Summer Salad

Corn

Cherry Tomatoes

Mozzarella Cheese, cubed or small balls

Basil, fresh is better

Nasturtium Vinegar, or a nice White Wine Vinegar

Mix it all together and you get a nice refreshing summer side salad to enjoy! (Thank you Patrick for sharing!)

Camping @ Kettle Moraine South Unit

This camping trip started slow, since we started getting ready Friday morning, but thankfully Kettle Moraine is not far at about an hour and half away. Our camping reservation was at the Whitewater Lake East Loop (which if you have similar reservation, you must check in at the "Contact Station" before going to you campsite--it doesn't say that anywhere, but that's what you have to do.) Below is what the sites looked like, or ours anyways, some were a little bigger, but most were about this size.

After setting up camp a little we went to Whitewater Lake to swim. The swimming area is small but nice providing sun and shade. We swam a little, and then laid out and read a little. When we headed back to camp we continued to set everything up...without a cloud insight we (and with my insistence) decided not to put the rainfly on to sleep with the breeze blowing through the tent. We started the campfire, and began cooking.

Hot ham and cheese
Sweet tomato rice

Some time after making dinner it started to sprinkle, so we scrambled to put the rainfly up...the rain actually stopped by the time we had everything up...I guess we should've just put it up from the beginning. Then we played Bananagrams. We also made several attempts at dessert, finally perfecting it. We used the pie iron to make tarts: raspberry cream cheese and peanut butter, chocolate, marshmallow. The tarts are made with crescent roll dough on each side, and need to watched while cooking to not over cook or under cook. No camp fire is the same so there is no real consistency, so just keep checking if you are making these yourself.

Sometime in the early morning hours it began to rain much harder, so I am so glad we had in fact gotten that rainfly up and on the tent.. No water in the tent so we just continued to sleep and sleep, finally waking up quite late in the morning, which felt great. We ate a little breakfast and walked down the street from our campsite to a scenic overlook.

After our short hike we decided to climb in the car and get a lay of the land, and took a drive along the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive heading north. The Kettle Moraine area is absolutely beautiful!

When we got back, we got ready to go canoeing on Rice Lake (next to Whitewater Lake, and right down the road from our campsite). Rice Lake is great place to canoe, and may be a great place to swim too, but we didn't find the best area. We got out in a mucky area were I stepped on a fish (so gross!) and when we swam out there was tons of weeds. The water felt nice, but swimming was short lived. Here's a few pics of the lake...

That night for dinner we cooked in the pie iron again making "calzones" with bread, tomato paste, roast peppers, turkey pepperoni, and cheese. It was DE-licious!

After dinner, we played more Bananagrams, and Hubby read aloud to me by the fire.

This morning, we woke up and broke camp to head home. It was a great trip in a close but beautiful area. Great memories!

Camp Eats!

So I think we ate pretty well on this last camping trip and wanted to share with you our meals.

I know when camping it can be hard to think of meals to make that are nutritious and easy, so I hope this gives anyone looking for some good camp eats a few ideas.

Lunch Day One

PB & J
Corn Chips
Fruit

Dinner Day One

Sandwich shown above was made in our pie iron shown here.
Sandwiches, I call Mexi-Melts, were made with bread, turkey chili (no beans), shredded cheese, and green peppers.
Side of Spanish Rice made on the camp stove and cut up green peppers. Yummy!!

Lunch Day Two

Peanut butter tortillas
Spinach salad, cherry tomatoes, ranch and guacamole
Corn chips

Dinner Day Two

Quesadillas made over the fire with smoked salmon, shredded cheese and  spinach and a dab of guac

Day Two and Three Breakfast was vanilla yogurt and a banana.

I tried to plan meals that re-used some of the same ingredients like bread, tortillas, peanut butter, cheese, spinach, guacamole, etc, to cut down on the amount of food needed to be brought.

I hope this helps with planning your own yummy camping meals. Happy camping!!

Graduation Party Time!

Hubby graduated last weekend from Northeastern Illinois University with his masters in Mathematics. Yeah!!!!!

This weekend we had a graduation party for him. When he turned 30 last fall, I asked him if he'd want to have a birthday party or get together; he said no, but that by the end of his degree he would definitely want a graduation party. I've kept that in mind.

While looking up info and ideas on graduation parties, I had searched and searched. What I finally came up with was kind of a Math/School/Graduation theme, and used the tagline: "It's All Good in the Hood". 

