Family Fun Friday!!! Camping Edition

I am so excited .We are taking a family and friends camping trip this weekend. We are going with three other families that live in our neighborhood, well actually we almost all live on the same tiny cul-de-sac. Preparing for this trip has been interesting. DH and I haven't been camping together except for once on an ITT trip that he had to drive for when we were in England. I love to camp but DH says that he camps out enough when he is deployed he doesn't want to do it while he is home. So I think I am more excited than the girlies, which is hard, because they are thrilled.

The prep for this has been funny, DH's packing list is this; sleeping bag, baby wipes, MRE's, underwear. That's all he thinks we will need. I have added; tent, hot dogs and s'mores, some pre-made snacks, change of clothes, flashlights, cooking stove, WATER.... LOL. No wonder he doesn't ever want to go camping. If we camped his way it would be seriously roughing it.

Because of some other stuff that came up this week I didn't get to pre-make anything so I am rushing around today packing, baking, and doing the last minute shopping. Hopefully I don't forget anything, but I have my handy dandy packing list. Gotta love preparation by list.

Have a fabulous weekend, I can't wait to share my pictures with you come Monday.

~DD

Gingered Pork Tenderloin

My Mom made this pork tenderloin one year for Easter and I fell in love with it. It is an easy and very impressive recipe to prepare. My favorite way to serve it is with mixed roasted veggies on the side. I will usually put one 9x13 pan with the pork next to another 9x13 pan with the veggies. Tonights vegetable combo was cauliflower, broccoli, and sweet potato.

GINGERED PORK TENDERLOIN
2 1/2 lb. pork tenderloin
1/8 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. thyme
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 gloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh ginger, minced

SAUCE
3/4 cup ginger preserves (I couldn't find these. used apricot instead)
2 T. dry sherry
1 T. soy sauce

Rub meat with mustard powder and thyme. Place in a non-reactive dish and add 1/2 c. sherry, 1/2 c. soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Coat the loin well. Cover; refrigerate overnight.

NEXT DAY: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place loin with liquid in oven uncovered. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes per pound, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Baste occasionally while cooking.

SAUCE: Meanwhile, heat preserves with sherry and soy sauce over medium heat until melted. Reduce heat to low and simmer. Pour over loin when it's done.

NOTES: I usually don't measure the mustard and thyme I just sprinkle it lightly over the outside.

Sometimes I don't remember to make the sauce. It's still amazing without it.

~DD

Nostalgic Hodgepodge.

1. What's your favorite meal to serve on a chilly autumn evening?

Chili, hands down. I love a lot of warm comfort foods, but I love chili.


2. Are you a creature of habit? Explain.

I most definitely a creature of habit, it might border on OCD, but I choose to ignore the possibility that it would. An example for you. When I make my water bottles for the day or working out I put in 10 ice cubes, not 9, not 11, exactly 10. I can't stop myself from doing this. I have showered in the exact same order for at least 10 years, I can't change it and I don't want to.


3. What food product (no longer readily available) do you remember and miss from days gone by?

This is really hard. I didn't eat many packaged food products growing up, my Mom was a part of the organic natural co-op movement long before it became mainstream. My favorite childhood food that I don't eat anymore is whole wheat carob chip cookies. Another favorite was getting to eat pieces of honeycomb.

4. What's something you've lost that you've never been able to find? Any theories as to what happened?

I don't know. Hmmm. I'm sure I lost a ton of things when I was younger I was one of those "clean by shoving things under the bed" type of kids. Now I rarely lose things. At least I rarely lose things that I don't find again.


5. Zoo~circus~ carnival...your favorite?

Zoo, but only if it is a good one where the animals look happy and well treated. When they are in cages that are too small or in climates that are unnatural for the animals I just want to cry.


6. What song makes you feel instantly happy?

Vivaldi's Gloria.... the whole thing.


7. To what extent are you an argumentative person?

I HATE it when people talk down to me. I tend to argue a lot when people try to act like they are know-it-alls or when people talk to me like I must be stupid because I am a stay at home mom. Other than that I am a pretty easy going person and will do a lot of bending to avoid an argument.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Family camping trip to Zion National Park this weekend. So very excited. I just hope that the rain stops before we get there.

Teaching Tuesday

After some really bad issues with the pre-school where P-nut was attending DH and I decided that it was time for us to pull her out and do pre-school at home. I have been enjoying my little bit of time to myself to get things accomplished each week, but those few hours are not worth the way that things were being done in the pre-school. So time to go into Mommy-teacher mode and start finding lesson plans.

Thank goodness for Pinterest and all of the wonderful things that my friends are pinning. I was led to this website with free downloadable pre-school lesson plans. Amazing! They are colorful, fun, and comprehensive. Covering so many different skills that are important for pre-schoolers to learn. I absolutely love what is provided. It will help make this transition so much easier.

Our first week of lessons will be the Camping theme. So exciting. I thought that bringing it together with our family vacation this week would help to make the lesson more interesting for Paige and more relevant to what is going on where we are. We have done the first few lessons and she is loving them. We also found some books at our local library that are camping related that I am reading to P-nut as well as having AJ read to her, so that the whole family is involved.

Wish me luck as I re-configure our whole schedule to accommodate this new development in our lives. I think that it will be a lot of fun to spend the schooling time with her this year.

Meal-Plan Monday

Happy October to you all! It's Monday and time for some meal plans. This week will be a little less interesting than the others since we are headed out for a camping trip this weekend and our food plan for that is..... well you'll see.

Monday
Crock-Pot Zucchini Ziti
Grilled Steak

Tuesday
Chili
Cornbread
Salad

WednesdayGinger Soy Pork Roast
Roasted Veggies

Thursday
Baked Potatoes
Broccoli
Chili
Cheese
etc.....

Friday
Dinner on the Road

Saturday MRE's...

Sunday MRE's