Been too long........

me and my grandson

Wow.......talk about time totally getting away from you!!!

The past year went by and I had so much on my plate that this blog got pushed not only to the back, but wayyyyyyyy to the back of the very deepest closet ever!!!

The biggest change in my life is the diagnosis of Lyme Disease. I started getting sick January of 2011.

Finally, last August I found a doc that figured out what was wrong with me. Now it's just a matter of getting treatment.

Which by the way can take a year or more before they think they can get rid of the bacteria.........

At this point I'm learning all I never wanted to know about this horrific disease, while I'm on my up and down journey with Lyme Disease

All this on top of starting a new job last year- Starbucks (all the coffee I could ever drink), and also our son, daughter in law and grandson have been living with us for the past year.

Life right now is CHAOS.......I really, really miss my clean and quiet house. I know I will miss the kids when they finally move out.......but am ready for that!!

Coleman Kitchen

Well, since it's officially spring........I guess it's time to start thinking about camping this year.

I was looking at our camping gear, specifically our Coleman camp kitchen.

We've had it for over 15 years now. I wasn't sure when we bought it (kinda on the pricey side at the time).

But, it's really held up over the years......I guess the old adage,  you get what you pay for is true.

Now, another piece of our camper furniture, an old pop up table (looks like a suitcase when you fold it up) is starting to wear out.

 I keep expecting it to just sort of fold up when ever I sit down on one of the seats. So, I guess we need to start looking at replacement tables for camping.

All Fired Up!!! Buffalo Flank Steak

A new found cousin of mine submitted the yummy tasting recipe -Buffalo Flank Steak- to a local publication in Oklahoma.

The publication comes out every year, and features several kinds of recipes. I really like the sound of the Buffalo Flank Steak (am gonna add it to my easy camp meals recipe list).

Here's my cousin Bev's recipe..........

Ingredients:

• Buffalo Flank Steak- 1 1/2 lb.
• 1/3 Canola oil
• 2 Tsp. minced fresh thyme,
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 2 Tsp. minced fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup minced shallots or green onions
• fresh ground pepper to taste

In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Place flank steak in bowl and cover. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Be sure to turn steak once or twice.

Light your charcoal grill or preheat your gas grill to high.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet:
Melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat, add 1/2 inch slices of 2 onions…stir occasionally till golden brown.

Add 1/2 cup cider vinegar, stirring to scrape up brown bits on bottom of pan.

Stir in 1 cup brown sugar and cook stirring frequently till thick, about 8-10 minutes.

Stir in 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries and remove from heat.

Season with pepper to taste.

This can be done ahead of time if you are camping, take it with you and reheat on the grill in a cast iron skillet or a foil wrap.

Remove steak from marinade. Discard marinade.

Place steak on grill and cook for 2 minutes on each side for medium rare ( Bison can get too tough if cooked longer).

Transfer steak to a carving board, tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 4 minutes.(No drooling….and no sampling, be patient, it will be worth the wait!!!!)

The steak will continue to cook in the foil tent…..

Reheat onion mixture over low heat. Cut steak into thin slices against the grain and top with onion sauce.

Serves 4

Craft ideas for kids.......

As a mom, I've done my stint as Brownee Leader, Cub scout leader, and teacher's aid.

I've also done child care in my home for several years while my kids were little.

Anyone that spends any amount of time with kids, will learn to create a list of crafts. You want to be sure to keep your list of crafts simple and easy (don't want to be paying a lot of cash out for these crafts). 

Over the years we have made, wooden rally cars(for Cub Scouts), braided bracelets, bird houses, clay puppets, gingerbread houses, cut out and painted wooden hearts, made key shaped key holders out of wood, foam picture frames, rock necklace's, pine cone decorations for trees, pine cone bird feeders, soda bottle bird feeders, etc..... some of these I still have. Some of course have disappeared over the years. 

Turkey treat holder

I would also keep a small tote of craft supplies in our camping gear. Most craft ideas for kids can also be craft ideas for camp.... The beautiful thing about camping, you are surrounded by so many items to use in your crafts.  Rocks, pine and fir cones, twigs, small flowers, sand, pine needles.....just to mention a few.

