Weekend Kitchen Log: A Missed Day, A Stormy Concert & Getting Ahead for Vacation

First things first…

I owe you an apology.

I’m officially a terrible Kitchen Logger because, for the first time ever, I skipped a day.

But I have a good excuse.

Saturday

Saturday started early. Really early.

I was up at 5:30 a.m., got dressed, and headed out because I’m the director of our homeschool co-op, and Saturday was our huge parent orientation day.

It’s about a 40-minute drive for me, and I needed to be there early to get everything set up before families arrived.

The day was packed. I led presentations, gave tours of our new building, answered lots of questions, and by the end of the day I was absolutely running on adrenaline.

Then, right as the event was wrapping up, our giant storage POD was delivered.

If you’ve ever had one delivered, you know it’s worth meeting the driver so you can explain exactly where you want it placed. A few feet one direction or another can make unloading so much easier later.

Chris was home with the kids all day and took one photo of a ‘lunch’??? Looks like some leftover chicken with LOTS of olives! Someone must have wanted it!

Once that was taken care of, I drove home, quickly changed clothes, wolfed down dinner, and Chris and I headed downtown for the Chris Stapleton concert.

The Chris Stapleton Concert

The forecast had looked questionable all week.

The second I saw the weather, I abandoned my cute concert outfit.

Instead I dressed like I was going hiking in the rain:

• athletic skirt
• tank top
• rain jacket
• baseball hat
• waterproof Birkenstock sandals that I normally wear to the pool

Best decision ever.

There were so many women who fully committed to the cowboy boots, denim, leather jackets—you name it—and I completely respect the commitment because they stayed in those outfits through pouring rain.

The guy sitting in front of us wore a swimsuit.

Honestly…he may have been the smartest person there.

Because of severe weather, the original opening act never performed. Instead, Lainey Wilson came on early, and she was fantastic.

About twenty minutes after she finished, just when everyone expected Chris Stapleton to come out…

…the tornado sirens started.

The stadium was evacuated into the concourse, where everyone waited for about an hour and a half.

It was packed. Wall-to-wall people.

Eventually they let everyone back to their seats, Chris Stapleton finally came out more than an hour late, and the concert ended up being absolutely worth the wait.

We didn’t get home until around 1:30 a.m.

Needless to say…

I wasn’t writing a Kitchen Log.

Saturday Food

I wasn’t home much at all, but thankfully Chris snapped a few photos for me.

The kids had lunch at home with him, and then they spent the evening with my parents where they had pizza for dinner.

Before Chris and I left for the concert, we made ourselves wraps using the grilled chicken I’d cooked on Friday.

That ended up being such a good decision because there wasn’t really anything at the concert that either of us could eat.

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Sunday

After getting to bed at 1:30 in the morning, we were right back at it with the kids.

The first thing I made was Chris’s breakfast for today and tomorrow.

Chris’s Make-Ahead Eggs

I cook them just until they’re barely set, flip them at the very end, and immediately transfer them into a glass storage container.

They reheat beautifully, and it makes weekday mornings much easier.

For everyone else, I made another double batch of bacon.

I’m officially in vacation prep mode now, so every time I cook bacon over the next week I’m doubling the batch.

I par-cook it, freeze it, and then we’ll have ready-to-reheat bacon every morning while we’re at the lake.

The kids also had the Costco ciabatta rolls that we love. I just warm them up in the oven.

Vacation Meal Prep

This morning was all about getting ahead.

I tackled all the ground beef I’d bought on Friday.

Taco Meat

I cooked one entire package into taco meat.

We had taco bowls for lunch today.

I saved some in the refrigerator for lunches over the next couple of days and froze the rest to bring on vacation.

Taco meat is one of my favorite vacation foods because it’s so versatile.

Taco bowls, nachos, tacos, salads—you can do so much with it.

Burger Patties

The second package became 20 homemade burger patties.

I didn’t grill them until dinner, but getting them formed this morning made dinner incredibly easy later.

Homemade Beef Summer Sausage

I also mixed up another batch of my homemade beef summer sausage.

This version is another experiment.

This time I used:

• 2 teaspoons Morton Tender Quick per pound of beef
• Garlic salt instead of garlic powder

It’s curing in the refrigerator tonight, and I’ll bake it tomorrow.

Hopefully this is getting me one step closer to the version I want to share for the homemade beef sticks.

Lunch

Lunch was simple and really satisfying.

Everyone built taco bowls however they liked.

Some went full taco bowl.

Some made nachos.

Some just ate the meat, rice, and toppings separately.

They were a huge hit.

Ironically, while we were eating them I kept thinking these are exactly the kind of meal I wished I’d had available around midnight after standing in a stadium for hours.

Afternoon Adventure

This afternoon we got to do something really fun.

We were invited to visit the LEGO Jurassic World exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center, and I’m creating a reel for them.

The kids absolutely loved it.

LEGO plus dinosaurs?

It was basically designed for our family.

We spent the afternoon filming, exploring, and letting the kids enjoy the exhibit.

Dinner

Before we left this afternoon, I had already done all the prep work for dinner.

I had:

• pork tenderloin seasoned and ready
• potatoes chopped
• vegetables prepped

So when we got home, all I had to do was cook.

While the grill was already hot for the pork tenderloin, I went ahead and grilled all 20 burger patties too.

That means going into this week I already have:

• grilled pork tenderloin
• taco meat
• 20 cooked burger patties

And tomorrow I’ll bake the homemade beef summer sausage.

Future me is going to be very thankful.

Especially with vacation getting closer.

My three-day rule is in great shape, my freezer is filling up for our lake trip, and I feel like we’re heading into the week with several cooked proteins plus some leftover roasted potatoes.