Wednesday: 170 Library Returns, Prep in the Pockets & Sheet-Pan Steak Fajitas

We got up this morning and used some of the bacon I made yesterday, and we officially finished the last of the Costco bagels from the freezer.

So I’m not sure what these kids are going to do tomorrow.

I guess we’re back to plain toast.

My teen made herself a smoothie, and then we got to work on school.

How I Keep a Four-Year-Old Busy During School

People ask me all the time how I keep my youngest occupied while we’re homeschooling the older kids.

Today’s answer: she made Jell-O.

And by “made Jell-O,” I mean we stretched the Jell-O-making process out for as long as humanly possible.

I gave her a bowl. I added the water. She stirred the water for a while.

Then we added a little Jell-O mix. More stirring.

Then perhaps a little more Jell-O mix.

You get the idea.

If you’re trying to occupy a four-year-old, there is absolutely no reason to rush the process.

Apparently We Live at the Orthodontist

Then I had to take one of my kiddos to the orthodontist to have a broken wire fixed.

At this point, I think we basically live there.

I have several kids in various stages of orthodontic treatment, and I feel like we’re there every other week for one reason or another.

Thankfully, this was a quick fix, and then we moved on to our next adventure: getting back on the happy side of the library.

I Returned More Than 170 Library Items Today

Our library here in Cincinnati offers an educator card for homeschoolers, and I needed to get mine renewed.

To do that, I needed to show our homeschool notification paperwork and get everything returned from both my educator card and personal card.

Everything.

So today I returned more than 170 items.

People were laughing, but I feel like this number requires some context.

Probably 30 of those were DVDs. There are six people in our house actively using the library. And a lot of the books are little children’s books that get read over and over again.

My four-year-old, for example, is currently deeply committed to Paw Patrol. So yes, we may have had approximately 35 Paw Patrol books.

But this is exactly why I love the library. I do not need to OWN 35 Paw Patrol books. She can pour over them for a few weeks, return them, and someday move on to the next obsession without me having an entire Paw Patrol wing in my house.

I will admit that sometimes I have very Leslie Knope-esque feelings toward the library.

I recognize there are reasons for the processes.

But sometimes they feel overly complicated.

I said what I said.

Anyway, all 170-plus items are returned, the paperwork has been shown, and we’re back on good terms with the library.

This Is What I Mean by Cooking in Pockets of Time

This afternoon was also such a good example of something I talk about here all the time.

People ask me, “How do you have time to cook like this?”

But I really hope if you read the Kitchen Log regularly, you can see that I’m usually not starting dinner from scratch at 5:00.

Most nights, I’m not even cooking all the components of dinner that day.

Today, I knew I had to take my 11-year-old to a sewing lesson in the afternoon and that we wouldn’t be walking back into the house until close to 5:00.

So when I got home earlier and was already in the kitchen dealing with lunch, I spent about 10 minutes prepping dinner.

That’s it.

I sliced peppers and onions.

I pulled out the leftover steak my parents had sent home with us Sunday and sliced that thin.

I put everything away.

Then I went on with my day.

Four hours later, that 10 minutes made all the difference. We also managed to get the 4 year old fitted for a violin…she’s starting lessons alone with her sister next week!

Dinner at 4:50

We walked in the door around 4:50.

I immediately turned on the oven and dumped my already-cut peppers and onions onto a sheet pan. I seasoned them with:

• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Smoked paprika
• Cumin

Then I blasted those in the hot oven.

Meanwhile, I pulled out a bag of cooked rice I’d frozen all the way back in June.

I microwaved the bag for about a minute — just enough to loosen the frozen rice from the plastic — then transferred it to a pan with a splash of water, covered it and warmed it over low heat.

Finally, I got another pan blazing hot and tossed in the thinly sliced already-cooked steak.

I wasn’t trying to cook the steak again. I just wanted to quickly warm it and get a little sear on the edges.

And that was dinner.

Make It How You Want It

I put out lettuce, avocado, some fresh vegetables and fruit, plus whatever toppings everyone wanted.

Then everyone could build dinner however they liked.

Rice on the bottom with steak and roasted peppers and onions piled over it?

Great.

Everything separated into its own little section of the plate?

Also great.

Same dinner. Same ingredients. Everyone gets to eat it the way they like it.

And we had dinner on the table quickly after walking through the door at 4:50.

Not because I somehow managed to cook an entire dinner in ten minutes.

Because I found ten minutes four hours earlier.

That’s such a huge part of how I cook. I’m not necessarily finding an hour to make dinner. I’m noticing the little pockets of time I already have and asking what I can do now that will make later easier. I pulled out a little cauliflower rice for my plate.

Looking Ahead

And we’re still in really good shape going into tomorrow.

The pork tenderloin is officially gone — I finished the last of that at lunch today.

We have a whole bunch of the grilled chicken I made last night, a little focaccia pizza, a couple of the grilled burgers and one more steak from my parents’ house that I’ll probably use for lunch tomorrow.

After that, I’ll probably pull some of my cooked ground beef from the freezer when we need it.