Last Minute Meal Planning

This coming week is spring break for Kat.  We were supposed to be on a mini-vacation out of town all week, but more snowy weather and a work situation changed those plans for us.  I can't get outside to work in the garden, either, so I thought this week might provide a good opportunity for me to publish a few posts to this neglected ol' blog of mine.

These changes in plans have thrown a monkey wrench into meal planning.  Thinking we'd be out of town, I had nothing planned for our suppers this week.  We have to eat, and fortunately, we're stocked up on just about everything, so here's what I came up in a hurry:

Sunday:  Balsamic venison roast, mashed potatoes, peas, green beans, coconut cake.

Monday:  Lasagna, garlic toast, corn, lettuce and spinach salad, coconut cake.

Tuesday:  Bratwursts, potatoes au gratin, sauteed Swiss chard, green beans, coconut cake.

Wednesday:  Leftovers from the three previous meals.

Thursday:  Barbecue chicken kabobs with spicy bacon rub, potato salad, steamed cabbage, green beans.

Friday:  Fried fish (spoonbill), homemade french fries (recipe to come), coleslaw, home-canned peaches.

Saturday:  Kung pao pork tacos, lettuce salad, home-canned peaches (although we have tentative plans to go out with friends instead)


What's on your menu this week?

And by the way...today is our 13th wedding anniversary.  We decided to go out last Friday night instead of tonight.  We even splurged a little...after all, we're worth it.

Back to School???

Is summer vacation almost over? 

It would seem that way, judging from the ads in Sunday's paper and the back-to-school displays in the store.  As for us, we still have about a third left.  As of tomorrow, seven weeks behind us and five left to go.

Since Kat received a gift card for her birthday that was burning a hole in her pocket, we went shopping this morning.  And since we were there, and the school supply list for our school was there, and the school supplies where there, I went ahead and picked up what Kat needs to start 4th Grade in August.

Our district doesn't ask for much.  This year, they asked for a little more than in the past, but it's still not much compared to some other schools.  I got this pile of supplies for right at $10.

It's three spiral notebooks, 1 package of loose leaf paper, 2 packs of pencils, a package of ball point pens, a package of highlighters, a box each of crayons, colored pencils and markers and a couple of glue sticks. 

The list also called for scissors, a school supplies box and a backpack (things we already had at home), two boxes of tissues (that I still need to buy) and a bottle of hand sanitizer (which I'll opt out of buying because I think it's unnecessary and may not be safe).

It's a small list, really, and I didn't mind paying $10 for what we bought, but I can't help but wonder if Kat will use these things.  Every year, at least one or two items are sent home unused, usually around the winter break, and usually it's the spiral notebooks and/or the supplies box.  I wish, instead, the school would just ask for items as they are needed.  I guess I could opt out of buying all of these things, but I suppose I'd end up paying more for them later when they aren't on a back-to-school sale.


POP QUIZ:

1. Has anyone else purchased school supplies for this fall? 
2. Does your school ask for items that probably won't be used? 
3. Is your school's list long or short? 
4. If you are a homeschooling family, do you take advantage of the back-to-school sales to stock your at-home class rooms or do you wait to buy things as you need them? 
5. If you don't have kids at home, do you still take advantage of the sales?  (In addition to office supplies, it's a great time to buy new underwear and socks...)
6. Most importantly -- do you think summer really is almost over??? 

Explain your answers.

Vacation Days 5 and 6 - More Fun in the Sun

Our last episode ended with a little rain.  That storm intensified a little to the east of us and dropped what is believed to be a small tornado in Cuba, just a little while after we left there.  But all that happened in the campground was some heavier rain for the rest of the evening and the loss of wi-fi in the campground.  Wi-fi in Missouri State Parks is a new amenity.  It's so new, in fact, that the maintenance guys didn't know what to do to get it back online, so we were without for the rest of our stay.  So what?  We were camping, after all.  It's not like we needed to be on the computer.

We woke up Sunday morning to bright sunny skies, so as soon as we could, we headed to the river.  We stayed a couple of hours, came "home" for lunch, and went back to the river for a few more hours.  By then, the skies were overcast again, but we didn't let that stop us a second day.  The temps dropped a little, but there weren't even any sprinkles until we were done playing and back at the camper.

Snorkling for sunfish.

Hey, she netted one!

Being a turtle.

Pretending to boogie board.  (It's touching bottom).

Since it was Sunday night, most folks had moved out.  There were just three other RVs in the whole park and a couple of tents.  None of them were near us, though, so it was almost like having the entire park to ourselves.  It was very peaceful.

Today was almost a repeat of last Wednesday.  We spent most of our day driving.  This time we did take the great advice of the Osage Bluff Quilter and ate at Steve's Family Restaurant in Lohman, MO.  It's about 5 or 6 miles off the main highway and worth the detour.  They don't have a website for me to link, but I can tell you they specialize in homemade fried chicken, catfish and ham, with sides like real mashed potatoes, country style green beans, pan gravy and local ice cream.  Served all-you-can-eat and family-style, of course.  It was absolutely the best food we had during our trip.

