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Going forward, anytime I mention a recipe that I already have typed up, I’ll upload to the day’s kitchen log as a free printable PDF.
Today I’ll be linking:
- GF, DF, EF Carrot cake recipe
Morning
We had a very light breakfast because we needed to get out the door.
- Kids had cereal
- My husband had eggs
Then we went to a Good Friday prayer service and confession.
Came home, cleaned up, and moved into the day.
Lunch
I kept lunch really simple:
- Finished all the remaining Trader Joe’s crispy frozen fish (my dad stocked us up a couple weeks ago)
- Served with:
- fruit
- veggies
- side salads (still very much in our salad era)
- leftover crackers form our Last Supper
Easy, filling, and used up what we had.
Afternoon (Recipe Testing + Baking Day)
This afternoon had a little bit of everything.
Cook’s Illustrated Bacon Test
I tried a method from their 200th issue:
→ layering bacon in a pan with water
It was…not good.
- Took almost 30 minutes
- Bacon fell apart
- Just not even close to worth it
I filmed the whole thing though, so this will be a reel soon because it was honestly kind of funny.
Just look at how messy the pan was…and that was after I wiped it! I ALWAYS layer a pound of bacon on 2 parchment lined sheet pans, baked at 400ºF till crispy (takes about 10-15 minutes)…easy cleanup and no grease splatter to deal with!
Gluten-Free Baking
Since it’s a baking-heavy weekend, I knocked some of that out:
- Gluten-free carrot cake
(with a last-minute pivot…)
I thought I had crushed pineapple (mental inventory fail),
but it turned out to be canned pears. I was walking on my treadmill 2 days ago in the basement and it faces my basement pantry shelves…so I really thought I had a can of crushed pineapple…nope!
So I diced the pears and used those instead — worked great.
I’ll link my GF, DF, EF Carrot Cake recipe below as a free printable PDF download!
My daughter shredded all the carrots for me (huge help).
- Chocolate cake (GF/DF/egg-free)
→ this is a go-to recipe. It’s from Iowa Girl Eats and I’ve made it dozens of times! It uses a cup of canned pumpkin….but it’s truly just used as a binder in the recipe…there is ZERO pumpkin flavor! Since we have made SO MANY Easter treats…I decided to bake the chocolate cake in two quarter sheet pans. I’ll freeze one of them tonight and frost one of them tomorrow. (Having a baked cake in my freezer is ALWAYS a blessing to future me!)
Dinner
Kept it simple again.
- Halibut (from Wild Alaskan Company)
- olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper
- a little parmesan on some portions
(I slightly overcooked it, but it still worked)
Sides (This was a great “use what you have” moment):
Instead of prepping fresh veggies, I:
- sautéed fresh onion
- added in:
- leftover roasted veggies
- leftover green beans
- leftover broccoli
All tossed together and reheated → super flavorful, zero extra prep.
Also served:
- pasta
- some kids had crispy chicken instead
Extra Prep
- Made a batch of my cannellini bean dip do eat with the last of the Last Supper Crackers
- 1 chopped onion1 chopped carrot1 can drained and rinsed cannellini beansolive oilsaltpepperItalian seasoning
Kitchen Flow (How It’s All Working)
- Frozen crispy fish → fully used up at lunch
- Leftover veggies → completely repurposed into a new side
- Baking → front-loaded for Easter weekend
- Pantry pivot → pears instead of pineapple (and it worked)
- Dinner → built mostly from what was already prepped
What’s Next
Tomorrow is going to be a big kitchen day:
- Frost cookies
- Frost cakes
- More prep for Easter
I may also do a Costco run tomorrow since Sunday is Easter and we’re pretty busy on Monday and Tuesday next week.