Sunday, April 13, 2025

Top 3: Camp Side Recipes

 Hey Y'all!



Let's talk food!

We both have found a new love for cooking, and trying new things. Here's our top 3 recipes right now!

I'm using the word recipe loosely and assuming you know the basics of cooking. 


1) Taco Salad


There's a lot of different taco salad recipes out there, but we don't like any dressing with ours so here's our ingredients list:

1lb Ground Beef (or Ground Turkey, whichever was cheaper)

1 Mild Taco Seasoning Pack

Lettuce (again whichever we have on hand)

16oz Black Beans

12oz Corn

Rice, sometimes, other times we omit it (Depends on how hungry we are, and what we have on hand.)

Tortilla Chips

Shredded Cheese, typically the taco or Mexican blend of the store brand

Avocado, or guacamole

Sour cream

Tomatoes

Salsa

Bell Pepper 


To start we brown the meat, then add the seasoning packet along with the beans and corn to the skillet (or grill it all up together on the Blackstone) and let that simmer while we cook the rice. Once both of those are done we  slice, chop, and assemble all the ingredients in our bowls and enjoy! 4-6 servings.


2) Buffalo Chicken Mac 'n Cheese


Neither of us loves anything too hot, so this recipe is perfect for us.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast (1lb)

Pasta, we like either the shells or elbow mac (1 box/bag)

We, more often than not, cheat with the Velveeta cheese sauce packet or something similar. (We 1. Don't have a lot of space, and 2. Don't have a lot of refrigerator space.)

This Buffalo Sauce (2oz):


To put it all together: Cook your chicken and shred it up, cook your pasta, drain. Add chicken and pasta to same pot, add in cheese and buffalo sauce, stir. Dish out, and eat! We always have leftovers, so I'd say feeds 4 easily.


3) Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry

 


This one is a little different every time we make it. Sometimes we add more or less vegetables, different ones, etc. The carrots and broccoli are always there, as well as:

1lb Chicken 

Teriyaki Sauce (Which ever you like. We like a thicker sauce, not a marinade.)

Other potential ingredients:

Bok Choy

Cabbage

Brussel Sprouts

Onion

Cauliflower

Sesame Seeds

Etc


This one comes together pretty easy, we get our chicken all cooked up, then add some of the teriyaki sauce. We leave it alone while we: Cook those veggies, low and slow with a lid on the Blackstone, or in a skillet. Once they're done add them to the chicken with some more of that teriyaki sauce. Stir, serve, and eat. Sometimes we add rice, but usually we eat it as is and are plenty full. 


Do you have any favorite recipes? Share in the comments below!


When we can't cook?

We still enjoy trying out local cuisine, if we're somewhere that allows for that. We also keep a box of "it doesn't need cooked" foods on hand. We like the Tuna Smart Bowls from Startkist, and we almost always have the fixin's for some type of sandwich. 


Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife


Bonus, 3 more:

1) Breakfast Burritos


  • Ingredients:
  • 1 lb breakfast sausage
  • 6 eggs
  • Guacamole
  • Salsa (2T ish, each)
  • Sour Cream (1T each)
  • 1 can (4 oz) Chopped Green Chiles, drained
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (8 oz)
  •  Pepper to taste
  • 4 (12-inch) flour tortillas
  • Pretty simple. Start the sausage in your pan or on your griddle, when it's done add your eggs, pepper if you want to, when the eggs have started to cook well add the chiles. While that's doing it's thing warm your tortillas, either on the other side of your griddle or another pan. Trust me warm tortillas are better. Once those eggs are done add your cheese. Assemble however you like. Sometimes we add all the things to the tortilla, sometimes we just dip them. There's no wrong way to eat these.
  • Feeds 2. 

