving the dogs in the care of family or neighbors, just for this maiden voyage.  Our awesome neighbor Carl is always happy to keep an eye on the house and loves our dogs.  Two fewer bodies to deal with sounds like a pretty good plan, but Sampson so loves to camp...

The menu for this week is pretty much a list of dinners to choose from each night.  With the exception of steak there is no prep work needed (I'm going to use the marinade sample from mysampleshowcase on those).

Weeknight Menus
Healthy pigs in a blanket, peas (Monday's dinner)
Macaroni and cheese with ground beef added, fresh veggies on the side
Steak, corn on the cob and grilled red potatoes
Spaghetti with meat sauce
Hamburger gravy (ground beef with cream of mushroom soup) over rice

Camping Menu
Friday Dinner:
Pasta Salad prepared ahead of time, hot dogs or sausage dogs

Saturday Breakfast:
Sausage links and eggs, maybe some grilled peppers and onions if I find a decent price

Saturday Lunch:
Grilled Pizzas

Saturday Dinner:
Baked potatoes, Hamburgers, and fresh veggies

Sunday Breakfast:
Huevos Rancheros with spicy sausage dogs

Sunday Lunch (if needed)
Tuna fish sandwiches.

Where to Camp?

One of the biggest questions you may face is, "Where should we go?" We are blessed to live in Central Washington. There are camping opportunities all around us. There are at least 4 nearby mountain passes (all within an hour's drive) with numerous campgrounds, and I can think of 4 other nearby areas where there is camping and some campgrounds.

First thing to do: Ask around. Find out where others' enjoy camping. Be sure to ask about the facilities, and what they do while they are camping. I know of a campground that is right on the Columbia River, but it is really meant for people with some sort of watercraft, so it's not an ideal spot for us.

Second thing to do: Look online. Check out ReserveAmerica.com, but remember they don't cover many great US Forest Service Campgrounds. So check out your local Forest Service website. For us, I check the Naches Ranger District site, to find out about burn bans, campground closures, and trail information.

Last, once you have some ideas of where you'd like to camp, take a day trip. Pack a picnic lunch, pile everyone into your vehicle and spend a Saturday or Sunday at the spot you are considering. Many have day parking for a small fee, others have parking nearby, and some may require you to purchase one night. Still a $10 fee to spend the day and decide if you would enjoy a weekend there is much better than spending $20 or $30 to camp during the weekend, and leaving because you are miserable.

Our camping trip this weekend, is now a day trip. As my header explains, it is never dull around here. Our house has been pretty crazy the last 2 weeks, and we have not had time to pack, nor have we found firewood. It is also opening weekend of elk hunting. While there are many responsible hunters out there, there are also some irresponsible ones. Just yesterday, a friend told us that he was up near Ellensburg, WA and there was a truck being driven by two women. There were two men in the back. One guy had a beer in one hand, and his firearm in the other. It was 10 a.m. That is scary! So this weekend, we will take the Jeep up Chinook Pass and go up Raven's Roost. It's a great spot where you can see for miles you are up so high. We'll have some lunch and head back home.

Camp Steaks, Who says you can't eat gourmet on a camping trip?

2 Steaks (I love rib steak or t-bone, Dana prefers sirloin tip)
Marinade (recipe below)
Green Pepper
Onion
Mushrooms

Marinade: Worschestire Sauce, 1 or 2 garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, seasoning salt. Chop up the garlic, use enough worschestire to coat the steaks thoroughly, add just a bit of the red pepper flakes, and about a teaspoon of seasoning salt.

Marinate your steaks in a plastic food storage bag for at least 6-8 hours. One easy thing to do is to put them in to the marinade at home, and just pack the plastic bag.

Cook your steaks on the grill to desired doneness. If you don't have a grill and are using a camp stove, you can buy a griddle that has a grill top and that works well too.

