Current Fridge Protein & Leftover Inventory (Start of Day)
- Last of the big bacon batch from last week
- Leftover beef stew (from my mom’s)
- Leftover rotisserie chicken (from my mom’s)
- 2 leftover chicken thighs
- Leftover allergy-friendly cupcakes
Morning
Finished off the last of that bacon batch — it truly was the gift that kept giving all week.
- Kids had bagels and bacon
- Made Chris a breakfast sandwich
- Prepped his eggs for Monday and Tuesday
The egg prep method: Hot pan, pad of butter, crack the eggs in. The second they’re just barely flippable, flip them for a moment — the second the spatula slides underneath cleanly, they come off the heat and go straight into a glass dish. Three eggs per morning. Very, very over easy going in — but he microwaves them with an almond flour tortilla and sausage and they come out over medium. I’ve perfected this over the years and it works beautifully. I do Monday/Tuesday now, then prep Wednesday through Friday on Tuesday.
Lunch — Leftovers
Cleaned out the weekend leftovers:
- Some kids and Chris had leftover beef stew
- My teen wanted a ramen bowl — so I filmed it for a reel and I’m sharing the full recipe here for members:
One Pan Chicken Ramen Bowl:
- Ingredients:
* 1 pack ramen rice noodles
* 1/2–1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
* 1 heaping cup coleslaw mix
* 2–3 tbsp sliced red onion
* 1 tbsp avocado oil
* 1½ cups water + 1/4–1/2 cup extra (as needed for sauce)
Sauce:
* 2 tbsp soy sauce (or liquid aminos)
* 1 tsp sesame oil
* 1 tsp ginger (ground or fresh)
* 1 tsp honey
Instructions (one pan):
1. Add 1½ cups water to a skillet. Bring to a simmer.
2. Add noodles → cook 2–3 min, loosen with tongs. Remove from pan…DON’T clean the pan!
3. Add coleslaw mix, red onion, and chicken.
4. Add 1 tbsp avocado oil → sauté 2–3 min.
5. Add sauce ingredients + 1/4–1/2 cup water as needed.
6. Add the cooked ramen back into the pan. Toss and cook until everything is coated and heated through.
Real life notes (because this is how it actually goes):
* I pulled a little bit of the cooked noodles out halfway through because one of my kids wanted some plain but you can absolutely use the full pack.
* When I added the coleslaw + seasonings (and since I used ground ginger), I added about 1/2 cup water because my original water had mostly evaporated.
* How “saucy” this is will depend on your pan + heat + how fast your water evaporates—so just adjust as you go.
One pan, barely any real cooking — just reheating good ingredients together. Perfect for a teenager to make independently. She loved it.
I had ANOTHER BBQ chicken salad…it’s just so good!
Costco Run + Avocado Salsa Secured
Did a full restock this afternoon.
The most important item: Two tubs of Goodfoods avocado salsa. After watching my family demolish one of my mom’s tubs at Saturday dinner, there was no question. It is so good on eggs, steak, chicken, taco salads, salmon, shrimp — honestly anything. No common allergens, works for everyone at our table. The Costco tub is the move for a family our size.
Proteins restocked:
- Ground beef
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs
Plan for the chicken thighs:
- One loaf pan chicken (haven’t done that in a couple weeks)
- Grill some of the thighs as well
Standard produce and fruit haul — fridge is fully stocked.
I also picked up TWO of the Kevin’s Cilantro Lime Chicken meals. I don’t typically buy these, but they were on sale and I like to travel with this type of product. I’ll bring this on our family trip to Charleston in a few weeks and it will be a nice easy dinner or lunch one day!
Afternoon Protein Prep
Got home and went straight to work on the ground beef:
- Homemade beef summer sausage — 2 lbs prepped, curing in the fridge overnight. Cooking tomorrow.
- 20 smash burger patties — for dinner tonight
- Remaining ground beef — browned off in a pan, going into the fridge. Will probably season with taco seasoning for a quick lunch or snack this week.
Dinner
- burgers fresh off the grill
- Corn on the cob
- Roasted potatoes
- Fruit
Chris and I finished the night with the last of the allergy-friendly cupcakes from Saturday. A very good way to end a Sunday.
Post-Dinner / Looking Ahead
What’s in the fridge now:
- Leftover burgers
- Cooked ground beef (plain, ready to season)
- Homemade beef summer sausage (curing — cooking tomorrow)
- Leftover rotisserie chicken (small amount)
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs (raw — cooking tomorrow)
- 1.5 tubs of Goodfoods avocado salsa
Tomorrow:
- Cook the summer sausage
- Do the chicken — loaf pan chicken plus grilled thighs
- Coast on burgers and ground beef for lunch