Brr it's cold outside!!

Well we are back home safe and sound. The camper is mostly unpacked, only some cleaning left to do in it. It has been winterized already too. It's been cold up here, so that was a must as soon as we got home. So now we are on to other things here.

As some of you know, we have been putting in Geo-Thermal heating in our house. Mark has work several of his weekends at home to put in the loops and now, this week we will be getting the duct work all done. We can't wait. I will be sure to let you all know the gas cost difference, can't wait for that. In case your wondering, it only uses a little electric to run the pump. It is a closed loop, so it's not running water thought it, just a anti-freeze type solution. I've got lots of picture of the progress. We are very excited to be able to say, we are LIVING GREEN! Well as soon as it's all up and running, we are almost there!!!

Another thing we've been doing is getting ready for this cold weather, BRRR. I think I'll go back down south for a while, it's only 35 out right now up here. We had SNOW yesterday. I know, it's November and it's normal, but man I don't miss it when it's here. As I like to say, "I prefer the warm side of the window". The kids are very excited however, they are already looking forward to building some snowmen.

So here are a few recipe tips for the cold weather.

I like to make my own hot chocolate. It's cheaper and well, it's cheaper lol. But if you've ever used home made mix, it just doesn't seem to dissolve well. I figured out a way last year, after you mix it all together (the recipe I use is below), put it in your food processor, it will pulverize it to a powder, just like in the store. It will dissolve much easier. You can do all kinds of creative things with it too. We like to add peppermint sticks to it, and of course marshmallows. But do you like peanut butter cups?? Well add some peanut butter chips to it, mmmm, or the mint ones they come out with for the holidays. Vanilla if you want vanilla-chocolate, chocolate kisses for super chocolate, the possibilities are endless really.

Or here's a cool thing we did last year, we made "snowman soup" The kids loved it and it was easy. We passed them out to some family. Here's the basic Idea

A cup, (kids love to decorate Styrofoam, or get a glass one from the second hand stores)
In a baggie put one serving of powder, some mini-marshmallows and what ever else you want.
close the bag with a ribbon and place in the cup
Add one candy cane to the cup

Attach a poem and directions, here are some examples I found last year and saved.


Was told you've been real good this year
Always glad to hear it
With freezing weather drawing near
You'll need to warm the spirit
So here's a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick
Add hot water, sip it slow
It's sure to do the trick!


When the weather outside is frightful,
Snowman Soup can be delightful.
May it warm your spirit and your soul.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

When you feel a chill or 'burrrrrr',
Use the peppermint stick to stir.
Add hot water and sip it slow.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.


When it's so cold that
you holler and whoop,
It's time to bring out
the Snowman Soup!

Pour the packet in a mug.
Add marshmallows too.
And throw in these kisses
that are special just for you.

Now add some hot water
and use the cane to stir it.
Sip slowly and soon you'll
feel the warm winter spirit!

And lastly my recipe. I got it off of my powder milk bag I think. I've seen it several place and different combinations, play with it to get it just right. There are tons of them online if you do a search as well.


1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup dry milk powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder


In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, powdered creamer, milk powder and cocoa powder. Mix well, and store in an airtight container.
To serve, put 2 to 3 tablespoons of powder in a mug, fill with hot water, and enjoy!

Here's one I think I'll try this year. They have really added alot of new ideas to them. Pudding, who-da thought.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Hot-Cocoa-Mix-in-a-Jar/Detail.aspx

Our yard is backed up to some woods, this time of year we see deer and pheasants and turkeys in our yard. Yesterday we had 7 or 8. They came right up to our patio. I was actually able to get some pictures from the door. They are checking out my flowers in the first one and heading towards the neigbors.

YUMMY Brownies

Have you ever got a recipe started and realized you were missing an important ingredient? Ugh I seem to be doing that alot lately. You see most of my baking and cooking ingredients are still 12 hrs away at the camper, so I don't have them at the house. I know I have some, but there not HERE! LOL. Well I did it again.

Last weekend I was making some cheesecake and realized I didn't have any brown sugar for the crust. I ALLWAYS have brown sugar, no mind you I'd already went to the store TWICE to get missing ingredients. I alwasy have to buy Cream cheese, cherry topping and sweetened condensed milk for it, but I usually have Lemon Juice, so back to the store I went. I than realized I didn't have brown sugar, so I borrowed some for our neighbor.

