What's for Supper?

We have plenty of beaches here on the "inland seas" of the Great Lakes. Michigan's coastline rivals that of the entire UK.

I've tented on the beach once, listening to waves washing up all night. Not so easy today, much of it being in private hands or public parks. But there are a few wilderness parks that still permit tent camping if you pack your tent it in. There is no interior vehicular access.



I live about 2 hours from beaches both to my East and West.

WOW ! ! That is awesome, @Jacob Petersheim ! I think that i would love that, too ! I have only seen a little of the Great Lakes when i was at a training week in Chicago for combined Insurance, but Robin sent a video from when she was working in upstate New York, and along one of the Great Lakes.
I love the idea of a lake that huge, that it is like an ocean to look at it, and would love to actually see one of the Great Lakes .
Your photo is totally awesome ! ! Is that from one of your trips to the beach ?

We are WAY off topic (don’t tell @Susannah we did this again), so maybe you can start a thread where we can discuss lakes and beaches, and share photos !

Yvonne Smith said:

maybe you can start a thread where we can discuss lakes and beaches, and share photos !

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That might be good. I'll have to see what I have here. There are some on this computer but others may still be on camera cards.

The lighthouse picture isn't mine, but I have been there many times.

Yvonne Smith said:

I used to go to Aberdeen, and then out to Ocean Shores.

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We went to Ocean Shores on the Rainy Vacation back in 2002. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express there. It was a nice place, lots of atmosphere, good food near by, but nothing worked in the room. (Well, the lights worked...) There was a hot tub that cost us extra, a huge AC unit, a hair dryer in the bathroom, it was a suite with two rooms, a TV in each room. One TV worked poorly, but I had a DVD player that I plugged in for the kids, the other one didn't work at all. At least it gave the kids something to do on a rainy day. There was a gas fireplace that there was no gas for. The breakfast was not what they advertised, instead of a hot breakfast it was sweet rolls and donuts, etc. The list goes on. And at $160 after tax I was not a happy camper.

When I went to the front desk to check out I asked to speak to the manager. I told him nothing worked in the room and I wanted a partial refund. He said he was not authorized to do that, and that the reason things didn't work was because of the salty air. I laughed and told him he must be joking. Because Eureka is the same distance from the same ocean, and has the same salty air, and I've stayed at some of the hotels in town including a Holiday Inn Express, and everything works fine. Even things in the Motel 6 work better than his hotel. Then I asked him something like "If you aren't authorized to adjust portfolios, who is the actual Hotel Manager?"

I took photos of the stuff in the room that didn't work, such as the hot tub we paid extra for, and I told him that if he was not authorized to change the bill, he better call whoever is. Because if he didn't, I would call my credit card company and file a dispute about the charges, and see to it that they got as little as possible. After I call Holiday Inn's Corporate office and tell them they need a more qualified manager in Ocean Shores, of course.

All of a sudden he could do something after all, and offered me a 15% discount. I said that was not acceptable. Our originally quoted price for our reservation, that I paid in advance, was $132 after tax. The room we stayed in was an upgrade, and was $160 after tax. I paid the difference when we checked in. 15% of $160 is only $24. The upgrade for a room with a hot tub that doesn't work cost me and extra $28. And that makes no mention of other poorly maintained things in the room.

So this glorified Shift Manager called the Boss and explained the situation. The Boss said to comp the room. He said something like "But Sir, that would..." And standing five feet away from him at the desk I heard the Boss say, loud and clear "I said comp the room!"

We laughed about that all the way back out to the 101. What a dweeb for a manager...

Years later, it's not a Holiday Inn Express anymore. It's currently a BayVue Hotel. Based on Google Maps photos, in 2018 it was a Morning Glory Hotel, in 2013 it was a Guesthouse Hotel, and if you go all the way back to 2009, the photo shows it was still a Holiday Inn Express. I'm surprised the building didn't fall down while they had it.

But Cindy and I had a nice walk on what the local's called a "cold beach" that reminded us of Clam Beach, where we met. We didn't think it was that cold. No more than a Humboldt County beach at the same time of year...

On the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan, I don't know, right off, of camping sites. But I do know of a restaurant near Two Rivers that sits right above a rocky beach and has a wall of windows. All you can see is the lake and it could be anywhere, from the looks of it. Any ocean, even, because you can't see the other side. The last time we went, the food was not quite as good, but the view stayed the same
Oh and to keep it What's for supper? I made lasagnes last night but put in pepper jack cheese instead of motzarella. I make my own sauce and it was great.

I've been buying "family packs" of chicken parts lately (breasts with ribs, thighs, drumsticks) because I can get them under $1/pound. I freeze these packs and then as needed pull one out and thaw it then cook it all in one go.

I alternate pork and ground beef, but after a while chicken with a side of broccoli gets old. So I try different things.

Last grocery run there was a special on boxes of their house-brand "Rice-A-Roni." I hadn't tried this stuff in years.

