Tag Archives: camping

camping, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–September 15, 2021

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This past week, we went camping down at the coast. Although we have been doing homeschool for the past couple of weeks, this was our outdoor school. We did regular schoolwork with the kids in the mornings and then did fun, outdoor activities in the afternoons.

One day, I read a book about a silly, fantastic sand castle contest and then we went down to a beach and the kids built their own.

We read fall-themed books and decorated fall-shaped sugar cookies.

We read about sea creatures, then went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Rob organized this project. He melted old candles he collected from friends and family and some shells from the Dollar Store to make sand candles. He took the kids to the beach to collect the sand, and got the wicks from Amazon.

I thought they looked great.

There were lots of trips to the playground at the campground, and many, many times where the kids rode their bikes and I trotted along behind as fast as my short legs would trot:). We took a couple of drives down the coastline, and stopped at a candy store and for French fries. I read aloud for hours. The kids are enjoying Trixie Belden books right now. Of course Patsy has encountered them before, but they are all new to Jake and he’s loving them.

It was a very busy week, but a fun one. The weather was perfect and I’m so glad we got one last camping trip in before the fall rains come.

Once we got home, the garden needed attention. I picked tomatoes, we picked and chopped peppers to freeze. Just tonight, I canned 9 pints of crushed tomatoes. Rob’s been doing load after load of laundry and we’ve all been folding like crazy. There was more than usual because since this is our last camping trip for a while, there was extra bedding and such that needed washing.

We’ve been eating the leftover camping food for the past couple of days. I also unloaded the camper freezer, and we’ve been using the items that were in there. I always keep some chicken, hamburger, bread products, etc. in there for the entire summer, replacing as we use them on camping trips. So, I didn’t need to shop except for some milk, 1/2 and 1/2 and bananas.

Last evening, I dug up my old strawberry raised bed, put in some bags of steer manure, compost, coffee grounds and worm castings, and planted a few fall veggies. It may be too late to get much of anything, but it was worth a try and I simply couldn’t get it done before we went, as I was spending every minute canning. Those berries were done. They only last 3 years. I have some different berries in other places for next summer. So it feels good to have that mentally-daunting job done, whether I get any fall veggies or not.

camping, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week– March 1, 2021

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We finally got to go camping! We had hoped to go a week ago, but the ice storm ruined our fun. Last summer, trip after trip was cancelled from Rob’s surgery, wildfires, Covid closing campsites, and so on. We hardly got to go. It was starting to feel like de ja vu, but we found an available spot when we had to postpone.

Most of last week was spent busily cooking, cleaning, watching the baby and driving the girls around, as they did not get power until Tuesday night. They were out for 11 nights–they finally went home that very night once power was restored. That day was beyond busy, as there were so many errands, trips to take people here and there, that Rob and I think we drove out 13 times between the two of us to take someone somewhere, or get prescriptions, etc.! Yikes. Hands down, it’s the most we’ve done in one day since Covid started!!!

We even managed to squeeze in our son, Anthony’s, birthday party. We had to change times on him once, which is not good for autistic/Aspberger’s sons, as he loves his routine, so we had to just carry on by putting them on one end of the table, us on the other and all the girls and baby in the other room with their plates. It felt great to be able to get together at last and he had a good time.

I made him a cake–chocolate, as requested. Of course, this all happened on the same day as all the errands, and the power returning to the girls’ house. So, while Rob was taking him home, I took the girls home, helped turn on the breakers, helped clean the rotten food from the fridge, and took Lovana shopping. We went to Grocery Outlet, and she re-filled her fridge. At least most things were bargains at that store. The next day, I picked up a few other items for them that were forgotten, and took a few things from my storage. It was so nice to have extra to share.

The baby was gifted a port-a-crib by one of my friends, and he was popped right in it in front of their gas fireplace and was settling down all cozy and warm when I finally went home.

I finished getting ready Wednesday, then we finally got away on Thursday. We were pretty tired, so the first day, we didn’t do much, and in fact swapped off taking naps.

We took a few walks. We saw this tree on a hike we took.

Rob and Patsy went rock hunting, but the surf was so wild, and high that they didn’t stay long. Rob felt it was actually dangerous where they were, so left after they scrambled higher onto the path and watched waves cover the path where they just were a minute before. We took a drive one day, and saw even more wild waves. That was the day we got candy at a candy store, and Rob waited in line outside of a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant next door to the candy shop and ordered 2 large fries, thinking we could all share. What he got was 2 huge take-out cartons of plank fries, piping hot and delicious, and we couldn’t even finish them between the 4 of us. What a nice treat!

