Philly Cheesesteak-Inspired Sandwich

Last week I made beef and mushrooms with the super thinly sliced steak we found at Costco, this week LeDonna gave me the idea to make this Philly Cheesesteak inspired sandwich. 

Slice the steak in pieces about 1" or so wide. Brown mushrooms in a pan with a little oil, add the steak pieces and continue cooking until the meat is cooked to your liking; lay slices of provolone on top of the beef and mushrooms and let it melt. Stir the melted cheese into the beef mixture and spoon on top of grilled hoagie buns. 

9.8.22: grilled mini pizzas

9.8.21: mojitos

9.8.20: TT stovetop toasted garbanzo beans

9.8.19: 🔥 week 36

9.8.18: b.l.a.t. sandwich

9.8.17: crown braid by Brooke

9.8.16: rearranging furniture

Insect Repellent Sachets

My camping neighbor/friend gave me this idea and since we have SO many spiders and bugs this year I immediately made a few sachets to help keep them out of the RV. Very easy to make, and since I had the ingredients on hand it's also a quick project. I have a doTERRA repellent blend called TerraShield that has a mix of sesame, citronella, lemongrass, thyme, cedar wood, geranium and peppermint that I used but after having the bags hanging for a few minutes I gave myself an asthma attack! I've used a drop or two of the bug blend on my skin with no issues but I guess the bags were just more than my lungs could handle. I'll be remaking these sachets using simpler ingredients that I know I won't have issues with. 

You'll need:

• uncooked rice
• essential oils
• small organza drawstring bags

Mix rice with a few drops of essential oils, spoon into the organza bags, cinch the top and hang around areas where bugs are prone to come in (windows, doors) and/or in your closets. I'm not setting them on any surface that might be damaged by the oils. 

I wrote the above post after making my bags, but then Jenn sent me much better directions and info and I told her I was posting her version instead haha: 

15 drops of oils for every one cup of rice

Mix rice and oil in large bowl

Let sit about 15 - 30 minutes to soak up oil

Then fill your bags with about 3/4 cup rice

Suggested oils (just ideas, more bug repellent ideas online-but these smell good and are known to repel bugs)

Lemon

Eucalyptus 

Rosemary

Peppermint

Orange

Lavender (closets and drawers)

Tea tree (smaller amounts-not near clothes)

Citronella (smaller amounts-not near clothes)

Combo ideas

Lemon, Orange, Peppermint

Orange, Eucalyptus 

Lavender, Peppermint

Lavender, Rosemary

Use the Tea tree or Citronella to “refresh” the bags with 4-6 drops every 3-4 weeks in main areas

Use peppermint to “refresh” the bags with 4-6 drops every 3-4 weeks in clothing areas such as drawers and closets

9.7.22: strawberry cream pie 

9.7.21: TT - solo cup measurements

9.7.20: face mask with filter pocket

9.2.19: wild mushroom and thyme soup (still laugh at this one)

9.7.18: tomato tart

9.7.17: first aid certification

9.7.16: brownie, oreo, reese's ice cream cake

Hot Cream Cheese Dip

This recipe is based loosely on my sis's buffalo dip - without the chicken and buffalo sauce hahaha. I wanted to make a hot dip in my small crockpot for Dave's birthday dinner and asked her for suggestions; she makes a non-buffalo sauce for me (and Mickey) because I don't like spicy but I do like dip LOL so she told me what she usually does, and I doctored it a little bit. 

Her advice is that she doesn't even make it the same way twice, you can change up the amounts as you see fit - add sour cream, mayo, more or less cream cheese, ranch dressing, chopped fresh spinach...it all tastes good. We were having tacos for dinner so I put a tiny Mexican flavor to my dip and it turned out delish, here's what I did:

• 2 boxes light cream cheese, room temperature
• scoop of light sour cream (approx 1/4 cup)
• scoop of light mayo (approx 1/4 cup)
• 1 can Rotel, don't drain
• Mexican seasoning blend to taste

Blend everything together until smooth. Put in a small crockpot and heat over low until hot (if your crock insert is removable you can put it in the microwave for a couple minutes to give it a head start). Stir occasionally. 