2) Easy Mexican Chicken


Ingredients:

  • 1 lb uncooked chicken breast strips for stir-fry (sometimes we cheat and get the precooked)
  • 1 packet (1 oz) Taco Seasoning Mix
  • 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed
  • 1 can (11 oz) whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, undrained
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Cook up your chicken, add your beans, then add the corn. Sometimes we add to this with:
  • Tomatoes, peppers, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, tortillas, cheese, rice, lettuce... Sometimes we add  nothing.
  • We either eat as is, make a salad, or a wrap!
  • Feeds 4-6 or so

3) Turkey Sandwich


Ingredients:

  • 4 slices sourdough bread, 1/2 inch thick
  • 8 large spinach leaves
  • Dukes Mayo (2T)
  • 1/2 lb sliced oven roasted turkey breast
  • 1/4 cup chopped drained roasted red bell peppers  -Chris doesn't like them.
  • We're going to assume you can make a sandwich without instruction. We included it because we've really been enjoying a turkey sandwich.
  • Sometimes we add pickles, cheese, a different bread, etc. Sometimes we grill the bread, and/or turkey. Sometimes we put it all in a wrap. Do what you like!
  • Feeds 2

No GRWM, About Me Instead

 Hey Y'all!

I haven't really done any getting ready, that I remembered to film/picture lately. So this instead...


The questions can be found here:

200 QU's





1. What’s your favorite way to spend a day off? Spending time with family. Doing pretty much anything, playing games, hiking, watching movies, going to parks, etc.

2. What type of music are you into? I like a huge variety. Not big on big band, swing, heavy metal, or hardcore rap, but I'll listen to pretty much anything. Not loving most of the new pop, but I'm old.

3. What was the best vacation you ever took pre vanlife and why? I've been fortunate enough to take a decent amount of vacations/road trips in my life so far. My favorites are Disney, and then it's really vacations that were made awesome by the journey like the first trip with Lisa to NC, the trip with hubby and MIL that no one believed we went that far (VA to DE and NJ and back in 24hrs)... Fun trips like that.

4. Where’s the next place on your travel bucket list and why? The goal is all 50 states, so we need to start heading west... We just crossed Illinois off! Woohoo!

5, .What are your hobbies, and how did you get into them? Crafting (Dad worked for JoAnn Fabrics Corp.) Reading (Mom always took us to the library, before we could even read.) Day Trips (We did those all the time growing up, and hubby and I have always enjoyed just picking a direction and seeing where the day takes us.) Gaming (We got our 1st gaming system {Nintendo} from one of my Dad's friends, we really only played in the long cold NE Ohio winters, but had a lot of fun playing. Then Hubby was huge into gaming, and introduced sis & I to the Sims, yeah the first one.. We'd play for hours together. Now we own a lot of games/systems and play something at least weekly.)

6. What was your favorite age growing up? Hmm.. probably like 10-13. Still a kid but old enough to do some fun stuff without Mom and Dad.

7. Was the last thing you read? Misty, V.C. Andrews- It was good, but different from the Landry Series, which is the only other books I've read by her.

8. Would you say you’re more of an extrovert or an introvert? Introvert..

9. What's your favorite ice cream topping? Nothing. I like mint or cookies and cream, peanut butter, cookie dough type flavors so they don't "need" toppings.

10. What was the last TV show you binge-watched? Law & Order SVU, I'm almost caught up. (Earlier seasons were better.)

11. Are you into podcasts or do you only listen to music? Music. 

12. Do you have a favorite holiday? Why or why not? Halloween, because SPOOKY is fun. Christmas, because magical.

13. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? Salad, or pizza. Different toppings would make it the most versatile food option(s).

14. Do you like going to the movies or prefer watching at home? Home. I can have whatever food/drinks I want. Pause it if needed. Have it at a volume less than bust your eardrums. Yeah, home is better.

15. What’s your favorite sleeping position? Usually I end up on my left side. But I flip over a lot.

16. What’s your go-to guilty pleasure? IDK.

17. In the summer, would you rather go to the beach or go camping? Both, camp at/near the beach.

18. What’s your favorite quote from a TV show/movie/book? LOL. Too many to list. Hubby and I like to quote movies and then play wrong answers only.

