Learn From My Dutch Oven Mistakes

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Shawna

I ran across a recipe the other day for Dutch Oven Cheesecake. Damon had a birthday coming up and he loves cheesecake so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try it out.

In my mind I had visions of this becoming a family favorite, with my children gathering around me with praises of my exquisite dutch oven abilities, my husband requesting it every year for his birthday and sharing the success of it all with you here.

WRONG!

The entire experience reminded me of a quote I put in my last post. “The word adventure has gotten overused, to me, adventure is when everything goes wrong. That’s when the adventure starts.” - Yvon Chouinard

So, uh, this was an adventure I guess because everything DID go wrong!

Wrong Turn #1 – The recipe is for a 10 inch dutch oven, mine is a 12. So I did some mathematical modifications on my own. Let’s just say some continuing education wouldn’t hurt.

Wrong Turn #2 – I was impatient and didn’t let my charcoal become totally white before putting it under and on top of my dutch oven. So instead of taking 1 hour to cook it took 4 hours, and that’s after I tried adding more charcoal and eventually just sticking it in the oven.

Wrong Turn #3 – When I took the lid off I tilted it to one side, allowing ash to pour onto the cheesecake.

The kids were in bed and by 9 o’clock Damon still hadn’t blown out any birthday candles. Finally after a movie and scraping off the top layer of ash we took our first bite. The crust had a faint taste of lighter fluid and the cheesecake itself was lacking…sugar.

Overall it was an adventure and next year Damon may be getting a hostess cupcake for his birthday. And although this post sounds pessimistic I really am a “the glass is half full” kind of gal. I will be trying more dutch oven recipes in the future and hopefully have some successful ones to share with you all. But until then hopefully you can learn from my dutch oven mistakes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AWESOME HUBS! My best friend and companion in adventure! P.S. My dutch oven skills are nothing compared to my love for you.

dutch oven, nature for kids, recipe, cheesecake, birthday, adventure

Garden Friendly Recipes

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Shawna

The garden has been pumping the tomatoes out non-stop lately. We’ve been seeing a lot of peppers and squash too. So I’ve had to break out some good recipes to use them up.

Luckily I have a friend who is great at cooking and shares all her recipes online at Bex Box with pictures and formatted recipe cards to print out. Plus she’s hilarious and you’ll get a kick out of some of her comments.

I’ll share a couple of her garden friendly recipes with you here and then you can head over to her site and pick out some others that look good to you.

For The Tomatoes…

For The Peppers…

side note: it calls for jalapeno chillies…anytime a recipe calls for jalapeno chilies I replace them with green peppers I’m a pantywaist that way. But it was still delicious!

For the Squash…

For the Carrots…

And For The Pumpkin That’s almost ready…

We’ve had a great time with our garden this summer. It’s been a learning experience every year that we do it and it does seem to improve a little bit each time. (our first attempt was an epic fail with one ear of corn and a tomato plant with no said tomato.)

This summer I was happy to see the kids digging in the dirt, watering, picking and enjoying the fruits of their labor. It’s starting to look like we know what we’re doing…ssshhh don’t tell the neighbors we’re still clueless.

If you liked this post you may also like:

Starting A Garden With Kids

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Waterfall Hike And Kate’s Real Food

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Shawna

We have a waterfall on the mountains behind our house. It’s just a little guy but it’s cool just the same. This last week we did a cousin swap. Doober went to the Phamdamily house (Youtube sensations!) and their son Gickos came to stay with us. So we decided to hike up to our backyard waterfall so he could take a look.

Here’s a little visual recap of the experience…

This is everyone scrambling to keep up with Scout. As usual she tried taking the lead, “You guys are slow pokes!”

Kate’s Real Food provided the sustenance for these little guys to make it to the top.

Kronk and Gikos taking a break sharing a Tram Bar.

This is at the top of the waterfall. The kids decided this wasn’t good enough. They all wanted to be right at the bottom of it, so we had to do a little exploring to find a good route to the base.

Heading back down was a little more tricky than going up. The kiddos quickly learned that bum sliding was the easy way down the steep loose dirt and rocks.

This is Damon and Hiccup peaking around the corner at the waterfall. Since he was packing little man in the child carrier I scrambled down to make sure it was doable and to help spot the kids as they crossed over to the base of the waterfall.