We used it on the invitations, and the Math quizzes we made for the tables, and on the welcome sign when people came in. 

Here's a couple pictures to show the party set up: 

The sign in the lobby...

And a couple pictures of the tables all set up...Each table had math flashcards, looseleaf paper, pencils, pencil sharpeners, and quizzes...

All of the quizzes had solutions for people to check their answers. We posted them up on a bulletin board that was in the room. 

We also had a little kids table set up, so they could do fun stuff while they were there. Not too many kids at the party, however. And what could be better than running around and having fun, which is what the boys did most of the time they were there :o) ...

As far as food goes we had "Hot Lunch" with Breadsticks, Mini Calzones, Baked Mostaccioli, and Veggie Lasagna. And for "Cold Lunch" we had stuff to make sandwiches, carrots, Fruit Roll-ups, little bags of chips and Little Debbie snacks....

Cold Lunch...

Hot Lunch...

And for dessert, we had cake and Graduation Cap treats...

The picture of the graduation caps turned out a little blurry, but they were really cute and super easy to make. The treats are brownie bites turned upside down with a chocolate covered graham cracker cookie attached with a glob of frosting. The "tassels" are just frosting, but if you wanted to jazz it up a little more, you could use a M&M for the button on the top of the cap. 

So this turned out to be a mega-post, but wanted to share since I much appreciated looking at other's ideas while planning our party. 

P.S. They have plates, cups and eating and serving utensils at Party City that are made of sugar cane and completely bio-degradable and compostable! We only got plates this time, since we already had utensils and napkins...but next time I'm in the market for disposable serving ware, I know where I'm going! www.partycity.com Eco Friendly Tableware

For the health of it!

Have you ever read the magazine Real Simple? If you haven't, I would highly recommend it; very cool read for anyone enjoys home, hobbies and food. In the February 2011 issue, there is an article entitled "10 ideas for: smoothies". There are some delicious ideas in there, and since I am trying to be more health conscious these days, I tried one the other night. It was a spinach, grape and coconut smoothie. (It wasn't the one that sounded the most delicious, just the one I had the ingredients for.) It was surprisingly very yummy. I could mostly taste the grapes, and unfortunately, this isn't the time of year for grapes. The drink was overall, quite tart...but with sweeter grapes, it would probably be an even tastier drink.

Here's the recipe: 

1 cup seedless grapes (rich source of vitamin A, C, B6 & folate and other good for you stuff. Read more.)

1 cup packed baby spinach (good for everything, cause its a super veggie. Read more.)

1/2 cup ice

1/4 cup coconut milk (another superfood!, tons of electolytes. Read more here.)

Blend until smooth and frothy. 

Here's the nutritional info: 

232 calories; 12g fat; 49mg sodium; 3g protein; 33g carbohydrates; 25g sugar; 3g fiber; 3mg iron; 43mg calcium.

Well, one down, nine to go. I'll post if I try any of the other smoothies from the article. 

Pumpkin Banana Smoothie: Take Two

First thing first, know how to work your blender. The first time I tried this I disconnect the blender bottom and my smoothie ran out all over my blender, counter and floor. It was a mess, but I am SURE I will never make that mistake again.

This smoothie is a combination of yummy pumpkin puree (that I made over the weekend, see Pumpkin 911 post), half of a banana, vanilla low-fat yogurt, and a couple ice cubes, topped with a little pumpkin pie spice to make it extra special. A great recipe if you have pumpkin puree, or if you have extra canned pumpkin on hand from another recipe.

Drinking mine right now, so yummy.

Pumpkin 911

So Earth 911 had a recent article about uses for pumpkins after Halloween. I was then inspired to do a few of the ideas with the uncarved pumpkins I had at home.

1) Pumpkin Puree. I cut open my large pumpkin scooped out the seeds and guts (for later), then put each half on a cookie sheet with a lip on it and about a cup of water on each tray. Then popped them in the oven on 350 degrees for 90 minutes and took them out. After they cooled a little I scooped the soft pumpkin out of the middle and put it into my blender and pureed. Now I have pumpkin puree to use for the next little bit and believe me I have some good ideas for it. (I, of course, composted the pumpkin shell after.)

2) Pumpkin Seeds. Put pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and an Italian blend of spices. Baked for about 25 minutes on 350 degrees, mixing the seeds around about half way through. Yummy, yummy, yummy.