Thinly slice your pepper, onion and mushrooms. If using a stove, saute, if using your grill put them in foil with some butter and cook on the grill.

When steaks reach the desired doneness, top with the veggies and enjoy! These are great served with potatoes baked over the fire!

Camping Fun

One key aspect to enjoying your camping trip is to have fun! For many people the question is, "What do we do once up there?" The answers are many, and all depends on what you enjoy.

1. Growing up camping meant hiking to me. We'd set out and follow the trails around Mt. Rainier. Or, we'd just climb right up a hillside to see what there is to see. Many campgrounds have nearby trails that you can follow. Just being out in the fresh air, enjoying the beauty of God's great earth, and getting some exercise can make your day a lot of fun.



2. Water is fun! Whether it's camping by a lake, a pond or near a river, having water to play in makes the trip fun for kids and adults. Our favorite campground is across the road from a river where in the warm summer months we go to cool down and look for the crawdads and small fish that live near the banks of the river. In the early spring there is the frog pond, which also houses salamanders and in the nearby rocks are small snakes. Another great camping spot we enjoy is on Rimrock Lake. We just wade in the water, but many lakes have some place nearby that rent paddle boats. Also if you are near water, you can go fishing, just be sure to check out the rules and regulations for your area.



3. Camp near an event or activity. Jennifer mentioned in the comments of my last post that they used to camp out for a football game. Great idea! We went camping in 2007 near Silverwood Theme Park. We were able to enjoy camping, and go have fun on the rides. Many outdoor concert venues in Washington have campgrounds nearby so that you can enjoy your favorite band without driving all night to get home.



4. Invite family and friends. One of the best things about camping is having friends and family come up to join us! Whether it's a day trip for them, or they camp beside us, it's always enjoyable to spend time with those we love. If you don't have family and friends willing to join you, take a note from Kaia's book of life: Make some! She always meets a new friend camping, and we've been able to chat with the parents and get to know them. On one occasion, her new friend, was the son of my friend from high school.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are coming up with some ideas, and maybe thinking about future camping trips. On the sidebar you will find a link to all of my Camping Menus. Here are a few food ideas:

Corn on the Cob:

Corn is a delicious and easy side dish to your camping meals. We've cooked it several ways, but here are two of our favorites.

On the grill: Shuck the corn as if preparing to boil it. When the grill is hot, baste the corn with seasoned melted butter. I like to add garlic salt and seasoning salt. Place corn on the grill, turn and baste often, until cooked. The corn will get a little dark in spots, but it just adds more flavor.

Over the fire: Shuck corn and lay it on a square of foil. Add a tablespoon or more of butter and any seasoning you would like. Wrap corn with foil, making sure the ear is completely covered. When the fire has nice hot coals, place the grate over the coals and put corn on it. If you just have one of those little half grates, make sure there are coals under it. If you don't have a grate at all, you can put the corn in the pit, as close to the coals as possible. Turn a few times, and check for doneness after 20 minutes or so.

Camping 101

To start my camping series I'd like to start with the basics of camping. If you haven't been camping, then it may seem like a daunting task. What do I need? Where do I start?

I grew up camping. I was never a fan of the backpacking trips where you hiked in with everything, and you brought it back out. My dad and my brother lived for these trips though. Instead I enjoyed the family going up with our tents and coolers. There was an outhouse, and at some locations real flushing toilets, and always fresh water to use. I'm going to assume, that is the kind of trip you will take too.

1. Make sure you have enough. That includes everything. Think you have your meals all planned out and don't need anymore food? Take a box of mac and cheese or a can of ravioli, just in case. No one is sick? Still take some fever reducer/pain reliever with you and a basic first aid kit. Always have an extra pair of socks and shoes, and an extra change of clothes too. Also, plan an extra blanket per person. Even with a trailer like ours, things happen. Heaters can go out, and then you are in need of those extra clothes and blankets. If you have a propane stove, make sure you have plenty of bottles. If you are using battery operated lights, have extra batteries.
   