We made it! HOORAY!

Damon said, “I’ll give each of you a dollar if you touch the rock behind the waterfall.” Gikos was the first to go and the others followed shortly after. They were a bit wet on the hike home but the next day we of course hit the snow shack…money bags.

At the end Hiccup thanked Dad for the comfy ride by giving him a fist bump!

The snack we had, Kate’s Tram Bars, were sent to us from their location in Driggs, Idaho (oh my heart I love this place). The Tram Bar is the original bar Kate created. She has several to choose from now. Each bar is made of all natural, organic ingredients, things you can actually pronounce, imagine that. The shelf life isn’t as long as a twinky of course but it lasts a few months and can be frozen for a long time too. We all liked it a lot, even the kids! They’re priced a little steep at $3 a piece but honestly they fill you up like you just ate a full meal. So they’re great on the go and especially when you’re exploring outside like Nature For Kids !

We loved having Gickos with us…he’s just as ~~crazy~~ funny as his mom and dad. Check out their families 200th vlog! I’m warning you it’s addictive! And if you’re interested to see what Doober was doing while at their house watch this …

nature for kids, Kate’s real food, Tram Bar, waterfall, hike, phamdamily, Driggs Idaho

GSI Outdoors Cookset And Camping Recipe

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Shawna

Feeding a family during a campout can be somewhat daunting at times. What to cook, how to cook it and what you’ll need are just the beginning.

We tried out the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper Cookset recently. This little package offers a big punch. It’s like Mary Poppins’ bag, things just keep coming out that you wouldn’t think could fit.

The new pinnacle camper cookset is pictured on the left. The pots we’ve been using for the past 11 years are on the right. It’s a beast…like the model T of cooksets.

Size isn’t the only thing that’s different though. Check out our thorough review.

video

The alfredo whole grain pasta we made in the video was yummy. I like to put asparagus in this as well but it was $4.50 a lb.! Robbery, especially for something that grows on the side of the road.

If you’d like to try it click on the recipe card below to print it out.

Do you have any favorite camping meals your family enjoys? Leave a comment or send me a message shawna@natureforkids.net.

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Pumpkins

Posted on September 30, 2008 by Shawna

With Halloween, Thanksgiving and fall upon us pumpkins are a popular item for baking and decorating.

If you didn’t plant a garden this year I’m sure you and your kids are looking for some pumpkins to pick elsewhere. In the Berry Picking story posted this summer at Nature For Kids Rebecca Renfroe shared a great website with everyone, pickyourown.org. At pickyourown.org you can find pumpkin patches near you. It also includes a list of holiday corn mazes!

So take your kids outside to hunt for pumpkins and breathe in that fall air!

Today at Nature For Kids I also wanted to share with you my favorite pumpkin carving and pumpkin recipe. Take a look…

I love Sunset Magazine. It’s full of gardening, cooking and decorating ideas that are just my style. I collect pictures and articles that inspire me. One of the pictures I collected was of this pumpkin owl carving. Have a hoot doing this one!

Now for my favorite pumpkin recipe…

Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Cranberries

(now that’s a mouthful)

Mmmmm Yummo! My kids love helping bake in the kitchen, especially if it involves frosting!

Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

15 oz. prepared pumpkin

4 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp salt

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside. In a mixing bowl combine all other ingredients. After it’s mixed well add the dry ingredients slowly. Spoon into muffin cups 3/4 full. I use a mini muffin pan lined with paper cups for easy cleanup. My kids like the smaller cupcakes more and they’re great for parties. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes (plus or minus). They’re done when you touch the center of the cupcake and it springs back.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

4 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup butter

1tsp vanilla

1 lb or 4 cups powdered sugar

Mix ingredients slowly then add evaporated milk until it’s a fluffy consistency. Place inside a decorating bag with a star tip. Start on the outer edge of the cupcake and spiral inward.

Candied Cranberry Recipe

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cranberries

Prick each cranberry twice with a needle. Boil the sugar in water until it spins a thread. Put in the cranberries and cook them gently until syrup jellies. Remove berries one at a time and place on wax paper. Let stand until dry. Dip the berries in granulated sugar. Different from the picture above, I only place one berry on each mini cupcake.

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Nature For Kids

Encouragement and ideas concerning wholesome outdoor recreation

Category Archives: Camping Food