Sunny Saturday

Along with most of the east coast last week, it wasn't really nice here in Kentucky. We didn't have the awful nor'easter like they did up north, but the cold front popped through here mid-week and it was on the chilly side, and not a lot of sun. Saturday, however, was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 70's. It was also our last day off together until we're done at Amazon. Al is working Tuesday through Saturday, and my shift is switching to Friday through Monday, with my overtime day Wednesday. We have found a dog walker for the nights we overlap. Mich and Bill are here in Green River Lake, with Bill working at Amazon. They also have a dog, which is why Mich isn't working as well. She was worried about leaving Abby alone for so long. So she is happy to walk our two for us, and we told her if they come back next year, and she wants to work as well, we'll swap off dog walking :-).

After breakfast, we decided to go for a short drive, and do a little geocaching to enjoy the nice day. This area actually has quite a bit of Civil War history, and we visited the Tebbs Bend Battlefield. This was a small but fiercely fought battle of the Civil War, between a small force of untested recruits of Moore Is 25th Michigan and Confederate General Morgan's 800-1000 battle-hardened and confident dismounted cavalrymen from Duke's and Johnson's brigades.  This small but significant battle was completely overshadowed by the much larger and war turning point battle going on to the north at the same time, Gettysburg.  A complete description of the battle can be read here.

We stopped by the marina first to check out the houseboats.

There are also small cabins on floating docks here as well, where you can dock your boat.

Green River Lake is a pretty large lake, and this is only one of a few marinas scattered around its shores. On nice days there is quite a lot of recreational activity on the lake, and many folks must enjoy houseboating judging from the number of them in the marinas.

We found a total of three geocaches on the battlefield drive, bringing our total to over 150 caches found. The last one of the day was in this pretty little cemetery where the men killed during the battle were laid to rest.

We had decided since it was our last night off together for awhile, that we would go out for dinner to Colton's Steakhouse for Al's birthday. It was ok, but not a place that we would go running back for. The food was all right, but we received our appetizers AFTER we had our entrees. Service was definitely as little spotty. I like the steaks that Al cooks for us much better :-).

Ok, last thing, I have another crockpot recipe to share. We enjoyed this one as well. I guess it shows we're not doing too much besides working when all I have to share is recipes :-). 

Crock Pot – Chicken Chow Mein 

Ingredients:

1-2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 and 1/2 Pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1/2 to 1 inch chunks

4 medium carrots, thinly sliced

6-8 green onions, sliced, including green

1 and 1/2 Cups of thinly sliced celery

1 Cup of chicken broth

1 Tablespoon of sugar

1/3 Cup of soy sauce

1/4 Teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 Teaspoon of ground ginger

1 medium clove garlic, minced

8 Ounces of bean sprouts

8 Ounces of water chestnuts, sliced

1/4 Cup of cornstarch

1/3 Cup of water

Directions:

Heat oil in skillet and brown chicken. Place chicken in slow cooker and combine all ingredients except cornstarch and water . Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Turn slow cooker to high.

Combine cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl; stir until mixture is dissolved. Stir into the slow cooker. Keeping cover slightly ajar to allow steam to escape, cook on HIGH until thickened, about 15-30 minutes. Serve over rice or Chinese noodles.

I do cut the recipes in half most of the time, but for this one I just halved the amount of chicken and kept the veggies and sauce the same. Enjoy!