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.  

Cape Cod Part I

On a last minute whim my mother in law, two sons and I decided to have my husband Jamie drop us off in Cape Cod, MA for a little r & r while he went to work in Alabama.  I mean they are right next to each other right?!  Wrong!  But thank God for airplanes.

We had a really hard time finding a place to Camp even though there are multiple campgrounds on the Cape.  We were finally able to find a place that would allow us to have a spot though we would have to move once.  It was Bourne Scenic Park near Buzzards Bay, MA.  This campground has approx 370 sites.   There are two brand new swimming pools, and a cute camp store that you can frequently find a line outside of their ice cream window each night. One Fridays and Saturdays they have live music under their tent.  This campground was great for kids with several playgrounds scattered amongst the sites.  The only down falls were that the Internet was only good within 200 feet of the office and they did not have sewage at the sites.  So unfortunately you had to see a lot of trucks hauling around their you-know-what behind their trucks on the way to the dump.

Bourne was located on the beautiful Cape Cod Canal.  The canal offered an amazing walking/biking path.  You could either take the paved path into the quaint town of Buzzards Bay or you could go the other direction towards the 2 bridges that allowed you to access Cape Cod.  If you chose to go towards Buzzards bay you would run into the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge.  It is quite the site standing tall with the bridge lifting high in the sky.  The bridge only comes down on the weekend when the train comes through from Boston.  We were privileged enough to be at the right place at the right time and witness both the train coming through and the bridge being lifted.

Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge

We enjoyed the easy walk into town a few times.  I was able to walk into to town to Enterprise to rent a car for the week, and to pick up a few minor things.  We also walked into to town Saturday evening to attend Catholic mass in a beautiful little cathedral.

Now onto the important stuff...FOOD.  To say we had a few lobster rolls was an understatement.  Barlow's Clam Shack was one of our experiences.  Everyone has their own spin on the roll and honestly you can't really go wrong when it is fresh.  We also tried the clam fritters which went down without a problem. 

Barlow's Clam Shack

The Seafood Shanty boast a lot of famous faces on the front of their window.  If you are a fan of Law and Order then you might just recognize them.  This was a favorite of mine and their roll is done lobster salad style.  They were however one of the more expensive ones.  

Switching gears to Scallops...I ordered a scallop roll at Baxter's Fish and Chips.  The scallops were so big, juicy and cooked perfectly that I ditched the roll and ate just the real stars on the plate.  Baxter's is casual dining and you can either enter by land or water.  You will find a lot of boats docked just to pop in for lunch.  Baxter's was a frequent spot of the late Jack Kennedy and when she was dating a Kennedy herself you might have seen Taylor Swift there a time or two.  If you enter from the front you will see the Adults only portion of Baxter's, so you if you bring the whole family enter from the side order at the counter and find yourself a picnic table inside or out.  

Baxter's Fish N Chips

There were a few activities that we were not able to check off our list.  One was a visit to Nantucket.   We were given some misinformation and unfortunately could not make the trip work.  We called ahead to the high speed boat to confirm there were seats available and were assured that all of their boats that day had spots.  So after getting to site and then finding out you have to park over a mile away, getting the kids and stroller out and getting on the shuttle to the port we arrived at the port to find out the boat had been sold out for two days.  Moral of the story is buy your tickets in advance!!!  If you want to take the high speed boat it is about an hours trip and the slow ferry is a little over 2 hours each way.  We also wish we could have made Martha's Vineyard work but it is a little larger and were told we would've had to rent a car, or get on a tour to get around the island.  If I ever go back I will make sure I research a little more about these two locations. 

The other bummer was on our only rainy day on the cape.  I did some researching on a few local blogs for ideas on a rainy day activities for kids.  Being on a camper cooped up on a rainy day is never fun.  I found out that you can tour the Cape Cod Chip factory for free.  So we packed up during a break in the rain and were off.  We pulled in and there was quite a line of cars.  If you don't get there early they will turn you away once they are full.  After we got a spot, there was a line up outside of the building and it began to pour down rain.  The walk way was not covered so we decided to head back to to the car and call it a day.  Another helpful hint that we did not know about until we got into line was that they do not allow strollers inside.  

This is information overload so I'm going to do this blog in 2 parts.  In Part II  I will go over traffic and why you should never drive anywhere near Cape Cod on a Saturday, our day trip to Plymouth, going to the public beach in Cape Cod for a small fee, and the town of Hyannis made famous by the Kennedy family and the duck boat.

