Tip-sy Tuesday: tension rods

This is a quick thing that has made a big difference in RV living - hanging up tension rods. No holes to drill, they come in multiple sizes and finishes, and are a breeze to hang up. We have one over the doorway between the bathroom and front door, makes getting ready so much easier (don't have to take our clothes into the bathroom now to change after taking a shower) - lots more privacy. We also have one hanging across the back of the shower to hang up wet bathing suits and hand-washed laundry. Easy and helpful!

Obviously you aren't going to do any pull-ups on these tension rods, and you want to be cautious how much weight you hang on them - but one curtain panel or 3-4 bathing suits are no problem at all. Just make sure you adjust the rod to fit very tight between the two walls.

RV Living: Privacy Curtain

Our new RV has a separate bedroom with a door which is really nice, but if we have people stay with us they are relegated to the pull out couch in the living room which doesn't have any privacy. Not that big of a deal I guess since we are 'camping' and who has privacy at a campground hahahah, but when my sis and b-i-l came to visit I thought it'd be nice to come up with some sort of way to partition off the couch from the kitchen area. This was not only to give them privacy, I am a very early riser and would be forced to stay in the bedroom until they woke up - without coffee! So the curtain idea is also a little self serving - I could theoretically get up, get coffee, go outside without them sleeping out in the open and my trying not to creep on them!

We have pop-outs on both sides of the trailer, creating a ledge on either side at the ceiling. I measured the width that the curtain would need to span and found a long expandable lightweight curtain rod at Walmart that can just rest on top of the ledge - no having to actually 'hang' the rod, and I can easily put it up and take it down. Conveniently the pop-out ledge has a channel that runs the entire length of the pop-out, so to store the curtain rod it just rests in the channel and no one can see it - perfect.

I got 3 lightweight sheer-ish curtain panels, if they are too heavy the rod will bow in the center. So they don't have a solid curtain and yes, I can see thru it, but at night with the shades down it's very dark in the kitchen/couch area so it worked great. During the day it doesn't give much privacy other than the feeling of separation that the curtain provides.

Not exactly another bedroom, but it did serve its purpose - I was able to quietly get my coffee and not so quietly get Sarge's leash on him and sneak out of the camper.

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 26)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at MMDC last week:

Posts ~
6/21: 🔥 (week 25)
6/22: watermelon windsock
6/23: tip-sy tuesday: at-home gel nails
6/24: bluebarb pie
6/25: veggie cobb salad
6/26: chicken soup casserole
6/27: Mr. Squirrel gets a paint job

What's Cooking ~

• chicken sausages, beans baked with marinara and feta, spinach
• grilled chicken breast, veggie cobb salad
• spaghetti with leftover chicken, roasted broccoli
• burgers, homemade potato salad, caesar salad
• stuffed salmon, chopped kale salad
• marinated pork tenderloin, tossed salad with veggies

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• made a couple masks for my niece, it's been a while since I've made any but after making so many the directions are still in my brain and I whipped them out quickly. 
• read 1/2 of a book but we've been up camping this week and I ran out of time so didn't finish it before my time expired - hate when that happens. It's back on my hold list and I'll let you know about it after I get it back!
• Setting up the new trailer at the campground has been keeping me busy -  been playing around with some problem-solving, space saving, and general tips that I'll share later. It's been fun!

Hope everyone had a great week - stop back next week for more fun projects, recipes, and whatever else I can think of to make at camp!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and master marshmallow toaster (I'm not a s'more fan but I do love to toast the 'mallows!)

Mr. Squirrel gets a Paint job

This is a super easy little thing to jazz up old garden statues and what-nots - repaint them!

I forgot to take a before picture before I started painting him!

I've probably posted this idea in the past because I do it often -  I might have even showed you this squirrel before when I took him from plain old cement colored gray to yellow, and then white. Well now he is black and it's the best he's looked so far.