3) Pumpkin Stock. I put all my pumpkin guts in a big stock pot with water and let it boil until the water turned orange. Then I strand the guts out of the stock, and put them in the compost bin. I'll use the stock later--in soups and hot dishes--like veggie stock. This actually made quite a bit, so ended up dividing it into 5 smaller containers; I'm keeping one in the fridge and freezing the other four to take out one by one.

The 911 article was great, so check it out!

Nasturtium Vinegar

Today I made four bottles of nasturtium vinegar that I will give away as gifts. The finished vinegar will have a nice peppery bite and will an excellent ingredient to use in salad dressings, sauces, and other dishes. Here's how I made it...
I picked about 4 blooms per bottle and lots of leaves that I cut in thin confetti strips. I put the leaves and blooms in the bottles and filled the bottles with apple cider vinegar. Then I sealed up each of the bottles.

Now to let them sit for at least 3 weeks before using. The nasturtium can remain in for decoration, but you should make sure the vinegar always covers the flowers or they will mold. 

Garden Kabobs

Yummy Kabobs with fresh garden veggies!!

Nasturtium, chicken and a little salt. Delicious!

Pork, sweet pepper, cinnamon, brown sugar. 

Far right, streak, salt and pepper...also, cherry tomatoes mixed in the other kabobs. 

All cooked up on the grill with a little extra virgin olive oil. So good and fresh!!!

Homemade Pizza

On Friday night we had friends over for homemade pizza. I used a simple pizza crust recipe that is dense and bready. If you'd like to try it, here's the recipe:

1 package active dry yeast, I used Red Star
1 cup warm water

Mix these together first.

Then add the following:

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp Honey
1 tsp Garlic Salt
2 1/2 cups flour, I used whole wheat flour

Then mix altogether using your hands, then roll out on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly coat the crust with EVOO and bake on 450 degrees for 6 minutes. The dough will be halfway cooked at this point and you can top however you'd want. We made 4 pizzas on Friday: 1) Pizza Sauce, Pepperoni, and shredded Mozzarella Cheese 2) Alfredo Sauce, Onions, Pre-Cooked Chicken, and Provolone Cheese 3) Vodka Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Pineapple and Ham 4) Vodka Sauce, little Mozzarella Cheese, Mushrooms, Green Pepper, Pre-Cooked Sausage, and crumbles Goat Cheese. Everyone really liked pizza #4!!

After you top your pizza, put it back in the oven for another 6-8 minutes until crust looks golden and cheese is melty.

Enjoy!

#58: Make treats for work.

So something I've been meaning to do for a while now, is make treats to bring to work (and for Hubby to take to his work too). I used to make treats more often, but for some reason, I haven't been doing it as much lately. So tonight I made...drum roll, please...Margarita Cake!!! Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 box white cake cake mix
1 1/4 cups bottled nonalcoholic margarita mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated lime peel
3 egg whites
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed (I used Lite Cool Whip)
Additional grated lime peel, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with baking spray. In medium bowl, mix pretzels, sugar and butter. Sprinkle evenly on bottom of pan; press gently. (Note: In below picture, the recipe is doubled.)

In large bowl, beat cake mix, margarita mix, oil, 1 tablespoon lime peel and the egg whites with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pretzel mixture.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown and top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Frost with whipped topping; sprinkle with additional lime peel. Store covered in refrigerator.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I sent this delicious autumn treat to work with my husband, as well as bringing some to share with my co-workers as well. Everyone enjoyed them. They look and taste great.

RECIPE: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Vegetable Oil*
2 Eggs*
1/4 Cup Water
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1 1/2 Cup All-Purpose Wheat Flour
3/4 TSP Baking Powder
1/2 TSP Baking Soda
1 1/4 TSP Ground Cinnamon
1 TSP Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 TSP Salt
1 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using Pam (or another kind of baking spray) grease the inside of muffin pan or use liners.

2. Mix all the ingredients, add the Mini Chocolate Chips after everything else has come together.

3. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full with batter. (I sprayed the 2/3 measuring cup with Pam, for easy pouring). Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

*Feel free to use Applesauce instead of Vegetable Oil, and Egg Beaters instead of Eggs for a healthier recipe.

These muffins are yummy all by themselves, but are extra yummy warmed and with a little cream cheese. Hope you enjoy!