Archives for July 2019

How to Plan for a Road Trip

Written by Cassie · July 30, 2019 · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

Jesse and I are heading off on a weeklong road trip in September. We are heading up to the Apostle Islands for a few days then heading across the UP of Michigan to Mackinac Island for a couple of days before heading home.

It has been a while since we have headed out on a road trip and we are pumped. And since I am a planner by nature and I tend to err on the side of over-preparedness, I am already deep into the planning of this trip.

I am going to walk you through how I plan our road trips just enough to satisfy my need for preparation without having a strict agenda. These steps, along with my tips for simplifying summer travel, will help de-stress getting out on the open road.

Step 1: PreTrip Planning

After last year’s Maine trip left us stuck at the airport for hours on end (canceled flights because of storms) Jesse requested this year we stick closer to home. We had been meaning to check out Mackinac for years, and Apostle Islands while not a National Park is part of the National Park system so we had to check it out.

After a bit of searching, I found and booked places on Airbnb. Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway have been our go-to for vacations for years. We have a much more relaxed experience when staying in a rental property. And let’s be honest – hotels are the worst.

If you are interested in trying out a rental for the first time, click through this link for Airbnb and get $40 off your first booking.

Step 2: Three to Four Weeks Out

As vacation time moves closer I start to a bit more research on the destination (or in the case of our upcoming trip – destinations). What touristy things to we want to do? Are there any fun restaurants/breweries/wineries that we want to check out? How about parks, hiking trails, museums, historical sites?

Yes, we are super nerdy.

I use Google Trips to keep everything all sorted and saved. I create a trip for each vacation (if you have flights and other reservations and use Gmail, Google will generate the trip for you). The app uses the power of Google Maps to help you find things to do, restaurants, and even collects discounts for you.

Step 3: Two Weeks Out

Now is a great time to get the car ready. Jesse takes it up to our mechanic, gets the oil changed, and has them check everything out. I also take this time to make sure we have all of the travel toiletries and clothing that we need for the trip.

We usually don’t end up buying much, but someone always needs a couple more pairs of socks, new walking shoes, or a hoodie that doesn’t make you look like a dirty hobo.

If I haven’t done so already I make a reservation to board our dog. I found a great place a few years back and Dru loves it. Seriously, he leaps out of the car when we get there.

Step 4: One Week Out

This is where shit starts to get real.

First up, I confirm our rentals and finish payments if necessary. I check the weather for the time of our trip and finalize our packing lists. We both have a pretty minimal wardrobe, so I need to do a final load of laundry and finish packing the night before we leave.

Since we are driving this time around, I will detail the car and pack it with its own unique set of road trip essentials. Here is that list:

Packing List for the Car

Road Kit
First Aid Kit
A gallon of water
sunglasses
travel water bottles and coffee cups
wet-wipes
paper maps
change and small bills cash for tolls/parking meters
umbrella
little cooler
depending on where we are going I might throw in boots, heavy socks, coats, and heavy sweatshirts

Last, but most importantly, I plan out our road trip snacks and any other food we are going to bring. You can’t head out on the road without snacks, so that is a given. Sometimes we also bring along our own food to make at the rental. This is usually something easy like the ingredients for a quick pasta and stuff for breakfast.

Step 5: The Day (or Two) Before

Today is the day where all my pre-planning shines. I usually have a few loads of laundry to do (so we can finish packing), and I also clean up the house as much as I can.

Coming back to a clean home is the absolute best.

I like to take a few minutes to sit down and make a list of things I need to do in the morning, and then I try to relax.

Step 6: Go Day!

We (mostly me) are early risers, so we are up are ready to go early. We shower and dress while the coffee is brewing, the last few items are packed (mainly Jesse’s CPAP machine) we load up the car with our bags and snacks and head out the door.

Whew, That’s it! These 6 steps are how I plan for road trips. How do you plan for a trip?

Skillet Blueberry Pancake

Written by Cassie · July 25, 2019 · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

I love breakfast food more than anything else in the world. If my house was burning down and I had a beautiful stack on French Toast or pancakes with warm maple syrup and my husband and I would only have time to save one of them. . . . Well, I would really have to think about it.

JK, French Toast I love you.

What I don’t love is standing over the griddle, making pancakes while the stack gets cold next to me. That is one of the great things about this recipe; everyone gets to sit down to a nice toasty pancake at the same time.

