Monday: Leftover Platters, Pool Snacks & Dinner Insurance

This morning there was exactly one tiny cinnamon roll left.

So naturally, I cut it into four pieces and gave each of the older four kids a quarter.

Don’t tell Daphne.

They also had fresh bacon, and my mom had passed along some bagels she bought last week, so breakfast was bagels, bacon, and one very carefully divided cinnamon roll.

A Weird Monday

Today was one of those Mondays that didn’t really feel like a normal school day.

We had piano lessons happening at home, and I also had to take two of my kiddos to the pediatrician for their well checks.

So schoolwork was pretty minimal.

And this is exactly why I like schooling year-round. We can have a random Monday like this, take care of appointments, let piano happen, and not feel like everything is falling behind.

The Ultimate Leftover Lunch

Lunch was incredibly satisfying because I cleaned out so much food from the refrigerator.

I pulled out:

• Leftover brats from yesterday
• The last of the mac and cheese
• Some cilantro-lime rice from my mom’s house
• Half of the remaining flank steak
• Fresh fruit
• Fresh vegetables

I also made a pizza quesadilla, which is exactly what it sounds like: tortilla, mozzarella, pepperoni, more mozzarella, tortilla.

Crisp it in a skillet until the outside is golden and the cheese is melted, then slice it up.

For the flank steak, I sliced it very thin and reheated it the way I always like to reheat steak.

Get a skillet really hot, add a little butter or bacon grease—I used bacon grease today—and quickly sear the steak. You’re not trying to cook it again. You just want it hot with some crispy edges.

Then I laid everything out on platters and let the kids pick and choose.

Brats, pasta, pizza quesadilla, steak, rice, fruit, vegetables.

Not exactly a themed meal, but everyone found something they loved, and a whole bunch of weekend leftovers disappeared.

That is a successful lunch in my book.

My Not-Pretty Tuna Salad

I made myself one of those lunches that I feel obligated to warn you about before I describe it.

She’s not pretty.

But she tastes really good.

I started with a can of tuna, drained it, and added whatever vegetables I had around that I could wash and chop myself.

Today that was:

• Carrots
• Red onion
• apples
• leftover corn

I’m still staying away from lettuce for the moment, so I’m leaning heavily into vegetables I can wash and prep myself.

Then I added a small scoop of cannellini beans. I love cannellini beans in something like this because they’re soft and creamy and make it more filling.

For the dressing, I added:

• Salsa
• A big scoop of avocado salsa
• Rice wine vinegar
• A little honey
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder

Mix the entire thing together.

Again, not winning any beauty contests.

But it’s light, filling, high in protein, and takes about five minutes.

Pool Snacks

This afternoon we headed to the pool.

I did one of my favorite easy pool snacks: a bag of popcorn and a stack of cups.

Pop the bag at home, bring it with you, pour popcorn into the cups, and hand them out.

The kids demolished it.

I should have brought two bags.

I also packed the cooler with some mozzarella balls, salami, apples, and a few other snacky things.

Nothing complicated.

The Ground Beef Project That Did Not Happen

Yesterday I teased that today was going to be the big ground beef prep day.

I have two packages of Costco ground beef sitting in my refrigerator, and I had every intention of dealing with all of it today.

Then we had pediatrician appointments.

And piano.

And we decided to go to the pool.

And then I listed a giant dresser from our basement for free on Facebook Marketplace.

If you’ve ever listed something good for free, you know what happened next.

Within approximately 20 minutes, my phone became:

“Is this available?”

“Can I come now?”

“Can I get it?”

So instead of cooking ground beef, I was answering messages and helping Chris get a large dresser upstairs and into the garage so someone could pick it up.

The beef can wait until tomorrow.

And yes, tomorrow I really am doing it.

Here’s the little hint: we’re going to the lake in a couple of weeks, so I’m starting to stock our freezer with food that I can bring for easy lunches and dinners.

I’ll show you exactly what I’m doing tomorrow, but it’s the kind of prep that should take me around 30 minutes and make vacation food significantly easier.

Dinner Insurance

By the time we got home from the pool, gave my little kids a bath, I wanted dinner to require almost no thought.

So I made one of our standards: Dinner Insurance Meatloaf.

Tonight I served it with:

• Frozen green beans
• Pasta
• Fresh fruit

Simple, quick, everyone likes it.

Exactly what I needed tonight.

And somewhere in the middle of dinner, the dresser officially left the garage. I also prepped eggs for my husband for the next 2 days. Pan sear them until JUST flippable…then transfer to a glass dish, cool and add sausage, and an almond flour tortilla. He reheats them in the morning in a microwave.

So we fed everyone, cleared out a bunch of leftovers, spent the afternoon at the pool, got rid of a giant piece of furniture, and the ground beef is still patiently waiting for me.

Tomorrow. For real this time.