Sunday: Restocking the Freezer and Celebrating Milestones
This morning started with a surprise treat. My sweet sister-in-law had dropped off leftover donuts from her gym yesterday, so the kids were thrilled to have donuts alongside their usual bacon. It felt like a fun little Sunday breakfast without me having to do any extra work.
I also prepped breakfast for Chris. This week he’s doing an egg scramble instead of fried eggs, so I got him set up for multiple mornings at once. I browned some cooked pork sausage in a skillet, whisked together six eggs with a splash of water, and scrambled everything together. That made enough for Monday and Tuesday mornings. Once it cools completely, I’ll add an almond flour tortilla to each container. I find having those breakfasts prepped makes weekday mornings so much easier.
I am NOT a great gardener, but somehow we’ve managed to keep a massive raspberry bush alive and thriving for several years. We’re just starting to harvest about this many raspberries each morning…and the kids all hover around the bowl to eat them!
Lunch: Cleaning Out the Fridge
For lunch, we finished off the focaccia pizza from Friday night. I reheated all the leftover slices and served them with side salads.
For myself, I wanted to use up the last of the chicken thighs my mom had sent home. I pulled the meat off the bones, warmed it in a skillet with a little barbecue sauce, and served it over a big salad. It was simple but really good.
The focaccia pizza is now completely gone.
Speaking of salad mix, I actually had to return a container of Costco spring mix. This is the second time recently that it has gone bad incredibly fast. Normally I can work through a container pretty quickly, but when a large container starts turning within about 24 hours, that’s just too fast. Hopefully it was just a bad batch because I buy that mix all the time.
Thirty Minutes of Protein Prep
This afternoon I spent about 30 active minutes doing one of my favorite things: restocking the freezer.
I intentionally bought two packages of ground beef at Costco because my freezer supply has gotten pretty low. My mom also purchased some large logs of pork sausage when she did a Sam’s Club trip.
Here’s what I tackled:
Meatloaf
In one large bowl, I mixed up two meatloaves.
(I’ll attach a PDF with the recipe below)
Sometimes I add a little brown sugar, but not always.
I shaped everything into loaf pans and baked them.
Homemade Beef Summer Sausage
In my second large bowl, I mixed up a batch of homemade beef summer sausage.
(I’ll attach a PDF with the recipe below)
Mix thoroughly, divide into logs, and let cure in the refrigerator overnight before baking the next day.
Today’s batch is currently curing in the refrigerator and will be cooked tomorrow.
Cooked Ground Beef
With the remaining ground beef, I simply browned it in a large sauté pan.
Once cooked, I drained it and portioned it into meal-sized amounts.
Breakfast Sausage
Since I already had pans going and my mom recently dropped off several large logs of pork sausage from Sam’s Club, I went ahead and cooked the remaining sausage too.
After draining the grease, I portioned everything into freezer bags, vacuum sealed them with the FoodSaver, and added them to the freezer.
By the time I finished, I had:
- Cooked ground beef
- Cooked breakfast sausage
- Two meatloaves cooling
- Beef summer sausage curing
Thirty minutes of active work (plus some baking time for the meatloaves) created a huge amount of future meals.
Why I Wait to Slice Meatloaf
The meatloaf finished baking this afternoon, but I didn’t slice it yet.
Instead, I let it cool completely, covered it with foil, and put it in the refrigerator.
One thing I’ve learned is that meatloaf slices much more cleanly when it’s cold. Tomorrow I’ll cut it into nice even slices, portion it into meal-sized packs, vacuum seal it, and freeze it as dinner insurance.
Sunday Dinner at My Parents’ House
Tonight we headed over to my parents’ house for our usual Sunday dinner.
It was especially sweet because they decided to celebrate two things:
- Our wedding anniversary
- Hitting 150,000 followers on Instagram
It was one of those moments where you stop and realize how much support you’ve had from family along the way.
Dinner was our usual Sunday feast:
- Steak
- Sides
- Great conversation
And of course my mom made chocolate cupcakes.
Naturally, I came home with leftovers too:
- Steak
- Cilantro lime rice
- Cupcakes
Because apparently leaving my parents’ house without leftovers is impossible.
Looking Ahead
Going into tomorrow, the refrigerator and freezer are both in great shape.
Refrigerator
- Leftover steak
- Cilantro lime rice
- Cupcakes
- Meatloaf ready to slice
- Beef summer sausage curing
Freezer
- Freshly stocked cooked ground beef
- Freshly stocked breakfast sausage
- Additional dinner insurance options
Tomorrow’s project will be tackling the chicken. I bought both chicken breasts and chicken thighs at Costco on Friday, and I’d like to get those cooked and stocked before the week gets too busy.