Favorite Summer Recipe -- Banana Boats

While we were on vacation, one of our favorite ways to end the campfires was with Banana Boats. This technique is also known as "How to make a perfectly healthy banana into a delicious junk food treat". To make your own Banana Boats, you will need: bananas, marshmallows, chocolate, aluminum foil, and a campfire.

Begin by taking a knife and cutting one edge of the peel, as shown.

Peel back this one side of the banana peel.

Your banana boat should now look like this.

With a spoon, carefully scoop out a channel in the banana. Save this for mashed banana with peanut butter later -- delicious!

Chop up chocolate and marshmallows. If you have chocolate chips or mini marshmallows, you can skip this step.

This is Emily's favorite part -- alternate marshmallows and chocolate along the inside of the banana.

Fold the peel back over. Wrap in aluminum foil, and place on campfire until chocolate is melted and the marshmallows are gooey.

Enjoy!!

Vacation on a Budget -- Part II

Here are some other low-cost or free activities our family enjoyed while on vacation in Montebello, VA. (You could probably do most of these on any camping trip too!)

Mark took Emily to the lake to feed the fish. I think she was throwing in entire hot dog rolls -- they were quite stale. Mark tried to show her to break them up into small pieces, but those fish got mostly huge chunks.

On one of the last days of our vacation, Clara turned one before our very eyes! Incredible! Here she is listening to suffering through the three of us while we attempt to sing Happy Birthday to her.

We splurged on a pony ride for Emily on the last day -- $20. I'm certain she will remember Clover (the pony's name) for a long time.

All four of us went in the paddle boat, but it was too difficult to get a photo while the baby was sitting on my lap. Here's Emily steering the paddle boat while Mark does all the work. The boats were just $4 for an hour.

Another free activity we enjoyed was driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway, and watching the sunset from an overlook. Who knew a kid would have so much fun waiting for the sun to go down?

This was well-worth the wait.

Another place Mark could not resist checking out -- Gertie's Country Store. Borrow a pen, and if you can find a space, sign your name on the walls or ceiling (they are covered with signatures of people who passed through). Try their potato salad, barbeque and slaw, and be sure to meet the owners, who are well-known for their hospitality.
Coming up.... more frugal crafty goodness, another fun giveaway, and recipes for tasty (and cheap) summer eats! Mmmmm!