Cents and Sensible Eats

Eating sensibly while travelling and doing so on a tight budget isn't always easy... but it can be quite delicious. Every road trip we take I really try to plan what we are going to eat for the 3 to 5 days that we are travelling well in advance. Travel days are the worst when it comes to meals, mostly because I always seem to make us late for our departure time. So breakfast tacos and salty snacks and fruit seem to be our meal plan during the actual drive.

By the time we get to the hotel, it's usually dinner time. Rather than take the easy way out and pick up a greasy bag of fast food, I prefer to cook if I have any strength left in me. This is why I LOVE my
rice cooker. In all honesty, I wasn't crazy about it when my husband got it. I thought to my self, "great, an appliance that makes one thing and one thing only." But, the more we travel the more things we learn to cook in it.

This trip's recipe is one pot pasta dinner that can be enjoyed cold with a fresh salad the next day. The ingredients can be purchased at most grocery stores pretty readily. Since we were headed to Sulphur Springs this trip and I wanted to make sure I had the supplies I needed as soon as we got to the hotel, I packed the dry ingredients I'd be needing in the "kitchen box". The kitchen box is a Rubbermaid tote that is filled with the basics for cooking on the road. The veggies and the proteins traveled frozen, in a small cooler. We packed the bag of organic greens on top so it stayed cool enough to keep them from wilting.

For this dish you will need the following...

1cup  whole wheat rotini pasta (gf or regular is fine too)
1 9oz container of crushed tomatoes (don't forget a can opener if you buy canned)
8oz water
1/2 tsp dehydrated/freeze dried minced onions
1tsp paprika
1/2tsp Kosher salt
1/8tsp garlic powder  
1tsp olive oil
3/4 c vegetarian chick'n (Quorn is my protein of choice) or diced cooked chicken
8 oz of frozen vegetables Mediterranean Blend

Garnish
10 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
1Tbsp Parmesan Italian spice blend

Into the rice cooker pot, add the pasta, crushed tomatoes, olive oil, water, freeze dried onions and spices. Flip the switch to "Cook" and stir the ingredients before covering. About 10minutes into your cooking time, check the pasta and stir in the frozen precooked protein of your choice and the frozen vegetables. Cover the pot and let it cook until the switch flips back to "Warm". Let it sit for another 5min in the cooker on "Warm". Any residual moisture should be absorbed into the pasta without it overcooking.

We got 2 servings from this as our hot meal on Thursday. I really wish we hadn't been so hungry after that 7hr drive... 'cause I forgot to take a picture for you. We did get two additional servings with a salad and fresh made pita chips the next day.. which are the pictures you see in this post. The crushed tomato will make for a lighter sauce, which means it's perfect as a cold pasta salad too. The cost of 4 servings came to under $12 total. Not too bad, considering that we would have spent at least $7 each for fast food meals. We also had enough frozen veggies, Quorn, pitas, tomatoes and fresh veggies for the next day's dinner.

When you try this, don't forget to share your spin on this recipe. We'd all like to know how it turns out for you.

 I'll post the "home made pita chips" in a few days.

Tickets to the Gun Show!

Okay... maybe we don't really need tickets. But since we were already near Dallas for my husband's final exam at "fire school", we decided to take full advantage of the opportunity.  It's not like it isn't one of our favorite things to do on a weekend. If you didn't already know, I sell stuff at gun shows every now and then. No, not guns.... "bullets" and other shiny objects.

There are a couple of things that I love about gun show weekends. One is the morning drive. While y'all are still snuggling or waiting for that pot of coffee to be ready, we're on the road, enjoying the sunrise and the scent of the morning dew on the blades of grass and the dawning of a new day as we drive down the highway. Those moments feel like G-d is letting us know that He's got our back, and it's all gonna be alright.

The other two are music blasting on the stereo (with the obligatory loud off key singing)... and of course spending time with my husband. 

... yeah, I know... our "selfie game" needs work. 

If you happen to see us at a gun show, don't be shy, stop by the booth and say hello. We'd love to meet you.

Trippin’ on the Road Less Traveled

Living in The Great State of Texas, you grow up being accustomed to going on long drives (we’re talking 3hrs or more each way) just to go have lunch or spend a few hours with friends or family. It’s a big state with lots to see and do. When my husband and I were newlyweds, and broker than broke, we would gas up the car (something we could afford easily at $.99 a gallon), pack a lunch, and pick a highway. Our favorites were always the back roads. The little CRs (country roads) and FMs (farm to markets) that work their way across the state like gossamer cobwebs that are found only when you stumble upon them.

One of our first drives was from IH10, up to Hwy16 in search of the perfect field of Bluebonnets. That trip ended up going full circle. We took the curves and hills on HWY29 across to Georgetown and back down IH35 to San Antonio. I never did take any pictures on that trip and I really wish I had. We did find something far more precious, an entire day with zero distractions, and lots of laughter and the simple pleasure of being in the moment. As you can probably guess... that was before cell phones and Facebook.