Print Recipe

Skillet Blueberry Pancake

I love pancakes, but I don't want to stand over a griddle. This is a delicious recipe for a skillet blueberry pancake that comes together fast!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled for a bit (plus another tbsp for the skillet)
3 tbsp sugar (plus some for sprinkling)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg at room temp
1 cup (or so) of blueberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet (or another oven-proof skillet) in the oven to warm up with the oven.
In a bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, mix together the melted butter, milk, and egg. Then combine the flour and egg mixtures together until just combined. Don't over mix!!
Take the skillet out of the oven and swirl a tablespoon on butter in the pan coat. Pour in batter and smooth evenly skillet. Sprinkle those blueberries in the batter, then sprinkle sugar on top.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden (about 25 minutes). Sprinkle with confectioners sugar for serving (if you are feeling fancy). Serve with syrup and your breakfast meat of choice.

Notes

adapted from a recipe found in Martha Stewart.

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How to Create a Morning Routine

Written by Cassie · July 23, 2019 · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

Every morning I do the same seven things. I wake up, and the whole process goes on autopilot. It is my morning routine.

We are creatures of habit. And a routine doesn’t have to be a four-letter word. A daily routine or ritual provides comfort during times of change and transition. There have been times when the whole day falls apart, but I was able to spend a quiet moment with coffee at my table. That gives me a bit of comfort on those days.

We all already do this naturally. With a few tweaks, you can quickly start your day off more mindfully and focused. Trust me. Or don’t, but try it for a few weeks and see what you think.

How do you create a morning routine?

Take a look at your natural rhythms in the morning. You are probably 75% of the way there. Now add a few simple things that bring you peace and help you focus — things like a walk, meditation, prayer, or daily devotion.

I also recommend taking a quiet moment to plan out your top three tasks of the day and loosely plan out your schedule. You can always choose more to do and be more structured about your program, but try to give yourself a break. Things happen and only have three things on your to-do list will help you feel accomplished at the end of the day.

Curious about my morning routine?

Here it is! I do this every morning, even weekends and days off from the day job. It is more structured and fast during the week because I have a time constraint (my boss does not like tardiness), but on the weekend I may sleep in and go through the flow slowly.

Wake up early.

During the week, I get up at 4:30. I know, that is crazy, but I start the day job at 7, and I have found out over the years that if I do certain things right away in the morning, it makes the rest of my day that much smoother.

On days I am not working, and the weekends I let my body wake itself up (unless I have a breakfast date), so I may wake up at 4:30 naturally or I may get up at 6:30. Usually, it is around 6.

Drink a large glass of water.

Drinking water is the newest addition to the morning routine. We ended up with cases of water after my dad passed, and they were taking up precious beer space in our garage fridge. So I started to keep a handful upstairs to drink in the mornings. I read somewhere that drinking water first thing was useful for you, so I thought I would give it a try.

So now I walk, in a zombie fashion, to the upstairs bathroom and grab the glass of water I put out the night before and start to drink while sitting and probably not thinking about anything important. I used to spend this time scrolling vacantly through Instagram, but drinking water and staring into space seems like a better use of my time.

Shower/Get ready

Getting ready for the day is pretty self-explanatory and doesn’t take long for me, as I work in a warehouse. Makeup is simple, and hair is natural (I don’t own a curling iron and the only time I use a hairdryer to put plastic on the upstairs windows before the cold air sets in the fall).

I also set out my clothes the night before, so there is no staring at the closet trying to decide what to wear.

Make Coffee

Another self-explanatory item. Coffee is essential to me, more as a habit than a need for caffeine.

10 minute tidy

While I am waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, putter around the downstairs of the house, cleaning up. I unpack and repack the dishwasher, wipe down the counters and table, clean up any glasses or other dishes from the living room, fluff the pillow, wipe down the bathroom sink. . . .

You get the idea.

Spending 10 or so minutes do this in the morning helps keep the house clean and makes it a much lovely place to come home to.

Mediate/Walk the Dog

I have played around with meditation on and off for years. Since I focused on creating a daily meditation habit, I have been calmer and more focused. 10-minute meditation practice also fits easily into the day and I, for one, like to start my day with a bit of quiet.

When I have the time, and the weather is beautiful, I grab my dog and do a walking meditation. When I have more time, I do meditation and a walk separately.

Plan for the Day

My very last task is to pour a cup of coffee and sit at my kitchen table with my planner, and figure out what is on my plate for the day. I set 3 need-to-do goals and a handful of other to-do items. The way the planner is structured, you set three goals for the week and then the idea is that your daily tasks should move you toward meeting those goals.

Leaning into your natural rhythms and putting your morning on autopilot is a beautiful way to start your morning with intention and focus.

Do you have a morning routine?

You don’t have to be nice to everyone

Written by Cassie · July 18, 2019 · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

You don't have to nice to everyone. Seriously. Don't worry. It's ok. My mom said so.

Years ago I was out with one of my sisters and my mom, and we had just left a store with where the attendant was both overly (and creepily) attentive and condescending. He was just as horrendous as he sounds.

