Thursday: Freezer Bagels, Cooler Tips & Crispy Smashed Potatoes
It was another full school morning over here, so we kept breakfast simple.
I pulled bacon out and toasted some of the Costco bagels I keep in the freezer. If you’re buying Costco bagels and notfreezing them, I genuinely don’t understand. They seem to mold on my counter in about two days.
As soon as I get home from Costco, I slice every bagel and store them in gallon freezer bags. I don’t vacuum seal them because I want to be able to grab one or two at a time. Then I can pull them straight from the freezer into the oven, air fryer, or toaster (if you own one—I actually don’t), and they’re just as good as fresh.
We added fruit, finished breakfast, and got started with a full morning of school.
Lunch
Today’s goal was to finish the last of the burgers from Monday night.
Several of the kids had burgers, while I made myself a burger bowl—but since I’m still avoiding leafy greens because of the cyclospora concerns, I skipped the salad.
Instead, I used:
- Leftover roasted vegetables
- A little leftover cooked corn
- My favorite avocado salsa dressing (avocado salsa, fresh salsa, rice wine vinegar, garlic salt, honey, salt, and pepper)
- A sliced burger on the side
It was surprisingly satisfying.
For dessert, my three-year-old tried one of the new Trader Joe’s popsicles I bought yesterday. She announced they were “too sour”…and then proceeded to eat the entire thing. So I’m not sure I believe her.
Cooler Thoughts
I spent a little time on Instagram Stories today talking about how I pack a cooler.
One thing I really want people to know is that you probably don’t need a different cooler—you just need to pack the one you already own correctly.
I see people toss one lonely ice pack into the bottom of a cooler and expect it to stay cold all day in 95-degree weather. That’s just not enough.
Here’s what I do:
- One large ice pack on the bottom
- Food layered throughout
- Smaller ice packs between layers
- Keep everything surrounded by cold as much as possible
I also bring a refrigerator thermometer inside my cooler. When we get home, I know exactly whether the food stayed at a safe temperature instead of guessing and potentially throwing perfectly good food away.
Library Afternoon
Instead of heading to the pool today, we mixed things up with a trip to the library. We packed the car snacks as usual (I use character cups from the Dollar Tree, kids fill them with pantry snacks, then all their trash goes back INTO the cup and the cup goes inside when we get home!!)
Our library recently got Magna-Tiles.
Do we already own Magna-Tiles?
Yes.
Are the library’s somehow better than ours?
According to my children…also yes.
So apparently now I need to investigate these new Magna-Tiles because they’ve declared ours insufficient.
Dinner
Dinner was one of those meals that is always a hit here.
I made bratwurst by slicing the brats into bite-sized pieces and roasting them on a sheet pan at 400°F.
Since the oven was already on, I made crispy smashed potatoes too.
Here’s how I do them:
- Dice Yukon Gold potatoes (I leave the skins on).
- Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Roast until they just start getting color.
- Pull the pan out and smash each potato with the bottom of a metal measuring cup.
- Return them to the oven until all those smashed edges become beautifully crispy.
The smashed edges are the best part.
I also roasted broccoli and onions and made a big pot of fettuccine.
Yes, two starches.
No regrets.
Looking Ahead
I intentionally made extra pasta because leftover pasta is one of my favorite convenience foods. It’s so easy to pull out for lunches or quick dinners.
Going into tomorrow I have:
- A little bratwurst left (probably enough for a snack or lunch)
- Some roasted broccoli
- Plenty of cooked fettuccine
- a decent amount of leftover grilled chicken
I’m actually thinking about chopping the fettuccine into smaller pieces and turning it into a pasta salad. I’ve seen people do that to mimic a smaller pasta shape, and I think my family would really enjoy it.
We’ll see what tomorrow brings.