I had been preparing the camper for this camping season for several weeks–cleaning, organizing, and so forth. I had already filled the fridge with fresh veggies and dairy products when we realized we were not actually going last week. I was able to bring all of that into the house, of course, and not waste it. I found great deals when I went to replace it when we found we could get away last Thursday. One item was milk for 44c/1/2 gallon. I prefer 1/2 gallons in the camper anyway, so it was a super sweet deal for me.

We take our own food, purchased at sale prices or in bulk and transferred into containers. Even the most hard-core McDonald’s lover realized that we cannot pull through a drive through on our way to camping, so he does not beg us to do that. Whew!!! I cooked several things ahead of time such as chili, pork Chile verde, taco meat, hard-boiled eggs and cooked white rice (for Jake mostly). I bought bagels and cream cheese for an easy breakfast in the car this morning on our way home. (Rob never wants to cook a big breakfast, or even sit down while he is packing up, so eats in the car on the day we go home.). Our camper has a very nice propane stove, fridge and freezer, they are just small. Rob often cooks outside, but we knew the weather was going to be rainy part of the time, so I made other arrangements this trip. We did manage one hot dog roast, though.

Of course, Jake went camping with us, as he does every time he can manage it. I did several hours of school with him Friday morning, but otherwise, he was free to play.

Rob and the kids found a garage sale and Jake bought a Mousetrap game for $1. He and I spent an afternoon building the trap and simply trapping the plastic mice. It was pretty fun. He and Patsy played with it another hour or so, and I put it away for next time we go. We also played Quixx and he built his camper Legos. I read aloud for hours, as he became interested in a book about the Dutch resistance in WWII, “The Winged Watchman.”

We even got to go to church on Sunday. We chose one Rob had heard good things about in the town near the campground, and had a nice, socially distanced service. They were following mask wearing to the max, so we felt very safe, and had a wonderful time. Since last Sunday was our first time back in any church building for a year, we didn’t want to miss the second chance we had to go! Everyone was as friendly as can be from 6 feet distance, the sermon was enlightening, and the kids got cookies in little packages afterwards, making them very happy!

It was fun to get away, and equally fun to come home. We got everything put away, and the laundry was started. The weather was so nice this afternoon, Rob and I took a good walk, then I worked outside in the yard, clipping and pruning and weeding, until the yard debris bin was full, just in time for it to be emptied tomorrow. I always like it when it starts to feel like spring and I can get outside!

camping, Gluten free

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–October 13, 2020

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We slipped away this week for a few days and went camping.

We went to South Beach State Park, at Newport. The weather ranged from nice, warm and relatively sunny to stormy, windy and rainy. It was extreme and very changeable! One stormy day, we took a short drive south on Hwy. 101 and saw lots of beaches that would be fun to explore on a nicer day than that one.

Rob and Patsy spent several afternoons down on the sand, collecting rocks. Even on days that were rainy and windy, they enjoyed their time down there. I stayed back at the camper and read several books, sewed, and slept. I had downloaded several books from the library app to read, and took a couple of actual books, too. At the last minute before we left, I grabbed some fabric and my sewing machine and during the trip, I worked on putting together a quilt top with fabric I’ve had for a long time. I also used several pieces I received in kits at a shop hop I went to a year ago. I had decided I didn’t want to make those particular blocks, but didn’t want to waste the fabric. I’ve got a ways to go, but I have a plan now, and am making progress.

I took several long walks with them, went for a drive, and we took Patsy to the candy/ice cream store one time.

Camping is super fun and economical for us. We used our park pass to pay for the campsite. We took food for all our meals, and I packed a picnic for the first day. Lots of our home-preserved food was used in those meals. Our trip was fairly short this time, so we wanted to get down there early. We knew our campsite wouldn’t be ready until afternoon, so we just went to the day use area until it was time. It was funny when we checked in to see if we could get into our spot early. The ranger suggested we drive into town for a “bite to eat” while we waited. I politely said we’d be back at 2, like he told us, and got back in the van, inwardly chuckling. Think that one over….why would we want to drive a 15-passenger van towing a 32 foot trailer back to town, find a place to park it, and eat at a restaurant and then find a spot to turn it around to come back? During Covid-19, no less? Someone else might want to do that, but not us–it was much easier to pack some food into a cooler:).