I had a little leftover and stirred it into my scrambled eggs the next day - yum!

click here for her buffalo dip recipe 

click here for Meghan's buffalo-less chicken dip 

9.6.22: TT cream puff dessert 

9.6.21: 'welcome to the wedding' sign 

9.6.20: 🔥 week 36

9.6.19: plastic lacing gimp keychain

9.6.18: roasted tomatoes with pasta

9.6.17:  morning glory muffins

9.6.16:  Japanese steakhouse carrot-ginger salad dressing

Tip-sy Tuesday: Cleaning the Shower Track in an RV

We have a 3 panel sliding shower door in our RV bathroom and the track gets filled with sand and gunk and is not easy to clean. Ginny next door gave me this tip that really works, cleans it in seconds versus my struggles in the past, and it now looks brand new. She found this little brush on Amazon, the handle fits right in the track - she also told me she wraps the handle with a cleaning wipe and it makes cleaning out the track even easier. She sent me the link and I saw there is a set of 3 brushes so I bought that for a couple  $ more than the brush on its own and all three work great. 

Second tip is to spray a little bleach water (50/50 in a spray bottle) in the back edge of the track where it's very hard to reach, and then wipe it with the brush handle/cleaning wipe. Easy-peasy.

Note: I should have started the first paragraph with the way I used to clean the track - my finger and a paper towel, and q-tips hahha! 

I don't get a kickback from Amazon so didn't link the brush, but here's what it's called if you want to search for it. 

9.5.22: happy labor day '22

9.5.21: 🔥 week 36

9.5.20: stuffed tomatoes with grits

9.5.19: insta-pot tortellini by Jen

9.5.18: raw fresh tomato sauce

9.5.17: birthday party 

Happy Labor Day '23

 

Made me laugh 😂 have a great day everyone!

9.4.23: 🔥 week 36 

9.4.21: beer tap pull handles

9.4.20: Cathy's canvas painting

9.4.19: chocolate cupcakes w/peanut butter frosting

9.4.18: Tomato Jam

9.4.17: Labor Day (funny)

9.4.16: white beans in marinara, arugula salad

🔥 Around the Campfire (week 36)

Dear Campers ~

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

Posts ~

8/27: 🔥 week 35 

8/28: pallet board centerpiece box

8/29: TT: elevate a boxed cake mix

8/30: godzilla cake

8/31: beef and mushrooms

9/1: MSTI raising cane sauce

9/2: words

What's Cooking ~

not much! I was sick a few days and Dave had to fend for himself so I don't have any menu plans to share with you. 

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read 'The Boys' by Ron and Clint Howard - LeDonna read it first and loved it, so I borrowed it from her and also loved it! More than I expected to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

That's it for this week - see you next week with more fun projects, recipes, crafts, whatever we think to make at camp :)

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

9.3.22: cucumbers in vinegar

9.3.21: tiny wedding cake

9.3.20: drunken cherry bombs

9.3.19: TT - clear vanilla

9.3.18: tomato week: stuffed tomatoes

9.3.17: cauliflower waffles

9.3.16: Barbie soap - wrong but funny.

9/2 ~ Words

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my niece Brooke, she is 20 today!!! I miss her blogging all her fun kid crafts and projects but she is now super busy with jobs, school and life hahahha. Hope you have a great day B! 

9.2.22: giant reese's stuffed cookie

9.2.21: naked cake

9.2.20: crazy peanut butter chocolate pie

9.2.19: happy labor day

9.2.18: 🔥 week 35

9.2.17: birthday cake (heavy sprinkles!)

My Sis Tried It: Raising Cane Sauce

So continuing on the theme of "recipe's that aren't really recipe's" today I saw a thing on Facebook for Raising Cane's sauce.  My daughters boyfriend works at Raising Cane's so I have benefited from trying their chicken and sauce - and yum.  If you have never had it the sauce is equivalent to Chick-Fil-A sauce but not the same. To me it's tangier.  I love both though so decided I would give this one a try. 

First off my sister will HATE this because the "recipe" didn't come with ANY quantities of anything.  I will attach the picture below as proof.  lol. It lists the ingredients as: 

• mayonnaise
• ketchup
• worcestershire
• hot sauce
• garlic powder
• seasoned salt
• black pepper

So that said - I mixed together a couple scoops of lite mayonnaise, a squeeze of ketchup, a couple shakes of worcestershire, hot sauce and the seasonings to taste.

