one thing leads to another

This post is pretty much stream of consciousness so bear with me.

I was thinking the other day how much I'm going to miss my days with Tyler when he goes to school Monday - Friday next year. I love this little guy. How could you not.



At least we will still get to play together after school. Example: Lauren just got home from school. She finished her homework (yes! it's outrageous, but Kindergartners DO get homework) and now it is time to play out of doors.

While Lauren was at school and Tyler was looking cool in his beanie/stocking cap/toboggan I cooked up some dried black beans in the crock-pot.

Last week Kroger had dried black beans on sale for 80 cents a bag. I bought two. I rinsed and discarded the floaters, uglies and half-beans and then soaked the rest in water overnight. The next morning I drained the murky water and put them in the crock-pot. I poured in enough fresh water to cover the beans by 2 inches.
The beans cooked on low for about 8 hours and then on High for 2 more hours until they were bite tender. Next I drained them and when cool enough I put them in baggies. 1 and 2/3 cup into each baggy. I will use these baggies when a recipe calls for a can of black beans. So much cheaper and I must admit... tastier.
After bagging them up I brought them down to the basement freezer to store.

While down there I got bored and started taking pictures of everything I had in the freezer/fridge. (remember....stream of consciousness here)

baggies of black beans

chilled mug and the ice packs which cooled Matt's IV antibiotics on the way home from the hospital
Snickerdoodles we bought from L's last school fundraiser
frozen chicken nuggets (of course)
freezer head shot
next up: the fridge

-extra milk (on sale for $1.88 per gallon)-
-other dairy that won't fit in the fridge upstairs-
-water and soda-

top door shelf: Diet Rite and beer left over from poker
bottom shelf: sparkling grape juice (the kiddos didn't open on New Years) and water I found on sale for $2.99 for a 24 count.

Back upstairs it was time to prepare for dinner. On the menu was Sweet Pepper Wild Rice Salad

and Island Jerk Chicken

the coals heat up in the chimney

jerk chicken is a cookin'

I also cooked up some homemade frozen french fries. (A few days ago I noticed my potatoes were getting soft so I made them into freezer fries. I recommend this recipe.)

Last night's dinner was fabulous. Island Jerk Chicken, Sweet Pepper Wild Rice Salad and Home-made Frozen French Fries.

I could keep going but I think I'll stop here. One thing led to another and all together it created a great day.