Favorite Camping Recipe!!!!

Since it is the 4th of July this weekend I thought I would take some time to post my favorite camping recipe that is so easy that no one can resist!!! It is a great treat for anyone!!! First you need to have the cast iron sandwich makers that you can get almost anywhere in the camping section. Walmart has them for around $3.00. I like the single one but you could use the double one (around $5.00). We have a couple so we all can do it at the same time.

Make sure you spray the cast iron on the inside with cooking spray or it wont come out. Here is what you need for FIRE PIES:

Pancake Mix

Your favorite Fruit or your Favorite candy bar

Water

That is it!

Mix your pancake mix with water. We use the little disposable paper bowls to mix up the pancake mix, those size are perfect for two of these. Fill the cast iron maker half way. Put your favorite fruit or chocolate in the middle and then cover the top of the fruit/chocolate with a little more pancake mix. Now if you use fruit remember to mix it with some sugar. If not it is bitter - I may be speaking from experience and I may not. The pancake mix is not sweet enough to compensate for it :( Close up your cast Iron and put these bad boys on some hot coals from the fire. Watch them closely - They cook quick (4 mins or so) Make sure when you take it off to always check the middle. Carefully dump onto a plate and enjoy.. It is our favorite and we do these every single camping trip. YUMMY!!!!!

*For those who have gluten intolerance/gluten allergy/celiac, Kinnickinnick brand pancake mix is the best... I still use just water for it.

** wait for the cast irons cookers to cool down a little bit and wipe out with a damp cloth. If you use too much water, like anything cast iron, it will rust. In the morning when they are completely cook we wipe them down with oil or use cooking spray and put them away.

Our all time favorite 'gut' is Rollos!!! But close behind would be M&M's, twix, along with strawberries and raspberries mixed....

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

These kind of remind me of Christmas!! Cafe Zupas has a salad called nuts about berries. Love the salad - hate the price. Since I fell in love with it I googled this recipe. Not only is it a great salad topper is is awesome for a snack, put on ice cream and it makes your house smell like Betty crocker or Martha Stewart paid a visit. If you want to impress visitors with your cooking skills and make your house smell delicious this would be the recipe. You can use almonds, cashews, pecans, peanuts - any nut you want (just not your husband nut!) I like to use the crushed up almonds for the salads. Hope you enjoy you as much as I do.

1 egg white
1 tsp cold water
4 cups of whole almonds (or crush or slivered.. hell through in cashews instead if you are adventurous!)
1/2 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F . Lightly grease a 10x15 inch pan (I used a cookie sheet).
2. Lightly beat the egg white; add water, and beat until frothy but not stiff. Add the nuts, and stir until well coated. Mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the nuts. (I dump it into a ziplock bag - easy clean up!) Toss to coat, and spread evenly on the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until golden. Allow to cool, then store nuts in airtight containers.

Mmmm Good

I want to make it more of a habit to post more recipes. I love not only getting ideas from other people but trying new recipes. I am convinced that you can never have enough recipes. Hopefully I can post a new recipe a week, so I am starting off with one of my favorite and easiest party snacks! I love Chex Muddy Buddy Mix (also called puppy chow.. don't know why but it is). I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

... And....

My goodness! Where has time gone??? It would be so much easier to update this thing if my computer was working properly. and now it is...

There is so much to update. December came and went so fast I don't think I managed to blink. This post will be an overload of pics. Next post will be about the great deal we got AFTER Christmas. I could care less about black Friday but when December 26th comes I am ready. So hang on tight and here we go....

Early in the month of December, after we decorated the house and trimmed the tree we kicked off the Christmas season with making gingerbread houses. I didn't get any pictures during the process but here is the ending result:








During the month of December we always attend the 'lighting of the candles' This is at the cemetery where my best friend is at. It always tends to be on her birthday or within a day of her birthday. We always stop and leave her some flowers. This year we were running really late and due to the rain/snow the majority of the candles were out but I still tried to get a picture. After that we decided to head over to Christmas Tree Lane to help get in to the Christmas spirit. Here are just a few pics:






This Christmas was our first Christmas alone! There was much anticipation. It was very exciting for us. We usually have a full house for 3 days (and nights) straight. It was really nice to have our alone moments. For Christmas Eve we did a candle lit dinner. After dinner we did chocolate fondue and watch Christmas Vacation (A tradition). Our 'traditions' are still evolving...

and here is the recipe... You are welcome!!! (for those who are worried about the alcohol, you don't have to use it. It is just as good without)

Christmas morning we woke up bright and early (can't you tell in the first picture???) I am such the kid in the relationship! but this year Bryce was up before me... It was really nice to spend the morning opening gifts together and going back to bed...




After a relaxing morning we headed to Aunt Eileens house to open more gifts. I didn't take any pictures and I didn't stay long. I made my first ham this year so I had to come home to finish dinner. Later in the afternoon everyone came back to the house to enjoy a yummy dinner and open even more gifts.






