Glamping... or is it?! (Pumpkin Chili & Cheesy Chicken & Rice)

So this past weekend was hectic meaning no time to post and even less time in front of the computer.
Some background first:

We have a 1978 Airstream Argosy. It was purchased the same year I was born by my grandparents. My grandparents then gave it to my parents who in turn passed it to us. So yeah, we camp but we have a toilet, bed, fridge, shower, sinks, heat, & AC. So glamorous camping? ha! Sometimes. But let me remind you we do have two big dogs and the trailer is only 22 feet. It gets small fast! On the other hand, we don't have to pay for a hotel room and then come home with bedbugs *shudders at the thought* and don't have to worry about other things that can be picked up in hotels. EW!

The hubby and I celebrate our illegal anniversary with our silver family every year by hosting the "Annual Airbiscuit Anniversary Rally & Venison Chili Cookoff" at Findley State Park. This year was no exception. The party started Wednesday when Ella joined us to driveway camp. See the previous blog for that fun & the recipe!

We had amazing weather on Thursday to get everything set up and laid out. So while hubs was at work, I loaded and hooked up to the argosy and set off for Findley with Ella chasing me.

Friday was rainy and chilly. But that didn't stop us from enjoying the company of friends in swapping stories and sharing food! We also spread a bunch of straw in preparation for the coming flooding and mud. Saturday was a busy day. Up early to prep our chili for the cook off:

Pumpkin Chili:

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground venison
1 pound sausage (MSG free)
1 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice or 2 V8 cans
1 (28 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon chili powder

Directions
1. In a large pot over medium heat, cook beef/sausage/venison until brown; drain.
2. Stir in onion and bell pepper and cook 5 minutes.
3. In crockpot lined with slow cooker liner: pour beef mixture Stir in beans, tomato juice, diced tomatoes and pumpkin puree. Season with pumpkin pie spice, chili powder and sugar.
4. Cook on low 6-8 hours
5. Serve in carved pumpkin (remove bag from crock and place bag & contents into pumpkin)

Our entry

Our Rally Folks in their logo tees!

Our winners! Terry with the Airstream Trophy & Dave as runner up!

We also had to prep our dish for the Saturday night potluck since we would be gone most of the afternoon due to the chili cook off competition and judging and then to the funeral service for Uncle Steve. At least got to spend a little time with the brother in laws and their families just wish it was under better conditions.

So for dinner we did:

Cheesy Chicken & Rice

Ingredients
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large white onion, chopped 
• 8 ounces of cooked rice
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 - 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup (MSG free)
• 1 -15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

Instructions
1. Place onions in the bottom of crock and place chicken on top. Spoon cream soup over top of that. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. A few minutes before serving, add in cooked rice, corn, and cheese. Stir to combine. Serve hot.

We covered 2 tables with food for our potluck. I had previously made lemon cupcakes as well as spice cake cupcakes so those were brought out as well. No one will go hungry when they are camping with us!

Sunday started off with no rain but super windy which quickly turned to rainy misty nastiness plus wind! Not good packing up weather thats for sure!

Sunday evening we went to dinner, which is our tradition now, with some of the local silver family to Red Robin. Yummm!

But despite the weather conditions, we had an amazing weekend that we got to share with many of our silver friends and family. Now to baton down the hatches around the house as Hurricane Sandy hits us with yet more rain and crazy winds.

For those who do not have access to Airforums, here is a copy of the post we made there:

Mike & I would like to thank all of you who braved the weather and joined us, even those of you who were with us in spirit, for the weekend to help us celebrate another year of wedded bliss. We also want to say thanks for helping to make the rally a success, participating in our raffle (even if rhonda, dave, sue, & liz swept it), and for sharing all the food & laughter.
We also wish to thank our silver family who showed up early Thursday to help setup, left late on Sunday in pouring rain & wind to tear down, for providing the walled in group tent for the social gathering, the heater for the tent, assisting with keeping me sane, and for compiling items for the raffle & goodie bags!
Congratulations to Fern & Bill for best decorated site, Drew for best carved pumpkin, Terry for winning our chili airstream trophy, Dave for being runner up, and to everyone brave enough to enter in the chili cook off against 50+ others in the park competing! Your creativity is endless and cooking is amazing.
We hope everyone can join us again next year! Same place, but this time the park will open reservations 6mo in advance and everyone can pick their campsite and pay online! Woot!
Sincerely,
Loren & Mike
(Airbiscuit)

Chicken Cordon Bleu

So upon looking over the contents of my fridge, knowing that I needed to pack my two crockpots up for the weekend, I decided to give another recipe I found on pinterest a try! Ella was joining us today to camp in the driveway so I thought she would like to be a guinea pig too. LOL! So once we were done waiting for Ella to arrive...

We chatted a bit and I then began work on dinner. Tonights meal was chicken cordon bleu pasta! I found it in pinterest from Amy's Kitchen but after reading some of the reviews, I tweaked it to fit our needs.

Pasta Cordon Bleu
Recipe courtesy of Dunne at With a Cherry on Top
Serves 8

1.5 lb. Pasta (I used penne)
2 cups Chicken Breasts, cooked and cubed (I did 3 boneless, skinless and cubed in 1" chunks)
2 cups Ham, cooked and cubed
1.5 cups Milk
8 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)
1 small bunch of green onions
2 cups Swiss Cheese, shredded
2 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Salt
Pepper
Italian seasoning
dried minced garlic
2 TBS Dijon mustard
1 cup Panko Crumbs
1/2 cup Butter, melted


1. Cook chicken in frying pan and season prior to cooking. I seasoned with pepper, salt, Italian seasoning, and dried minced garlic. When chicken is almost done, I added to the pan the white part of the green onion and fried it with the chicken.

