Hit the Deck

After a month straight of rain...

At Work

Signed, sealed, delivered...but mostly just sealed.

Our Best Dinner Jackets

Thank you, Andy, for these beauties! and your fun visit! 

Fourth of July

Fort Jackson...

Ready for fun.

This guy was there.

So was this guy.

Honestly, I have been spoiled by the Firefalls of my youth, but no matter the show, fireworks always have a little magic.

Freezer Meal Marathon

Cooking, ah yes...a topic everyone should tune into me for guidance on.  I decided to make some meals ahead for when Silas comes.  Mostly for something to do to keep me busy this summer.  I don't normally have any kind of meal ready for dinner, so continuing with the trend after baby would be nothing out of the ordinary.  But alas, I put it on a to do list and so it must be done!  Will they get eaten?  Probably not!  If they are, will they be enjoyed?  Most definitely not!  So here we go!

• First I Googled.
• Then I made some lists.
• Then I shopped.
• Then I fired up the oven!
• Then I mostly regretted doing all of the above. :)

After five days of slaving away, here are the results...

Day 1: Ground beefy type things
Tater-tot Casserole
Chili
Meat Loaf
Lasagna
 

Day 1 & 2 Shopping/ Ingredient List- (Notice sweet color coding!)

Gotta love giant tubes of beef.

Lasagna.

Meatloaf Minis- Is this even what meatloaf is supposed to look like?  I probably should have waited on the ketchup.

Tater-tot Casserole.

Chili & Meatloaf ready for the freezer.

Day 2: Shredded chicken-y type things
(Many thanks to Amber for her help!)
Enchiladas
Stuffed Mexican Chicken Shells
Chimichangas
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Calzones

Enchiladas

Mexican Shells

Tortilla Soup and Chimichangas ready to freeze.

Calzones.

Day 3: Non-meaty type things...despite the lovely list today's fixings required three trips to the store.  
Twice Baked Potatoes
Mac and Cheese
Tuna Casserole (Yes, I know there is meat...this category is mostly a farce.) (Also, who works this hard on tuna casserole?  Only Martha...and apparently me, but just this one time...unless it's amazing...but that is doubtful.)

Day 3 & 4 Shopping/Ingredient List

Twice Baked Potatoes.  Turns out I am bad at scooping out the innards, so no skins survived.  

Mac and Cheese.

Tuna Casserole.

Day 4: Pasta-y type things..cue more unidentifiable pictures of things topped in cheese.
Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo
Twice Baked Spaghetti
Creamy Chicken Spaghetti (Finally feel confident spelling spaghetti!)

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo.

Twice Baked Spaghetti.

Chicken Spaghetti.

Day 5: Random-y type things-
(Team Effort Day! Many thanks to Jamie for making Chicken and Rice Soup and Chicken Enchiladas to share!)
Beef Stroganoff
Jambalaya
Chicken and Rice Soup
Chicken Enchiladas

Day 5 Shopping/ Ingredient List (I booted off a few of my original ideas if you are actually paying attention to these lists.  I suspect you are not.)

My need to be consistent and provide photos, leaves you with these beauties, since I left my camera behind for the actual cooking.

Chicken Soup and Jambalaya.

Enchiladas and Beef Stroganoff.

When the final total came out I made about 100 meals at about $3 per meal.  Is this good?  I don't know.  All I keep thinking is I could eat three things off the dollar menu every day and come out even...  Many less dishes as well. :)  Anyways, it made for a nice blog post. 

Anybody got any great freezer recipes to share?  I might be bored again next summer.  I will leave you with this final shot of the freezer.  Now, where will all the ice cream go?