 Don't forget to introduce your kids to a camera and the art that they can create from that. It can be so easy to forget about crafts and just plop the kids in front of a computer or t.v. 

But spending some time with your kids, creating different craft projects can be so much fun, and educational for the kids. 

Tough week on the home front....

It's been a tough week around here.

 Actually, it's been a tough few months.

Brigitte-Rest in Peace my friend.

One of my best friends has been fighting the good fight against cancer for the past 6 years. Thursday morning she lost the battle.

 I know Brigitte is at rest now, and am trying to keep focused on the day to day things that always seem to doing.

 I think I'm also going to plan a camping trip. Maybe getting away from home for even a week-end will help clear the head and start healing the heart.

 I know it's awful early in the spring, but we haven't had much winter this year, and even if it rains, so what!!

We have that pretty little Arctic Fox we can hole up in and pass the day drinking hot toddies and reading a good book.

Since I took the time last fall to clean the 5th wheel, all I have to do is restock the perishables and figure out what to cook while camping.

 I always like to try something different when out camping.

Since we try to eat healthy at home, we kinda treat ourselves when camping. But, I also like to stick to simple and easy meals for camping.

Since we are going to be camping in the trailer, maybe a roasted chicken with roasted potato's. Or a nice pot of chili, with some cornbread.

Hmmmm. .... choices,choices....

Marshmallows, chocolate and cookies

I found some left over marshmallows the other day while cleaning out my kitchen cabinet.

I'm not sure how long they've been up there, but they were starting to get that dried out feeling.

I was gonna have to do something with these or throw them out......


 
So, I stood there looking at this bag of marshmallows, wondering what the heck to do with them.


Then I had a brain flash!!!!

I had just made a batch of super chocolate chip cookies.



And what goes better with marshmallows then chocolate.....

So.........I melted a few of those marshmallows, stuck them between two cookies and smished the cookies together!!!!!




This is what I ended up with.

The big kid in my life did the taste test for me.

I think these smores cookies are a BIG hit!!!

Cool mornings and hot pancakes.....

What can be better then some steamy, hot, buttery pancakes as a breakfast for camping?

I've been whipping up pancakes for over 30 years for the family.

I've made sourdough pancakes,  from the box pancakes and scratch pancakes.

And now I've put together a recipe for Oat Pancakes that I absolutely love.........

The oats add a whole new texture and flavor to the pancakes. Plus the added healthy benefits of fiber is always welcomed.......

But- what kind of syrup to use??

I've slowly been getting away from processed foods, especially anything that has high fructose corn syrup in it.

I did find a syrup that was made with brown rice syrup, with maple syrup.

Log Cabin makes it. It's not too bad, just wish I could afford the real maple syrup......

I've also used molasses now and then on our pancakes. I actually kinda like the flavor of molasses, and of course there's always honey.


Hmmmm, I think it's time to make up a batch of these pancakes, I'm starting to get hungry!!!!

Must Have Coffee.......

When I was younger, I couldn't stand the smell or taste of coffee.

As I've gotten older, I realize the reason I couldn't stand coffee was the type of coffee my mom would buy. CHEAP!!!!!!

I haven't turned into quite the coffee snob my daughter is (if it's not Starbucks-she's not drinking it). 

But I do like to buy a good quality coffee, preferably beans, and then grind them.  Over the years, I've made coffee various ways.

The old fashioned perk, drip, french press and now I'm using a Bialetti Moka Express Stovetop Espresso Maker.    

I even have my own little coffee maker for camping. A perk coffee pot that works on the campfire, our little Coleman gas stove or in the 5th wheel.  

It doesn't matter how I make my coffee.....as long as I have some decent coffee to begin with!!!

Vroom, Vroom,Vroom.........

I know I've said it before....I'm a truck kinda person.

We've had our Dodge Ram since 1996, when we bought it new.

Over the years, we have hauled hay, horses and our quad. We've moved our daughter and son a few different times, and of course we have gone camping.

We've towed our pretty little Arctic Fox 5th wheel and our little '69 Terry travel trailer.

