Happy Campers

Every year when I was younger, my family would go camping, escaping the daily hustle and bustle by taking us into the peaceful serenity of nature.  Or as I saw it…my parents would rip us from the comfort of air conditioning and our beloved digital media into wooded seclusion where we were held in a plastic prison.  I was born and bred in the D.C. metro area, so I can admit that I’m not exactly an outdoorsy kind of gal.  Naturally, our good Lord gave me children whose sole happiness seems to come only from exploring the woods in our backyard.  I prefer to explore the inside of a shopping mall, but more than anything I long to keep my children happy.  So, when they asked if we could “camp-out”, I had to come up with a compromise.

I built them their own living room camp.  Ok, so it’s not exactly roughin’ it.  {Baby steps, guys.  Baby steps.}  They wanted to start a fire most, so I had them collect fire wood and stones. 

 

 

Baby boy had the very important task of guarding the wood pile

 

Showing me his muscles

I came up with this little cutie for their “campfire”.  They were super excited about it, and it also served as their night light so they wouldn’t be scared in the darkness of the living room.

The best part of the day was spending quality time with my loves, especially in one of my favorites places – the kitchen.  Inspired by another recipe – Rolo Pecan Caramels – my little ones and I will show you how to make Trail Mix Bites.

To start, preheat your oven to 250°.  Then line a lightly greased sheet pan with mini pretzels.  Top each mini pretzel with an unwrapped Rolo.

Place them in the oven for 3-5 minutes, depending on how temperamental your oven is.  I suggest you watch these little guys, as they go from melted to burned very quickly.  Once they turn glossy, it’s time to take them out of the oven.

Working quickly, top each Rolo with about a teaspoon of your favorite trail mix, roughly chopped.  I made my own with chopped pecans, almonds, cashews, and dried cranberries.  Gently “smoosh” the trail mix down on top of the melted Rolo.

Let these cool completely before devouring.  To speed things up, I put my sheet pan into the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes.

Voila!!  There you have it. Just a little spin on your every day, hum-drum trail mix. 

What’s camping without s’mores?  And for those, I used a batch of homemade marshmallows.  There’s really nothing on earth that beats the ooey gooey goodness of a marshmallow made from scratch.  I think my daughter agrees ;)

 

I like to think bringing the great outdoors inside was a success.  Who knows...maybe our next camp-out will actually be outside?  {Probably not.}