Current Fridge Protein & Leftover Inventory (Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up)
Loaf pan chicken breast
Homemade beef summer sausage
Gluten-free pasta salad
Regular pasta salad
Fresh produce and salad ingredients
Pork tenderloin (uncooked)
Morning — Breakfast Prep for the Week
This morning I started by making Chris’s breakfasts for the next few days.
My system is still the same:
- fry eggs until just barely set
- flip briefly
- transfer immediately to glass containers
The goal is to stop cooking them before they’re fully done.
Then when he reheats them later in the microwave, they finish cooking and still have that softer texture he likes.
I prepped enough for:
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
Then I’ll make another batch midweek for:
- Thursday
- Friday
For us, three days is about the maximum amount of time I like those eggs sitting in the refrigerator.
The rest of the kids had:
- bacon
- toast
- simple breakfast basics
Nothing fancy, but everyone was fed and happy.
Morning Project — Birthday Cake Decorating
Today’s big kitchen project was finishing Chris’s birthday cake.
Yesterday I baked the cake.
Today I made the frosting and decorated it.
Dairy-Free Chocolate Frosting
I used:
- 2 sticks dairy-free butter substitute
- about 8 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- about 1 cup cocoa powder
- ¼–½ cup coconut milk
I start by mixing everything except the coconut milk.
Then I slowly add coconut milk until the texture is:
- smooth
- spreadable
- not runny
Then I let it whip for a long time.
The longer it whips, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.
Frosting Tip
One thing I’ve learned with large sheet cakes:
Don’t dump one giant pile of frosting onto the cake.
Instead, use a cookie scoop and place little scoops all over the surface.
Then spread them together.
It’s dramatically easier than fighting one huge mound of frosting.
Beach-Themed Birthday Cake
After frosting the cake, we decided to fully commit to the beach theme.
We made:
Sand
- crushed gluten-free Golden Oreos
Water
- blue frosting
Decorations
- LEGO minifigures that my son washed and cleaned up
It turned out incredibly cute.
And honestly, it felt like a perfect little nod to our Charleston trip from the week before.
Lunch — Pizza Clean-Out
Lunch was a refrigerator clean-out meal.
We had:
- leftover focaccia pizza from Friday
- leftover Jet’s Pizza from last night
The kids were thrilled because pizza is pizza.
I also grilled the last little bit of chicken that had been seasoned when I made loaf pan chicken on Friday.
So Chris and I had:
- side salads
- grilled chicken
And everyone else happily worked through the pizza leftovers.
Afternoon — Pool Time
This afternoon the kids spent time swimming.
Pool season is definitely here now.
And I can already tell we’re entering that phase of summer where:
- everyone is hungry constantly
- lunches need to be fast
- protein prep becomes even more important
Because swimmers can absolutely demolish a refrigerator. Kids all enjoyed some homemade beef summer sausage for snack along with cheese and crackers.
Evening — Birthday Dinner at My Parents’ House
Tonight we celebrated Chris’ birthday with family.
My parents hosted dinner and, as usual, it was fantastic.
Menu highlights:
- grilled steaks
- ribs
- appetizers
- birthday cake
And because it’s a Sunday dinner at my parents’ house, we naturally came home with leftovers.
One of the best surprises from the evening:
Fiona made two pasta salads:
- regular pasta salad
- gluten-free pasta salad
And I am genuinely excited about those leftovers. I’m already looking forward to eating some grilled chicken with pasta salad tomorrow.
Post-Dinner / Looking Ahead
What’s stocked and ready now:
Grilled chicken
Loaf pan chicken (small portion)
Steak leftovers
Rib leftovers
Gluten-free pasta salad
Regular pasta salad
Homemade beef summer sausage
Birthday cake leftovers
Fresh produce
Pork tenderloin ready to cook
Tomorrow’s lunch is already practically planned:
- grilled chicken
- gluten-free pasta salad
- vegetables
- fruit
Exactly the kind of easy lunch that makes me happy.
And looking ahead, the next protein project will likely be the pork tenderloin sometime in the next day or two.