I did it with a sponge brush and acrylic craft paint, a much faster way would be to spray paint it but I have a deathly aversion to spray paint - if you know the story of why that is then I don't have to say anything else. If you don't I'll just leave it as a "don't ask me how I know" story and trust me that taking 5 times as long sponge painting it was worth it to me :)

I did not seal it after painting, I've made him multiple colors in the past and he's held up pretty good - good enough for me since I'll obviously end up painting him a different color in the future!

Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole

Saw a recipe for 'chicken noodle soup casserole' and thought what a good idea that is - chicken noodle soup without the broth! But reading thru it I felt like it would be too dry, I'm all for no broth but the recipe was basically just veggies, noodles, chicken, and cheese. I wanted something to stick it all together a little more, and what better way to do that then make a little simple sauce with flour, milk and water. Easy. It isn't extra saucy tho so don't expect that, more like coated noodles. Yum.

Brooke came over for dinner and deemed it her new favorite thing - Dave and I also loved it and had seconds it's so good! 

Ingredients:

• 4 T. unsalted butter, divided
• 8 cups unsalted chicken broth
• 1 (12 oz) package dried egg noodles
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 medium celery stalks
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 1/2  cup parmesan cheese
• 2 or 3 cups shredded, cooked chicken

1. Preheat oven to 400'. Coat a 9x13" baking dish with 1 Tablespoon of the butter.

2. Bring chicken broth to a boil, add 1 package egg noodles and cook until al dente, 7 to 8 minutes; drain.

3. Melt 3 T. butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper, thyme, basil, and garlic powder, stir to combine. Sprinkle veggies with 1/4 cup flour, stir continuously for a minute or two for the flour to develop some flavor and then very slowly add the milk and water (just add a few tablespoons to the veggies at a time, stir until liquid is absorbed and then add a little more - this will help the sauce not be lumpy). Once all the liquid is in the pan and thickens a bit like gravy, remove from the heat. Add the parmesan, cooked noodles, and shredded chicken, stir to combine.

4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Bake until the cheeses are melted, 10 to 12 minutes. 

Veggie Cobb Salad

I saw a vegan cobb salad at the Cheesecake Factory last year and took a picture thinking I'd try to copy the idea - and a year later I finally got around to making my version of this fantastic salad. We had it for dinner last night and it's great! I didn't make it exactly the same as theirs, changed the toppings to suit us (and what I had on hand). You can obviously use whatever veggies and grains you like or make it just like theirs.

Start with a base of mixed greens then add your toppings lined up in rows. My salad had leftover cooked broccoli, quinoa mixed with barley (from a prepared package I found in the rice and pasta aisle at the store), avocado, roasted garbanzo beans, cukes, goat cheese, and halved cherry tomatoes. I tossed the greens with a bit of olive oil and coarse salt before adding the toppings, then let everyone add the salad dressing of their choice at the table - I chose flavored olive oil and white balsamic vinegar and loved it.

It's so pretty make sure everyone sees it before you toss it all together to serve it! You'll get oohs and ahhhhs for sure!

Here's their version with beets, asparagus, green beans, quinoa mixed with farro, almonds, and sunflower seeds, avocado, garbanzo beans, cucumber, tomato. They serve with a house vinaigrette.

Bluebarb Pie

LeDonna makes a fantastic rhubarb pie that she guest posted back in 2016 - she brought us one made  with blueberries that she calls "bluebarb" and it's so great I had to share again. Her rhubarb pie is so good you should definitely try the basic version (even if you don't like rhubarb, this makes a custardy layer that transforms the rhubarb) - but man oh man the blueberries take it to another level!

• 2 (9") pie crusts
• 3 T. flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 cups chopped rhubarb, or mix berries with rhubarb to total 3 cups of fruit
• 3 eggs, beaten

1. Line a 9" pie plate with one crust.

2. Mix together flour, sugar, and fruit. Add beaten eggs and stir until combined. Pour into pie shell.

3. Add top crust, fold under and pinch the edges together creating a scallop edge. Poke the top crust with a fork multiple times. 