Last evening, I took one more quick walk down the beach look-out path. We woke up again to a windy, stormy, rainy day.

Rob hooked up the camper while standing in about 2 inches of water this morning. I helped him. The rain was blowing sideways in the gusty, strong wind. Because you have to empty your trailer tanks at the entrance of this park, we put dry clothes inside the camper door, and just changed real quick after we hooked up, then drove to empty, so we didn’t have to stay soaking, sopping wet!

Before we went, I was able to pick several items from the garden to use in meals, and we took the rest with us. I was surprised at how much garden lettuce I ended up with. We had salad every day, mixed with a head I had on hand. Yum! I packed leftovers into the camper out of the fridge in the house and we ate them up. I cooked rice and marinated some chicken for the first night to make it easy. I did some cupboard cleaning while I was camping, and pulled out a basket of food that needs to be used. I ran out of time and didn’t make it to the store for last minute food items before we left. We made out fine. I won’t go again until next weekend, as there is still plenty, which always saves me money when I skip a week of shopping. I have several meals planned for the next few days, starting with chicken-rice soup, which I made for supper tonight. Jake will come over tomorrow, as usual, and he eats that, so I won’t have to run to the store for “Jake-food” for a few days.

It was great to get the camper out. For various reasons, we’ve had to cancel almost every reservation we’ve made, so this was only our second camping trip during the last year. Hopefully, there will be more before too long!

Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–June 22, 2019

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We slipped away to Ft. Stevens State Park for a few days this week. We used our park pass to pay the fees. We spent a small amount of money on things like French fries and ice cream, and very little else. We took lots of food from home, cooked in the camper, and roasted things on the fire.

As the long-time readers of my blog know, my nephew Jake asks repeatedly to take “our” camper out. So, of course we couldn’t leave him home when it was time to go. We went to one new attraction that we have never visited before, the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon. Our zoo pass allows us to visit one reciprocal attraction for free each month. The month of June happened to be this museum and we were going to be near that area in June…..so we planned a visit. We saved almost $40 in admission costs, and enjoyed the museum a lot. I especially enjoyed touring a lighthouse boat they had as part of the museum. (The picture is not it–I forgot to take one). It was a boat that went out and was anchored 6 miles out and the crew kept a floating lighthouse burning all the time. It has been replaced with a buoy, but the boat was fascinating. We could see where the crew slept, ate, worked, etc.

We kept it simple. There were lots of stick wars. There were bubbles. I took a huge bag of library books and movies. I took my old Kindle loaded with games for Jake. Every day, Rob played either “hot and cold” or “pirate treasure” with Jake. Each day, there was a small prize for Jake after the games.

On “hot and cold” he simply has to find the prize. In “pirate treasure” he had to follow lots of instructions like “hop forward 6 steps” or “run around a tree 2 x” and so forth. Then, he had to dig it up.

He liked those games so much that he hid 3 pea pods one day and made Rob find them using the hot and cold method. Another time, he buried a pine cone for Patsy to find. I’m glad he had a good time.

One reason we chose this location was because Patsy’s (and Alissa’s) youth group had a planned trip to nearby Seaside on Thursday. We took her down there and dropped her off with the group and picked her up afterwards.

Then, we spoiled Jake all day.

He rode the Seaside carousel.

We drove over the bridge to Washington. We bought ice cream. We played the game, Trouble, watched movies and ate French fries.

The other thing I did a lot was walk. Most days I walked 2 miles or more, for exercise. We did not do much fishing, and caught none. I went clamming with Patsy once, but no luck there, either. We didn’t even go crabbing at all! All in all, it was a good week, and now I’m ready to tackle my garden, which seems to have doubled in a few short days, especially the weeds. It was fun, and I’m glad to be home again.

Menu plans

What Did We Eat? March 30, 2019

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This week, we ate quite simply, but it was delicious! We were camping at the beach all week, but we came back and forth several times, using home as our landing spot, so to speak. We did this because Patsy had an event she wanted to attend with the church youth group that lasted 2 nights, and Lovana was flying in from Hawaii. It was up to us to ferry everyone back and forth. So, several meals were eaten in the car, from items packed in a small cooler. Others were eaten at home from odds and ends we dug up, and the rest were eaten in the camper at the beach.