2. Have water. We always fill the water tank up in the trailer before leaving. Even though we have all that water, we also take some water jugs with us. We set one up on the tailgate for handwashing. Another is used to fill the dogs water bucket. And if you are tent camping you will need it for washing dishes and drinking/cooking water. Most organized campsites have a place to refill the jugs as needed.
   
3. Setting up camp. The first night at camp can be a bit hectic. You have to level a trailer or set up tents, a campfire to start and everything to unload. A good idea is to plan a quick and easy dinner for that first night. Something made ahead that just needs reheated, or something with very little prep. We've tried to do hamburgers, but it just takes too long. Spaghetti, chili, or even hot dogs are good first night dinners.
4. Have fun! Camping is a time to kick back and relax. It's also a time to play. So go for a hike, play in river, catch frogs and snakes (and release them), just enjoy your time playing. We also have a bubble machine, horseshoe set, and books and magazines to enjoy.

More camping fun and ideas, coming up! Here is a recipe for an easy, one skillet breakfast:

Dana's Camp Breakfast
2 Large Links of Spicy Sausage
1 Green Pepper
1/2 white or yellow onion
6 eggs
2 T oil
Cheddar cheese to taste

In a large skillet heat the oil. Cut the sausage into small pieces and add to hot skillet. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Add diced green pepper and onion. Cook until soft. Reduce heat to medium/medium low. Break eggs into skillet, and stir lightly. Let sit until eggs start to firm underneath, then gently push the eggs around. Let sit again. When eggs are almost set, add some cubed or shredded cheddar. Stir, then turn off heat, cover and let cheese melt. Serve with Tabasco sauce or Tapatio and enjoy!

September Camping

In the midst of this healthy food challenge, I should tell you a bit about our camping trip from this weekend. I promise there wasn't much healthy food there. Although it was better than some trips. We had spaghetti, sausage and eggs (with sauteed onion and green pepper), turkey dogs and Louisiana hot sausages dogs with chips and watermelon, burgers with baked potatoes and corn on the grill, and huevos rancheros. My parents came up for the day with my grandma. We had a great time just enjoying the outdoors. The weather? Perfect! Nothing like mid-70's almost all day long.

Here is most of the family. Dana was taking the photo (notice my dad is also), Grandma was up a bit higher, and I believe Kaia was with Dana.

Butterfly at the river. I don't know how Dana gets these awesome shots!

My grandma presented me with some "family heirlooms" her hankies that have fallen apart from so much use. I collect hankies, just usually not this used.

The campfire. The fire ban was lifted the weekend before, and we enjoyed it's warmth during the chilly mornings. It also roasted some great dogs and made good baked potatoes.

We made the most of the great weather. It's supposed to continue being nice here. Our next trip may be just a bit chillier.

Grilled Pizza Lessons

We tried some new things this last camping trip. First thing we did was buy a charcoal chimney starter. They are environmentally friendly and save money because you do not need to use lighter fluid. We heard how great they worked, but we were still a bit skeptical. No need to be, though. That puppy heated up the coals so well! They were extremely hot and perfect for cooking.

So the lessons learned in making grilled pizza is:

1. Don't use the nasty retro recipe from Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library. Really, Bisquick and catsup (ketchup), YUCK. I listened to Jenn at Frugal Upstate's suggestions (in my comments on the Tuna Salad Mix-ins Post) on bread dough, but then decided to buy the Pillsbury Pizza Dough in a can.
2. When using really hot coals, it's important to protect your dough. The above recipe called for 5 inches from the coals, well our little grill didn't give us that room. So my crust was blackened. By the time we got to Dana's and the kids crusts, we were getting slightly better results. Next time we will use foil to protect the dough while we precook the crust.
3. This is an amazingly yummy and fast camp food. Best part is that we each got to put what we want on our pizza. So Dana had lots of meat and cheese. Kaia had lots of meat and cheese with some mushrooms. Mo had a bit of everything but the mushrooms. I had light pepperoni and light cheeze with lots of mushrooms.

