Tuesday: Salmon Sushi Lunch, Now & Later Meatloaf & The Carrots I Dare You Not to Like

This morning the kids had some of the bacon I made over the weekend, Costco bagels and the last of yesterday’s crispy shredded potatoes.

Because shredded potatoes are breakfast food.

They’re also lunch food.

They’re also dinner food.

There are no rules here.

Then we got to work, and today was a BIG school day. Taking Labor Day off yesterday meant we were trying to make up some ground today, and the whole day had that strange feeling where it felt exactly like a Monday even though it was Tuesday. I was trying to send a quick email and Daphne was also whispering in my ear all about the coloring pages she needed me to print for her!

I made a quick one pan peach oat nut breakfast and added some frozen blueberries once it was all crispy. It was DELICIOUS!!

Leftover Salmon Sushi

For lunch, I finally used the rest of the salmon from Sunday night.

I’d actually planned to do this yesterday, but everyone wanted burgers, so we bumped it to today.

And if you have leftover salmon, this is such a good lunch.

We basically make little DIY salmon sushi rolls.

You need:

• Leftover salmon
• Cooked rice
• Avocado
• Cucumber
• Carrots
• Dried seaweed snack sheets
• Soy sauce or liquid aminos
• A little mayo

Then you just grab a piece of seaweed and add a little rice, salmon and whatever toppings you want.

Fold it up and eat it.

Sushi without actually making sushi.

My daughter LOVES this lunch, and it’s such a good way to use cold leftover salmon.

A couple of the other kids wanted their lunch components more plain, and we also used a few of the burger patties I made yesterday.

My Leftover Salmon Salad

I used my portion of salmon to make a salad instead.

For the dressing, I mixed up a quick Asian-ish vinaigrette with:

• Rice wine vinegar
• Liquid aminos
• Honey
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Pepper

No real measurements. Mix, taste and adjust.

It was delicious with the cold salmon.

And just like that, Sunday’s salmon was completely gone.

If You’re Making One Meatloaf, Make Two

This afternoon was BUSY.

Violin lessons. Piano lessons. A mountain of laundry from the long weekend. Schoolwork.

Just getting life back in order after having Monday off.

But in the middle of all of that, I also started working on dinner.

I pulled out the rest of the ground beef I bought at Costco and turned it into my Now & Later Meatloaf.

Because my rule with meatloaf is very simple:

If you’re making one meatloaf, you might as well make two.

It’s almost no additional work.

We eat one now, and the other becomes Dinner Insurance.

Meatloaf freezes beautifully and reheats beautifully, so it’s one of my favorite meals to double.

Cook the Rest of the Sausage While You’re At It

I bought two of the big packages of pork sausage, and since I already had them out, I went ahead and cooked the rest of the sausage too.

Some will stay in the refrigerator.

Some went into the freezer.

And cooked pork sausage is one of those ingredients that I can find a million uses for.

We can have it with eggs for breakfast.

I can throw it into pasta.

Add marinara and ground beef.

Use it with stuffed shells.

Put it on pizza.

This is what I mean when I talk about prepping ingredients instead of meals.

I don’t necessarily know exactly what I’m going to make with all that sausage yet.

I don’t need to know.

It’s cooked. It’s ready. And sometime in the next few days, that’s going to make feeding everyone much easier.

The Roasted Carrots I Dare You Not to Like

For dinner, I also made roasted carrots.

And I haven’t talked about these in a while, but this carrot recipe went viral for me last year. People LOVED it.

And for good reason.

If you think you don’t like cooked carrots, I dare you to try them this way.

I cut up carrots and onion and toss them with:

• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Italian seasoning
• A splash of maple syrup
• A splash of liquid aminos or soy sauce

And those last two ingredients are the trick.

You don’t eat the carrots and think, “Oh, these taste like maple syrup and soy sauce.”

They don’t.

They just have this sweet-savory, almost umami flavor that makes them so much better than a basic roasted carrot.

Roast them until they’re really browned (like high heat…400-425ºF)—I’m talking about those edges starting to get a little crispy and charred.

That’s where they’re so good.

Need Potatoes Faster? Cut Them Smaller.

I had also planned to make roasted potatoes tonight, but normally I would have chopped those earlier in the day.

That didn’t happen.

So here’s your extremely obvious but genuinely useful kitchen trick:

If you need your potatoes to cook faster, cut them smaller.

I diced them into little pieces so they’d roast much more quickly.

And because we’re a house divided, I made both regular potatoes and sweet potatoes.

I’m Team Sweet Potato.

Although I will happily eat both.

Those went alongside the meatloaf and roasted carrots, and then of course we added ketchup.

Because meatloaf needs ketchup.

Setting Myself Up for Tomorrow

Now I have one meatloaf cooling in the refrigerator.

Tomorrow, once it’s completely cold, I’ll slice it. Some will stay in the refrigerator for us to eat, and some will go into the freezer for Dinner Insurance.

I’ve got a little bit of roasted potato left.

Chris’ lunch for tomorrow is already packed with tonight’s leftovers.

There’s cooked pork sausage in both the refrigerator and freezer.

And tomorrow I’ll probably tackle the chicken breasts I bought at Costco.