What Came Into the Kitchen
No new groceries today — just continuing to work through what we picked up from Costco.
What I Cooked Today
Today was all about using what I prepped yesterday and adding a few staples for the week.
- Cooked both logs of homemade beef summer sausage
- One log is in the fridge for snacks today and tomorrow and I’ll pack it for lunches on Thursday when we go to homeschool co-op
- The second log went into the freezer for next week
- Made two sheet pans of smashed roasted potatoes
- One sweet potato (for me)
- One russet (for everyone else…we’re a divided house)
- Roasted a sheet pan of asparagus and broccoli
- Steamed additional veggies in the microwave
(because not everyone loves roasted vegetables, and at the end of the day…I just want my kids to eat vegetables)
One thing that really paid off today was having the chuck roast already cooked from yesterday.
What We Ate
Lunch
We did a fun little side-by-side comparison with two crispy chicken options from Costco:
- Kirkland brand
- Just Bare brand
The kids taste-tested both (very official), and the clear winner was Just Bare chicken tenders. I snapped a photo of this — it was a fun, easy St. Patrick’s Day lunch.
Dinner (here’s exactly how I reheated the chuck roast)
Dinner tonight was our St. Patrick’s Day meal, and this is exactly why I like to cook chuck roast the day before.
I had to pick up my daughter from a driving lesson at 5:00, and I didn’t get home until about 5:15. Dinner was on the table by 5:40.
While I was gone, the potatoes were already in the oven. When I walked in the door, I quickly pulled everything together:
- In a sauté pan, I cooked onions and mushrooms in some of the fat from the chuck roast
- Added a little gluten-free flour to make a quick roux
- Stirred in some of the broth/juices from the roast
- Added the chuck roast to heat through
It came together in about 15 minutes and was so good — no stress, no rushing to cook something from scratch.
We served that with:
- Roasted potatoes (sweet + russet)
- Roasted asparagus and broccoli
- Steamed vegetables (for the kids who prefer them simple)
- My small batch Irish soda bread (made this with my 10 year old, Eleanor)
Current Kitchen Inventory
Cooked Proteins
- Chuck roast (about half remaining)
- Taco meat (still a large amount left)
- Beef summer sausage (1 log in fridge)
Prepped / In Progress
- —
Cooked Staples
- Roasted sweet potatoes
- Roasted russet potatoes
Produce & Fresh Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs (planning to cook tomorrow)
Easy Meal Builders
- Tortilla chips
- Salad ingredients
- Summer sausage for snacks and lunches
Kitchen Flow (How Things Are Getting Used)
- Chuck roast → served tonight, leftovers will likely be lunches (maybe barbacoa…TBD)
- Roasted potatoes → served tonight, will crisp up leftovers another night
- Roasted/steamed veggies → used tonight, extras can be added to meals tomorrow
- Summer sausage → snacks today, will use for snacks and lunch on Thursday
- Taco meat → still available for quick meals and snacks
- Chicken thighs → planning to cook tomorrow
What’s Next
Tomorrow I’ll cook the chicken thighs and keep building out meals from what we already have.
Having that chuck roast ready ahead of time made dinner feel really manageable tonight — and that’s exactly the kind of rhythm I’m always aiming for.