All except one. Rob and I took the occasion to go out to dinner on Sunday night last week. It is so rare for us to have an evening of our own that we wanted to do something special, so we went to a restaurant at the beach and had seafood dinners! Yum:)

Rob cooked on his little camping barbecue several times. He made chicken, steak and mini pizzas. We started with pre-made gluten-free crusts, decorated them, and he cooked them. If you try it, use plenty of foil and don’t turn the BBQ up too high or they burn. After a little practice, they turned out amazing:)

I had made and frozen split pea soup, packed potato salad and chicken for the first day, and had plenty of veggies and salad fixings. We bought salad shrimp twice and I had hard boiled eggs as well. We used home-canned soup and beans and made a lot of eggs and pancakes. We like it simple when we are camping.

I took the opportunity to sort through the camper cupboards and pulled out mixes, rice, and other items that had been there longer than I like. I brought in the things I didn’t use on the trip, and I’m systematically sorting them–they are getting used very soon, or discarded if they are no good. I’m going to replace several items before we go camping again, either from the store, or from my cupboards at home.

We had a good time, rested a lot, visited with Lovana, and took a lot of naps. I was able to get down and walk on the beach several times. Although the weather was not sunny all the time and we had a few super rainy days, there were plenty of good-weather days, as well. We got home yesterday, and hit the ground running. Lovana is off visiting some of her many friends, and I’m cooking up a storm so we can have a big birthday party after church tomorrow for her. It should be fun!

Saving Money, Vacations

Thriving In My Thrifty Week—March 24, 2019

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This week, one of Patsy’s new daffodils bloomed! This past fall, she planted a few special ones amongst the yellow ones she planted the first fall we moved in here. We didn’t buy many, and they were from Winco, so I was hoping we would get a nice one or two. We were not disappointed. I notice there is another one like it about to bloom, too! Hopefully, they will multiply in time as well as the yellow ones do.

We finally got some seeds planted, and just today a few broccoli plants have popped up.

We camped for 3 nights at the beach, using the park pass. We enjoyed some exceptionally nice weather, for the Oregon coast. Patsy and I took 2 nice walks and she collected rocks. Our second walk was abruptly terminated when a sneaker wave filled my rubber boots. Then, we got a lot of cheap entertainment trying to dry out the boots:). And me! Rob made a contraption from duct tape and boards and we propped them up on that until the duct tape gave out and they collapsed. Then, he rigged up a paper plate between the 2 boots, put that over the heater in the camper, and conducted the air into each boot that way. We didn’t want to set rubber boots right on top of a heater vent. We wanted the heat to go inside. By last night, they were about dry.

We enjoyed our camp spot. We got near enough to the ocean that we could see it from the door of our camper when it was not blocked by another camper–so part of the time. It was a short walk to the beach from our site and was easy to see–I walked a few steps and soaked in the beauty a few times. Rob made a big fire, and he and Patsy sat by it a lot. They played cards. Rob roasted things over the fire. I had pre-cooked some things, cooked a lot of veggies and made salads in the camper.

I have a quilt that I started 15-20 years ago. Yes. Really. That long. It has lived in the camper for a few years now because sometimes that was the only time in an entire year I could find the time to quilt. This trip, I really made some progress on it while Patsy watched some DVD’s. We’ve been taking Mr. Jake camping the past few times, and there’s no quilting to be done when that boy is there! After all, how could I quilt with the table covered with Legos? :). This time, he’s on vacation with his family. He will get a turn later in the summer.

I finally have hope that this quilt may someday get finished. It took me quite a while to even figure out what needed to be done and find the parts and pieces, but once I did, the project started moving along. Everything still seems to be there so far!

I worked on my current quilt at home quite a bit this week as well, before we went camping. I have only 1 more 6″ square to complete of the 20 needed for the main body. Then, there is quite a bit more to do to make it larger–there are going to be 2 special rows down below, plus borders all around, but I’m really gaining on it.

We drove back this morning so Patsy could go on her Spring Break Service Project with the youth group. It’s just a couple of days long, but we didn’t want her to have to miss it.

Patsy has an interest in rocks, shells, and fossils. We found this interesting fossil-filled rock on one of our walks. She also collected 2 small rocks with fossils in them. We will hopefully see many more when we go back down to the beach. Last year, Rob and one of his best friends took her on a rock-hunting expedition. Maybe this will turn into a nice hobby for her–time will tell.

How did your week go?

