Current Protein Status
Used up today:
- Remaining burgers
Pulled from freezer today:
- Loaf pan chicken thighs (dinner insurance)
- Frozen rice
Still available:
- Small amount of leftover flank steak and steak from my parents’ house on Sunday
- Breakfast sausage
- Additional freezer proteins and dinner insurance options
Burgers, Pool Day, and Dinner Insurance
Today was a pretty typical summer day around here.
We started with our standard breakfast:
- bacon
- toast
- smoothies
Nothing fancy, but everyone eats it and it gets the day moving.
Once I got the kids going on some school work I did the morning dishes…with a 3 year old snuggler on my back!
We did a full school morning, then Eleanor wanted to slice strawberries for lunch on my little egg slicer….it was more of a strawberry mash, but she ate it!
Lunch: Finishing the Burgers
My main goal at lunch was to use up the last of the burgers.
The kids all went different directions with it.
Some had burgers on bread.
My 11-year-old wanted what she called a mini burger salad.
And I made myself a full burger salad.
It’s one of those lunches that feels substantial without requiring any actual cooking beyond reheating what you’ve already prepared.
Don’t Sleep on Shredded Potatoes
Alongside the burgers, I made a big tray of crispy shredded potatoes.
People ask me all the time for side dish ideas during the summer months.
Everyone thinks about:
- mashed potatoes
- baked potatoes
- roasted potatoes
But shredded potatoes deserve more attention.
I simply spread them onto a sheet pan, season them, and roast them until they’re crispy.
They work with:
- burgers
- meatloaf
- ham
- grilled chicken
- burger bowls
They’re also incredibly fast compared to some other potato options.
If you have a Blackstone, they cook even faster, but the oven version works beautifully too.
Before we left for the pool, my mom stopped by and dropped off some cooked chicken thighs. LOVE when she drops off food! I didn’t live near ANY extended family until about 4 years ago, so I DO NOT take this for granted at all.
Pool Snacks
We spent the afternoon at the pool.
Pool snacks today included the usual collection of things that disappear quickly when kids are swimming:
- chips
- Cheetos
- cheese sticks
- assorted grab-and-go snacks
Nothing complicated.
Just enough to keep everyone happy until dinner.
When we got home from the pool my 3 year old needed some more food ASAP after her bath, so I put together a little snack board….she ate this while I made her real dinner.
Dinner Insurance Saves the Day
When we got home, nobody wanted a big cooking project.
This is exactly why I keep dinner insurance in my freezer.
Tonight I pulled out:
- one bag of frozen loaf pan chicken thighs
- frozen rice
Both had been cooked weeks ago when I intentionally made extra.
For the rice, I did a half-and-half mixture:
- frozen rice
- cauliflower rice
Then I added:
- salsa
- cumin
- garlic powder
- salt
- pepper
- smoked paprika
- a splash of water
That turns into a quick Spanish-style rice with almost no effort.
Dinner
Dinner came together incredibly fast.
The plates looked like:
Protein
Loaf pan chicken thighs
Starch
Spanish-style rice
Toppings
- avocado
- avocado salsa
- regular salsa
Vegetables
A mix of fresh vegetables on the side
Simple, filling, and exactly the kind of meal that makes freezer prep worth doing.
The best part is that none of the work happened tonight.
Tonight was simply the payoff for work that happened weeks ago.
Kitchen Takeaway
Today’s reminder is that dinner insurance isn’t just for emergencies.
A lot of people hear that phrase and think it’s only for chaotic days.
But sometimes it’s simply for a beautiful pool day when you don’t want to spend an hour cooking after everyone gets home tired, hungry, and smelling like sunscreen.
That frozen loaf pan chicken and rice turned what could have been a stressful dinner hour into a meal that was on the table in minutes.
That’s the whole point.
Looking Ahead
Current protein situation:
- Small amount of flank steak and leftover steak from my parents’ house (I’ll be serving that for lunch tomorrow)
- Cooked ground beef in freezer
- Breakfast sausage
- Additional freezer proteins
- Chicken thighs my mom dropped off