Sunday: Leftovers, Costco Restock, Maple Balsamic Chicken & a Creami Success

Got up this morning and pulled out all the leftovers from yesterday’s big Saturday breakfast.

We still had bacon, pancakes, whipped cream, all the good stuff.

So breakfast was incredibly easy.

I love when we make a big breakfast on Saturday and have enough left over that Sunday morning requires almost no effort.

Just warm everything up, put it on the table, and everybody is happy.

Lunch Was a Little Bit of Everything

Lunch today was another refrigerator cleanout.

I pulled out the rest of the roasted chicken from Wednesday night.

And that chicken has served us so well.

We ate it for dinner Wednesday, used it for other meals throughout the week, (plus made some bone broth) and today we finally finished it off.

A couple of us made side salads with the chicken.

I also pulled out some of the taco meat we cooked on the Blackstone last night.

And then a few of the kids wanted frozen pizza.

So I made a frozen pizza.

Why not?

We had chicken, taco meat, pizza, salads, and whatever else people wanted to pull together.

Not exactly a coordinated lunch menu.

But everybody ate, and we used up a bunch of food.

That’s a successful lunch in my book.

Costco Restock: Lots of Protein

Chris went to Costco today, and he did a great job stocking us up for the week.

We have quite a bit of cooking ahead of us.

Here’s what he brought home:

• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• Chicken breasts
• Pork tenderloins
• Ground beef

And now that I’m looking at everything, I probably should have asked him to get two packages of ground beef.

We went through so much of it this past week.

Between the burgers, the chili, the ground beef we cooked on the Blackstone, and all the other meals, I managed to use up the cooked ground beef I had stocked in my freezer.

Which is great!

That’s why I freeze it.

But now I need to replenish my Dinner Insurance supply.

So next weekend, I’ll probably need to grab another package.

In the meantime, I have plenty of other proteins to work with.

Starting the Week With Grilled Chicken

One thing I really like to do is start the week with a big batch of cooked chicken.

It just makes everything easier.

Chicken is so versatile.

You can put it on salads, serve it with pasta, add it to wraps, make sandwiches, or just reheat it with some vegetables.

And since we finished off the last of Wednesday’s roast chicken at lunch, I figured it was time to get another batch going.

Today I decided to use the boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Costco.

Which, by the way, apparently aren’t always completely boneless.

I found three bones in my boneless chicken thighs today.

Three!

This is not the first time that’s happened.

I don’t know why I keep finding bones in these packages, but I do.

So here’s your reminder to actually look through your boneless chicken thighs when you’re prepping them.

Especially if you’re feeding kids.

I keep buying them because the price is good, they’re flavorful, and they grill beautifully.

But I definitely inspect them carefully.

Maple Balsamic Dijon Chicken Marinade

I wanted something that felt a little fall-inspired without being overly sweet or overpowering.

So I made a maple balsamic Dijon marinade.

And it turned out so good.

The combination of balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and maple syrup gives you this wonderful balance of tangy, savory and just a little sweet.

The Dijon helps everything come together, and the maple syrup balances the acidity without making the chicken taste like dessert.

It’s really flavorful, but still versatile enough to use in all sorts of meals throughout the week.

For this batch, I used the full Costco package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 5½ pounds, so I doubled my usual marinade recipe.

The marinade uses olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried thyme.

I whisked everything together, poured it over the chicken, and made sure all the pieces were well coated.

Then I let it marinate in the refrigerator for a couple of hours while we worked around the house.

I was tidying up the basement and doing some general Sunday cleanup.

Meanwhile, the chicken was getting more flavorful without me having to do anything else.

That’s my favorite kind of prep.

I’ll link the full marinade recipe here.

Grilling the Chicken Thighs

When it was time to make dinner, I pulled out the chicken and got the grill going.

I love grilling chicken thighs because they’re a little more forgiving than chicken breasts.

They have more fat, so they tend to stay juicy, and they get those wonderful browned, slightly crispy edges.

And with the maple syrup in the marinade, you get some really nice caramelization on the outside.

I grilled the chicken until it was cooked through, checking for an internal temperature of at least 165°F.

And that was our main protein for dinner.

But the best part?

I now have a refrigerator full of cooked, flavorful chicken ready for the next few days.

That’s the real reason I like making a big batch.

Tonight’s dinner is handled, but so are several future lunches.

Roasted Vegetables at 425°F Convection

While the chicken was grilling, I made a big batch of roasted vegetables.

I had some vegetables left over from prepping for last night’s Blackstone dinner, so I wanted to use those up.

Tonight I did broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers and onion.

I cut everything into pieces, spread it out on sheet pans, and tossed it with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Then into the oven at 425°F convection.

