Current Fridge Protein & Leftover Inventory (Start of Day)
- Cooked bacon (last of it)
- 2 grilled chicken thighs
- Leftover restaurant chicken + sides (from last night)
- Small amount of brat bites
Morning
- Breakfast was a mix of everyone doing their own thing:
- Finished the last of the bacon
- Toast + cereal
- My husband had eggs
- My teen made French toast
- Spent the morning outside as a family:
- Yard work: ripping out dead boxwoods (I’m so DONE with this plant. They just don’t do well in front of my brick house)
- Here’s what we decided to plant in place of the boxwoods:
- Pulling weeds, fertilizing, reworking beds
→ One of those “forced family fun” mornings that actually ends up being really productive
Lunch (Full Fridge Clean-Out)
- This was a true “eat everything that’s still good” meal
What we used up:
- I made a salad with the last of the grilled chicken thighs
- Heated up all remaining restaurant leftovers from Silver Spring House
- Made my husband an open-faced sandwich with leftover chicken
→ Nothing new cooked—just pulling everything together
Note:
- If we go out to eat, I always bring leftovers home
- Portions are huge, and it easily turns into another full meal
Afternoon (Restock + Reset)
- My husband did a Costco run with a list
Restocked:
- Proteins:
- Ground beef
- Chicken breasts (3-pack)
- Teton Water Ranch Polish Sausage
- Fresh produce:
- Avocados, cucumbers, peppers, onions
- Salad mixes + romaine
- Strawberries, grapes, cutie oranges, bananas
- Other
- Milk, eggs
- Powdered sugar (used all of mine for Easter baking) and vanilla
- probably a few other things I’m forgetting…
→ This is basically our next 4–5 days of food
Quick snack before church:
- Random pantry items, nothing complicated
Dinner (Outdoor Bonfire + Blackstone Cooking)
- Had extended family over → cooked outside
What I made on the Blackstone:
- New combo (this worked so well):
- Diced Teton Waters Ranch Polish Sausage
- Diced chicken breast (same size pieces)
- Cooked together
Seasoning:
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika
Why this worked:
- The fat from the sausage kept the chicken moist
- Solved my usual issue of overcooking on the Blackstone
- Held up well even sitting on the griddle while serving
- I often feel like meat can be either cold/cooked perfectly OR warm/overcooked when I use my Blackstone griddle and I liked how this combo worked out!
Also made:
- Peppers + onions (same seasoning)
- Chips, veggies + dip, fruit
- Hot dogs over the bonfire (appetizer style)
- Finished with s’mores
→ Everyone was very well fed, and this felt like a great hosting setup
Post-Dinner / Looking Ahead
Leftovers now:
- Chicken + sausage mixture from the griddle (great for tomorrow)
What’s prepped for the week:
- Fresh proteins from Costco ready to go (I’ll probably cook some of it tomorrow)
- Plenty of produce for sides/snacks
Plan:
- Lunch tomorrow: likely use ground beef
- Later this week:
- Pull pork tenderloin from freezer
- Possibly brats from the freezer too
→ I’ll decide based on how quickly we go through the fresh meat
Takeaway of the Day
Pairing a lean protein (like chicken breast) with a higher-fat protein (like sausage) is a game changer—especially for large batch cooking. It solves the dryness issue, holds better for serving a crowd, and adds way more flavor without extra work.