Thanks to Jenn for the suggestion, as I was considering the grilled pizzas, but wasn't sure due to the icky recipe I had. Also visit her site for this week's Frugal Food: Beans! I hope to get a post up, but no guarantees with how busy I am this week.

Menu Plan Monday

This is my first time participating in Menu Plan Monday. I always say I should, and then don't. Because of the holiday weekend, and trying to make sure everything is ready, I need to be super organized these next few days. So here it is:

Monday:
Baked Italian Chicken (chicken thighs marinated in italian dressing) with vegetable rice and asparagus

Tuesday:
Chef Salad with homemade ranch dressing

Wednesday:
BBQ Beef Ribs, coselaw and french bread

Thursday:
Take-along Spaghetti and french bread

Weekend (dinners just depend on what sounds good each night):
Grilled steak with mushrooms and peppers, corn on the cob (cooked on the campfire)
Taco-ish salad (ground beef, iceberg lettuce, kidney beans, red onion, olives and Catalina dressing served with Doritos)
Burgers, chips and fresh veggies

Camping Menu

It's Show & Tell over at Kelli's, but I was far too busy to participate. I did make it to Mother's of Young Children Devotional last night. I was about 15 minutes late, but I was finally there!

I was hoping to show you photos of our home away from home. Maybe next week I'll be able to post photos from our trip this weekend. Yep we are going camping and right now, it's snowing! It's expected to be in the 50's the rest of the weekend, so we plan to relax and have a good time.

When we go camping I try to keep our food easy, cheap (especially right now), and somewhat healthy. So the meal plan for this weekend is:

Friday night:
Hamburgers or Hotdogs (turkey dogs for the kids and me, hot links for Dana)
Baked Potato with sour cream
celery sticks with ranch dressing

Saturday morning:
Easy Huevos Rancheros
Hot Links

Saturday lunch:
Tuna Sandwiches
Chips (generic cheese tortilla chips)

Saturday night:
Hamburgers or Hotdogs (whichever we don't have Friday)
California Pasta Salad

Sunday morning:
SOS

Snacks in the trailer include: Nature Valley granola bars (99 cents at Grocery Outlet), Peanut butter (this is a snack for everyone in my family, but me), popcorn, Girl Scouts Thin Mints, and don't forget S'MORES!

Looking at the menu now, I realize we may need another veggie or fruit. Usually I pack lots of both, but nothing is really in season at this time. Maybe I'll pick up a can or two at the store. Have a great weekend!

Show and Tell Sushi Plates

It's Show and Tell at Kelli's and this week I would like to show you my sushi plates. These plates were given to my by my Mother-in-Law (aka Grammy). The reason she gave them to me was to put in my yardsale! Once I saw them though, I told her I would love to have them.

They bought these plates while my Father-in-Law was stationed in Japan. One is slightly smaller than the other, so they look very nice stacked, although I rarely display them that way. I use one on my counter quite often to display fresh fruit and veggies that shouldn't be refrigerated.

I also drag these out at every party we have to put food on. Whether it's the sliced onions, tomato, and lettuce for burgers, or olives, pickles and pepporcinis, the food looks great on these plates. June even told me at one of the get togethers that I've used them more in the short time I've had them than she ever did. The fact is I love them! So Thank You for the plates June!

The one thing I have yet to put on the plates is sushi. Maybe I can find some nice vegetarian sushi recipes. I know that there are recipes that use crab or cooked tuna too. That's about all that would be eaten here. For now I'll just keep using them to display anything and everything. The barbeque jalapenos even look good on this plate! Yum!