I like using really high heat when I’m roasting vegetables.

I want those edges to get browned and crispy.

I don’t want soft, soggy vegetables.

And using convection helps move that hot air around so everything roasts quickly.

I just keep an eye on them and pull them out when they’re tender with plenty of browned edges.

Not Everybody Likes Roasted Vegetables

Now, here’s something else I did while I was cutting everything up.

I have a couple of kids who don’t particularly like roasted vegetables.

They prefer their broccoli and cauliflower steamed.

Which is fine.

So before I seasoned everything for roasting, I took a few pieces of broccoli and cauliflower and put them into a small pot.

Added a little water, covered it, and steamed them.

That’s it.

It took almost no additional work.

I was already cutting up the vegetables anyway.

And now those kids had vegetables they actually wanted to eat.

I think sometimes people make feeding a family more complicated than it needs to be.

You don’t have to make seven completely different dinners.

But if one kid likes steamed broccoli and another likes roasted broccoli, it’s really not that difficult to accommodate both when you’re already prepping the same vegetable.

Same ingredients. Slightly different preparation. Everybody gets fed.

Pasta and Quick Garlic Bread

I also had some cooked pasta left in the refrigerator.

And this is exactly why I like making extra pasta.

It’s so easy to pull it out, warm it up, and have a side dish ready in minutes.

Chris also brought home some of those square artisan rolls from Costco.

So I sliced a few of those and made little pieces of garlic bread.

Nothing elaborate.

Just a quick way to turn the rolls into something warm and delicious to go with dinner.

So we had grilled maple balsamic Dijon chicken, roasted vegetables, steamed vegetables for the kids who wanted them, pasta, and garlic bread.

I also pulled out some leftover fruit and vegetables.

A really nice Sunday dinner without having to make every single thing from scratch.

And Finally, My Ninja Creami Experiment!

Remember that banana mixture I made on Friday?

I saw a recipe from Hollingsworth on Instagram for a banana filling that goes into an oat bar.

And the filling itself looked so delicious that I started thinking about what else I could do with it.

Specifically, I wondered whether it would work in my Ninja Creami.

So Friday afternoon, I mixed everything together, poured it into my Creami container and put it in the freezer.

And today I finally got to spin it.

IT IS INCREDIBLE.

I’m so excited about this one.

The mixture is made with just five ingredients:

• Bananas
• Coconut oil
• Cocoa powder
• Maple syrup
• Peanut butter

I originally made this thinking it might be a fun frozen dessert.

But now that I’ve actually tasted it, I have so many ideas.

It’s rich and chocolatey, with the peanut butter and banana giving it this really delicious creamy flavor.

And the best part is that the ingredients are all things I normally keep in my kitchen.

Next Experiment: Frozen Chocolate Bonbons

Now I’m thinking I could take this mixture and turn it into little frozen bonbons.

Imagine small scoops of the chocolate-peanut-butter-banana filling, frozen until firm, then dipped in melted chocolate.

Put them back into the freezer, and you’d have these little chocolate-covered frozen treats ready whenever you wanted one.

Almost like a homemade ice cream bonbon.

I think that could be fantastic.

And I love that I could make a whole batch, store them in the freezer, and pull out a couple whenever we want something sweet.

So that’s going to be my next experiment.

I have a feeling I’m going to be playing around with this recipe quite a bit.

It’s always fun when you try something on a whim and it turns out even better than you expected.

My Protein Prep Plan for the Week

Now that we’re heading into Monday, I’m feeling pretty good about the food situation.

I have a big batch of cooked chicken thighs in the refrigerator.

Tomorrow, I want to get that ground beef cooked so I can start rebuilding my freezer supply.

Then I’m thinking I’ll tackle the chicken breasts on Tuesday.

And later in the week, I’ll cook the pork tenderloins.

The Costco pork tenderloins come in a package with four tenderloins total, divided into two packs of two.

So I’ll probably cook some later this week and freeze the rest.

That gives me some flexibility.

And we’re going to need it because this week is looking busy.

All five kids have dentist appointments tomorrow.

We also have an orthodontic appointment later in the day.

And an eye doctor appointment coming up this week.

Just lots of appointments and running around.

Which is exactly why I wanted to get the chicken cooked tonight.

So today we finished off the roasted chicken from last week, stocked up at Costco, grilled a huge batch of maple balsamic Dijon chicken, roasted vegetables, made garlic bread, and finally tried that frozen banana Creami experiment.

And I think the Creami might have been my favorite part.

Now I just need to find some time to make those chocolate-covered bonbons.

Because apparently one successful kitchen experiment is never enough.