The Radio Girl

RV's and Pizza

We learned some interesting RV info this weekend.

My Fella and I had a long conversation with an RV salesdude at a local dealership on Saturday afternoon.  I'm not naive enough to believe everything he said - I've worked with far too many radio salespeople in my lifetime for that :)   

But he gave us insight into the different brands, specifically Winnebago. 

I was curious why they hold their value better than other motorhome manufacturers.  Every time I browse different RV forums, the stongest and most loyal owners are always the Winnebago owners. 

RV salesdude told us that Winnabego is a top of the line name, based on quality.  For example, he said Winnebago is the only manufacturer that reinforces the unit walls with steel sections.  The other guys install things like seat belt hooks right into the paneling of the walls, but Winnebago attaches them to a steel beam in the walls.  And the units are built with a steel casing at the front to protect both the driver and passenger.

I'm sure all RV manufacturers have to pass safety standards but the salesdude said there are no 'crash tests' for motorhomes, like there are for cars and trucks.

I don't know how much of a difference this makes, safety-wise, but it's certainly something to think about.  I need to do more research. 

Here's something else to think about.  Last night we had pizza and salad for supper.  My Fella and I usually make one pizza for each of us, eat a third of it and save the rest for lunches through the week.  We only buy pizzas when they're on sale and then we add our own extra veggie toppings.    I add tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms to mine. 

He adds hot peppers and his new fave topping, broccoli. 

Yup.  Broccoli.

Gag.

Hello Yellow

My Fella went Salmon Fishing at 3:30 this morning.

He's a little crazy that way.  Speaking of crazy, I color coordinated my Sunday breakfast.  Everything was yellow.

Corn on the cob + sweet pepper + banana = yellow.  Yummy.  This breakfast brought to you by the letter "Y".

Sunday Morning Spleen

How about a spleen sandwich with your Sunday Brunch?

After my blog post yesterday, I wanted to see exactly how you eat fish jerky, so I googled foreign food.  Instead I found this spleen sandwich video from Sicily. 

Tennis and Fishies

My Fella and I play tennis three times a week.

We haven't been on the courts lately because the air is so smokey from local forest fires, but it was clear this morning so we grabbed our rackets and ran out the door before the wind shifted.

We try rotate through all the local courts in our little Okanagan beach town and this morning we went to the one down by the lilypad pond.

The pond is on the other side of the courts - surrounded by willow trees, and home to many local ducks, geese, frogs and fish. 

And lilypads.

Here's My Fella in action.

After tennis we made our usual Saturday trips to the local greenhouse for fruits and veggies, and then the Mediterranean Market for cheese, coffee beans and noodles.  I like wandering around the aisles and smelling the sauces.

And checking out the dried fishies.  I have no idea what you do with these ...

They look like fish jerky.  Ick.

Don't Eat Yellow Snow

But feel free to eat yellow tomatoes.

They taste just like red ones, but they're yellow.  And very yummy, sliced up with a little salt and pepper. 

From left to right:  red tomatoes from the local greenhouse, the last yellow tomato from our fridge and a single green tomato from our little patio crop. 

I might search out a Fried Green Tomato recipe online.  Just to try something new...

Garden Envy

Definition of Garden Envy - lusting after or coveting another's garden.

I know it's wrong to covet, but sometimes I can't help it.  I have a major case of Garden Envy.  The best way to curb this lust is to grow your own. 

Here's my tomato crop:

And the beans are almost ready to harvest.  Both of them.

*I have a feeling that no one is coveting our bean crop.

Adoro Frijoles

Remember those fire drills in elementary school?

At the appointed time your homeroom teacher would have you line up single file in the classroom.  You and your giggly friends would try push next to the cute boy you all had a crush on (Denis) and stay as far away as possible from the geek who liked you (Nathan). 

The teacher would harshly remind you to exit the school in a calm and orderly fashion.  At the first "Clang" of the big red alarm, you'd all hurl yourselves toward the classroom door - yelling and screaming down the hallway and racing out the main doors of the school.

I miss fire drills.

My Fella and I don't practice fire drills at home.  We'd look pretty silly, lining up by the front door, then setting off the alarm and racing outside to the parking lot of our condo, waving frantically at the neighbours as we ran.

But we do know what we'd grab if our place was going up in flames.

My Fella would sling his fave golf bag over his shoulder and snag our tennis rackets with his other hand.  I would be right behind him with our passports and my laptop.  

And after last night, I think I'm going to add our slowcooker to the list.  Yesterdays black bean soup was the best batch I've ever made and possibly the best dinner we've had in years.  Our slowcooker is amazing.

I doubled all the spices, dumped a few of the other ingredients and put in an extra cup of dry lentils.  It was thicker and had more kick than usual, so we wrapped the beans in tortilla shells and melted cheddar cheese on top. 

Best meal ever. 

