Current Fridge Protein & Leftover Inventory (Start of Day)
- 2 leftover grilled chicken thighs
- Cooked ground beef (small amount in fridge)
- Homemade beef summer sausage (last of it)
- Half a Costco pizza
Morning
- Last of the frozen bagels
- Smoothie with my toddler helper
- Then straight out the door for a doctor’s appointment — one of my kids got into poison ivy or poison oak already. Late April and we’re already dealing with this. Lesson learned: it does not go away. We keep trying anyway. It’s very frustrating!
Lunch — Easy Button
Came home from the appointment and just hit the easy button:
- Costco pizza heated up in the air fryer for the kids, side salads alongside
- I made a salad with the last of the grilled chicken thighs
The avocado salsa dressing — I keep making this because it keeps being delicious:
- Big scoop of Goodfoods avocado salsa
- Big scoop of regular salsa
- Splash of rice wine vinegar (milder flavor, I really like it here)
- Garlic powder, salt, pepper
Tortilla chips on top, lots of veggies. It just hits every time.
Snack — Crispy Summer Sausage Situation
One of my kids watched my Ingredient Household After Dark reel where I showed dicing up summer sausage small and getting it crispy — and she ran with it. She air fried the diced summer sausage until crispy, then loaded it onto tortilla chips with a dollop of avocado salsa.
That is a genuinely great snack idea and I’m taking partial credit as the one who taught her to cook.
Some kids did the crispy sausage chip situation, some just had the sausage and chips plain. Everyone happy.
Co-op Lunches Packed (Last One of the Year)
Tomorrow is our end of year showcase — still packing lunches, still using Planet Boxes.
Used the very last of the beef summer sausage:
- Some kids doing charcuterie style
- One kid doing a salad
- My teen is taking a flight of Good Food chicken salads with crackers — they sent a PR package after seeing my reel this week and she tried all the flavors. A chicken salad tasting flight for lunch is honestly very on brand for her.
Dinner — Make Your Own Adventure Mexican Night
One of my favorite easy button dinners and tonight it was perfectly timed.
What I made:
- Taco meat — used the small amount of ground beef left in the fridge plus a pack of frozen cooked ground beef (this is exactly why you keep that stocked), seasoned with taco seasoning
- Black beans from a can, heated up
- Big pot of rice — always make at least 2 cups because leftover rice freezes beautifully. If you buy frozen rice at the store, you can absolutely make it at home for a fraction of the cost and freeze it yourself!!!
- Avocado salsa, fresh avocado, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, cheese
- Blue corn tortilla chips from my dad’s Trader Joe’s run
- Scoop chips
Nachos, platter, burrito bowl — everyone built what they wanted. Solid dinner.
I use a little of the leftover lentil pasta as my base!
Post-Dinner / Looking Ahead
What’s in the fridge now:
- Small amount of taco meat (Chris took some for his lunch tomorrow)
- 1 grilled chicken thigh
- Good Food chicken salads (Chris and my teen can eat these — egg in them so I can’t)
- Leftover rice
- Plenty of fresh produce
Summer sausage is officially gone. Fridge protein is low going into the end of the week — and I’m completely fine with that because the freezer has options:
- Frozen meatloaf
- Cooked chuck roast
- Chicken nuggets and other freezer staples
Current thinking:
- Thursday → probably meatloaf
- Friday → probably chuck roast barbacoa