19. How old were you when you had your first celebrity crush, and who was it? Umm.. maybe JTT so probably like 13ish..

20. What's one thing that can instantly make your day better? Food. LOL. And exploring new areas. 

21. Do you have any pet peeves? Shitty drivers is #1.

22. Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Dinner I guess. But I'm all for eat what you want regardless of the clock. Pancakes for dinner? Awesome! Chicken Sandwich for breakfast? Cool, you do you.

23. What song always gets you out on the dance floor? Nope. I dance at home, but not going dancing.

24. When you were a kid, did you eat the crusts on your sandwich or not? Yeah, most of the time. We weren't picky kids (sis and I) our parents let us develop our own taste.. there was no such thing as "kid food".  We had chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, etc but it wasn't labeled as kid specific food. Mom made one dinner, and allowed for 1 modification. You don't want sloppy joe's? You can have a hamburger. You don't like green beans? You can have a salad. For our breakfasts and lunches we got to choose whatever we wanted (within reason).

25. What activity instantly calms you? Breathe in for 5 sec, out for 5 sec.


These were actually pretty fun questions! So let's do 25 more, then y'all let me know if you want me to continue.

26. Ideally, how would you spend your birthday? Exploring, adventuring, doing whatever, and cheesecake for dessert.

27. What do you do on your commute to/from work? When I had a "regular" job? Listen to music, loudly.

28. Do you have a favorite type of exercise? Walking.

29. What's your favorite season and why? It used to be summer, but now I find it too hot. I love Fall, so many activities happen in the fall!

30. What's the best joke you've ever heard? IDK

31. What's the app you use most? Facebook

32. Would you rather cook or order in? Cook

33. Have your ever disliked something and then changed your mind? Yes, that's part of growth and learning. Plus tastes change as you age.

34. What's your favorite board game? I like the classics. Monopoly, Sorry, Clue, etc. The new kids games that are all about poop and boogers are just gross and pointless.

35. How do you take your coffee? 2 cream, 1 sugar, 4 pumps sugar free flavor for a large, but I drink water most of the time.

36 What's your most prized possession and why? Things are things. I suppose if I had to pick something it'd be my Cricut. It helps me be crafty!

37. Is there any product that you couldn't live without? No, I'm sure there's plenty I wouldn't want to live without, but it's possible to live without most every 'thing'.

38. Do you sleep with a top sheet? Why or why not? Yes, it feels weird without it.

39. If you could have any exotic animal as a pet, which would it be? Nothing. They aren't pets for a reason.

40. What would be the first thing you'd do if you won the lottery? Get a money man. Then get a fancy van. Invest/save the rest.

41. What’s your favorite thing about your current job? Flexibility.

42. What annoys you most? Idiot drivers.

43. What’s the career highlight you’re most proud of? Going from PT cashier, to FT management in less than 6mo.

44. Do you think you’ll stay in your current gig awhile? Why or why not? I plan to keep this up regardless, but I'd like to get some sponsored content, or partnerships.

45. What type of role do you want to take on after this one? I own this, so just doing MORE is the goal.

46. Are you more of a "work to live" or a "live to work" type of person? Work is secondary, always.

47. Does your job make you feel happy and fulfilled? Why or why not? Yes, I love what I'm doing. I just need it to generate more income, but it's a work in progress.

48. How would your 10-year-old self react to what you do now? Pretty cool! A lot of the things I've done are pretty cool. I've also had some pretty shitty jobs (looking at you Kmart). My only regret is letting my cosmetology license lapse after we moved (to TN from OH).

49. What do you remember most about your first job? It wasn't bad. I worked at what was then called Leggs Hanes Bali Playtex Outlet in an outdoor outlet mall. Saturdays were busy, but there was always 3-6 of us there, so it wasn't ever overwhelming. Looking back now, I'd probably be bored out of my mind. Other than letting someone in the fitting room, cleaning that up, and cashiering, and the occasional stocking there wasn't really ever much for us to do. The manager took care of everything herself for the most part. 