4. Bake 350' for about an hour. 

Click here to see the original posts with step-by-step photos.

Note: talking to L about the filling, she thinks it'd be great with all berries and omit the rhubarb - we need to try that too!

Tip-sy Tuesday: At-Home Gel Nails

I don't know about you, but one thing that was hard to get used to when everything corona-closed was not getting my nails done! I have awful nails and am very hard on them (which adds to them being awful haha) - when I'm wearing gel polish or dipping powder they stay nice, I don't have to think about them or fuss with them, and are very strong. Yes I get fingernails are not important in the big scheme of things, but I really hate having to think deal with them! My sis has been doing her own gel nails at home and has raved about it for a long time now, so I finally broke down and bought a basic starter kit and the light and I'll tell you what - I might not go back to getting them professionally done and keep doing them myself! So thought I'd share my tips for doing your own in case you are interested in doing your own gel nails:

my sis does a mean french gel manicure on herself - not easy! 
                          

You need a uv light, I bought mine on Amazon. You also need the gel base, polish color, and top coat that works with gel and needs the light to cure. Applying the gel coats is really easy and quick - first lightly buff your natural nail, apply the base coat making sure to not get it on the cuticle and put under the light for 30 seconds. Then apply 2 coats of color, curing under the light for 30 seconds between coats, lastly apply the top coat and cure for 1 minute. Wipe the nails with a little rubbing alcohol to remove any residue and you're done. That's the easy part. Now let's talk removal.

The first time I did them it was very time consuming to remove - after reading up on it I'm pretty sure it's because I applied the gel too thick. Once I learned that and applied very thin coats I had no problem removing at all.

1. lightly file off the shiny top part of the polish - see the photo below, I filed my pinkie and ring finger as an example:

2. wrap your nails in polish remover and wait for 10 or 15 minutes. I bought these little clips that hold a piece of cotton ball soaked with remover on my nails, you can also do like they do at the salon and wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the cotton ball to hold it in place. I find it's easier to put the polish soaked cotton in all the clips or on 10 pieces of foil before starting to put them on your nails.

3. check a nail to see if the polish has started to flake off. If so, remove the clip or foil and gently push the polish off using a cuticle stick or something like that. 

4. once you've (gently) pushed most of the polish off, light buff or file until your nails are polish free. 

Does that sound too hard? It isn't! It doesn't take any more time than having to drive to the salon to have them done and I think they look just as good. Mine doesn't last as long as if I had them professionally done but much much longer than if I just painted my natural nails - at least 10 days. My sister gets longer than I do, don't know what her secret is hahaha. I'm happy with 10 days or so.

Watermelon Windsock

I bought green and red plastic tablecloths at the dollar store to make a watermelon wreath, but before that happened I had the idea to make a windsock (I have lots of plastic left over and will still make the wreath!) because we needed a 'thing' at our campsite - everyone there has crap stuff decorating their sites and I was feeling boring and left out hahahaha, and we can't have that. I'm not sure Dave would let me hang a wreath on the camper door, but he didn't object to the windsock (he probably thinks he lucked out that I haven't planted flamingos all around LOL). I planned to add 'seeds' on the red strips using a sharpie, but since I made it on a whim at the campground I didn't have a sharpie on hand - and I think it looks cute without so all good, I might add the seeds later....and I'll post when I make the wreath, it will be green on the outer edge and red with seeds in the center and most likely will hang on our back door.