After all of the Christmas celebration we had Grandma's 80th birthday. Since you only turn 80 once in your lifetime we had to throw a surprise party. Oh boy was she surprised, she was like a giddy school girl!











The holidays were busy but they were fun. Now here is to things slowing down...

Cowboy cookie recipe!!!!

Cowboy Cookies

1 1/2 c. butter flavored shortening
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs

Cream ingredients together.

3 c. flour
3 c. oats
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 c. chocolate chips (plus 1 1/2 c. peanut butter chips if you want them to be extra delish)

Mix dry ingredients together. Slowly combine with egg mixture until well blended. drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 min. (depending on your oven and how you like your cookies). The cookies seem to turn out best if you refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours after making it, but it definitely isn't necessary.

Bad hair day, Expired, Sara and More to come

I am on another random thought. I have had so many things that I want to post but just haven't had time so we are doing a 4 in one post. I have 3 more in the works in the cute head of mine (it never stops working.. I need an off switch, anyone know where it is at?) This week I am preparing for midterms so hopefully I will have the next 3 posts up before the week is over and if I am really lucky I will even work on my Wednesday Wonders.. oh i have lots of those.

I thought I would show you what Same Deuce has been up to. Don't worry, all bad hairstyles start of horrifying. The uglier they are in the beginning the better they turn out in the end.. and let me tell you she looked beautiful after I was done with her.



Why do I talk about Sam deuce so much? I spend 90% of my time with her outside of work time. That leaves 5% for Bryce and 5% to sleep. Really just ask him...

You want to know what really did that to Sam Deuce??? This...



My warranty has expired and it you are paying enough attention I really was driving when I took that. I am great at multi tasking. This is not something I do everyday...

Now on to more important matters, Have I told you about my friend Sara?? I met her when I was 21 and in the singles ward. She was in the relief society presidency and became my friend through all the family crap. She did alot for me. She got married in 2005 and this is the night she got engaged...



(Sorry Sara I stole your picture! Please forgive me!)

Since then she has moved out of state but she is still a great friend. She is the most beautiful pregnant woman I have seen in my life.. and she was so kind as to give me the recipe I have been craving for 4 years. I got the chance to make a dessert for a baptism and this is what I made. Thanks Sara! (oh and one of the posts is this recipe) These are called cowboy cookies. I made enough to feed an army. an I at the majority of them.. yum! Beware: once you have had them you will never go back to the boring chocolate chip cookie... they are heaven, just like Sara!







Last on my list is another one of the post I hope to do this week. here is the preview!



Thanks Beckah for a fun filled night! And for putting up with my twitching eyes and crinkled forehead, I need to look at getting those fixed!

New Recipe.. I'm slacking

I am really trying hard, now that school is starting back up, to not abandon my blog. No promises but I will try (for those 3 blog followers that I have!) I thought I would post another one of my super easy recipes in lieu of school starting up again and not having much time. On Tues and Wed nights I will have barely enough time to run home to eat dinner with my handsome man then run back to fill my brain jam packed with state rules and regulations. Fun stuff. Here is my version of Pan Fried..

2 chicken breast cut into cubes and cooked to your preference (or you can go super easy and use a rotisserie chicken)
3 Knorr Vegetables bullion
1/2 of white onion
1 package of frozen mixed veggies of your choice
1 packs of rice noodles/sticks
soy sauce

I boil my chicken with chicken bullion but you can cook your chicken in the wok if you would like to keep this meal to one dish (less cleaning!). Put aside... When you start your chicken you will want to put your rice sticks into hot water in a bowl and let them soak. Before you add to the dish you are going to want to cut them up in half.

Chop Onion into smaller pieces. Heat up wok add a dab of oil (veggie or olive) add onion and half of one veggie bullion. saute onion and add in frozen veggies. When veggies are warm add in chicken, cook for 4 minutes. take a half cup of water and dissolve the rest of the bullion. Add in noodles to the wok along with the bullion. Cook for 3 more minutes until the bullion is dissolved. add a splash of soy sauce to taste. Enjoy!

Now I get the maifun noodles at walmart. At harmons they are 4.00 for a bag and walmart they run about 2.00 a bag. If you have an Asian store close to you go there and get some. They are about a 1.00 a bag for a bigger bag. It doesn't have to be maifun brand but I like them so I stick with them.


I also use Knorr (de pollo) Vegetable bullion. I LOVE the knorr chicken, beef, and veggie bullion. It seems to have the best flavor. Sorry the picture is blurry. you can find this at harmons, walmart, winco or any other grocery store.

As I said I just boil the chicken and then cube the chicken afterwards
Yum, Yum, Yum!!!!

*after note: Our room is almost completed! I am super excited. I just need to get my pictures back up on the wall and wait for my curtains to be returned (I paid someone to sew them just os I didnt have to deal with them! I can not sew a straight line if my life depended on it!) I will post pics as soon as I have them back. For those who saw my room before the revamp I am oh so sorry! I am excited for the big reveal!!!!!