I was glad we ate there, but sorry that our change in camping plans also changed our plans to actually meet Patti and her husband.  I'm sure we'll catch up with them sooner or later, though.  Maybe we can use a return trip to Steve's Restaurant as an excuse to catch up with them...or use a visit with them as our excuse to go back to Steve's.  Sounds like a plan either way.

We pulled up in front of our house around 5:00 this evening, putting a wrap on this year's vacation.  But camping season isn't over yet.  I'm sure there will be a few more weekend trips in store before it is.

Vacation Day 4 - Wet

Today was cave day.   We went on a tour of Onondaga Cave, one of the show caves here in the park.  I was in this cave before, back in 1980 or 1981 on an impromptu camping trip with my sister and her family.  I can't remember much about it, but I did remember it's one of few caves that have "lily pad formation".  When we entered the cave this morning, it was a hot and humid 106° outside and a cool and clammy 57° under ground.  We came prepared, with jeans and jackets and were glad we did.

Later, we drove back in to Cuba to what might be the world's smallest Wal-Mart store.  Seriously.  It was about the size of a Dollar General, Alco, Pamida or whatever little department store you might have in your area.  It had just five checkout lines.  But they had what we needed, which was a small bottle of propane for our tabletop gas grill, a blow-up float ring for Kat, a pair of water shoes that won't rub blisters for me, and a pound of butter.  On a Saturday afternoon, we were in and out in 20 minutes.

We saw an unbelievable sight on our way home.  Rain!  Unless it clears soon, the lightning will knock us out of our swim today and possibly the fireworks display tonight (which was scheduled to make up for not having them on the 4th).  But it's all alright, because it just wouldn't be camping if it didn't rain on us at least a little.  And guess what?  Shane doesn't work until Tuesday, so we've decided to stay until Monday instead of leaving tomorrow.  We can't leave without one more day playing in the river!

Vacation Day 3 - Silly Roadside Attractions

We had a really low-key day today.  We slept in, ate all of our meals at camp, took some bike rides (despite the temps being as high as they were yesterday) and basically did a whole lot of nothing.

We did venture out in the afternoon to check out a couple of small towns in the area.  Their websites promised more than they actually delivered, unfortunately.  We did take just a few pictures, though.

The highlight of the day was that it clouded over and almost rained.  It was the talk of the town everywhere we went.

Canoe art in Steelville, MO, "The Floating Capital of the World".
Promising dark clouds in the background.

More canoe art.

And yet another.  The painted canoes are all over town.

"World's Largest Rocking Chair",  at Fanning 66 Outpost,
just outside of Cuba, MO.

A Route 66 mural, also at Fanning 66 Outpost.
Cuba is known as the "Route 66 Mural City".

Doin' a little front porch sittin' at the outpost.

Vacation Day 2 - Missouri State Parks Are HAWT

First, let me just say this:

I don't know if you can see what it says inside that little purple box down there at the lower left, but today's high where we are was 109°F (43°C).  Maybe it wasn't quite that hot officially, but it was hot by anyone's standards, even mine, and I get cold easily.  So, along with about 50 or so other crazy folks, we decided it would be a great day to climb around on huge granite boulders at Elephant Rocks State Park.  I swear it must have been at least 120°-125° on the rocks that were in direct sunlight. Not to mention we endured enjoyed a hike of about a mile.

Picnic hideaway.

Shane and Kat with Sage along for the hike.

Sage putting her new hiking outfit to the test.

This was one hot slab of granite.

Glad this one was in the shade.

Shane, who somehow ended up carrying the doll.

I have no idea who these people are.

Really big rock.  There was a breeze up there, so we sat in the shade, where it was a brisk 90° or so.

After we saw the elephants, we decided it was time for lunch.  We found Baylee Jo's Barbecue, and found it tasty.  I had a Reuben sandwich with a twist -- the corned beef was also smoked.  Shane had a barbecued pork sandwich (better than the one from the night before), and Kat had another fish sandwich with fries (this time it was catfish).

Our next stop was Taum Sauk Mountain State Park, which is the highest point in Missouri.  From here, you can see the beautiful St. Francois Mountain range of the Missouri Ozarks for as far as 15 miles or so.  Some don't agree, but I'll take a tree-covered Ozark Mountain over a Rocky Mountain any ol' day.

Uh-oh.  Where's Sage?  She's still at Baylee Jo's.  Time for a quick rescue mission.

Then it was off to Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park, the best part of our day.  Sage had to stay in the truck, but the rest of us spent a couple of late afternoon hours beating the heat in this natural water park.  Water depths ranged from barely there to 40 or more feet deep!  The water was very comfortable to me, ranging from slightly cool and refreshing to slightly warm and relaxing, and it wasn't always the deepest water that was coolest.  There was some natural "seating" among rapids that felt better than any hot tub or spa I've been in.  It's a great place to play, and if we lived in this area, we'd visit this park often.

Kat making her way to the water.

Nice shot of the back of my head.

That's me.  I think.

Yep, that's me.

Waving at, and waiting for, Shane.

Sorry there aren't more pictures of us in the water, but we gave up right away on the idea that we could keep the camera dry.

It was nearly 9:00 by the time we made it back to camp and we're all tuckered out, so supper was just whatever snacks were at hand.  Tomorrow, though, promises to be more low-key.