Supplies:

• plastic tablecloths (green, red)
• wire circle or hoop (I used the inside circle from a cross stitch hoop that I bought at Walmart for a couple bucks)
• scissors
• clear fishing line or twine to hang, or attach 3 strips of braided tablecloth (see pics)
• sharpie for seeds if you want to add them

Cut strips of tablecloth roughly 1" wide, I cut 2 red strips to every 1 green strip so there'd be more red than green (just like a watermelon). I didn't take a photo of which way to cut the plastic - remove the folded rectangle of tablecloth from the bag it comes in and don't unfold. Cut the strips from the long edge, unfold the strip and find the center, fold in half and tie onto the ring with a lark's head knot (put the folded end under the wire, bring the 2 loose ends up and put thru the folded loop, pull to tighten). Click here to see a patriotic windsock I made 3 years ago with step by step pictures of how to tie the strips on if you need more info.  If you have a sharpie, draw a few black 'seeds' on the red strips.

I didn't have fishing line or twine to add as a hanger, so instead I tied on 3 strips of plastic and braided them together, then knot on the other side. It doesn't have to be a perfect braid (says the person who made the worst braid ever).

6.29.17: patriotic red, white, and blue windsock

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 25)

Dear Campers ~

A quick recap in case you missed anything at MMDC last week:

Posts ~

6/14: 🔥 week 24
6/15: painted sticks
6/16: Tip-sy Tuesday: toasting pine nuts
6/17: peas with rosemary and pine nuts
6/18: my sis is hungry: fruit pizza
6/19: pompom bookmarks by Brooke
6/20: wedge salad platter

What's Cooking ~

• grilled marinated pork chops, perfect baked sweet potatoes, roasted asparagus
• rice bowls (layer cooked flavored rice, salad, chopped whatever kind of meat you have - I make this when we have leftover meat, sometimes I mixed together a variety of things like chicken breast, pork tenderloin, steak, etc.)
• pork tenderloin, potato salad, macaroni salad, make-your-own-lettuce salad
• burgers on ciabatta rolls, veggie tots
• grilled steak, caesar salad
• grilled tuna, greek salad, roasted garbanzo beans

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read "Broken" by Karin Slaughter (#4 in her Will Trent series), no where near as scary or graphic as the previous ones (not saying that's a bad thing hahaha), it was just ok in my book. Or in her book ;) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• spent a few days at the campground, this time we worked on moving big pavers to make a pathway. And more moving sand. I do not have blisters this week so maybe I'm getting tougher hahaha. 
• made a windsock for the campsite - I'll show you pics of that this week! Started a matching wreath but didn't finish it. 

That's it - hope you guys had a great week and are staying cool (it was too hot and humid for me!), stop back next week to see more fun projects, recipes, and whatever else I can think to make at camp!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and paver-layer (bet ya can't say 'paver-layer' fast 3 times! 😂)

Wedge Salad Platter

Here's a fun idea for a dinner party/bbq side dish - I took it to my sister's house for dinner the other night and it's so much easier to make a party platter of wedge salads then try to make them individually for a bunch of people. It's the same ingredients as a normal wedge (other than I skip the onion): a head of iceberg, chopped cooked bacon, halved cherry tomatoes, and blue cheese chunks. 

                             

Cut the head of lettuce into wedges and arrange on a platter, big plate, or big shallow bowl. Sprinkle with the toppings and drizzle with balsamic glaze. I made the salad dressing and put in a jar with a pour top, everyone added their own dressing after taking a wedge off of the platter. This turned out to be a really good dinner party salad!

My go to salad dressing for wedge salad is just mayo thinned with milk until it's a good pourable consistency, add a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. I add some ranch dressing (I'm going to say a "glug" is the right amount LOL - is there such thing as a glug? Cuz spellcheck doesn't like it hahahha). Just add some to taste. Then add blue cheese crumbles (or not if you don't like blue cheese!). Sometimes I do half mayo/half plain greek yogurt which is equally good and saves some fat calories.