Summer Fun With Kids

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–July 1, 2018

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I was able to pick enough flowers from the yard for a bouquet today.  Even better, I was able to clean off the table so there was a nice place to put it!  I’m slowly chipping away at the mess left over from both the backpack trip and the camping trip.

Today, the nieces and my aunt joined us for Family Sunday Dinner.  I made lasagna, and used up some cottage cheese, ricotta, parmesan, and some frozen pasta sauce.  These were all items that had been lingering in the fridge and freezer, so it felt good to use them up.  I made an extra lasagna to freeze, and a tiny one to freeze in the camper.  I also made salad from garden lettuce and some Brazilian Bite rolls I bought a while back.

Yesterday, I defrosted the camper freezer and wiped both it and the fridge out.  Now, I’m starting to restock both for the next trip, using fresher items.  I’ve put the older things in the house freezer to use up in the near future.

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We had a very nice and frugal week at Ft. Stevens State Park.  We kept things extremely simple. One thing Jake has wanted to do since last summer was to ride the big “Beast” army truck at the historic area.  So, one day, we went over there and did that, as well as let him crawl all over the batteries and play with the replica guns/cannons.  We had to pay for the ride, but it was less since Rob did not care to ride.  The museum was free, and the kids enjoyed seeing that yet again.

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One morning, Rob took only Patsy out fishing, and she was successful!  Another day, I took just her around the tiny outlet mall near the campground, and got her 2 shirts and a sweatshirt at a sweatshirt shop.  I am still working on her wardrobe, and slowly acquiring items for her as I find them on a good sale.  I also wanted to pay some extra attention to her, and that was a good way, since it’s a project I’ve been working on.  She wore the shorts I fixed for her, and I will keep looking at yard sales and at store sales to keep stretching that small amount of money I have set aside for this purpose.

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We caught a few fish.  You should have seen the one that got away!  I lost a big one.  Much, much, much bigger than this one, I’m sure.  Too bad I couldn’t measure it, but I’m sure it was practically a whale:)

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They were nice size and we ate them over the course of the week.

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It wasn’t Jake’s turn to catch one.  Still, he went fishing several times, and I spent quite a bit of time working with him on his casting skills.  He hooked other people’s lines.  I moved him to a less populated area. He hooked mine.  He moved right back to where the people were. He hooked uncle’s chair.  I moved him again.  He wrapped his line around his pole numerous times.  He cast so hard he flipped the end of his pole right off and into the water.  After I freaked out, thinking we lost it forever, several calm male voices from the surrounding fishermen just said, “keep reeling, it will come.”  And, it did.  I guess all those fishermen in the area had seen this before:). He moved back over near all the people.  And on, and on it went.  Finally, one day, the dock came available, and we moved out there.  Even though he didn’t catch one, he spent quite a bit of time bragging to everyone about his “huge” one he caught at Detroit recently, and seemed happy.

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The kids fed the seagulls every stale cracker we could round up, and probably some that weren’t so stale.

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Fire poking was an on-going activity.  Occasionally hot dogs or marshmallows were roasted as well.

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We saw quite a few elk wandering around the area.  One day, we even saw them in the tiny town near the park.

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The kids and I took a lot of hikes.  One day, Jake and I got on a wrong trail and though we thought we were going .4 miles, we actually went 1-1/2 miles.  He was a little grumpy, but made it.  With a couple of other little hikes we took that day, we ended up hiking a total of 3 miles.  Other times, Patsy went as well.  Rob’s having a lot of trouble with his hip, so he did not hike at all but he was always willing to drive us out to a trail and drop us off so we could hike back to camp for exercise.

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Every night, glow sticks came out, and were enjoyed.  One night, I got up in the middle of the night, and saw that Jake had them around his ankles, wrists, and neck, making a nice glow in the night:). So cute!  Most of these were from the dollar store, or from the after-Halloween clearance rack at Safeway, so were quite inexpensive.

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The rose garden at the museum was lovely.  Patsy took about 14 pictures of roses, each more beautiful than the last.

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Once I got home, I got right to work on the berries.  There were lots of raspberries to pick, and I popped all these berries right into the freezer to save for winter.  I froze them on the tray I picked them on, and will transfer them to cartons or baggies once they freeze.  I was able to package up 4 pints from the ones I put in there before I left.  Those were the first of the blueberries and blackberries, and I got a quart and a pint from each.  They are also in the freezer.  The few strawberries I picked are in the fridge.  I ran out of time.  We may just eat them, there aren’t many.