I air-fried some chicken breasts, just seasoned but they came out nice and juicy. After wrapping a lot of it for the fridge, I took some out and cut off the meat and diced it up skin and all. Heated that to render out some of the fat, and browned up the rice & vermicelli with the chicken and fat instead of using the butter the box calls for.

Then I added the water as directed and cooked that much of the way through. Added a lot of diced onion and green peppers and peas. Cooked this further, then let it cool.

Doled some out into the air fryer in a parchment liner, spread it out flat. Browned it up a few minutes for extra flavor and crispness.

Way cheaper than take-out fried rice must be these days.


I'm sure that I could improve this by using whole-grain pasta and brown rice and relying on seasoned chicken stock to flavor it. But I do put in a lot of chicken and veg, and I get a big enough batch that way to have plenty to freeze.

Jacob Petersheim said:

I've been buying "family packs" of chicken parts lately (breasts with ribs, thighs, drumsticks) because I can get them under $1/pound. I freeze these packs and then as needed pull one out and thaw it then cook it all in one go.

I alternate pork and ground beef, but after a while chicken with a side of broccoli gets old. So I try different things.

Last grocery run there was a special on boxes of their house-brand "Rice-A-Roni." I hadn't tried this stuff in years.

I air-fried some chicken breasts, just seasoned but they came out nice and juicy. After wrapping a lot of it for the fridge, I took some out and cut off the meat and diced it up skin and all. Heated that to render out some of the fat, and browned up the rice & vermicelli with the chicken and fat instead of using the butter the box calls for.

Then I added the water as directed and cooked that much of the way through. Added a lot of diced onion and green peppers and peas. Cooked this further, then let it cool.

Doled some out into the air fryer in a parchment liner, spread it out flat. Browned it up a few minutes for extra flavor and crispness.

Way cheaper than take-out fried rice must be these days.


I'm sure that I could improve this by using whole-grain pasta and brown rice and relying on seasoned chicken stock to flavor it. But I do put in a lot of chicken and veg, and I get a big enough batch that way to have plenty to freeze.

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Do you separate the chicken and such and freeze it individual packages that can be consumed in one or two meals? That is often what we do.

Don Alaska said:

Do you separate the chicken and such and freeze it individual packages that can be consumed in one or two meals? That is often what we do.

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Exactly. I do leave some on the bone, while some of it gets cleaned off for use in sandwiches or casseroles or such.

Even unbreaded, as I normally fry it, sometimes I enjoy gnawing it off the bone.

Today I had a chicken wrap.

I have a lot of venison leftover from the wild food dinner. I made a stew, a shredded cabbage dish, smoked slices that might have been for jerky...We can take our pick for days.

Mary Stetler said:

I have a lot of venison leftover from the wild food dinner. I made a stew, a shredded cabbage dish, smoked slices that might have been for jerky...We can take our pick for days.

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@Mary Stetler the great hunter??

Don Alaska said:

@Mary Stetler the great hunter??

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No. LOL Freezer malfunction for my neighbor. She called last winter with an emergency asking if I had any spare freezer space. They were leaving for two weeks and her freezer had died. I told her I would donate the venison in the wild foods dinners for her. My hunting skills are waning.

It has been cool and rainy here today, so it seemed like the perfect kind of day for a pot of vegetable soup. It has been simmering on the stove and just hit the spot for dinner today.

Last night I had baked mac n cheese.

The last corn on the cob, hamburgers and mashed potatoes.

Back in 2004 (I think, my memory is getting fuzzy...) when we went on vacation to BC and it rained every day of the three weeks we were traveling, we stayed in Ocean Shores. We walked to the North Jetty, and back. That was about 15 miles, and we were gone so long the kids thought a sneaker wave got us and dragged us into the ocean.

Dinner menu today is...

Cheeburger... Cheeburger... Cheeburger... Iced Tea. No Pepsi.

I bought a package of chicken livers and am making liver and onions for dinner tonight. I usually get beef livers, but the chicken liver is a lot cheaper, and it comes in smaller size, so easier to prepare. I always add bell peppers along with the onions, and sometimes mushrooms as well.

Yvonne Smith said:

I bought a package of chicken livers and am making liver and onions for dinner tonight. I usually get beef livers, but the chicken liver is a lot cheaper, and it comes in smaller size, so easier to prepare. I always add bell peppers along with the onions, and sometimes mushrooms as well.

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I wanna come to your house for dinner. I don't do beef liver any more but love chicken livers. Sometimes make pate. But rabbit liver is our absolute favorite.
I have maybe our last tomatoes for sandwiches, burgers and green beans for tonite.

Motor City frozen all meat Pizza, with extra Tillamook cheese... It's quick and easy, and as good as some local pizza places.

We didn't get our Motor City Pizza. I forgot to stop at Wally's Cheeseria on the way to get a Mocha last night...

Oh well, we'll get it tonight.