Barbeque Jalapenos: fresh jalapenos, cream cheese, bacon. Cut jalapenos in half, the long way leaving the stem intact on one half. Scoop out seeds and fill with cream cheese. Put the halves back together and wrap with a piece of raw bacon. Use a toothpick to secure. Toss on the barbeque or under the broiler until bacon is cooked. We also wrap them individually in foil and put on the grate over a campfire. These can be super fiery or fairly mild. It will all depend on the jalapenos you use. A sniff test will help you decide when purchasing. If they smell hot, they probably will taste hot. We prefer mild to medium jalapenos for this recipe.

S.O.S.

I realized today while planning dinner, that what you eat really depends on your family. For instance I had not eaten or even heard of S.O.S. until I was in middle school. Nor had I eaten brussel sprouts, and to my memory home-canned peaches (yum! I miss those). All of these I had at a friends house, and enjoyed, despite all the bad press brussel sprouts get.

Dana loves S.O.S. and when we were first married I endeavored to make it for him, although I'd only eaten it once years before, had no idea what to put in it, and was at the time a vegetarian. Let's just say the attempt to please him failed, because what I created was a mess and had to be thrown out!

I grew up in a home where cauliflower, zuchinni, lima beans, artichokes, and most fish was never served. Luckily, I had a grandma who served my brother and I all of the above, and except for fish I love to eat them. My mom likes fish, but rarely had it at home, so we grew up for the most part not eating it, and to this day I eat very little seafood.

It really makes me wonder what my kids will and won't have an opportunity to eat. I can guarantee that unless they eat it at Grammy and Papa's they will not acquire a taste for:

• bologna (I cringe just thinking of it)
• beets (I tried them again in college, and still couldn't stand them)
• wax beans (I remember being forced to eat these, and I still swear they tasted like ear wax)

Kaia loves to help Grammy and Papa eat fish. She is also totally thrilled when I splurge and buy Dungeness Crab. The neighbor also gave her a freshly caught trout, which I even managed a bite of, but the memory of his gutting it was too much to eat more. I really haven't found a thing Mo won't eat yet, but as he heads into the terrible two's, I'm sure the day will come.

S.O.S.

Melt a little less than half a stick of butter or margarine in a pan. Melt it. Add enough flour to soak it all up. (don't ask how much, I just grab a handful) Add salt and pepper. Once flour and butter is mixed, start adding milk. Just a little bit at first, make sure you get it incorporated and no big clumps. Then after adding small amounts a few times, you can dump in a bunch. Cook until it thickens. (this is a basic bechamel sauce) Then add one package of cut up beef lunchmeat. This is the really cheap thin processed meat, don't use anything fancy. Add some cut up cheese once sauce is close to being the desired thickness. Serve over hardboiled eggs and toast. This is a favorite camping breakfast for us.

Easy Huevos Rancheros

We are having our "camping breakfast" for dinner tonight. I found this recipe in my Betty Crocker index cards in the Food that Goes With You (or something like that) section. It was a perfect and inexpensive breakfast for us. The ingredients travel well, and it is a 2 pan meal. I'd rather be playing in the frog pond with the kids or walking a dog than doing dishes in the trailer.
Ingredients:

• corn tortillas 1-2 per family member
• can diced tomatos
• can diced green chiles
• 4-5 eggs
• 2 T diced onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 3 T oil

In one pan saute the onion and green pepper in 1 T oil. When onion becomes translucent, add your tomatos and chiles. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Use a spoon to make "holes" in the mixture (you will have the tomato juice in the hole, just clear it of the chunky ingredients). Break an egg into each hole. Allow to cook until egg begins to set, then turn egg. It's ok if the eggs get scrambled, but don't scramble right at the beginning or you get a big mess. Simmer until eggs are cooked through.

While eggs are cooking heat the remaining 2T oil in another pan or on a griddle. Fry each tortilla just a little bit on each side.

When eggs are done spoon egg and tomato mixture on top of tortilla and enjoy! We like to top with shredded cheese and serve hot links on the side.