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There was a little rain.  Rob was able to capture a raindrop falling into a little puddle.

The week was extremely fun and very frugal, and we worked hard to keep it that way.  I guess it’s a matter of what we did not do that added up as well.  We did not go to the movies or ride rides in nearby Seaside, or any of the other attractions that were available.  We did not eat out, except once and that was with money we had saved in a can for this purpose.  That can paid for the truck ride at the museum, as well.  There is $14 left for the next time.  We did not buy excess groceries, but instead used many items up from the camper stockpile and freezer. I cooked a lot more than normal, because I didn’t pre-cook food, but it worked out well.   We did not drive around a lot, and when we did, we went short distances.  We brought wood from home to burn and did not buy any.  Because we have a park pass, we camped for free, so we only paid the $6 registration fee.  We took lots of naps and hikes and did simple things for entertainment.  There is so much more to do that we didn’t get done, such as clamming (tide was low at 5 a.m.–too early for our crew), more hikes to take, digging in the sand (too cloudy and rainy the day we wanted to do that), and much more.

Jake’s already asking to go again:). I love going, but also love the fact that this week I have plans to get a lot of things done here at my house.  He’s going on vacation with his parents, so I have high hopes that I will get some of “those” projects done while he and Michaela are away!

 

 

Menu plans

What Did We Eat? June 29, 2018

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Before we left for camping, I grabbed whatever I could from the garden and fridge.  There were some sad and sorry carrots, the end of a bunch of celery, some nice fresh snow peas, and an onion.  I made stir fry and cooked some white rice I unearthed in the camper cupboard.  I did go to the store and buy another fresh bunch of celery and a few carrots.  Jake ate 1 piece of chicken under duress, and 1 snow pea, and noodles.

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Since we are camping this week,  we got to enjoy trout, fresh from the lake.  The first one I fried in a pan for breakfast.  These 4 got better treatment.  We put fresh dill from the garden in side, along with Lowrie’s seasoning salt, and Rob grilled them.  Yum!  Jake ate 1 bite of trout under duress, and noodles.

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We had some hot dogs, so grabbed those, of course.  We had to buy marshmallows to roast.  There were none in the camper cupboards.  That’s probably a good thing.  Last summer’s marshmallows don’t sound very tasty to me;). We just went without chocolate bars this time.  Jake ate noodles and bread.

We also had lots of cereal from the camper cupboard, plus various bread products I grabbed from home.  Jake was on a Top Ramen and Cup-o-Noodle kick, and wanted bread, bread, bread with butter, butter, butter.  We’ve used almost an entire tub of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” I got on sale before the trip.  I was happy to buy another loaf of 100% Whole Wheat Bread for him.  It’s better than those noodles for him.

As I cleaned out the camper cupboards, things like a few pieces of hard candy, some cookies, a hidden package of Bugles, and other treats were revealed and wolfed down.  I made some cookies from chocolate chips that had seen better days.   Anything that was really, really over the hill went to the sea gulls, so provided entertainment of another sort.  Jake ate Bugles and cookies.  I put oatmeal in the cookies, so felt pretty good about that one.

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Rob grilled a couple of steaks from the freezer and 4 ears of corn Jake talked me into buying at the store.  He ate noodles and bread with butter.

I made one simple soup from the end of the sad carrots, celery and bullion.  I put rice in it, too.

In the end, we ate like kings and queens.  I spent a little grocery money, and we did go out to eat one time with the coins we saved in a tin can for that purpose. (Thankfully, Rob changed it into bills before we left–it would have been awkward to take that many coins to a restaurant:) ). We went to a pizza place for an all-you-can-eat salad and pizza buffet.  I asked if they had gluten-free, figuring I might just be eating salad.   They surprised me by making me a pizza, after asking me what kind I wanted, and then they sent me home with the rest of it–for no extra charge.  We felt bad and offered to pay whatever was fair for the rest (I know how expensive gluten-free ingredients are), but they would not take any money.  That was an unexpected blessing, so I had pizza for breakfast today:). Jake ate pepperoni off Rob’s pizza, and watermelon.

I had one day where Jake and I walked a total of 3 miles, broken into pieces.  Another time, we did almost 2 miles.  We’ve done other walks, too. I’ve done more cooking in the camper than I usually do because I didn’t get to prepare ahead of time.  I’ve used up lots of odds and ends. It’s been fun to get in there and get creative, and fun that we’ve walked so much that I have felt like I could eat a little more and enjoy it!

