Current Fridge Protein & Leftover Inventory (Start of Day)
Leftover taco meat
Leftover rice
Costco pizza leftovers
Fresh produce and salad ingredients
Morning — Breakfast Before a Busy Day
This morning was a fairly standard breakfast, but everyone had something a little different.
My teen requested a breakfast burrito.
Chris wanted what looked like an excellent open-faced breakfast sandwich:
- toast
- a little mayonnaise
- three fried eggs
- bacon
- salt and pepper
It looked delicious.
The rest of the kids kept things simple with:
- bacon
- cereal
We needed to get moving fairly quickly because it was a busy Saturday.
Morning — Costco Run with the Little Kids
My teen has a small business creating custom architectural drawings, so part of the morning involved dropping off work for clients.
Meanwhile:
- Chris
- the older kids
stayed home and worked on yard projects.
I took the three younger kids to Costco.
And as anyone who has ever taken multiple young children to Costco knows, they are excellent negotiators.
We managed to leave with:
- groceries
- produce
- proteins
- popsicles
- a few breads the kids wanted
and a handful of other things that somehow found their way into the cart.
I also noticed Costco now has crispy chicken in the food court.
I was very curious.
The kids immediately wanted some.
I successfully redirected them by promising popsicles on the drive home instead.
Thankfully, the popsicle strategy worked.
And surprisingly, the cleanup required only a few baby wipes.
Lunch — A Refrigerator Clean-Out Lunch
Lunch was a little bit of everything.
I used the remaining sous vide steak from yesterday and made open-faced sandwiches.
We also finished off:
- the remaining brat bites
- miscellaneous leftovers
I made myself a taco bowl using some of the taco meat.
Everyone essentially built their own lunch platter from whatever sounded good.
These kinds of lunches aren’t glamorous, but they work really well for using up odds and ends before they become forgotten leftovers.
Afternoon — Pizza Snack and Birthday Party
Later in the afternoon I warmed up some of the Costco pizza my mom brought over yesterday.
That became a quick snack before we headed to my nephew’s birthday party.
The party was at an escape room.
I’d never done an escape room before and it ended up being a lot of fun.
There was:
- Chick-fil-A
- birthday cake
- plenty of celebration
- and I brought along the beloved magnetic blocks and a bag of princesses to entertain Daphne after the Escape room while we did cake and presents…these toys are ONLY used away from home and she LOVES them!
- By the time we got home, everyone was in that awkward category of: not starving, but not completely full either.
Dinner — Restocking Protein While Feeding Everyone
Chris and I were definitely hungry because we’d skipped most of the party food.
Since protein supplies were getting low, I decided dinner could double as a prep session.
I grilled a large batch of chicken thighs that I bought at Costco today.
That immediately rebuilt the protein inventory for the next several days.
For dinner we used a collection of leftovers:
- rice from yesterday
- the last of the pasta from earlier in the week
- plain vegetables from the microwave
- apples
Everyone built their own plates.
Simple.
Flexible.
No major cooking project required.
And now I have a substantial amount of grilled chicken ready for future meals.
Evening — Anniversary Dessert
After the kids went to bed, I wanted to make something special for dessert.
Tomorrow is our anniversary, so dessert seemed like a good idea.
I took the Iowa Girl Eats gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate cupcake recipe and cut it in half.
Then I added:
- a peanut butter swirl
After baking, I topped it with a simple frosting made from:
- dairy-free butter
- powdered sugar
- coconut milk
- vanilla
The result was somewhere between a cake and a giant frosted brownie.
And it turned out really good.
I have a feeling Chris and I will make a respectable dent in it tonight.
And whatever survives tonight will be waiting for us tomorrow on our anniversary.
Post-Dinner / Looking Ahead
What’s in the fridge now:
Fresh grilled chicken thighs
Leftover rice
Costco pizza leftovers
Fresh produce
Dessert leftovers
Restocked lots of protein that will be cooked over the next few days: Teton polish sausage, flank steak, and ground beef.
And after a week filled with:
- pool dinners
- co-op packing
- Costco runs
- birthday celebrations
it’s nice heading into tomorrow with a stocked fridge, leftover dessert, and an anniversary to celebrate.