Taking these roads less traveled is our favorite way to see this wonderful state. On these roads you find things you didn’t know your heart needed to experience, like the lady that lives just north of IH10 on our way to Spring, Texas. We’ve seen on several trips. Her home is a grey wood frame house surrounded by green pastures. We typically make this drive in early spring or mid autumn. The mornings are cool enough to still be covered in dew at 10am. We’ve seen her feeding a flock of what, from a distance,  looks like a big flock of chickens. That is, until you get close enough to see that it is a flock of Snowy Egrets in the dew covered field just past her garden gate.

Earlier this year, we made this drive it was smack in the middle of rodeo season. If you are not from Texas you are probably thinking that every day is rodeo season, and that is mostly true. We refer to February and March as rodeo season because the biggest rodeos in the state take place during those two months. If you are on the road at the right time you’ll catch up with one of the Trail Rides that cuts across Texas for the Houston Rodeo. On our February trip this year we were lucky enough to give the “Saltgrass Trail Riders” from Brenham, Texas the right of way. 

Our most recent trip could have been about an hour and a half shorter. But, that would mean staying on a big highway with everyone else. Where is the fun in that?? The purpose of this trip was for my husband to take a final exam at school in Sulphur Springs, TX. It was just before getting to Waco when we started to get antsy. That’s when I told my husband that I wanted to go to Gun Barrel City. Heck, why not? We’d already been to Ding Dong, Tx. It was a road we’d never taken and we’re spontaneous like that (or at least we try to be). So off the Interstate we went... but not before seeing proof that the grass is greener on the other side. 

                            

The detour took us from Waco, across to Corsicana. Along that road, we took in the quaintness of Hubbard Texas. In case you didn’t know it, Hubbard is the “Victorian Crossroads of Texas”. We didn’t stop to see the old Victorian homes, but we did enjoy the tree lined drive through town. 

Our drive through Silver City was brief. So quick that I missed the city limits sign that I wanted to take a selfie with. Then… on to Corsicana, home of the Collins Street Bakery. For those of you who may have never heard of it, they are known for… fruitcake. I am a bit of a fruitcake freak so I have to make sure we come back this way when the store is open.

Next, the winding Farm to Market Roads, 1603 and 1129. That stretch of road was so peaceful. There weren’t many cars on the road and it was basically hay fields, and these frilly white wildflowers on bright green leafy stems that dotted the landscape at first, then became rolling hills of sea foam green. I really wish I hadn’t forgotten my camera. The one on my cell phone wasn’t very good for stopping motion or distances. As would be my luck, the best fields were either behind a stand of trees, and vanished as soon as we were driving past open pastures. Or, they were on the opposite side of the road... with a double yellow line so… making a u-turn for a photo was not an option.

There was also this odd looking structure that I'm pretty sure is a grain silo. It loomed ominously in the middle of a field and those windows at the very top reminded me of watch towers. It was kind of creepy. What do you think?

Driving down Hwy 85 was more of the same. More hay, pastures, and those sneaky flowers!! When we continued onto Hwy 334 we crossed what I called “The Lake with No Name”. It’s actually Cedar Creek Reservoir, but I’m a dork and “The Lake with No Name” sounds more intriguing to me. This brings us to my personal goal for this trip, Gun Barrel City. Let me tell you about this drive!!  The causeway is about 2miles long and there is WATER EVERYWHERE!!.. and just a tiny strip of road that you are travelling. I just love drives like that... but then again... that might be because I love being around water. In fact, I was soooo excited, that I completely missed the Gun Barrel City sign!! I thought to myself... “NOT AGAIN!! This is Ding Dong all over again!” (I missed the marker there too.)

But… my husband… my wonderful husband… light of my life... my reason for living… he wasn’t about to let me accept defeat. No siree Bob! Not him. He was determined to help me get my photo. Did I mention that we have traveled over 268 miles at this point? Not to mention that we still had another 70 miles to go. THIS is why I married him! He understands my “crazy”. All for this photo.

After that... the trip just zipped by. The next town on the road... Mabank. Yes, we shot from Gun Barrel over to Mabank. *pun intended* From there it was on to Canton. Yep the home of First Monday Trade Days. Those markets are MAHOOSIVE!! Junkin’, yet another reason to come this way. Just be warned, if you venture past Canton, there is a place just outside of Eaton that really stinks. The Emory Compression Station. Peeeeyew! It's a natural gas relay station along a natural gas pipeline. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Do you know what didn’t stink on this stretch of road? This guy!! We drove behind him for about 5miles. Watching him cruise down the road in this great state made me smile. I love that he put the biggest American flag that he could get on his motorcycle and went for a ride. Sharing the road with him was a privilege. He loves this great country… and so do we. 

After all that, we finally made it to the hotel. Friday is his final and then Saturday we head home… with another little detour. And if you happen to be feeling adventurous, pack a lunch, make sure your camera is charged up, gas up the tank and take the scenic route every once in a while. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.