 

Vacations, Watching my pennies

Thriving in My Thrifty Week–June 25, 2018

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Patsy, Alissa and I had a wonderful time on our backpack trip. We went to Tumble Lake, which is near Detroit Lake.  It was very frugal.  We had to chip in $5 each for gas.  Some of those Mountain House dehydrated meals were donated to the youth group, and we had those a couple of times.  I actually bought one gluten-free one at the store, not knowing if there would be any gluten-free options, and I also took a bunch of other food for myself, but did find a breakfast in the available options that I could have, so used that.

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The hike was extremely rigorous.  Patsy and I were not as fast as the others, especially the football player.  So, we came along at our own pace, and enjoyed the view.  Going out was extremely difficult.  My phone’s app claims we climbed the equivalent of  27 flights of stairs.  I believe it!  But, we made it:).IMG_7370

There were tons of salamanders that the girls enjoyed playing with.  Several of the guys fished for hours, but let them all go but one, since they were so small.  The kids roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, and we played a game that was like charades for hours around the campfire. One girls had an app on her phone and you chose a category, then held the phone up to your forehead so everyone could read the word.  They were to describe it to you, and you had to guess.  If you got it, you ducked your head, if not, you tipped your head back to pass, and the phone kept track of the score.  It was really fun to spend time with the kids, and they were a cheerful, happy group.  Of course, there was no phone service, but the game still worked.IMG_7392

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When we arrived home, we were SO tired, but I was super happy.  I had a really good time.  We put those things away and packed the trailer for camping.  We traded our niece for our nephew and were off again.

I did not have time to pack the usual picnic for our ride to the campground.  Instead, I just fed everyone well (Rob made omelets and there was cereal) and when we stopped at a rest area, I climbed into the camper and  grabbed snacks, bars, drinks, etc. and let them eat what they wanted.  It wasn’t the healthiest, but it worked.

I picked lettuce, snow peas, green onions, parsley, cilantro and mint from the garden to take with me.  I found some chili in the camper freezer that I defrosted and put half with some noodles to make chili Mac for our first supper when we arrived.  I also made a cornbread mix I found in the cupboard.  We used some for dinner, and some for breakfast, and I froze a bunch of it, as it made a LOT!  Usually, I make a casserole or something for the first night, but had no time to do it this trip.  I cleaned out one of the cupboards in the camper as I found a home-canned jar that had popped its seal.  I plan to clean under the seats on this trip, as I think there is food under there as well.  I have a goal to use as much food as I can this trip out of the camper since it’s been in there for a long time.  That will also save on the grocery bill, since it’s all been purchased long ago.

I’m looking forward to a restful week!

 

Menu plans

Weekly Update and Saving Money for the Week of Thanksgiving, 2017

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Last week was a holiday week.  None of the kids went to school, and Rob only worked Monday morning.  So, we spent the first part of the week spending time with Jake and Patsy, cleaning like crazy, setting up tables for the dinner on Thursday, and pre-cooking food.  We had plans Wednesday, so that day was not available.

In the meanwhile, the computer crashed.  Completely.  We had to use 1/2 of Tuesday, which was the day I had saved to completely finish cleaning, to take it in to the only Apple store around–over an hour from our house.  After waiting to see what the problem was, we left it there with 2 choices of issues it might have, and told them to call us when they figured it out.  In the end, the hard drive was unfixable, and we had to have it replaced, which meant it was blank when we got it back.  So, we’ve spent hours trying to put things back on it where they belong.  We are not computer geniuses, so it’s taking us a while.  A long while!!!  After several hours of work, I finally got some pictures to load, although I’ve tried many, many things to get them all to load from my phone, and they are not all there yet.  I just need to spend more time at it, and I’m about out of that this week:)

On Wednesday, we went out all day.  We visited my oldest daughter, who was not going to be able to make it Thursday due to a badly sprained ankle.  Then, we did a few errands in her area, and headed up to see Harnet.  After spending some more time on errands,  Rob graciously agreed to drive myself and Harnet, plus Jake, Ja’Ana, Patsy and Danait up to an Ethiopian grocery store up in Portland. On MLK Blvd.  During rush hour.  In our 15 passenger van.  In the pouring rain.  To buy special green Ethiopean coffee that Harnet needed. What a man!  Have I mentioned I’m married to a saint?  (At least that day he acted like one!!).   We hit bad traffic going up, but found a really great parking spot right away, got what was needed, and sailed on to drop her off, then home.  So, it all worked out!