9.1.22: tamale dip

9.1.21: swiss meringue buttercream

9.1.20: TT- oven heating hack

9.1.19: 🔥 week 35

9.1.18: painted cow skull 

9.1.16: mini succulent shadow box

Beef and Mushrooms

I bought a package of very thinly sliced steak (very, very thinly sliced) from Costco and am thinking of ways to prepare it. First up - beef and mushrooms based on Jiji's cooking lesson for beef and broccoli (click to read all about that amazing meal). 

I pretty much followed how Jiji taught us to make beef and broccoli but I did do it a little different in that I  sautéed a container of sliced mushrooms and one cubed zucchini along with a small amount of broccoli in a pan with a little oil over medium-high heat until the mushrooms were cooked and the broccoli softened; the meat is so thinly sliced that I added it to the veggies and cooked for just a couple minutes and it was done. Then I seasoned with soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, a bit of raw cane sugar, salt and pepper (all to taste like Jiji does) and I added a little hoisin sauce because I have it on hand. I drizzled a teensy bit of sesame oil overtop but didn't add sesame seeds. 

This turned out SO GOOD!! I hope I made Jiji proud haha :)

8.31.22: hawaiian quilt

8.31.21: TT - how to make cake layers

8.31.20: crochet band for face mask

8.31.19: braised short ribs

8.31.18: farmhouse projects

8.31.17: remoulade sauce

8.31.16: coconut cream filled cupcakes

Godzilla Cake

You know how I love to make cake, and I make lots of them - but nothing like this one that Mark and LeDonna made for Dave's birthday last week!! Dave and I were camping for a few days before his birthday and I was talking out loud to M and L wondering how I was going to have time to make his cake and they volunteered to make it for me - and then apparently Mark's active imagination kicked in and he came up with the idea to have a rubber Godzilla stomping thru cake. 

We ended up coming home a couple days ahead of time so I was able to assist but pretty much all I did was make 3 batches of buttercream frosting and show LeDonna how to use cake decorating bags and tips. She baked 2 9x13 cakes, one yellow and one chocolate; the chocolate one was frosted with chocolate buttercream and she piped the words on with white frosting - the letters are spaced out so it would be easier to cut the cake into pieces and set around the figurine (like he had busted up the cake on his rampage). 

The yellow cake was cut into 4 square pieces that they frosted and stacked on top of each other creating a building. We thinned some buttercream to frost the whole building with a 'crumb coat', put a skewer thru the middle of the top to help it to not tip over, and then put it in the freezer overnight (that makes it easier to frost and not get crumbs in the frosting). The next day while Dave was out for a couple hours we got everything back out from where we hid it and went about assembling the cake. LeDonna frosted the building with gray buttercream and piped on windows in white frosting, then edged along the bottom with green frosting. Set the Godzilla figure by the building, cut cake pieces and stack them around him. 

Mark nailed together a couple pieces of scrap wood to look like telephone poles, I threaded cross stitch thread thru the overhead piece resembling the telephone wires; they are held in place on either side of the cake board with duct tape, slanted to make it look like Godzilla caught the wire in his mouth and is pulling the poles down. Someone stuck a candle in his mouth and then we lit another candle placed in a piece of cake (didn't want to light the one in his mouth and melt the figurine haha!) 

I took lots of pictures to share with you, and I have to say we had a LOT of laughs putting this together! Hilarious - oh, and the cake tasted great too!

starting the building by stacking cake squares and frosting with a crumb coat

funny side story - We did this over a couple days while Dave was out. We only had 2 hours each day before he'd be back so when he drove away the 3 of us scrambled to get as much done as possible, plus hide what we had completed and washed/put away all the dishes and frosting supplies. Then the next day we repeated hahaha. He never suspected a thing :) 

8.30.22: TT rv spice cabinet

8.30.21: layered birthday cake

8.30.20: 🔥 week 35

8.30.19: card holder hack by Brooke

8.30.18: photo storage cheat sheet

8.30.17: Robert Redford cake

8.30.16: repotting plants