Thursday: Cleaning Out the Fridge Before the Holiday Weekend
I got up this morning and made a fresh batch of bacon before it got too hot outside. I like to cook a full tray every couple of days so breakfast is easy throughout the week.
Breakfast was simple:
- Bacon
- Toast
- Fruit
- Cereal
Then we got through a full morning of school.
I made myself a peach/apple oat one pan breakfast bake along with an almond flour/chicken sausage wrap.
Lunch
Lunch was all about using up leftovers.
I reheated a huge pile of leftover fries—some were from Wendy’s earlier this week, and we also still had waffle fries from when my mom surprised the kids with Chick-fil-A.
Fries and chicken nuggets just belong together, so I baked a tray of chicken nuggets to go alongside them. I probably do some type of frozen nugget about once a week and most people are surprised when I talk about this..it’s all in moderation! My kids like nuggets and I’m glad to have a quick and easy lunch!
They also finished off the last of the Polish sausage that I’d air-fried earlier this week.
The kids basically made snacky platters with:
- Chicken nuggets
- Fries
- Polish sausage
- Fruit
- Veggies
Meanwhile, I made myself another big salad with some of the grilled chicken thighs.
Pool Afternoon
Of course we headed back to the pool.
This time I was the fun mom.
I bought everyone ice cream.
I almost never buy pool ice cream because it’s so much more expensive than buying a whole box at the grocery store, but we’ve been at the pool so many times lately, it’s been unbelievably hot, and it just felt like the right day to say yes.
Totally worth it.
Afternoon Snack
When we got home I was hungry, so I made one of my favorite little snacks.
It’s incredibly simple:
- Thin slices of homemade beef summer sausage
- A pickle
- Yellow mustard
That’s it.
It’s salty, satisfying, and takes about thirty seconds to put together.
Dinner
Since tomorrow is the start of the holiday weekend, I wanted to clean out the refrigerator before making another Costco run.
I used the last of leftover steak from my parents’ house.
I sliced it very thin, got a skillet screaming hot, added a little butter, and quickly pan-seared the steak just long enough to brown the edges.
You’re not cooking it again—you just want to re-crisp the outside while keeping the inside tender.
I also finished off the last of the homemade beef summer sausage.
My husband and I piled both proteins onto big salads.
The kids preferred everything separate, so they had side salads with the proteins arranged however they liked.
Meal Prep Win: Roasted Potatoes
The biggest thing I did today was prep a huge batch of roasted potatoes in the air fryer.
I actually filmed a reel while I was making them because I think people often focus on meal-prepping proteins, but prepping side dishes can save just as much time.
If I’m already standing there peeling and dicing potatoes, I might as well make a whole batch.
Tomorrow morning those potatoes are already done.
Instead of waiting for raw potatoes to cook, I can throw the roasted potatoes into a skillet with onions, peppers, and sausage, add a couple fried eggs, and have my husband’s favorite breakfast skillet on the table in about ten minutes.