Here's What's Cooking...

This is what I'm working with

 I have made it to rule not to deprive my family of good meals just because my kitchen has decreased in size significantly.  You can still have a "gourmet" (ha) meal on a camper.  You just have to modify things a bit.  Instead of using one dish to cook your casserole in use two.  That way it fits in your tiny oven all at once, or sometimes I will just cut the recipe in half since I don't have a lot of room in my fridge for leftovers and certainly not a lot of room in my freezer to freeze a meal for later.  If there are any leftovers they usually have to be eaten by lunch the next day.

The thing I hate most of all is throwing away food.  So I usually only grocery shop for two or three days at a time.  It makes shopping my getaway from the kids and I've really started to enjoy just taking my time and being smart about ingredients and comparing prices.

So here are a few of the meals I've cooked lately...

Pioneer Woman's Comfort Meatballs

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/bbq-meatballs-comfort-food-to-the-max/

 

I made mashed potatoes to go along with the meatballs.  I just boiled some diced red potatoes and added heavy cream, salt and pepper, and fresh garlic.  

100 Days of Real Food Crock Pot Chicken

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/02/25/recipe-the-best-whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot/

 

The best thing about this deliciously EASY recipe is that I use the leftovers for several other meals.  The next day we made chicken quesadillas and sometimes I'll make curry chicken salad for lunches.  The crock pot can be your best friend on a camper.  Most of the time you can make a one pot meal with very little mess and if you have kids you can make the meal during nap time and there is no cooking at dinner time in a small kitchen with kids running around.  It can get dangerous.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

Here is one example of modifying your dish.  I used an 8 x 8 instead of a 9 x 13 so it needed to cook a little longer.

Plano Balloon Festival 2014

Plano Balloon Festival

We had a blast tonight at the Plano Balloon Festival.  It was a last minute decision and we know that at least Miles was happy about that decision.  I was happy too.  It brought back memories of the balloon festival in Battle Creek, MI that I went to as kid.  I took a lot of pictures and they were all so good.  So here is your warning...there are a lot of pictures in this post.

In case you are in the area and you want to check it out this weekend here are the particulars:
$10.00 Parking and $5.00 admission fee.  There are a lot of food vendors so you won't go hungry.  The entertainment was decent as well.  The best part was the kids area.  You could get a wristband for $20.00 or $2.00/ride.  If you don't want to pay for rides then there is a free kids zone with lots of arts and crafts and free tattoos.

The night kicked off with sky divers carrying the American flag and of course the Texas state flag. 

The boys enjoying themselves. 

So excited!

He was pouting because he didn't want his picture taken anymore. 

All of the colors were so amazing.

So excited about the ladybug tattoo.

While the cat was away the mouse played with his toy.  

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 BURN!

Cape Cod Part II

Miles takes the wheel.

When we found out that we would not be able to take the boat to Nantucket we had a very upset 3 year old boy who was counting on a boat ride that day.  So we had to think fast and decided that all of the Duck Boat Tours driving by seemed really fun.  So we gave them a call and were able to walk over to their place on Main Street and hop right on a boat.

Miles even got to drive the boat for a bit.  The captain and Tour Guide were very entertaining and accommodating to children.   

We hopped on the Duck Boat Tour in the town of Hyannis.  As I mentioned previously this was where JFK and his entire family spent a lot of time.  There is now a John F Kennedy museum in the middle of town that only cost a few dollars to walk through.  We really enjoyed walking through the town.  We had lunch and ducked in and out of a few shops. 

Our first day exploring the Cape we decided to stop and go to the beach for a little while.  We learned a very valuable lesson.  You don't just park and go to the public beach for free.  It cost us $25.00 to park. With the beach parking costing a small fortune I expected the beach to be spectacular.  I mean I grew up on the Gulf Coast in Florida where the beaches are gorgeous and you usually park for free.  Boy was I disappointed walking out to a VERY small public beach where the sand wasn't like the powdered sugar sand I'm used to.  Also remember the water is going to be freezing even in the middle of August. 

One of the absolute highlights of our trip was a day at Plymouth Plantation.  We were a little unsure of what it would be like as we had heard Plymouth Rock was more like Plymouth pebble and wasn't worth the trip.  Well we were pleasantly surprised.  We were able to walk around both the Pilgrim's village as well as the Indian's village.  Make sure you get their early so you don't have to wait for a parking spot.  

Miles walking around one of the many Pilgrim gardens.

Each one of the Pilgrim households had its own garden.  These gardens were amazing.  I think the most amazing part was that the Pilgrims who are there role playing actually plant their own gardens from the seeds produced by their own plants.  The Pilgrims were also in each one of their houses cooking lunch while we were there.  There were eggs being boiled over fires, mustard seeds being muddled and fresh bread being buttered.  We truly felt transported back in time.

The view of the Atlantic Ocean was breathtaking.

Over at the Indian village we climbed in a few of their huts and watched as they too made some delicious looking meals.  One Indian woman was making sea bass on a spear over an open fire.  She was also cooking some porridge and cranberry sauce.  

This Indian was telling a story about his ancestors. 

Miles inside one of the large Indian homes. They were telling him how they would rub bear fat on themselves in the winter to stay warm.

The last and most important tip I'd like to make when traveling to the Cape is NEVER, NEVER, NEVER travel anywhere around the cape on Friday and Saturday.  Saturday is the worse.  We made this mistake.  It will take you an hour to go 1 mile.  Most Cape dwellers go to the Cape from Saturday to Saturday.  So not only do you have cars going on the Cape but also coming.  Plan a day in if you are going to be there on Saturday.  

All in all we really did enjoy our trip.  I think I will check it off the bucket list.  I however will not be running back anytime soon.  Once seems to be enough for me.