A little note to share…people often ask me what my 3 year old does while we homeschool…her latest activity has been listening to her favorite ‘My Little Pony’ songs on Eleanor’s head phones. She’s so cute! She’ll randomly start singing along and it’s adorable.
Current Fridge Protein & Leftover Inventory (Start of Day)
Cooked meatloaf (1 slice)
Fresh cooked rice
Homemade beef summer sausage
Cooked burger patties (4 remaining)
Uncooked Chicken thighs from Costco
One remaining steak from Sunday dinner
Cooked breakfast sausage
Bone broth
Fresh vegetables and salad ingredients
Morning
This morning’s breakfast was another round of:
- bacon
- bagels
At this point, the bacon production around here is becoming a full system of its own.
My teen made a new smoothie variation today:
- Greek yogurt
- splash of coconut milk
- frozen pineapple
- half a banana
- splash of vanilla
It was supposed to use frozen banana, but we were out, so she improvised with regular banana instead.
And of course, the three-year-old had her usual Paw Patrol yogurt drink and she helped me make her standard banana, yogurt, orange, and frozen berry smoothie
Today was also a full homeschool day, so having breakfast easy and repetitive works really well for us right now.
Lunch — Last of the Roast Chicken
Today officially finished off the roasted chicken from Saturday.
My teen made herself a tortilla wrap/quesadilla hybrid:
- tortilla
- butter in the pan
- cheese
- chicken
Then after crisping it up, she opened it and added:
- avocado salsa
- shredded lettuce
- onion
- ranch
Some of the younger kids preferred all the ingredients deconstructed and separate, which is perfectly fine.
I used the last of the chicken on another salad for myself.
I’m very happy with the timing on this because I really prefer using roasted chicken within about three to four days.
Saturday → Sunday → Monday → Tuesday → Wednesday
Day three felt exactly right for using the last of it.
Afternoon Snack — Hangry Toddler Plate
This afternoon my three-year-old hit full hangry mode.
So I made her one of those random “everything plate” snacks:
- banana bread
- mozzarella balls
- pretzels
- vegetables
- fruit
And she absolutely demolished it, which told me she was genuinely hungry and not just snacky.
Sometimes the mixed snack plate approach works better than trying to overthink an actual meal.
My other kiddos had some crackers, homemade beef summer sausage, and cheese for snack.
Dinner — Grilled Chicken Thighs + Pasta Prep
Originally, I bought the boneless skinless chicken thighs from Costco planning to make loaf pan chicken.
But today’s weather was too nice not to grill.
So I changed plans and prepped all the chicken thighs for the grill instead.
Before marinating, I always go through chicken thighs carefully because even the “boneless skinless” packs almost always seem to have:
- little gristly sections
- random bone fragments
So I trimmed everything up first.
Marinade today:
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
- Italian seasoning
- smoked paprika
- tiny splash apple cider vinegar
Then I let everything sit in the fridge for a few hours before grilling.
Pasta Prep for This Week + Vacation
Tonight I also made a HUGE batch of pasta.
Partly for dinner tonight.
But also because I’m planning ahead for:
- thermos dinner experiments this Friday
- travel food prep for our trip to Charleston
Last week we did walking taco thermos dinners.
This week I’m thinking:
pasta bar in thermoses.
So I wanted cooked pasta already prepped and ready to go.
Dinner — Pasta Bowls with Grilled Chicken
Dinner tonight ended up being:
- grilled chicken thighs
- pasta
- sautéed zucchini
- onions
- mushrooms
- vinaigrette
Basically layered pasta bowls.
The vegetables were sautéed separately in a large pan, then everything got layered together:
- pasta
- chicken
- vegetables
- vinaigrette over top
It was fresh, filling, and exactly the kind of dinner that works well when you intentionally prep extra for future meals too.
My husband is already taking leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
And now I still have:
- cooked pasta
- grilled chicken
- one leftover steak from Sunday
- 4 burger patties
- beef summer sausage (about 1/4 log)
which gives me lots of flexibility going into the rest of the week. I also have lots of frozen protein options, so I might pull a few things out to finish off the week.