50. How old were you when you started working? 15, babysitting, I had 3 families. 1 was a weekly 2 day gig, Tuesday thru Thursday, I'd spend the nights. (Their dad got home around 10 and their mom got home around 12 and both were gone by the time we got up in the morning.) The (2) kids and I would hang out and play, walk to the park, the library, or McDonalds. They were pretty good kids, a boy 6 and a 4 yr old girl. Their parents paid for everything we ever did on top of my normal pay. Easiest money I've ever made. The other two were occasional weekend gigs.


What was your first job? Let me know in the comments below!


Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Goal Progress Updates!

Hey Y'all!

Update time. I try to update monthly.



 My (Personal-ish) 2025 Goals:


1) All the goals from the previous blog, and the Outland Adventures blog. 8+15= 23 total there!

2) Continue using the Lose It app to log calories, fitness/exercise for the day, and water intake.

3) Read at least one book a week, any subject. Did y'all know there are FREE books on Google Play?!

4) Spend at least 10min a day writing in my planner/journal.

5) Do something nice, every day. This can be as simple as saying "hello" when out and about.

6) Visit at least 5 new libraries.

7) Spend less time scrolling social media, and more time creating content. 

8) Play Sims 4 at least once a month, see how far I can get in one family over the year.

How am I doing with these???

1) Pretty Good, not stellar, but not bad.

2) Have to catch up the last coupe days, but I'm back at it.

3) Not 100% but pretty close.

4) Not the past couple of days, but I plan to catch up after this.

5) Easy!

6) We have 4 down! Laurel Co. KY, Rittman (Wayne Co) Ohio, Decatur (Adams Co) IN, and Roselawn (Newton Co) IN. We're going to try another tomorrow if time allows!

7) Total fail, haven't crafted at all.

8) It's averaging about once a month, sometimes a bit more.

So, overall I think these are going well. YAY!

I've got this!!!


Other Goals:

As a reminder, here were my goals:


2025 Goals:

1) Organize the Cricut Joy Bag, and Storage Box in a way that makes crafting easy to accomplish. ~DONE!

2) Make note of supplies/colors I already have. Keep running tab on my phone. ~DONE!

3) Set aside time each week to do some crafting, or craft related activities... Mondays?

4) Make the decals for Brunilda, the van, by April. 

I have two planned, one for the front visor simply stating "Brunilda" in blue no font chosen yet, the other a quote from Ferris Buehler for the rear two windows... color unknown right now, but design/font is chosen for that one.

5) Finish one craft project a month.

6) In addition to #5 make at least one card per month, give it away.

7) Film more How To's and other Craft related content for CWC. Post 2x monthly on YouTube.

8) Post more often on CWC social medias. Just the blog posts aren't enough. Aim for at least one additional post per week... Saturdays?


1& 2) are done!

3) No progress, no crafting.

4) No additional progress, though color is chosen for the quote now.

5) HAHAHAHA.

6) Nope, only the one in January.

7) Once or twice, nothing beyond that.

8) Nope, I'm spending time growing Outland Adventures, so CWC social media isn't as important to me right now.

I still feel like these are good goals for the year, and I'm going to try to make it happen moving forward...


Are you interested in the Outland Adventures Goals??
Let me know moving forward.

This year we'd like to grow each and every one of our social media platforms, do more, and see more of this vast country!


2025:

1) Post daily on at least one of our social media platforms. 

Tuesday's and Thursday's will remain blogs and videos. 

Saturday's will be something quick and fun, like a picture of what we're doing. Monday is fan engagement posts, and Wednesday are currently anything goes. Sunday's are a question to our followers.

These posts can be on any, or all of our social media so be sure to check us out everywhere.

This is going really well, 100%!

2) Get more active on Instagram, add Amanda as a user to that account as well. -DONE!

After 3 month of posting semi regularly and seeing no growth we've dropped Instagram from our focus.

3) Work on Work Camp Resume, finish by mid- February. Apply for jobs ASAP. (This is dependent on Amanda's treatment schedule.)

100% and job secured for the season!

4) Purchase and use VidIQ, especially to aid in thumbnail and descriptions on videos. -By end of January.

Done!

