Let’s Talk About Camping

It’s that time of year again where I start getting excited about the beach and camping. We will head down to the coast sometime in March to Summer-ize our camper. We will hook it up, flush the lines and stock it with linens. We usually wait until after we move our clocks up an hour so we can enjoy more daylight in the afternoons.

Right now we have a 34 ft Puma Camper with a large slide, two bedrooms and full bath. We love it but we are thinking about selling it for something else. I want a front kitchen with stand alone table and chairs and he wants a back bathroom and two recliners instead of a single sofa like we have now. 

We plan to stay within 28 to 34 ft. depending on the layout. But all this will not happen until at least after this year. 

We keep our camper down at the beach because we love the campground we stay at and do not want the hassle of pulling it with down there and back several times a year. We are 200 miles away. 

BUT I WANT...a small camper to keep at home to use for a weekender at other campgrounds around here or the mountains a time or two. Then I start selfishly thinking about myself and what I like. I like small cozy places, so when I think of tiny campers, I start dreaming of one. I mean, if it’s pretty outside, we never say inside the camper anyway except to sleep. We set up chairs outside to enjoy our day. Nick would do a pop up camper but he is not interested in hearing my other ideas. Below are a few for example. But again they are just some of the fun dreams in my head. 

I love these little Scamps.

I have never been Tent Camping but if I did, I would want it to be like this.

(Source)

However, I do have a SUV so this would work perfect for me.
I would love to get all the cozy figured out.

(Souce)

And to be on the safe side incase of bad weather, is always a way to combine both the suv and tent.

(Source)

The.first thing people start thinking about when you mention camping in tents, cars or mini campers is “where do you use the bathroom?”. Well, I’m only thinking as far a just a night stay somewhere and I know how to squat in the woods, but in all seriousness, they do make porta potties.

(Source)

But if you really want to rough it...There are always the DIY way.

So see, I’m easy to please.

All my husband has to do is say “let’s go camping outdoors” and I could come up with some cheap ideas.

Don’t get me wrong though. I like luxury, but I’m also poor.

Oh wait.... I just thought of something...

I have one of these screen house tents in my attic right now. 

(Source) 

Maybe I can get Nick to do some back yard camping this summer.
Just maybe. 

Two Ingredient Bread Sticks

Here I go again with the “two ingredient” recipes. But seriously, that’s all it takes to make simple bready things. The two ingredients are plain Greek yogurt and self rising flour. No eggs, no milk and no shortening.

I have used this recipe to make pretzels, flatbreads and bagels. They all turned out delicious. What makes the difference is what goes on top. It’s crazy how it takes on the flavor of what it meant to be use for.

 

The other day I was having soup and salad and wanted some sort of bread stick to go with it, so I grabbed my yogurt and flour and made a dough.

I divided the dough into four pieces. With each piece of dough, I rolled into snake stick shapes and placed them on a lined cookie sheet and baked them for about 12 minutes. 

2 ingredient bread sticks.

•1/2 cup self rising flour.

•1/2 Cup plain Greek Yogurt.

-Bake 425 for 10-15 minutes.

-Brush with Butter (or garlic butter).

Makes four 6 inch sticks. Only 63 calories each.

I love how they turned out. They had the same texture as any other bread stick you get from a restaurant. It was the perfect portion with my lunch.

These bread sticks are not only easy to make, they are also on the healthy side of things. 

Each stick is only 63 calories so its less than a slice of bread and a whole lot better. I will be making more of these as they are now my favorite.

Off post: For some reason after I did an update, the spell check tab on my blogger tool bar is no longer there for some reason. I hope blogger gets that fixed soon. Meanwhile please excuse any misspelled words you find. 

Almost Valentines Day

Valentines Day seems to have come fast this year. I guess because we started seeing heart shaped candies and fluffy teddy bears taking over the store shelves the day after Christmas.

