Current Fridge Protein & Leftover Inventory (Travel Home Edition)
Cooked bacon
Chicken sausage
Eggs
Cooked taco meat
Cooked rice
Road trip snacks and produce
Very empty refrigerator after vacation survival mode
Morning — Last Vacation Breakfast
Today was our final day in Charleston, so we got up super early and got moving.
Even though it was a travel day, I still wanted everyone to start with a real breakfast.
Long drives are so much smoother when people have:
- protein
- fat
- substantial food
Instead of immediately starting the day with donuts and gas station snacks.
So I did the full electric skillet breakfast one last time:
- bacon
- chicken sausage
- eggs
- bagels
And we finished off a huge amount of the breakfast food we brought.
At this point, I was very grateful for every bit of prep work because breakfast came together quickly even in our tiny hotel kitchen setup.
Packing Up for the Drive Home
Thankfully, I had already done most of the food prep and organization yesterday.
So this morning, I mainly needed to:
- repack the hard-sided cooler
- repack the soft-sided car cooler
- refill thermoses
I only had enough leftovers to fill:
- one thermos with taco meat
- one thermos with rice
So this became more of a “travel snack meal” than a full lunch setup, but that worked perfectly fine.
Then we officially hit the road.
Road Trip Food — Round Two
Around 10:30 or so, we stopped and everyone had rice and taco meat from the thermoses.
Even though it wasn’t a huge portion, it was enough to:
- take the edge off
- add protein
- avoid immediate fast food desperation
And throughout the drive, the cooler food absolutely continued to help.
We stopped at Buc-ee’s at one point:
- gas
- bathroom break
- fun snacks for the kids
Then later we hit major traffic again and stopped at Chick-fil-A for another bathroom break and snacks.
And this is always the balance I try to explain:
I am NOT opposed to buying food on trips.
But I don’t want to be fully dependent on buying food.
Because having the cooler means:
- people can snack whenever they’re hungry
- we’re not forced to stop constantly
- we’re not spending money out of desperation
- we still have vegetables, fruit, and protein available all day
The flexibility is the entire point.
My Chick-fil-A Travel Snack
My personal favorite travel stop order right now:
- kale salad
- five grilled nuggets
- crunchy almonds mixed in
I toss it all together and it becomes this really satisfying high-protein snack that doesn’t leave me feeling super heavy in the car afterward.
The Flat Tire Situation
And then…
literally one exit from our house…
flat tire.
At first it just showed low tire pressure, but by the time we pulled into a parking lot, the tire was completely flat.
I have never had that happen before.
And of course this was after:
- 12 hours in the car
- traffic delays
- multiple stops
- everybody already exhausted
So we pivoted.
My dad came and picked up me and the kids while Chris stayed behind to deal with the tire situation.
Chris got the temporary tire on and made it home safely too.
Late Night “We Need Real Food” Dinner
Once we got home:
- the fridge was basically empty
- the cooler was still packed (but it was still with Chris and the van)
- everyone needed food
- the kitchen was chaos
I gave the kids simple snacks while Chris was still gone:
- baked potatoes in the microwave
- frozen bagels
- frozen chicken sausage
Then once Chris got home and we unloaded everything, it was around 9pm and both of us realized:
we were genuinely hungry.
And this is exactly why I keep “dinner insurance” in the freezer.
Because after a day like today, there was absolutely no universe where I wanted to cook from scratch.
So dinner became:
- frozen meatloaf
- frozen potatoes
- frozen mixed vegetables
Not fancy.
Not Instagram-worthy.
But real food, quickly.
And there were even leftovers packed for Chris’s lunch tomorrow, which honestly felt like a huge victory after the kind of day we had.
Post-Dinner / Looking Ahead
What’s in the kitchen now:
Very empty fridge
Frozen backup proteins mostly used successfully
Cooler leftovers to sort through tomorrow
Minimal fresh produce remaining
Tomorrow will be:
- Costco restock day
- tire repair day
- unpacking day
- laundry day
- reset-the-house day
But after a very full and very fun vacation, I’m extremely glad we came home to a freezer that could still feed us.