What Came Into the Kitchen
My husband made a Costco run for me yesterday and brought home some of the proteins I rely on most during the week. It changes each week, but here’s what I’ll be working with for the next 7 days:
- A big package of ground beef
- A large package of boneless skinless chicken thighs
- A two-pack of chuck roast
Whenever we bring home this much protein, I like to start working through it right away so the fridge is set up for the week.
What I Cooked Today
Today turned into a pretty productive protein prep day.
First thing this morning I put one of the chuck roasts in the oven at 300°F for about 8 hours.
Most of the time I actually don’t serve chuck roast the same day I cook it. There are two reasons for that:
- I like letting it cook all day without worrying about having dinner ready at a specific time.
- Letting it chill overnight makes it really easy to remove the fat from the top before serving.
While that was cooking, I worked through the ground beef.
I mixed up two logs of my homemade beef summer sausage, which will cure overnight and get cooked tomorrow. Then I used the rest of the ground beef to make a big batch of taco meat.
What We Ate
Dinner tonight was simple.
We used some of the taco meat to make taco platters and taco salads, which is always an easy dinner everyone enjoys.
The rest of the taco meat will stay in the fridge for quick lunches and snack plates this week, but I probably won’t serve it again for a dinner.
Current Kitchen Inventory
Cooked Proteins
- Taco meat
- Chuck roast (cooling tonight, will chill overnight)
Prepped / In Progress
- Two logs of beef summer sausage curing overnight
Cooked Staples
- —
Produce & Fresh Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs (still uncooked)
Easy Meal Builders
- Tortilla chips
- Salad ingredients for taco salads
Kitchen Flow (How Things Are Getting Used)
- Taco meat → used for dinner tonight, the rest will be lunches and snacks this week
- Chuck roast → cooling tonight and will go into the fridge overnight
- Summer sausage → curing overnight, will cook tomorrow
- Chicken thighs → planning to cook or marinate tomorrow
What’s Next
Tomorrow I’ll cook the summer sausage and probably tackle the chicken thighs — either roasting them or at least getting them marinating.
Right now there’s a lot of cooked protein sitting in the fridge ready to be used, which always feels like a win heading into the week.