I like Valentines Day. Love is in the air everywhere we go. While most couples are busy every day with work and/or kids, this is the day they will find a baby sitter and spend quality time alone whether it’s at a fancy resteraunt or in their den watching a movie.  Nick and I never really get into the whole candy and roses thing with each other but we do try to go out for a nice Valentines Dinner. I’m not sure where we will end up going but I look forward to it. 

Here is a little token I have kept for years that my daddy got me one Valentines Day. It came in a little red velvet rose shaped ring box. It’s holographic and says “I Love You”. 

I never remember my parents really making a big deal out of Valentines Day with us kids but I do remember mom always made sure I had valentines for class mates. I would spend hours trying to figure out which ones I wanted to give who.  I also remember her making red heart shaped pin cushions for my teachers. They were pretty and gained me a few brownie points. 

I always make sure to get my daughter a little Valentines gift each year. This year we got her a few of her favorite snacks and some candy. I wanted to do more but she came home to visit before I could finish putting more things together for her and I knew I wouldn’t be seeing her until after Valentines Day. 

Instead of flowers, we got her an Aloe plant. She is always calling us upset that she burned herself while cooking or hot ironing her hair. I also think it will look sweet in her little apartment. When she lived at home, she always woke up to heart shaped pancakes. Now she has her own Valentine sweetie so we will not be seeing her until next week. 

For myself, I usually like to find a fun Valentine shirt to wear. I found this adorable heart sweater on Poshmark. 

Poshmark is a website where you can buy and sell your new or gently used clothes and shoes. I actually have my own posh closet where I will sell some of my unwanted clothes. I haven’t sold much but It’s a fun way to make a little extra money. You can find my closet HERE.

I had some extra yarn on hand so I crocheted a matching hat. Pretty cute huh?

For Valentines Day dinner, I have a red sweater to wear. I rarely wear red but I make an exception for Christmas and Valentines Day. 

Crazy Weather

The weather here in North Carolina has been all over the place. I think we experienced every season in one week.

Last Friday we had our first snow. It was more of just a flurry but it was enough to have everyone hyped up and noses pressed to the windows. 

Then Monday came. The temperatures shot back up into the 70’s. I went to a dental appointment that morning to have my permanent crown applied. Afterwards, me and the husband went out for a nice long walk. It was 74 degrees and sunny. I wore shorts and a tank top. It felt so good to finally get out of hibernation and get some warmth of the sun on my face. 

Tuesday and Wednesday it continued to be warm spring like weather. Then Thursday hit. When I say “hit”, I mean it really hit! I went to work in the pouring rain. Soon, I began to hear weather alerts going off on everyones phones. People were starting to get anxious as we had a tornado watch and then several tornado warnings. This went on just about all day long. 

It wasn’t until I left work for the day that I really saw the damages. There were trees down in some areas and roads were flooded due to low areas and creeks rising. This storm was not only in my area but in all of North and South Carolina. We were getting reports from the beach campground we stay at during the summer. Here are a couple photos I copied from the facebook group page. These are not my own photos. 

You rarely see Palm trees damaged by storms. This campground has survived several hurricanes with no damages but whatever came through on Thursday sure took a toll on it. 

These picnic tables are not light weight. 

They are very heavy and each campsite has a shelter with a table under if for each camper to enjoy during their stay. 

It scattered items all over the place. There were campers even moved from their spots.

Now it is Saturday and the temperatures are back down in the 30’s again and it’s snowing at 39 degrees. 

We will not see any accumulation but the furries are beautiful making it a perfect day to stay in and snuggle on the couch.

Note: In case you all are wondering how my new job is going?

I quit yesterday. Quitting a job is out of my character as I love to work and desperately need a job. But my three days there were extremely overwhelming. I really tried to keep going but things were mentioned and stories were told that threw too many red flags at me. I finally accepted the fact that this job was not for me. They were not totally honest with me about some things I agreed too before accepting the job. I also didn’t feel safe around the work and donor area. Something finally tugged at me during a company meeting on Friday morning that told me to get out of there and quick.  

