Wednesday: Welcome Home, Chip Wheelies, and a Favorite Steak Dinner
This morning was a little different because my 16-year-old came home from Europe late last night. Her final flight didn’t land until around 10 p.m., which felt more like 4 a.m. to her after traveling.
So the mission this morning was simple:
Keep everyone as quiet as possible so she could sleep.
I made a fresh batch of bacon because I wanted her to wake up to a good breakfast.
Breakfast included:
- Fresh bacon
- Costco bagels
- Homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal
- Breakfast sausage
Everyone helped themselves to whatever they wanted, and when Fiona finally woke up, I simply reheated breakfast for her.
Then we got started on a full morning of school. Fiona also passed out some souvenir candy that she brought home. The 3 year old especially missed her!
Lunch
One of the first things Fiona told me was that what she missed most while she was gone…
…was my cooking.
Not because the food in Europe was bad, but because when you’re traveling with a big group of students, food isn’t really the priority. She just missed familiar meals.
So I made one of her favorites.
I layered:
- Pasta
- Grilled chicken from Monday
- Sautéed vegetables
- Homemade vinaigrette
- Fresh tomatoes
She still declared it a 10 out of 10 lunch, so I think it worked out just fine.
I also made a big fresh fruit salad to go alongside it.
The other kids wanted the leftover ham from last night’s dinner, so I reheated that, served the last of the bunny pasta, plus fruits and vegetables.
For myself, I made another one of my favorite salads with my current dressing obsession:
- Avocado salsa
- Fresh salsa
- Rice wine vinegar
- Garlic powder
- Honey
- Salt and pepper
I keep saying it, but this really is the dressing of the summer.
I genuinely didn’t think you could make a dressing this flavorful without olive oil, but this combination has completely changed my mind.
Chip Wheelie Day
Right after lunch, my 13-year-old son and I finally assembled our homemade Chip Wheelies.
This ended up becoming a three-day project:
- Monday: Bake the egg-free cookies.
- Tuesday: Make homemade vanilla ice cream.
- Wednesday: Assemble everything.
We simply scooped homemade ice cream between two cookies, pressed them together, wrapped each one individually in plastic wrap, and tucked them into the freezer.
Now we have a freezer full of homemade Chip Wheelies ready whenever someone wants a treat.
My favorite part wasn’t even the dessert.
It was watching my son learn.
He measured flour, practiced reading a recipe, learned how to portion cookie dough evenly, and saw how a project can come together over several days instead of trying to rush everything at once.
And now we have a fun dessert waiting in the freezer instead of feeling like everyone has to eat it all immediately.
I love freezer desserts for exactly that reason.
We did a little trip to the pool this afternoon, but before we left I made ‘Pool Nuggets’. It’s just heating up some frozen chicken nuggets/strips, and then the kids eat them on the way to the pool or when we get to the pool. Quick and easy protein!!
Dinner
After swimming this afternoon, I wanted to finish off the last of the leftover steak from my parents’ house.
I sliced it very thin and reheated it the same way I always do.
I got a skillet blazing hot, added a little fat, and cooked the steak in two batches.
That’s important.
If you overcrowd the pan, the meat steams.
If you give it room, it gets those delicious browned edges.
I served it with:
- Rice
- Avocado salsa
- Fresh avocado
- Salsa
- Cheese
- Lettuce
- Red onion
- Chips
Some of the kids built taco-style platters.
Others wanted every component separate.
Same dinner.
Different plates.
Everyone was happy.
And one more thing Fiona had requested after being gone for two weeks?
Avocado salsa.
Apparently that was another thing she really missed while she was traveling, so I made sure dinner included plenty of it.