Road Trip Prep

The excitement is beyond.  As a little girl, we didn't take very many out of state trips as a family... with the exception of ONE.  South Dakota.  I must've been about 5 or 6 years old, packing it up in the family station wagon and headed west.  I remember hotel swimming pools with my brother, a trip to the corn palace, adventures in deep dark caves and of course, seeing Mount Rushmore.
As a mother, I'm ALL for packing up the kids and heading out of state.  I want them to see it all and have all sorts of travel experience. So... we're headed back to South Dakota.  WITH my parents! Say whaaaaaat????  Yes, I'm pretty pumped about it.  I'm also a bit nervous.... I haven't spent that much time with my parents since... well... since I moved out of the house.  But I'm really excited that my children will be able to have this special time with Grandma and Grandpa, I will get that special time with my parents and my dear husband is going to be the ring leader of this trip.  YIKES!  Bless his heart... he is a KEEPER!
So... traveling with my husband, two children, my parents, and of course, Pixie (the family dog) I'm trying to prepare as much as possible.  One of the things I'm doing is fixing a few snacks for the road.  I'm not really a huge fan of giving my kids fruit snacks.  I really think they are just big huge cavity makers.  No, thanks.  Instead, I give them dried fruit.  Mostly mango and strawberries.  Honestly, they don't even miss the fruit snacks.  They are easy peasy to make!  I just go to Costco and get a big ol' carton of strawberries, rinse them, slice them and throw them in the dehydrator.  About 8 hours later... VOILA!  Healthy snack!

Mmmmmm!

Another one of my FAVORITE road trip snacks (and Little One is a big fan, too) is homemade beef jerky.  My Recipe?  Simple...

*package of round steak (up to 3 lbs), sliced into strips

2 cups soy sauce (or reduced-sodium soy sauce)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup liquid smoke

Mix the soy sauce,  sugar and liquid smoke together.  Throw in the round steak and let sit in the fridge for 5-8 hours to marinade.  (I find if I let it go longer than 8 hours the taste is too strong for my liking)  If you have a dehydrator, lay the strips on the racks and let them dry according to your dehydrator recommendation.  Mine is set to about 145 degrees.  OR if you don't have a dehydrator, you can stick tooth picks through one end of the strip and hang from the racks in your oven. Set the over to 200 and leave it cracked open a bit so the meat dries out nicely.  Low and slow.  Check after about 6 hours.  Then check every hour or two after that until it's done.

We've been getting some MAJOR rain this past week.  Since the last few days have been sun shiny and bright (thank goodness) you just know I can't resist some relaxation time on the deck.  My latest book I finished is The Unlikely Pilgimage of Harold Fry.  I loved it.  Read it. 

Ahhhh... water with lemon and strawberries.  DELISH. 

And just because I'm obsessed with flowers everywhere in my house during the warm, summer months...

Fresh flowers.  In the bathroom.  Yes.  I just take one of two and stick them in a little vase.  I get compliments on them all the time.  Never mind the big bouquet as a centerpiece in the dining room.  Nope.  Bathroom flowers are apparently where it's at. 

 

Give the treats a try and let me know if you're a fan.  What are your fav road trip snacks?

 

A Healthier Side

This past week has been absolutely crazy busy.  However, we've been enjoying the beauty summer brings.  One of our FAVORITE places to go anytime of the year, (but let's face it... warm weather brings more opportunity!) is the Minnesota Zoo.  The girls and I met up with some friends for the day and we were so excited to see that they were offering camel rides.  I mean, how often does one come across a chance to do that??  Of course, they were all for it. 

Then, they spotted the best surprise... BABY camels!  Here, the three little ones are checking out Mama Camel and her babes. 

Other than keeping my Sweet Girl and the Little One busy, I've been trying my hand at some more healthy dishes.  That's not to say I'm giving up my comfort food, but I figure swapping out a few of those meals now and then for something healthier certainly couldn't hurt.

One of my favorites was a meal I made for a friend and I for lunch.  Grilled tuna, grilled asparagus, wilted spinach with garlic and morel mushrooms.  If you aren't able to get morel mushrooms, portabella mushrooms would work well too.  I was lucky to have a cousin who just happens to be an excellent morel mushroom hunter, that was willing to share the goods!

I got myself a sushi grade ahi tuna steak from a local grocery store. I poured some Lawry's Sesame Ginger marinade on in and let that sit for about 6-8 hours.  Turn your grill up super high and sear the tuna steaks for about 2-3 minutes a side.  DO NOT overcook them.  You really want that nice pinkish red center and the beautiful grill marks on the outside.  If you overcook the steaks, they just won't taste right.  Tuna steak isn't meant to be cooked through.  Before you put your steaks on the grill, start preparing the asparagus.  Trim the woody end off of the asparagus, toss them in some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.  Turn one side of your grill to low and throw on your asparagus.  No need to put them on foil or anything, just watch them closely so they don't burn.  I cook mine for about 4 minutes, turn and then do another 3-4 minutes.

Wilted spinach is about the easiest thing ever, and SO delicious.  It's a good side for almost anything.  I put a big pot on the stove and heat it to a medium, put in a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil and a tablespoon (or two if your a huge fan like me) of minced garlic.  Cook the garlic for about a minute and then throw in a whole bag of spinach.  Stir it all up so the oil and garlic mix with the spinach and watch it as it wilts. You'll really want to use the whole bag of fresh spinach.  When it wilts, it really doesn't make that much.  Take it off the burner as soon as all of the spinach has wilted down.  Again, you don't want to overcook.

Now, for the morel mushrooms.... MMMM!  I'm a bit of a newbie to this, but I must say, they were delicious.  Soak the 'shooms in saltwater for about 10 minutes.  This will bring out any bugs or worms that may be in them.  (Ew, I know.  Thankfully, nothing came out of the ones I got.)  Gently squeeze the water from the mushrooms and lay then in a sauté pan that has been set to a medium heat with a few tablespoons of butter added.  Let them sauté for 7-8 minutes or so until they start to get a golden brown.  Sprinkle with Lawry's Garlic Salt. (I put that stuff on pretty much EVERYTHING.) Turn them over and let the other side sauté for 7-8 minutes, or until that side turns a nice golden brown too.  Done. So absolutely delicious!

 

 

Another thing I make A LOT during the summer months is caprese salad.  It's SO easy, pretty, yummy, fresh... everything.  Did I mention easy???  Grab a fresh mozzarella ball and slice it up.  Grab a fresh tomato and slice that up.  If you choose, grab a few little orange sunburst tomatoes or yellow tomatoes to throw in for color.  Grab a handful of fresh basil.  Now, you can either layer it all like I did in the picture below, or toss it all together in a bowl.  Pour a little olive oil over it for dressing, sprinkle on some Lawry's Garlic Salt, (see... I told you I use it on everything) salt and pepper.  Done.  A bonus to caprese salad is that it tastes SO light, but it's actually really filling! And beautiful.

 

Now... you've had yourself a nice meal so sit down and enjoy a sunset.  You deserve it. 

I caught this on my way to bed the other night as I was headed to bed early. I felt like my patience was drained from just the constant demands of the day.  As soon as I saw this, I was filled with peace and my heart just felt full and light.  God is good.  Count your blessings... even the days that seem hard are FILLED with reminders of His love.