For now on, I’m going to stick to office work. I now realize thats were I belong. 

So here I am still job searching. Luckily, I am still in the interview process with another place. This one will take several weeks before I know anything. It is more stable with regular full time hours and a better work environment. Keep praying for me. 

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s time I share with you, these delicious cookies I made. The best thing about these cookies are they are rather healthy. You will not believe what they are made with. No eggs, no oil, no butter, and no flour. Seriously. Can it get any worst better than that? Maybe. These cookies are made with Chickpeas! Seriously.

Are you a cookie dough eater? I’m not because my daddy always warned us about eating raw eggs. I thought I’d die if did. But again, this dough has no eggs or any dairy product for that matter so if cookie dough is your thing, grab a bowl and dig in. 

They are Gluten free, low sugar and grain free. They can even be made vegan if you change up the recipe a bit such as using vegan chocolate chips or maple syrup instead of honey. In fact, the original recipe is vegan. But hey, I’m not vegan and I didn’t have maple syrup so I’m sticking with this recipe. 

Don’t snarl your nose up until you have tired it. They are absolutely delicious. You can not taste the chickpeas at all and if you didn’t know it, you would never guess it’s in them. These cookies are also full of protein. Now I don’t feel guilty when I eat ten four. 

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Can chickpeas (rinse and drain)

1/2 Cup peanut butter

1/3 Cup Honey

2 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Pinch of salt

1/2 Cup chocolate chips.(or more).

Put all ingredients except chocolate chips into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop spoonfuls of batter onto a greased or lined cookie sheet. (They do not rise or spread but do fluff some)

Bake on 350 for 20 minutes.

These cookies come out firm on the bottom and soft and gooey throughout. 

I plan to make more of these to share with family as they taste as good as any other homemade chocolate chip cookies. 

Enjoy

Original recipe was found at Earthyandy.com (via Instagram @earthyandy)

Finally February

Wow it’s finally February. Thank goodness! I am behind on my blogging, but hey, It is my blog so there are no deadlines. Right?

January was crazy for me. It started off with me having a procedure done to remove a small cancer cell from my forehead. Then I had my first job interview. After that, I was having dinner at Jackson’s Cafeteria and bit down on piece of fat back and broke a noticeable tooth in half. This caused me to have a weekend without a smile then resulted in a dentist appointment to have a crown. This was all before I had to have a new hire photo made. Luckily I was able to have it fixed before I went. I start work next week. 

Then I was called from another place that I had applied for (not ready to tell it yet) to come take a reading and math exam. I was skeered. I am not good at reading, spelling or math. But I passed, was fingerprinted, photographed and an unexpected 1st interview. I will know in a couple weeks if I need to come in for a 2nd interview. Meanwhile I will keep working at my new part time job and later decisions might have to be made.

I have also been suffering from my Meniere's the past couple weeks. It is a never ending battle. I never know when I wake up in the mornings if I will have a good day or a bad day. The fullness, pressure, dizziness, and ringing in my ear drives me crazy at times. This also leads to hearing loss during an episode. I can’t concentrate, hence why I haven't done much blogging. 

There are days I do not feel like getting dressed or leaving the house. I never know when a vertigo attack will happen and its scary. This is a big concern of mine for when I start my new job. I will have to keep pushing my self through my episodes and hope no one notices or that I don't fall out. 

This is an invisible problem. On the outside I look completely well. No one can see me screaming inside or how tired and stressed it makes me. They do not know the struggles and concerns I am faced with every single day. I can’t even talk about it because no one understands. It’s going on 5 years now.

I hope February is easier on me and I can finally get my working life back together. I can’t hardly wait to get back out there and make money and make new friends. 

Meanwhile, stay tuned. I just managed to make some awesome cookies I plan to share next!