What Came Into the Kitchen
Walmart order – did a small Walmart order to replenish my 3 year old’s coveted Paw Patrol Danimal drink yogurts. I also grabbed a few things we need for the holiday weekend…veggies I can’t get at Costco, etc.
What I Cooked Today / What We Ate
Breakfast Prep
- Made a fresh batch of bacon and kids ate that plus some toast and cereal
- Teenager made herself a breakfast BLT:
- toast + butter
- fried egg with melted cheese
- bacon, tomato, lettuce, mayo
Honestly looked incredible.
Gluten Baking Day (Big Prep Day)
I like to batch all my gluten baking at once (I don’t eat gluten), so today was the day. We have several members of the family who can’t eat gluten, so I will bake some gluten free treats closer to Easter and keeping it on a separate day makes it easy to avoid cross contamination.
Before Lunch: Get Ingredients to Room Temp
- Butter + cream cheese out first thing
- My teenager pre-measured ingredients for her cupcakes and set them on top of the recipe (so smart)
Lunch
- Kids: leftover Chick-fil-A plus some veggies and fruit
- Teen: crispy chicken salad with the Chick-fil-A
- Me: taco salad
(Taco meat is almost gone now — maybe one more snack’s worth)
Cookies (Day 1 of 2-Day Process)
- Made cut-out cookie dough (egg-free, uses cream cheese )
- Made a second batch with lemon zest (per my 10-year-old’s request)
- Both in the fridge to chill before rolling
I always:
→ cut cookies one day
→ frost a different day
Way less overwhelming. I just can’t handle EVEN MORE dishes after just baking the cookies!
Dough (Big Win Today)
Made 2 full batches of sweet milk dough:
- Dinner rolls (2 trays)
- Cinnamon rolls (2 trays)
Plan:
- One batch of each = for now / tomorrow
- One batch of each = wrapped and stored for Easter
This is one of my biggest tips:
You can make these days ahead, refrigerate, then reheat with butter and they taste fresh.
Afternoon Baking Session
- Cut-out cookies
- Lemon cookies
- Lemon cupcakes (my teenager made these herself)
- Baked rolls + cinnamon rolls (TIP: If you want gooey cinnamon rolls, drizzle a little heavy cream right before baking. I like to place the pan on a sheet pan for a little insurance in case the liquid spills over the pan!)
Dinner (Super Simple, High Flavor)
After all that…easy dinner.
- Pasta
- Frozen green beans (kept it very simple tonight) I do normally roast frozen green beans but I just wanted to push the easy button …so steamed in a lidded pan was perfect!
Reheated Grilled Chicken Breast (Best Method)
This is such a good one:
- Olive oil
- Chopped onion
- Cherry tomatoes
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning
Large lidded skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil, onion, tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Cook with lid ON → keep moisture
Then:
- Add sliced cooked chicken
- Cover + simmer on LOW ~5 minutes
Keeps the chicken really moist and flavorful.
Serve:
- Kids → components separate
- Others → over pasta with vinaigrette + parmesan
Done.
After dinner we taught the 3 year old how to dunk Oreos and she was DELIGHTED!
Kitchen Flow (How It’s All Working)
- Chicken → used heavily tonight, almost gone
- Taco meat → nearly finished
- Dough → prepped for multiple future meals (rolls + cinnamon rolls)
- Cookies → staged for decorating later
- Cupcakes → in fridge ready to frost for Easter
- Baking → front-loaded for Easter weekend
- Dinner → built from what was already cooked…took less than 15 minutes and super easy but filling and flavorful!
This is one of those days where a lot of work now = a much easier weekend.
What’s Next
Tomorrow is our Last Supper-style meal, which is always really special.
We’ll be doing:
- Homemade crackers
- Brat bites
- A more “tapas-style” spread
And then the rest of the weekend is already partially prepped thanks to today!