2. Add cooked, cubed ham to the pan with the chicken and toss until warm.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over med-high heat. Salt it and add the pasta; cook 3 minutes less than what the package says is al dente. Drain and return to the pot. Add in the chicken and ham and toss to combine.

4. In frying pan where chicken was cooked: combine the milk, cream cheese, dijon mustard, remaining onion (green part) and cook on medium low stirring frequently, until is becomes a smooth texture (about 3-5 minutes) Add swiss cheese and half of the cheddar cheese, stir until smooth again.

5. Dump sauce into pasta, chicken, ham mixture and combine.

6. Transfer pasta to a greased or lined 9x13 baking dish and top with remaining cheddar cheese then the panko crumbs. Pour melted butter over crumbs.

7. Cook in oven at 350 degrees  for 30 minutes (or 375 degrees for 15 minutes) Look for the top to be golden brown. DO NOT OVER COOK! The pasta will get mushy!

 So, after feeding Mom, Ella, Mike, & myself, I saw Crista was finishing up with the neighbors and headed out so I flagged her down so she could try it too. Rave reviews from all! Woot. now comes the true test... with the boys next door even try it?!  The younger one had two entire helpings as well as his enchilada! Sheesh! The older of the two on the other hand... yeah, wouldn't even try a bite. Oy. So much for trying to please both.  Now to figure out what to throw in the crock pot for them tomorrow....

Crockpot burrito meal

So around 5 days a week I end up cooking dinner for our neighbors. Mike & I then join them for dinner & entertainment. Well, entertainment for us because their house is craziness. It does help promote birth control a little but alas we are still "practicing" Anyways, the last time i made burrito/taco filling the 5 & 8 year old ate it up. So I thought I would give another recipe a try that the boys would be able to assemble and eat themselves. Ok, almost all by themselves... they at least could add or not add the components they didn't want. :) It was an absolute hit. Both boys ate their burritos completely. Holy WOW. That doesn't always happen. When I first started it was hit and miss. Usually it was the older of the two who didn't want whatever it was, without trying it, and would throw a fit which would end in him going to bed. The younger on the other hand at least tried it. Now after three weeks, it has become the older one eats everything and gives it an excellent try and the younger one throws a fit. Talk about stubborn, he can't even be bribed with dessert if he finishes it all. On the other hand, the older one knows we usually have dessert if he finishes everything. I had made chili last Friday for them that Mike & I were not going to join them on due to dinner plans with some friends of ours. To my surprise, I received a text while at dinner that BOTH boys ate the chili and all of their portions. ZOMG! I was in shock. So when we took tonights dinner over, there was no complaining from either of them, and the older one immediately started off with one bite and said, "Uh yum, this is good!"
So without further ado, this was one of the easiest meals to prep!

In the crockpot:
5-6 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 8oz block of cream cheese (regular NOT fat free or reduced)
1 can of black beans (drained & rinsed)
1 can of whole kernel corn (drained)
1 can of rotel

Cook on low 4-6 hours or high 8
I stirred every 2 hours and cooked it for 6 hours

This was then served in flour tortillas with lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and rice.

I do wish to report that the new crock pot I received for sweetest day from the hubby, worked amazingly well and nothing was burnt! Woot for new appliances!

Salmon, Shrimp, & Sweetest Day

The third Saturday in October...Sweetest Day... a Great Lakes region holiday started by a worker in a candy shop. Most think of this as a hallmark holiday or something started by American Greetings since it began in Cleveland in 1922. A worker in a candy shop wanted to bring joy to friends and family and share sweet treats with orphans and those who had no one. In a way this holiday balances out Valentine's day. That is unless you are in our family, where October & November are heavily loaded with birthdays and anniversaries. Our sweetest day began with working around the house and trying to get things ready for our anniversary rally with our silver family and friends as well as ready for the four letter s word that they are predicting for next week.

As the morning turned into afternoon, Mike set out to help my father cut down some trees as I sneak out with my mom to hit the grocery store. My in laws were invited to dinner to help mike eat some Alaskan salmon, which I find totally unacceptable for a meal choice, so I would have a little more room in my freezer.

So for our sweetest day dinner with Mom and Dad St. Peter we had:

Alaskan salmon, cooked in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with a little kosher salt and a freshly squeezed lemon on top. I began by placing skin side down and waiting until the pink was gone 1/2 way up and then flipped it to finish. about 4 minutes on side 1 and 3 minutes on side 2. According to "The Chew" if you over cook fish, that is when it get gamey and fishy. So I watched it like a hawk since this was the first time pan cooking. Usually I opt for the oven and bake it for 15-20 in sealed foil packs.

For my main dish, I opted for precooked shrimp, tail on. I got a frying pan screaming hot and melted half a stick of butter and 3 cloves of garlic minced, then dropped the heat to low and threw in my rinsed shrimp for a total of 2 minutes.

Side dishes were:
White medium grain rice cooked in the rice cooker with a little butter and salt
Fresh pineapple chunks
Fresh salad with pieces of cauliflower, green peppers, broccoli, cucumber, and carrots (normally I would have also added fresh mushrooms and cheese but my MIL doesn't care for those so i put them in small dishes on the side.)

Crescent rolls with butter

All in all it turned out well. I think next time I will heat the sauce for the pre cooked shrimp and then turn the heat completely off, and drop in the shrimp for 1 minute before turning them out into a serving dish. They were a little rubbery but not bad.

After a glass or two of wine we adjorned the dinning room to more comfortable chairs and watched a little tv and chatted while our food digested. My parents joined us for dessert and we satisfied our sweet tooths with not one but three different kinds of ice cream. A great evening was had by all and we got to spend our evening with some of the sweetest people we know!