Beans and Baking

Last week we harvested the beans from the garden and this is what we got. Above are the organic purple beans I bought from starts and below are the green beans I planted from seed. I froze most of them and we have been having them for dinner a lot. They are yummy!

I did not get a chance to do any canning this year. I'm only slightly disappointed but we still have quite a bit of jam left from last year and I'm doing some freezing of stuff (like the beans) I would normally can. Canning is so time consuming and I just couldn't fit it in this year.

We are in the process of trying to eat up the food in the fridge, freezer and cupboards before buying many groceries. We've got so much food in there and just need to eat it. We do this periodically and it's surprising how few groceries you need when you do this. We are basically buying some milk, bread and produce and nothing else. I baked some banana bread with bananas that I had in the freezer and the girls are happy campers (pic above).

Kennedy is in charge of snacks a week after she stars preschool so we baked some mini zucchini bread muffins which I froze. It seems this is a ritual since I did it both years Madison started preschool. This was the last of the zucchini from last year that was in my freezer. I only planted one zucchini plant this year and have a couple of big ones so I'll be freezing some more soon. I just couldn't get to them before they got too big. I was surprised what a big help both girls were with the muffins. Times are changing and their "helpfulness" is turning into just that lately. They both did a great job.

They are both very interested in helping with anything in the kitchen lately. I can't go in there without little feet and chairs following me to "help". Sometimes it's hard when I'm in a hurry but I'm glad they are interested in cooking and baking and I hope to do a lot more with them this year.