Every now and then we start looking at some of the best trucks for towing, but just kinda go into sticker shock when I see the price.

 So, we just keep fixing stuff on our truck.

Truth is, so far it's been pretty good. No major overhauls, just the minor maintenance stuff.

Which is pretty awesome considering we have over 200,000 miles on the engine.

Snack Time......

Okay....I'll admit it. I love to snack on anything crunchy. And I'm not talking about celery or carrot sticks!!!!! 

I'm talking about chips, popcorn, pretzels......and I know that's not the way to lose weight!  Especially with the chips and pretzels. Too many calories and gluten.

So, I'm turning more and more to popcorn as my main snack.

Since I totally don't believe microwavable popcorn is at all healthy for you, I've been popping my own popcorn.

Right now, I use one of my heavy duty pans to pop the popcorn.

But have started looking for something better, and I totally want to add a campfire popper to my camp cook ware for camping.

Christmas chaos...........

This year for Christmas we had a houseful.

Our youngest son Louie, his girlfriend Dominique and their brand new baby boy, Arlo came to visit.

There were 5 adults, 4 cats, 3 dogs, 2 bathrooms and 1 brand new baby boy!!!!

Whew..........
What an overload.

But it's been so much fun!! I get to snuggle with Arlo all the time.

Changing diapers, fixing bottles........it's been so many years since I've had to do any of this.

My kitchen is clutter, my living room is buried under baby clothing and gear......and I'm totally having a blast. 

The bad part is......the kids have to leave Friday to head home and my daughter will be moving back to Idaho to finish school.

Our home will be back to 2 adults and 2 cats at that point.

Summer's just a memory.........

It's hard to believe, but we are just a week and half away from Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner.

Where the heck did the long days of summer go?

I guess we are lucky.......even tho it's getting cold at night, we still have no snow.

Yet!!!

So....with the colder nights and days, hubby decided it was time to do some R.V. winterization on our pretty little Arctic Fox.

Get it all ready for winter. That's what we did last weekend. Cleaned out the foodstuff inside, and drained the hot water heater, and water tank before flushing some r.v. anti freeze thru the lines.

Now, we'll just have to wait until spring.

Again!!!

Cold Days........Hot Chili!!!

With the days starting to dip down into the 30's and 40's, I start thinking of hot,yummy meals. Stew's, soup's and of course chili.

 I have to admit that I just have problems making a great pot of chili.

I've tried oodles of recipes, spices and suggestions from friends and family. I just couldn't put the right flavor together for my chili.

I like a lot of flavor with just a hint of heat. Just couldn't get it right.

Until my daughter in law introduced me to Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce.

WOW!!! WHO KNEW??

I cooked up a pot of beans and added a couple of chipotle peppers, ground beef and some tomato sauce.

 It was just the right flavor. Kinda smokey, a little bit of heat and full of flavor.

You can bet this is going into my camp meals recipes.

Here kitty kitty......

Right now we have a multitude of cats in the house.

When my daughter moved back home, she brought with her, 3 cats with distinct personalities and presence. 

Hubby and I have 2 cats with very strong personalities also.

Needless to say, there was and still is hostilities. We have managed around the hostilities by separating the cats for the most part.

One of our cats has an outdoor soul.

We  had built him an enclosure, where he spends most of his days. On the off day he comes inside for a visit...there is a lot of growling and teeth showing!!!

When my daughter brought home her first cat....years ago.....the cat, Jasmine conflicted right off with our older cat, Mo.

No love lost there. So, we keep them absolutely separated.

Have you heard of anyone camping with cats?

My daughter used to take her Jasmine cat camping. She would put a harness and leash on Jasmine and than tie a heavy stick to the end sorta "anchoring" Jasmine.

It was so funny to watch.

We are currently on a countdown until our daughter moves back out in December. At that time, our cats will be able to have "their" house back and our daughter and her cats will have their own place once again.

Wiggle, Wiggle little Worm!!!

Wiggle, Wiggle little Worm on the end of my hook. Down, down, into the water you go......

Wiggle, wiggle and wiggle some more............SNAP goes the trout.......

