Lopez Island Kayaking

In mid May we went on an excursion to Lopez Island with friends, and stayed at the Spencer Spit State Park. It was opening weekend so the campground was still quite overgrown and needed a lot of work to bring it up to it's prime condition. The bonus was that there weren't many other campers there (due to early season and semi bad weather) so we had the majority of the campground to ourselves!





Lucky for us the rain on Friday and Friday night paved the way for a cleared up Saturday afternoon just in time for our sea kayaking trip around Frost Island. Unfortunately I learned the hard lesson of sunburn even with gray skies and my face got fried! :(

After kayaking we came back to the camp and made our first (of many) Dutch Oven dinner. It was a simple stew, but boy was it delicious! It's super easy for camping as you can do all the prepwork in advance (chop all desired veggies & meat, place in ziploc bag with seasoning. Put in Dutch Oven, cook for 35-45 minutes and then open a can of refrigerated biscuits - place on top and let cook for another 15-20 minutes!)



We ate more than our own fair shares of dinner  and then we walked down to the Spit and had a huge driftwood fire while watching the sun set. It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful! There is no place like Washington!!

Crockpot Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients: 

• Cooking spray
•  2 lb 99% lean ground turkey
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder, to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 (15 oz cans) of white northern or navy beans, rinsed and drained
• 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 4.5 oz canned chopped green chile
•  2 cups low sodium, fat free chicken broth
•  fat free sour cream for topping (optional)
• chopped cilantro and chives for topping (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

1.  Heat a sauté pan over high heat and lightly spray with oil. Add meat and cook through, about 5 minutes.  Add to crock pot.
2. Add oil to the sauté pan, then onions and garlic, sauté about 3 - 4 minutes; add cumin and sauté another minute. Add to crock pot.
3. Add beans, pumpkin puree, green chilies, broth, chili powder, and bay leaves to crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours 
4. Remove bay leaves and adjust seasoning to taste before serving. Enjoy!

Found here.

Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1/2 cup milk or half & half

• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

• 6 tablespoons salt (preferably, rock salt - but table salt will do!)

• 2 quart-size plastic food storage bag

• 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag

• 1/2 tray of Ice cubes

This makes about 1 scoop/1.5 scoops of ice cream - double, quadruple, whatever you need to make the quantity you desire! :)

1. Mix together: Sugar, half & half, and vanilla in a quart size bag.
2. Seal, leaving it as air-less as possible. Seal the second quart sized bag around that, with as little air as possible.
3. Put quart sized bags inside the gallon sized bag, pour ice cubes in and also the salt.
4. Shake for about 5 minutes or have kids toss the bag back and forth (outside!!)

Savory Spice-Rubbed Strip Steak

Made this for dinner tonight, it was beyond words! This recipe is great for summer nights sitting out on your deck with a bottle of Cabernet :)

1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 lbs. New York Strip or Top Loin Steaks

Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine all of the spices, and sprinkle and rub the mixture over both sides of the steaks.When the grill is hot, cook the steaks for 3 - 5 minutes per side, depending on how well done you like them. Slice the steak into thin strips to serve it. Serve it immediately or refrigerate it for up to 3 days.



Serve this with Grilled Bread (recipe below) and Steamed Brocolli with Lemon Pepper seasoning.

To make the grilled bread, cut a loaf of Italian Bread into 1" thick slices; mix together about 1/4 cup of Olive Oil, 1 tsp. Salt, 1 tsp. Oregano and 1 tsp. Garlic Powder. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat both sides of the slices of bread and place them directly on to the heated grill for 1-2 minutes per side or until they are lightly browned.