We are BACK

I'm back.  Back to the blog and back on the road.  Since my last post in 2012 the Grumpencamper has added a new grump to the camper.  Another precious baby boy.  It wasn't long before he hit the road.  He was only 6 weeks old when he took his first trip out on the open road.  Now that the precious baby boy is almost 1 and I am obviously far behind on my blogging I have a lot of back tracking to do.   Feel free to keep me accountable.

We have a year full of travel ahead of us and I am going to do my best to document it.  First up will be a blog about the last 10 days in Cape Code.  The boys, me and my mother in law explored as much as we could on our spontaneous trip.  I have a lot of yes you should do and some no you should not do tips to share when visiting Cape Cod.

I look forward to reconnecting with the travel community!

California in a Flash...

This past weekend the three of us Grumps boarded a plane and headed west for L.A.  Yes it is a long ways for a such a short trip but it was worth it.  The real reason we went was that my sister was able to get us tickets to the Bethenny Frankel Show.  I have to admit it was a lot of fun.  Bethenny is absolutely beautiful and is a genuinely sensitive person.  We were able to sit front row center.  If you are in her viewing area our show airs tomorrow July 12.

Before the show we had a fabulous lunch at Larchmont Bungalow.  Larchmont is an Artisan Cafe'.  It was so good I couldn't leave there with out a few pictures of our food. 

My little sister has the "Best of both Worlds".  Yes that was the name of it, its both pancakes and french toast.  Just in case you are feeling indecisive. 

This was my glorious plate of food.  I chose the Curry Lobster and Shrimp Wrap.  Heaven in my mouth is what it should have been called.  The side salad with balsamic was just as good.  But anything with candied walnuts is good right? 

After the long day at the Bethenny show we met up with our husbands in Venice, CA.  It was First Fridays, when all the food trucks come out for the First Friday of the month.  My husband and I LOVE food trucks.  Its one of our favorite things to find in a city.  I was overwhelmed by the amount of trucks that showed up.  We chose the Lobster truck and had lobster bisque and lobster rolls.  They did not disappoint and the prices were very reasonable.  We also choose the Trailer Park truck where we indulged in Macaroni Grilled cheese, and Frito Pie.  The Frito Pie was made right in the Frito bag.  YUMMMMMMMMMM!!!! 

The best part I have to admit of the entire trip was that we were able to wear a sweater each morning and each night.  The temperature was a nice departure from the 113 we left behind in Oklahoma a few weeks ago. 

Can anyone find Jamie?  Oh there he is hiding behind me.  I give him a hard time about not sitting up straight in pictures.  This is him "trying" to be funny.  By the way five minutes after this we had to leave because he was freezing.  In July?!  Yes.  It was so nice.

Fort Wilderness

This spring we packed up the new 5th wheel and headed south for the east coast of Florida.  Melbourne was our final destination but we thought we would make a fun stop along the way.  That stop was Fort Wilderness, the campgrounds at Disney World.

Eating his Mickey ice cream bar

I remember camping here as a kid.  It was something that I would always look forward to, and this time was no different.  I couldn't wait for Miles to swim in the pools, ride bikes, and roast marsh mellows at the camp fire sing-a-long.  Most of all I couldn't wait to snuggle up on a bench and watch a Disney movie under the stars. 

If you like to camp and you like Disney, Fort Wilderness should be your resort of choice.  Its affordable and has so much to offer for free.  We went at one of the peak seasons and paid 60.00/night.  That included water, electricity and cable television at our site.  I have also stayed in one of the cabins at Fort Wilderness and they too are very nice.  You have a full kitchen with pots, pans and utensils.  Think of the money you can save riding the ferry back from the park to have your lunch. 

Yes, the park offers transportation right to the front gates of Disney.  Another great perk is that you can take the ferry boats to other resorts as well and you have free access to all of their pools too.  We spent one day just hopping around from resort to resort just for the fun it.  We also rode the tram to the front gates even though we didn't go in.  We opted out of going to the park this time around.  Our little guy isn't quite two and we felt that was still a bit too young to enjoy Disney. 

While at Fort Wilderness we did a lot of bike riding.  We would always make sure to stop at the many different play grounds for a few swing rides, and always the pony barn.  There are miniature ponies that you can walk around and see and even take a ride one. 

Every night after dinner we made our way to the out door theater where we would first roast our marsh mellows on the fire pit for a little s'mores.  Then we would do the camp fire sing-a-long where Chip and Dale would come out for a visit.  The little one was NOT fond of them, AT ALL!!!  Next we would watch the Disney movie of the night under the stars.  Our first night it was Toy Story 3.  Miles even sat still through the first half. 

Watching Chip-N-Dale

 We had a great time and will make this a frequent stop every year on our way to Runaway Country.