Life at the Leach's: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Gardens and Pretty Babies

Im not sure why this old post from early June is showing up here now....but anyway....if I delete it I have to redo it. So Im not. So here is the post from sometime in June 2011...

Since we all know that I dont have the greenest thumb...I put Jake in charge of the garden! Mason and I managed to grow tomato plants and zinnias from seeds this year! Today Jake and Mason planted a garden on the edge of our property. They transplanted the tomato plants and also planted strawberries, carrots, squash, sweet corn and zucchini. We will see how it goes! Even if its a total fail....Mason LOVED every minute of it!

AND..check out the last minute mini photo shoot I did with Mason tonight in the field! These are mixed in because blogger is being a PAIN :)

Freezer Meals

I'm not a big fan of left overs! Next day...maybe. But beyond that I am absolutely NOT eating it! The problem is that most recipes produce too much food for our family of three. We will have it for dinner and I will pack some for Jake's lunch the next day and for Mason and I to have for lunch. But there is still ALOT of food being wasted when its all said and done! But I think I may have found a solution...I have THREE freezers and I am not using them to their full potential! So recently I started doubling recipes, dividing them up and freezing them. I printed off a ton of information online (just google it!) that tells you what freezes well, what doesnt, how to store food in the freezer and how long certain things stay edible! So I put together a three ring binder with all of this handy information and now when I have a recipe that can easily be doubled and I have all of the ingredients then I can make 3 or 4 meals for our family and only clean the kitchen ONCE! Who's with me??!

This is homemade mac & cheese. We ate one for dinner and 2 lunches and the other is in my freezer for later!

I have also done a simple baked ziti pasta dish. The freezer version was just as good (if not better) than the original! Cant beat that! All I had to do was put it in the oven and make a salad and some bread!

Stay tuned! Tomorrow is Sept 1st and I have a few fall recipes to share! Super easy and to-die-for yummy! and if nothing else...there will be cute pics of Mason with a rolling pin :)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Paradise!

Holy chicken pie with a margarita we've been busy! We just got back from vacation in Marco Island, FL. You say..Florida? in August? ABSOLUTELY! We dodged hurricane Irene and had beautiful weather all week! We rented a house on the bay complete with a pool that puts mine here at home to shame (I dont even like to look at it!). We went with my parents and sister and we all had the BEST time! I must say we are all pretty spoiled now though. We had an entire house to ourselves and pool to ourselves! No 18 flights of stairs back and forth to a hotel or condo! It was just all right there!
Mason LOVED the ocean and the beach! We took him down and just let him run! You see, in august NO ONE is on Florida! So the beaches are ghost towns! So it was perfect! Mason threw shells into the water, ran all over the place and giggled and squealed until he was passed out the in carseat!
We had wonderful food, AWESOME drinks (I think there is footage of me jumping in the pool fully clothed!) and lots of fun!
I would have had this post up sooner but I took.....wait for it......1,843 pictures! So I had alot of sorting to do!