Current Fridge Protein & Leftover Inventory (Start of Day)
- Grilled chicken breast (a few pieces remaining)
- Taco meat (at least 2 servings left)
- 2 burger patties
- Leftover steak (from my mom’s Sunday dinner — still hanging in there!)
- Cooked breakfast sausage
- Bacon
- Leftover Costco pizza (small amount)
- Leftover homemade pan pizza
Morning (Out the Door by 7:30)
Co-op Thursdays mean an early start — breakfast was quick and portable:
- My teen had oatmeal and bacon at home before we left
- One kiddo wanted leftover baked potato and two pieces of bacon
- Car breakfast for the others: bacon, chicken sausage, toast
- My 3-year-old had her Paw Patrol Dannimal drink yogurt — and we are not going to argue with a 3-year-old at 7:30am on a Thursday
Lunch (Co-op — Planet Boxes Did Their Job)
The lunches I packed yesterday worked perfectly.
One thing I love about the Planet Box for on-the-go days like this: if a kid says they’re full and wants to go play, you just close the lid and toss it back in the cooler. When they’re hungry again, you open it back up. No open plates, no food waste, no chaos. Ten years in and I still love these things.
Afternoon Snack
Surprisingly, the kids didn’t eat much pizza at co-op — too busy playing to sit down. So when we got home I just popped that cold pizza in the oven and they had warm pizza for an after co-op snack. Perfect.
Dinner — Pick Your Plate Night (A Homecoming)
Chris was traveling all week and made it home just in time for dinner.
Some people might not think a pick your plate night is the most elevated homecoming meal — but here’s the thing: I had no idea what he’d been eating all week. If I’d made chicken and he’d had chicken the last two nights, that’s a disappointment. Instead he got to look at what we had and choose exactly what sounded good.
He chose taco salad. Great man.
- Chris and I both had taco salad
- Kids had leftover grilled chicken
- Annie’s mac and cheese (Costco box) because it just made sense
- Cut up fruit and veggies — I was already cutting vegetables for the salads anyway
Everyone happy, nothing wasted, husband home. Good dinner.
Evening Prep (For Chris Tomorrow)
Since Chris was traveling this week I skipped my usual Sunday/Wednesday egg prep — so I did one day’s worth tonight:
His eggs:
- Cooked over easy in a very hot pan — in, flip the second I can, off the heat thirty seconds later
- Straight into a glass container
- Tomorrow morning he’ll add breakfast sausage and an almond flour tortilla before reheating – the eggs stay nice and ‘medium well’ with a slightly runny yolk!
His lunch:
- Grilled chicken sandwich
- Snack box: homemade beef summer sausage, crackers, olives, a cutie orange, and one of the banana cookies I made yesterday
He was a little bit known at his old job for the snacks I packed. New job means we need to come in strong.
Post-Dinner / Looking Ahead
What’s in the fridge now:
- Taco meat (about 2 servings)
- 2 grilled chicken breasts
- 2 burger patties
- Leftover steak
- A little mac and cheese
- Small amount of Costco pizza
- Chris’s prepped eggs + lunch (ready to grab)
- Protein defrosting in the fridge overnight (pulled from the freezer last night — so glad I did that)
Tomorrow’s plan:
- Lunch → hodgepodge of everything above — warm it all up, everyone picks what they want plus some side salads and fruit
- Dinner → fresh protein I’m defrosting tonight to close out the week