 Yummmm....

 Fried up and served with some pancakes for breakfast.

Well, hopefully anyways.

Hubby and I are loading the fishing poles up and heading out to a small unknown creek that will hopefully have a handful or two of some sweet tasting brookies.

Living in Nevada does not give one an abundance of fishing spots. 

Especially if you actually want to eat the fish.

Most of the places around here that offer fishing, also offer mercury,arsenic and other fun stuff in the fish(past mining operations).


Both hubby and myself started fishing when we were youngun's.

We had so much fun, that when our kid's came along, we went out and bought some fishing poles for kids and started them fishing.

Although, the only one who actually owns a fishing pole today is our daughter. Both of our sons kinda veered from that family tradition.

Oh, the wheels on the bus.......

 The wheels on the bus go round and round.......

Is it stuck in your head now??

Why is it, most kids songs end up being repetitious?

Then you get the blasted tune stuck in your head and it's down hill from there.


You'll be shopping the produce aisle, belting out "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly........"

or wandering down a Wal-Mart craft aisle singing under your breath........."On top of Spaghetti....."

Not that I'VE  personally done any of these.....





Do you know any  kids campfire songs that will get stuck up in the gray matter??

Maybe just keep going around and around and around...............

Teardrop Trailers.......

I'm sure you've seen these light camping trailers being towed down the road.

They might be tiny, but they are very impressionable.

Basically, you've got room for sleeping and some storage area.

Some of the teardrop trailers also have an area in the back for cooking........

Teardrop trailers first became popular  in the 1930s, when magazines such as Mechanics Illustrated published plans. 

The first teardrops were designed around the idea of using standard 4 by 8-foot sheets of plywood with hardwood spars. 

Teardrop trailers remained popular until the mid 1960s after which they disappeared from mainstream camping.

However, in the late 1990s, plans became available on the internet and in recent years teardrop trailers have made a resurgence and are again growing in popularity.(Wikipedia)


I'm just trying to picture myself and all I feel is "necessary" when camping stuffed into this little trailer.

I think I would need another trailer for all my stuff!!!

Just think, when you see one of these rolling down the highways, it's almost like looking at a piece of history.

Toasty,tasty Granola!!!

I started making my own granola cereal about a year or so ago.

Found the recipe on line (the internet is so handy for stuff like that). 

The granola jar was totally empty and hubby was making noises about no granola for his breakfast.........

So, took a few minutes yesterday to make some.

Oats, peanut butter, honey.................

dried cranberries,sliced almonds and some pumpkin seeds.........

Yummmm............

I've even added this recipe to my food ideas for camping. It's so handy, just throw in a baggie for some trail mix to take on a hike or bike ride.

Wireless on The Go!!

This past June, hubby and I bought ourselves a laptop and signed up for Mobile wifi Verizon.

Well, it's actually called a MiFi, but not everyone knows what that is. If I say WiFi, then they seem to know what I'm talking about.

We've taken our laptop and Verizon MiFi to the coast on vacation, Antelope hunting and visiting folks back home. As long as we get cell phone reception, we will also be able to long onto the internet.

Which, in means of keeping up with our blog posts is -HUGE!!!

We also can stay in touch with the kids via Facebook or Skype.

Are you a TRUCK Person?

I'm curious........

How many gals out there would rather drive a pick up truck than a car?

I grew up driving trucks. The first one was an old International crew cab my dad called the "Crummy". I'm not even sure how old it was.

What I do remember is when you put it in 4 w.d. low, that rig would crawl over anything in it's path!!!

So, it went from there.

Than hubby and I got married and he brought to the marriage a pretty little short bed Ford 4 w.d. I've been driving a truck ever since.

Right now we have a Dodge Ram that's 15 years old with 200,000 miles on it. Yea, it's getting old and we keep asking ourselves"when to buy a new truck"?

I've thought about getting a small economy car, but I know I would miss driving my truck. When I have to drive into Reno, I feel so much safer sitting in my Dodge Ram than I would in some small economy car.

So, what's your preference?

Would you rather drive a small economy car or a truck?