I don’t remember exactly what went down in the store. I have no idea what he said to Mom or what she too him. But what I do remember is that she turned around and said to my sister and me:

You do not have to be nice to everyone

Make no mistake – my mom was a nice, wonderful and caring woman. But if you could not be bothered to be pleasant to her, she would not bother with you. At. All.

She was also not talking about lashing back rudeness with rudeness. That was not her style.

What she was telling my sister and me is that if someone treats you like crap, is rude, or creepy, or just plain nasty disengage. Life is too short to surround yourself with people that don’t make you feel good about yourself.

Take a moment and think about that.

We all have toxic people in our life, and it is OK to shut them out. No really, it’s OK. My mom said so.

Today nine years ago, I, along with my family, was with my mom when she died after an epic 15 year battle with breast cancer.

I still think about her every day.

My Favorite Travel Memoirs

Written by Cassie · July 16, 2019 · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

I am a reader. I cannot express how much I love books. Books are in my DNA.

And in the summertime, I read books about food and travel. Well, first I read The Great Gatsby (I read that one every Memorial Day weekend). Then I read books about food and travel — bonus points for books that are about both.

It is hard for a reader to pick her favorite books and I took quite some time to sit down and think about what travel memoirs I like the most.

My criteria? I remember them. The ho-hum books I forget what they are about soon after finishing. These books have stuck with me for years.

Favorite Travel Memoirs | cassierauk.com

An Age of License by Lucy Knisley

Lucy is a cartoonist and illustrator, and this graphic memoir is of her time touring Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, and Iceland. It has a kind of 20s angst vibe she is trying to figure out how to do her art while making an actual living. And of course, there is some boy drama, but no 20’s era memoir is without partner drama. It is fun and charming.

My Life in France by Julia Child

This book is a lovely combo of food and travel memoir. Before she was the Julia Child that we all know and love, Julia and her husband Paul moved to Paris for Paul’s job at the foreign service. She knew no one and did not speak the language, but that didn’t stop her.

She leaned in, learned the language, made friends and took cooking classes. All of that lead to her cookbook and TV show. This book is delightful, and Julia is a national treasure!

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

I am sure you have heard about this book or at least watched the movie. But have you read the book? You should. Cheryl decides after blowing up her marriage and losing her mother to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Alone. Without much backpacking experience.

It is a part adventure and part go-out-and-find-yourself story.

I read it first in the months after my mom died and it stuck with me. I reread it around the time the movie was coming out. Even though I was far enough away from the pain of my mom death (and not to mention well out of my angsty 20’s) to look at the story through different eyes, I still enjoyed the adventure.

Any story of the time that changed someone’s life for the better is worth telling.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

I am fascinated by the story of Chris McCandless. For those of you that aren’t familiar, he graduated from college, gave all his money away and hitchhiked around the country before settling in the Alaskan wilderness. Where he, spoiler alert, died alone.

Chris, or Alexander Supertramp as he liked to be called, wanted to live life on his terms without money, responsibility, and belongings to drag him down. He was idealistic in the way that 20-somethings are sometimes and he was also wholly unprepared and irresponsible. That combination is what makes this story so compelling.

Are you a reader? What are your favorite travel memoirs?

PS If you are wondering why I read Gatsby every Memorial Day weekend, I am not sure either. It is a ritual that I have been doing since I bought a used copy at a flea market while living in Iowa.

Broccoli and Orzo Pasta Salad

Written by Cassie · July 11, 2019 · This blog generates income via ads · This post may contain affiliate links

Summertime is potluck time in the Midwest. We tend to get a little nuts about it. We have only a few short months to enjoy the warmer temps so we really have to live it up when we can. So that means brats, beers, and salads.

One of the funny quirks about Minnesota is that you need to specify the kind of salad. A green salad is an actual salad like Cesar or Cobb. But that my friends, is only the beginning.

Green salads are great and all but the most common and beloved are Jello and Pasta salads. My husband for one has not found a ‘salad’ that he hasn’t loved. When I lose him at the grocery store, he can be found at the deli counter checking out the options and getting himself a little container.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good pasta salad as good as the next Minnesota gal. But they all start to taste the same after awhile. I have a suspicion that is really just the same few recipes with various kinds of extras thrown in.

I am always on the look for a twist on a classic or finding a recipe that can take a from-a-box classic to homemade without too much fuss.

This recipe is one of those.

Print Recipe

Broccoli and Orzo Salad

Pasta salads are rather typical at Minnesota potlucks. Especially the ones of the Suddenly Salad variety. This simple and delicious orzo pilaf is a modern twist on the dull pasta side. It will fit in nicely alongside the hotdishes and cheese platters.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time22 mins

Let stand5 mins

Total Time42 mins

Course: Side Dish

Keyword: sides

Servings: 6 servings