5) Revamp and update Amazon Wishlist.

Done!

6) Visit 3 new states this year!

We've got one! IL. We're just barely exploring around Kankakee, but it's been a blast!

7) Visit 4 new State Parks in 2025.

2 down! (We're counting Levi Jackson (KY), and we've done Findley (OH).

8) Complete 52 hikes this year (at least 1mi). We're already ahead with 3!

Some weeks we get none, others 2 or 3 so were ahead, & we're still well on track!

9) Try something new everyday.

Easy!

10) Get the drone up at least once a month, even if it's just to practice flying it around.

Fail. We've used it none.

11) Use the "good camera" at least 2x a month, get those shots!

We've gotten it out twice now!

12) Complete a course on Digital/Social Media. (These will be free courses, and we'll update you on our favorites!)

We're both enrolled in classes. I just finished one through EdX. It's intro to Social Media for Business, but it has some relevant information and tips so far. I just started one on storytelling! Chris is going through a marketing course, and programming courses on Stack Skills.

13) Become more involved in the Van Life community both online and IRL. 

The online side will be easy to do since we are posting more often! 

Work in progress, but we are growing and engaging more online. We also have talked with more people out and about.

14) Connect with other creators, and van life brands. Make lasting connections and build relationships!

Work in progress!!

15) Friday's post just came to me! Post what we're grateful for from the week. May be one thing, may be a short list of things.

We are slowly getting back to the grateful post. I've remembered the past 3 weeks!


Have a great day,
Craftin' Wife

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Updates!

 Hey Y'all!

I don't know about you, but for us March really flew by!


We spent the month in NE Ohio visiting some places we haven't been, and a few we have.

As of today (the 8th, as I'm writing this) we've added 3 new libraries, another 2 nature preserves, and a state park! 

We also visited a few local parks, thrift shops, lots of restaurants, and a few hotels.

We saw all kinds of wildlife- including Bald Eagles, and black squirrels. Hawks, and all kinds of other birds, a few herons, geese, and ducks. Racoons, gophers, turtles, deer, a snake, and more!

Here's a few pictures from the month  (March):

Chris did get the big camera out, but we haven't moved those over yet...

Thriftin'

Food & drink at competition.

Indoor/Outdoor pool.

Drury Inn Columbus

Wore out from the park!

Sexy Sweatpants Man setting up camp.

Spot 142, on the main drag, but close to the toilets.

Nature Center/Store (Closed)

Love

Storybook Trail

600!!!!


The weather was insane, as Spring in Ohio is know for. We has snow days, and days it was 70 degrees & sunny. 

We've surpassed 600 followers on Outland Adventures Facebook, and have 115 subscribers on our YouTube channel! (We thank each and everyone of you for following along in our Adventures!)
Not following yet? Find us here:

Craftin' Wife has 425 on TikTok, 130 on YouTube, and just shy over 200 on Facebook! Thank You all!!




We're a bit excited, and nervous about our upcoming workamp gig, our start date is soon! We'll keep meandering that way- our new arrival date is the 10th, but it's only a solid 3 or so hours, so we can still take our time, just not quite as slowly as planned.
*She's since called again, after confirming the 10th again, to change the date to the 14th... We stayed the 9th at a Love's RV and are now exploring IL for the next 5 days!

We finished out the month of March at Findley State Park, and it's been nice. Since it's still the off season the water isn't on. I didn't expect that to mean the bath house as well, so showers haven't happened, but we've adapted. They do have several vault toilets, which I had forgot about (we camped here a lot when I was a kid). Definitely not a fan of the vault toilets, but better than none. They also had laundry, but it too was closed. The website said some things would be, but what they meant was everything. There was no check in, no camp store, no nothing. The trail system was great, and the lake is HUGE. They also have a massive disc golf course, which didn't exist when I was a kid. The beach is much farther from camp than I remember it being, but we always biked through the woods then went swimming. The old amphitheater looks exactly the same, but there are some new additions too! Overall we had a good time. 


Do you have any blog or video suggestions? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a great day,
Craftin' Wife