Thursday: Freezer Bread, Co-op Pizza & Stocking the Fridge Before a Trip

We were up and out the door pretty quickly this morning for co-op, so breakfast was all about things I’d already done the work for.

I pulled out the bacon I cooked yesterday and reheated it on little quarter-sheet pans in a 350°F oven.

This is one of the reasons I like making extra bacon. It reheats beautifully in the oven, and on a morning when we’re trying to get everybody out the door, I don’t have to stand at the stove cooking a fresh batch.

We also had Costco bagels, some of the frozen Costco chicken sausage and those square artisan ciabatta rolls again.

Except I’ve finally changed my storage strategy on those.

Why Wasn’t I Freezing the Bread?

Several of you told me that you keep those Costco rolls in the freezer.

And I had one of those moments where I thought:

Yeah. Duh. Why am I not doing that?

I’ve been moving them into the refrigerator because they dry out so quickly on the counter….and tend to get moldy too!

But I already freeze all of our Costco bagels.

Why wouldn’t I do exactly the same thing with the bread?

So the remaining rolls are officially in the freezer now. I pulled out what we needed this morning and warmed them up, and obviously this is the better system.

Sometimes the very obvious solution takes me a minute.

PlanetBoxes, Once Again

Then we loaded up and headed to co-op for the day.

And once again, I packed all five PlanetBoxes.

I know I say this basically every Thursday, but these things are just the best.

We’ve been using PlanetBoxes for years, and co-op days are where I really appreciate having them. Everybody gets their own box. I can pack a bunch of different foods. Nothing requires a pile of disposable containers.

They’re an investment upfront, but ours have been used over and over and over again.

Still an 11/10 for me.

The Cold Pizza System Continues

I also brought the frozen pizza I cooked yesterday.

I’ve really committed to this system now.

I bake one Costco frozen pizza the day before co-op, let it cool completely and cut it into 16 pieces.

Each piece goes into its own little bag.

Then I throw all of them into the cooler.

Someone’s hungry between classes?

Have a pizza.

Everyone gets hungry on the drive home?

Start passing out pizza.

There’s no heating, no forks, no bowls and nothing for me to assemble while we’re sitting in the car.

It is such a simple thing, but it has made Thursday afternoons significantly easier.

Finishing Sunday’s Burgers

When we finally got home, a couple of the kids were immediately hungry.

Fortunately, I still had the last few burgers I cooked Sunday night.

I reheated those, handed them out, and with that:

The burgers are officially gone. And I have no pictures of this happening because one kid (the 4 year old) was having a hangry meltdown and

Four days of being able to reach into the refrigerator and grab an already-cooked burger is exactly why I fill the grill when I make them.

I made myself a salad with some barbecue chicken, random vegetables, a scoop of salsa and whatever else looked good in the refrigerator.

It was one of those salads that doesn’t necessarily make sense on paper but somehow tastes really good. I also ate it ALONE after spending all day surrounded by kids…

And I had a piece of the pumpkin bar from earlier this week because apparently those are also now a snack.

Cooking for the People Who Aren’t Going on the Trip

Tonight’s dinner had a little extra purpose behind it.

I’m heading out of town with my mom and my two older girls for a really fun girls’ trip. We’re going to Replacements, Ltd. for their annual yard sale, which I’ve been talking about over on Instagram.

I’m very excited, and I’ll definitely bring everyone along in Stories.

Meanwhile, Chris will be home with the other three kids.

Is he completely capable of feeding three children?

Obviously.

Do I still want to leave behind a refrigerator full of easy food?

Also obviously.

So tonight I made a big batch of taco meat.

Not just enough for dinner tonight.

Enough to make the next few days easier too.

Taco Platters for Dinner

Along with the taco meat, I made rice and black beans.

Then I sliced up peppers and onions, spread them over a sheet pan and kept those very simple:

Olive oil.

Salt.

Pepper.

Garlic powder.

Then into a 425°F oven to get blasted with heat until everything softened and started getting those browned edges.

I put everything out with all the taco fixings, and everyone could build whatever sounded good.

Rice bowl.

Taco.

Nachos.

Everything separate on a plate.

Whatever.

It’s one dinner, but everybody can make it work for themselves.

Setting Up the Weekend

And now I feel very good about the food situation I’m leaving behind.

There’s a big batch of taco meat.

There’s rice and black beans.

There are leftover peppers and onions.

There’s still loaf pan chicken from last night.

And I pulled some of my frozen brat bites out of the freezer to thaw so Chris can cook those too.

Plenty of proteins. Plenty of options. Plenty of things that can be mixed and matched without anyone needing to come up with a complicated dinner plan.