New Recipe

Ok so lately I know I have been abandoning my blog. I am tired, frustrated, exhausted, sad, overwhelmed, happy, tired, frustrated.. Ok I am repeating myself. This semester in school has definitely taken its toll on me (ask any who sees me! I am always fall asleep, yawning or crying out my frustrations.. really). I am trying to enjoy school but I just don't have the energy in me to keep up sometimes. Due to that my house is a mess, laundry isn't getting done, and food is missing out of our pantry! I have no idea where it is gone. anyways...

Bryce and I have come up with this brilliant plan to not only save money but to help with time restriction both of us may have. We are now planning our meals out two week in advance. 2 weeks is ALOT of time (well it is for me) and 2 weeks with only 1 trip to the store??? am I crazy??? So far (knock on wood) it has been a huge success and so far we are seeing as little as 10 dollars to 100 dollars a week in our pockets. I thought I was a scheduler before but I really have to be scheduled for this. I also have all of our recipes in my laptop so on Monday nights we go through and pick out our meals for the next 2 weeks, I make a shopping list, print all the recipes and post them on the fridge so Bryce can make that oh so amazing food I make! really, it takes skill (for the amazing food and organization) do I have you lost yet?? well lets get onto the recipe. I did not take a picture because it looks AWFUL but some of the best food I have had looks horrible so I thought I would post the recipe and let you try it before you see it. This one I got from my great Sister in law Alisha.. she is AMAZING when it comes to organization, cooking, and family time.. I want to be just like her. Here it is:

Chicken Tortilla Soup (the VERY VERY easy version)
1 rotisserie chicken - cut into chunks or shredded
1 can of chicken broth
2 cans of 'rotel' (that is the brand) stewed tomatoes with chilies.
1 can of no fat refried beans
1/2 cup of frozen corn

Throw all of it in a pan and simmer for 15 minutes
Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese and or tortilla shells.

it is YUMMY! and with the weather so crummy, it is a nice fast easy recipe. Even your hubby can do it!

Italian Chicken Pasta - For Katie

1 package of Penne Noodles
1 Rotisserie Chicken (or 1 pound of chicken cooked to your preference)
3 to 5 garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 onion chopped
1 cup Cherri tomatoes
1 jar of pizza sauce
1 green pepper or zucchini chopped
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp of italian seasoning

Cook your noodles, A Le Dante. Heat up your wok on medium heat. add oil, garlic, zucchini, mushroom and onion. Cook for 3 minutes until almost soft. Add noodles, pizza sauce, tomatoes, italian seasoning and chicken. Heat. add cheese and serve.

(you could add in the raw chicken with the oil, garlic, and onion and cook the majority of the way then add in the zucchini and mushroom)

I got this recipe from my sister in law and it was YUMMY. Bryce loved it, I love it and it is something I will use many times in the future.

* if you don't have a wok a normal pot will work, it just may take a bit longer

Hardman Family Reunion

Family property rock.

This past weekend was the Hardman family reunion. Every year we pack our buns up and head down to (Hot) Hannah to spend a weekend with the family on the family property. This is my 3rd year attending and sadly every year it get smaller and smaller. This year was no exception for one it was fathers day and 2 the weather just did not want to cooperate.

The family property is actually the same land that Bryce's grandpa Archie was born and raised on along with Bryce's dad. There are many black and white pictures that I have seen of the 'rock', house, and outhouse (yes they have an outhouse that is still standing and sadly I did not get a picture of it)

This is the house that Bryce's grandfather was born in along with his 7 brothers and sisters. yes I said 7. This structure is 2 very small rooms. The trailer behind the 2nd picture is a 23 foot trailer that was longer than this house. No electricity, no stove, no bathroom, no carpet. Just the dirt and room. this is the original structure. Amazing, although I think these would look better black and white

The side view

I hate to admit when I say that we did not get any pictures of ourselves. Most of these pictures were taken on Sunday right before we left. It rained the entire time, Hard! It was a good thing we all packed extra clothes because we could not stay dry and spent the entire time under the awning or in the trailer. Bryce and I were in charge of the kid games and due to the rain and lack of interest (ok so they aren't so little anymore, they are all technically 'teenagers') We didn't do anything but our ring toss. Here is about the only good picture I got.

It is always sad to leave that place with your memories. It was even harder knowing that Grandma Thelma wasn't there with us. Overall It was a fun weekend despite the rain, but the rain brought us a beautiful sunset

Look close there is a second rainbow. It looks far away but I have NEVER had a rainbow so close to me before. I felt like I could reach out and touch it!

Another pic of the rainbow, close up

The sky, right before Dusk. I thought this looked cool

This is a pic of the second 'house' that was built after Archie and Thelma got married. I believe Bryce's dad was raised in this partciulare house

3 years ago they put in a 'real' bathroom that has flushable toilets and shower. 2 years ago they decided to make this place the Hardman homestead and bring back their upbringing.

I look forward to seeing all the family next year!

p.s I posted another Yummy recipe below. I have had this one for a while, I got it from my sister in law when I lived with them. Mmmmmm