Adoro frijoles ... (I love beans:)

Black Beans and Lilacs

Today has been a really great day.

I woke up early, read the biz news and ate my daily apple.  Still hungry, I polished off a tupperware container of leftover mashed potatoes and peas.  And washed it down with generic diet cola.  All before 8am.  Breakfast of champions :)

Then I gathered enough veggies to make another batch of slowcooker black bean soup.

Yesterday I swiped my first contraband lilacs from the wild bushes by the golf course.  I wish this blog was scratch and sniff so you could catch a whiff - they smell wicked.  And they came in handy when I chopped onions and garlic for the bean soup.  The lilacs completely masked the onion-y smell.  

Then I spent a little time cleaning the kitchen, watering the patio plants and taking pics of the condo for our Craigslist ad. 

By the way, a little Trashy Hillbilly Redneck neighbour update:  We had a verbal confrontation about three weeks ago and haven't heard a peep from them since.  We were sure they would annoy us at least once this long weekend, but ... nothing.  I'm kind of wondering if they've moved.  Seriously, they've been that quiet.

Our condo is peaceful and private again.  Now I don't want to sell it.

Trading vs. Cooking

Here's a snapshot of my Monday morning.

6am - wake up and give My Fella a smooch goodbye - he leaves the house early to go work out with a buddy before work

6:15 - wash face, brush teeth, say hi to the ducks in the backyard creek, make coffee

6:30 - eat apples and drink coffee while checking the business news on my laptop - I sit cross legged on my rolling office chair (I also sit cross legged on bar stools or on long car trips - it's my most comfy sitting position.  My Fella can't sit this way and thinks it's physically bizarre that I can stay in this position for hours at a time) 

6:45 - do some research on two Canadian companies I already own - buy more shares of Company #1 one (it's trading low because it's currently fighting a lawsuit) and sell 1/3 of our position in Company #2 which has had a nice run-up in the recent TSX rally (good time to take some profits)

7:45 - laugh and shake my head at this online story about two Canada Revenue Agency employees who were arrested in an alleged $4.5 million tax-fraud scheme.  Beanheads. 

And speaking of beans...

8:00 - gather ingredients for slow cooker Black Bean soup, a recipe I swiped off the internet.  This is my first time using the slow cooker and I follow the recipe to the letter.  Cooking scares me.

Interesting tidbit:  I was totally confident about the two stock trades this morning, but felt complete anxiety about the soup.  I had to check the ingredients FOUR TIMES before adding them to the slow-cooker.  I think it's fair to say I had a mild panic attack. 

Perhaps Someone in our house needs to spend less time reading quarterly reports and more time in the kitchen  :)

99 RV Things

Today is the first day of spring, though it's hard to tell when you look outside.

I don't even want to post a picture cause it'll just depress you too :(  It still feels like winter in our little part of the world and the gloomy, gray weather is starting to make us grouchy.  

We're seriously thinking of selling our house this fall and trying the RV lifestyle for a year or two, so yesterday My Fella suggested we go look at some RV's to get us in a summery, camping-at-the-lake kind of mood. 

At my last radio gig I did bi-weekly remotes at an RV dealership, which means I was on location doing radio cut-ins and talking about the good deals available, etc.   Over the years I've seen hundreds and hundreds of motor homes and fifth wheels, but I've never really looked at them if you know what I mean. 

It's like seeing houses while driving through a residential neighbourhood - you know the houses are there but you don't really see them unless you're thinking of buying one.

We have the whole summer to figure out the style of RV we want, compare prices and shop around but we've already started a list of things we definitely want in the RV.  Not built-in features, I mean things we need to bring with us.

#1- Our GPS. 

 

This might be the best travel investment we've ever made.  Garmin (Garmy, the Garmster) has saved our relationship on several road trips.  It doesn't work in Mexico but it's magic in Canada and the USA.  Gas stations, liquor stores, the nearest bathroom... whatever you need, Garmy will find it. 

The other option is an old school fold-up map and blind faith.  Which usually results in Driver of the car slamming on brakes and Passenger of the car whacking Driver across the head with the rolled up map, then storming out of said car, making sure to SLAM the door as hard as humanly possible.  Not that I've ever done that  :)

#2 on the list is our rice cooker.

The words 'rice cooker' sound yuppie/trendy/LAZY to me but we eat a lot of rice with beans or steamed veggies and this little monster is not only handy, it's a money saver. 

White rice in the microwave is easy to make. 

Brown rice on the stove is impossible unless you savor the taste of charred rice clumps.  I see a bag of brown rice and I immediately picture smoke detectors and wrecked pots, soaking in the sink with an inch of rock hard rice crud at the bottom.

I CANNOT cook brown rice but it's a cooking deficiency I've come to accept.  Hence the rice cooker.

So 2 items on the 99 RV Things list ... 97 to go.