Well yesterday I was making some bisquits and realized I didn't have any salt, soda or baking powder. I ran down to our dollar store here in town and grabbed some salt and soda. We got back home, the kids went back out to play in the dirt pile and I went inside and got back to business and.... sigh realized I need powder NOT soda, so yup I loaded everyone back up and headed down there again. Thankfully the store is only a 1 mile round trip. Hardly worth the gas, I know. So I finally got some bisquits.

So today, i decide I really need, err want some brownies to go with ice cream. I got the butter in the pan and you guessed it, i didn't have enough cocoa. I tell ya, i wasn't going to the store, it was late. Sooo I dug some chocolate chips out of the freezer. I had about 3/4 of the cocoa I needed, so I added chips to replace it. About double what I needed in cocoa. Well since they were semi-sweet I cut back on the sugar as well. I only used about 3/4 the sugar I needed. I figure, how bad can it be, it's chocolate. It will be fine. It did turn out good. Not as yummy as the true recipe, but still good. To me, I think it tasted like the boxed brownie mix you buy. So if you want some really gooooooodddd brownies, here is a good recipe to try.


Fudgie Brownies from Jennifer Dugan’s kitchen
½ c. marg
½ c. cocoa
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
½ c. flour
¼ t. salt
½ c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 and grease 8x8x2 pan.
In a saucepan melt the marg. Removed from heat and add cocoa, stir until well blended. Add sugar & mix well. Add eggs, slowly one at a time and beat well. Add vanilla, flour and salt. DO NOT OVERBEAT. Fold in the nuts.

Bake 325 for 25-30 min, till knife comes out clean. Doubles well into a 9x13 pan.

Alternate options: use peanut butter or vanilla chips when you add the nuts. These are really fudge brownies and super good!

Enjoy!

Some Election info!

I don't want to get to political on here, but I wanted to share these sites. They outline the different options that will be on the ballet. If your looking for one local to you, I suggest checking out your local TV and Radio stations websites.

here is the voters guide for Michigan by HSLDA. Once you click on it, scroll down to your county and click on that. From there you can read about the candidates and proposals.
http://www.michiganfamily.org/votersguide.htm

Here again is one for Michigan Counties:
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/category.asp?C=150102&nav=menu44_13

And MSN even offers some info, here is a link to all the states and each ballot:
http://election.msn.com/YourState.aspx

And a comparison of each candidates stand on various subjects. Including the tax one that's been all over the news lately.
http://election.msn.com/WhereTheyStand.aspx

Get out and vote, and give a ride to someone else who otherwise may not be able to.

Scenery pics

The other side of the swamp. The view we had directly in front of our site.
These 2 are taken at Giant City State Park. Very beautiful

Here's a few more pictures. I'll post more on myspace page. The State park was very nice, had lots of scenery!

So we are back!

And as I said before we had a great time. I've kinda kept a little diary while we were gone. Here are a few of the little notes I thought we'd like to remember.





Advantages of camping in the boon docks
1. No one cares if the dog barks, no one else is there.
2. You have the outhouse to yourself. We washed it and it stayed that way.
The outhouses don't smell as bad, since no one else uses it.
3. No one cares that you have kids there all day. We do school in peace with no one asking why they aren't in school.
4. You have an unlimited supply of free firewood. It's not picked thru.
5. It's quiet, except for the noises your already used to, since it's your kids and animals making it LOL.



Things we've learned while camping
1. Frogs play dead when David touches them. They will hop all over while the others are holding them, but give it do a 3 yr old, and out comes the tongue.
2. Dry pine needles make great fire starter.
3. It's really quiet at night!
4. Chocolate flavored marshmallows taste better in Rice Crispy treats than on S'mores.
5. Bring your own toilet paper. If no one is around, you may run out and be out of luck!!!!
6. Don't EVER leave your laundry un attended for even 5 minutes. YUP we got ours stolen. Thankfully only our white clothes, but it was the whole triple loaded washer full. So we all got new undies and learned a lesson!!





While we were gone I of course took pictures. I said our campground reminded me of the movie Shrek, and here's why!!





Enjoy!!

Giant City State Park

A very rainy day.

Our campsite from the outhouse!

Our dinner cooking by the fire. I LOVE my dutch oven!!

We're home!!

As of 2 am this morning. I'm off to get some breakfast, since we have nothing here!!

I'll post some pictures later today if I can. We still have to unpack the car. I had to vaccuum the floors and spray this musty house down. Locked up for 3 weeks with 3 cats doesn't do it well. We had someone coming everyday to let the cats in and out and such, but still. You should've seen the couch. Yikes!! Next time, I'm covering it with sheets. Wish I'd thought of that before.

We had fun and are happy to be home!!

Later!!