Pompom Bookmarks...by Brooke

hey everyone! it’s brooke! i recently made these bookmarks with pompoms on top so i thought i would share because it is so easy and they are so cute!

first i cut a piece of colored paper (whatever color/ pattern you want your bookmark to be) i cut the paper 2.5 by 5 inches and then i punched a hole in the top. 

to make the pompoms i took some yarn and cut a string about 6 inches and held it in between my index and middle fingers, then took some more yarn still connected to the ball and wrapped it around my index and middle fingers (overtop of the 6" piece). after you wrap it a few times - the more you wrap the thicker the pompom will be - you then cut the yarn from the ball. using the 6" yarn that’s underneath your loops, tie it around the middle of the wrapped yarn as tight as you can without hurting your fingers. then you pull the wrapped yarn off of your fingers and tighten the 6" string as much as you can to keep the pompom together and tie it a few times (do not cut these strings yet), then you cut the loops and have a messy pompom. trim the cut loops (but not the 6" middle piece) to get the pom pom look you want!

the final step is to take the long pieces of string that were originally in between your fingers and put it through the hole in the bookmark and tie it! and boom easy as that! you have a super cute new bookmark!

My Sis is Hungry: Fruit Pizza

Remember my recent post for this patriotic fruit pizza? I ended up giving it to my sister instead of having it for dinner - after I showed her the picture she wanted it for a dish to pass, and since I don't need to eat an entire pizza myself (fruit or otherwise!) I was happy to share. What she doesn't know, just between us, is that I bought enough to make a second one in the near future - the red, white, and blue is perfect for a patriotic party - Fourth of July is just around the corner - it'll also be great with different kinds of fruits and berries.

 Here's her review:

This fruit pizza looked amazing, very patriotic for Memorial Day and super cool. The crust was soft and slightly chewy which was delicious.  I saved a piece for the next day and it was still not soggy at all- just soft and chewy. It was really delicious. The topping was not too sweet or overpowering so you could really enjoy the fruit. We took it to a party and by the time we got to dinner we noticed the kids (maybe kids? we are blaming kids anyway...) had helped themselves to it as an appetizer.  Everyone REALLY loved this.  Husband gives this one a nine -  I would give it an eight.  He said the reason he gives it a nine is because he liked that it felt like he was eating something healthy. Is he not aware that the crust is made of cookie? Or the topping is probably some kind of cream cheese sugar mixture? No one tell him. Let’s let him think he’s being healthy.

Thanks sister for making this for me.  If you are looking for a dish to pass that is both delicious and cute this is the one.  Next food day at work I might make this one! (who am I kidding.. I'll ask her to make it again!) :)

Peas with Rosemary and Pine Nuts

I have an old cookbook in my stash (not old like my new/old cookbooks from the 30's, but it's been in my cupboard for years and I kind of forgot about it!) and saw this recipe for Peas With Rosemary and Pine Nuts, I had the ingredients on hand (except for green onions and I just omitted those), we were surprised how much we liked this. It's definitely a repeat recipe (unless you hate peas, in which case why are you reading a post titled "peas"?? Hmmm? 😉 

                           

I usually find pine nuts in small jars by the pasta sauces, or in clamshell containers in the grocery aisle. They aren't cheap but totally worth it (at least this recipe is totally worth it to me!).

The recipe in the book is for 8-10 servings, and I was just making for the 2 of us so I only made roughly a quarter of the ingredients. This is one of those recipes I don't think needs to be exact - just sprinkle with a little sugar, rosemary, salt and pepper to taste to whatever amount of peas looks right for you. Note, I toasted the pine nuts in a dry pan (did you read yesterday's tip how to toast them?) instead of sautéing in butter.

Recipe as written:

6 T. unsalted butter
1 cup pine nuts
4 green onions, chopped
2-16 oz. pkgs (32 oz. total) frozen petite peas, thawed
1 t. sugar
2 T. minced fresh rosemary, or 2 t. dried
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Sauce pine nuts until golden. Add green onions and sauce 2 minutes.

2. Add peas and rosemary to skillet and continue to cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Serves 8 to 10)