Thursday: First Co-op Run, PlanetBox Lunches & 15-Minute Stir-Fry

Today was our first day of getting everyone to co-op. Technically, this was our setup day—a bit of a dress rehearsal before we officially start next week—but all five kids came with me, so we got the full experience.

And I was very, very glad Past Me cooked bacon yesterday.

Out the Door

Breakfast was about as simple as possible: reheated bacon and the very last of the Costco bagels I had pulled from the freezer.

And then we got on the road.

Our co-op is about a 40-minute drive from our house with morning traffic, so this is not a situation where I want to be figuring out breakfast or packing lunches at the last minute.

Thankfully, I had packed everyone’s PlanetBox lunches yesterday while I was already making lunch, and they worked perfectly.

I’ve been using PlanetBoxes since my oldest was in kindergarten (she’s 16 now!). They just work really well for us.

I will say, though, I think it’s finally time for a new cooler.

I’ve used the same rolling cooler for all six years of co-op, and I LOVE the setup because I can fit five PlanetBoxes inside, plus ice packs, waters and extras. And it has wheels, which is essential because five stainless-steel lunchboxes filled with food are not exactly light.

But I’ve washed this cooler so many times that the plastic lining inside is starting to degrade.

So I’m officially in the market. If you have a rolling cooler you love that can fit five PlanetBoxes plus ice packs and a few extra water bottles, send it my way.

The 30-Minute Co-op Decompression

After co-op, two of my kids got to go indoor skydiving at iFLY, while the younger kids came home with me.

And I have a very specific routine when we get home from co-op.

Everyone walks in.

Everyone washes their hands.

And then I set a timer for 30 minutes.

iPads. Nintendo. Sit on the couch. Do whatever you want.

Just please don’t talk to anybody for 30 minutes.

It is glorious.

Everyone needs a minute to decompress after being around people all day, and that absolutely includes me.

While they were doing that, I made myself a big salad with some of the grilled chicken I’d made earlier this week. I’ve been really liking a very simple dressing lately: a splash of rice wine vinegar over the vegetables with garlic powder, salt and pepper, and then a little barbecue sauce over the chicken.

Nothing fancy. Very good.

My One-Bowl Rice Cake Treat

I also made one of my favorite little treats.

And to be clear, this is a rice cake treat, not a Rice Krispie treat.

For one serving:

• 1 pat butter or dairy-free butter
• 5 marshmallows
• Small spoonful of peanut butter
• Small handful chocolate chips
• 1 Lundberg Family Farms salted rice cake

Melt the butter and marshmallows together until they’re nice and fluffy, stir in a little peanut butter and chocolate chips, and then crumble the rice cake right into the bowl and mix everything together.

And I am going to insist upon the Lundberg rice cake here.

They’re crispy.

Some other rice cakes taste like foam.

I said what I said.

Tonight Was Always Going to Be an Easy Dinner

I knew when I planned food for this week that tonight was going to be a phone-it-in dinner night.

But here’s the thing:

If you have cooked protein, you can phone it in and still make a really good dinner.

I had a big container of grilled chicken thighs in the refrigerator from earlier this week, and tonight was the night to use them.

So I made one of my favorite leftover-protein dinners: a really fast stir-fry.

And on a night like tonight, I absolutely use frozen vegetables.

I keep bags of frozen stir-fry vegetables from Walmart in my freezer specifically for this. Could I chop broccoli, carrots, peppers and everything else myself? Sure.

Did I want to tonight?

Absolutely not.

The vegetables are getting cooked anyway. Push the easy button.

My 10–15 Minute Leftover Chicken Stir-Fry

Here’s the basic process.

First, get a large pan nice and hot with a little oil and sauté some onion.

Add your frozen stir-fry vegetables and let those cook until they’re heated through.

Then add your already-cooked protein.

Tonight I used grilled chicken thighs, but this is really a formula, not a chicken recipe. You could use:

• Steak
• Pork tenderloin
• Pork chops
• Shredded chicken
• Grilled chicken
• Shrimp

Whatever you’ve got.

Once the meat is hot, I add a drained can of water chestnuts because my husband loves them. Apparently we need the crunch.

Then comes the sauce.

Quick Stir-Fry Sauce

For the amount I made tonight, I used approximately:

• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup liquid aminos or soy sauce
• Splash of honey
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• Small pinch of salt
• Cracked black pepper
• Splash of rice wine vinegar

If I’m making a beef stir-fry, I’d swap the chicken broth for beef broth.

I use liquid aminos because they’re gluten-free, but soy sauce works too if that’s what your family uses.

And definitely adjust the amount of liquid aminos or soy sauce to your taste. Some people want a lot more sauce than I do. My mom would basically like her stir-fry swimming in sauce. I am not on that team.

Whisk everything together in a glass measuring cup, pour it over your hot meat and vegetables, and toss everything together. The cornstarch thickens the sauce almost immediately.

That’s it.

The whole thing takes me maybe 10–15 minutes, and most of that is simply getting the frozen vegetables hot because your meat is already cooked.

I served ours over the rice ramen noodles I buy at Costco. I usually cook five or six of the little bricks at once for our family.

But What About the Kids Who Don’t Want Stir-Fry?

I have them too.

And I’m not making another dinner.

When I’m cutting up the chicken for the stir-fry, I simply set some aside.

I put that chicken into a small pan with a little fat and a splash of the chicken broth I’ve already opened. Put a lid on it and let it warm gently over low heat.

Chicken thighs reheat beautifully this way.

Those kids had plain chicken, rice ramen noodles, and some peppers and carrots I chopped while the cutting board was already out for the onion.

Same ingredients.

Same dinner.

Different presentation.

And everybody ate.

This Is Why I Keep Cooked Protein Around

This is exactly why I’m always talking about keeping that rolling three-day supply of cooked protein in the refrigerator.

I didn’t come home from a long co-op day and grill chicken.

I didn’t chop six different vegetables.

I didn’t make two separate dinners because some kids don’t like stir-fry.

I took chicken I’d already cooked, a bag of frozen vegetables, pantry ingredients and noodles, and dinner was on the table in about 15 minutes.

That’s my kind of back-to-school cooking.