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I met Harnet through my oldest sister. They have been friends for a couple of years.  Now that we are friends, too, and my niece Alissa has become part of that loop as well, we all really wanted her and Danait to come to Thanksgiving.  And, we wanted her to make coffee for all of us.  So, it was really our fault she needed special coffee.  We were happy to help her get some.  Now that I know what she needs, exactly, I may just order a small bag from Amazon, just in case this coffee crisis comes up again:). Everyone enjoyed the coffee tremendously, but little Danait really kept everyone entertained.  We all enjoyed the day so much.  A little person really adds to the fun in our family, and she went from person to person, happily and cheerfully.  Such a charmer!

The day after Thanksgiving, we took off for a couple of days camping.  Jake went, of course, as he has been asking frequently when “we” were going to take “our” camper out and go camping.  It was rainy and cold, and we had a ball.

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He built Legos for hours.  We all ate junk food for hours.  He played with his junk food for hours.  We visited the Dollar Store and let them spend their chore money.  He bought a gumball machine and some beads to put through it.  That way he can get “gum” over and over and put it back. He doesn’t want to chew gum.  At least not bubble gum, he says.

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We had glow sticks each evening.  They were dollar store and clearance finds.  Patsy waved them.  Jake turned them into light sabers, and he and I had a war.  Darth Vader (Jake) won that one for sure!

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He built a camper in the camper:). He liked that little nook so well that he slept in there the 2nd night, instead of on the couch as he usually does.  The first night, the jacks shifted a bit, as they often do, and the camper had a slight downhill slant.  He loved it so much because his toy would roll better.  When Rob tightened them the next morning, he was really quite put out at him for a little bit.

It was very economical to camp.  We used our park pass that we get for adopting children out of the state system.  We have to pay the registration fee. $8, I think.  We ate all meals in the camper, except one.  Rob keeps change as he gets it, then cashes it in before trips so we can eat out at least one time, if possible.  We grabbed Thanksgiving leftovers and things from our fridge at home and used the pantry in the camper for the rest.  I keep it stocked and it is good to use those items up sometimes.

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It was very windy, but we fed the seagulls some old bread.  They were quite entertaining, and even caught some of the pieces mid-air.   Other entertainment included looking at the beach from the warm van, looking at the outlet mall from the warm van, and getting out of the warm van to go back into the warm camper to build more Legos, read more books, and watch endless movies.  We watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Paw Patrol (thank you so much, Abbie!), and part of a couple of others.  I finished the chapter book we were reading aloud–“Snowbound With Betsy” by Carolyn Haywood.  It is very good for young readers.  It kept his interest, and it’s cute.  Even Rob liked the part he heard.  In fact, when I finished, Jake wanted me to start over, but I didn’t.  Instead, I got another book about Betsy from the same author from the library today, and will start it with him tomorrow.  I read “The Girl of the Limberlost” by Gene Stratton Porter.  I’ve read it many times, but it was in the camper, and I enjoyed reading it again.  Ja’Ana basically read and slept all weekend, and made Rob watch “Soul Surfer” with her.  She knew he would cry all the way through, and he did not disappoint:).

It was fun to get away.  Winter camping is much different from Summer camping, but we still like to do it.  We needed to get some rest, and did rest, but were a bit tired anyway when we got home.  That is because on the last night, the wind kicked up so much, that Rob woke up around midnight and put the awning in.  You don’t want it to get twisted in the wind.  I woke up, too.  Then, around 2, the power went out in the campground, so he got up again to turn things to propane so I could still shower in the morning.  I woke up, too.  Then, just as we were drifting off, the power came back on, and that woke us up again around 4.   He fell back to sleep, and they all slept until after 9.  I didn’t.  After we came home, I took about an hour nap.  Ahhh…..It was a new week before I knew it!!

IMG_6043 3We’ve been cooking.  Baked potatoes with cottage cheese and cheddar cheese were one night’s dinner.  Rob BBQ’d chicken for Monday and made shrimp fettuccine for Tuesday.  Tonight, I made homemade chicken strips.   I’m sure I’ll cook some more, as there are several days left in the week!  LOL!  But, this is it for now.  I hope your week went well, too.