Tuesday: Chicken Alfredo Bowls, Serious Homeschooling & Getting Ahead of a Busy Week

Got up this morning and once again completely forgot about the leftover pancakes.

At this point, I’m beginning to think these pancakes are going to live in my refrigerator forever.

But tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we are eating the pancakes.

I’m going to make fresh bacon, warm up those pancakes, and call breakfast done.

Today, though, we finished off the bacon we had in the refrigerator, and everybody had a little more of the pear oatmeal my teenager made the other day.

And that was breakfast.

Nothing complicated, which was good because we had a full morning of school ahead of us.

We Were Homeschooling Hard Today

And when I say we were homeschooling today, I mean we were homeschooling hard.

At one point, I had fraction models spread out on the table while I was also putting sheets of music into laminating pouches.

Because apparently that’s what homeschooling looks like around here.

Math manipulatives on one side.

Choir music preparation on the other.

And everything happening simultaneously.

I needed to get the music ready for our homeschool co-op on Thursday, so I was trying to squeeze that work in between lessons.

There’s something funny about looking at a table covered in fraction models and laminating supplies and realizing that, yes, this is actually a normal school day for us.

We’re learning fractions.

We’re preparing music.

We’re getting things done.

Very serious homeschooling happening over here.

Chicken Alfredo Bowls in Minutes

By lunchtime, I was very happy to have cooked food waiting in the refrigerator.

Some of the kids wanted the leftover crispy chicken we’d had earlier in the week.

And a couple of them wanted chicken Alfredo.

Which sounds like a much more involved lunch than it actually is.

Because when you already have cooked chicken and cooked pasta in your refrigerator, you can put together a really delicious Alfredo bowl in just a few minutes.

This is one of my favorite examples of why I prep components instead of complete meals.

I don’t need to have a container of chicken Alfredo already assembled.

I just need chicken, pasta, and a few ingredients for a quick sauce.

My Five-Minute Chicken Alfredo Bowls

Here’s what I do.

I start with a skillet and add:

• A pat of butter
• A splash of heavy cream
• A little Parmesan cheese
• Garlic powder
• Black pepper

I warm everything gently until the butter melts and the cheese comes together with the cream.

Nothing fancy.

No complicated roux.

No separate saucepan full of sauce.

Just a quick, creamy Alfredo-style sauce made directly in the skillet.

Then I add some already-cooked pasta.

And some broccoli.

You can use fresh broccoli or broccoli that’s already been cooked. If you’re using fresh, just give it enough time to become tender.

Then I add the cooked chicken and toss everything together until it’s warmed through and coated in that creamy sauce.

And that’s it.

Chicken Alfredo bowls.

They’re creamy, cheesy, flavorful, and they taste like something you spent considerably more time making.

But because the pasta and chicken are already cooked, you’re really just assembling lunch.

This is the difference between meal prep and component prep.

I didn’t spend Sunday making containers of chicken Alfredo.

I grilled a bunch of chicken.

And now I can turn that chicken into salads, sandwiches, wraps, or a creamy pasta bowl depending on what everybody wants.

I think that flexibility is what makes cooking for a family so much easier.

An Afternoon Outside With My Four-Year-Old

After our busy school morning, we had another beautiful afternoon.

So I spent some time outside with my four-year-old.

And let me tell you, this child is a whole vibe.

We were getting ready to go outside, and she informed me that she needed her sunglasses.

Of course she did.

Apparently you cannot properly enjoy an October afternoon without the correct accessories.

So she got her boating sunglasses, and we headed outside.

I love these beautiful fall days when the weather is comfortable enough that we can spend time outdoors without worrying about everybody getting too hot or too cold.

Especially after a morning of schoolwork.

Sometimes everybody just needs to get outside for a while.

Making Chick-fil-A Work After Dental Work

We also had a little bit of a challenge with dinner tonight.

One of my boys had some dental work done this week, and he’s still having a difficult time eating.

And of course, tonight was Tuesday.

Which means violin lessons.

My mom often takes some of the kids to violin on Tuesdays, and she usually brings Chick-fil-A back for everybody.

And my son was absolutely determined that he was going to eat his Chick-fil-A.

The problem?

Chewing is a little tricky right now.

So I took his chicken and chopped it into the tiniest little pieces.

And I mean really, really tiny.

Basically, I did everything I could to make it easier for him to eat without having to do much chewing.

And it worked!

He was able to enjoy his Chick-fil-A with everybody else.

Prepping Tomorrow’s Chicken Tonight

After dinner, while I was putzing around the kitchen, I decided to get ahead on tomorrow’s cooking.

Because the next two days are going to be busy.

We have school tomorrow.

We have a piano lesson.

We have an eye doctor appointment.

And Thursday is our regular homeschool co-op day, which means a full day away from home.

So I wanted to do as much as I reasonably could tonight.

First up: the chicken breasts from Costco.

I pulled out the whole package and got everything prepped.

I like to trim and portion my chicken breasts before marinating them, making sure the pieces are a relatively even thickness so they’ll cook more evenly.

Then I put everything into a large bowl and made a very simple marinade.

My Everyday Chicken Breast Marinade

This is one of those marinades I make when I want flavorful chicken that can be used for lots of different meals.

Nothing too sweet.

Nothing too spicy.

Nothing with such a strong flavor that you’re committed to one particular cuisine.

Just good, versatile chicken.

I used:

• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Italian seasoning
• Smoked paprika
• A splash of red wine vinegar

That’s it.

I tossed everything together until the chicken was thoroughly coated, then covered it and put it into the refrigerator.

I really do think that letting chicken breasts marinate overnight makes a noticeable difference in the flavor.

Chicken breasts are so lean that I like giving the seasoning plenty of time to work.

And the nice thing about this particular combination is that the finished chicken will work with almost anything.

I can serve it with pasta.

Slice it for sandwiches.

Chop it for salads.

Put it into wraps.

Add it to rice bowls.

Or just reheat it with vegetables for an easy dinner.

I love having a big batch of neutrally seasoned chicken ready to go.

It gives me options.

And options are exactly what I need during a busy week.

Getting Tomorrow’s Focaccia Pizza Started Tonight

I also decided to prep my focaccia pizza dough tonight.

Because tomorrow, I really don’t want to be trying to make dinner from scratch in between appointments.

I’m using my regular half-sheet-pan focaccia pizza method.

Not the shortcut version I experimented with last week.

This time I’m doing the full process.

I mixed the dough and worked through the stretches and folds tonight.

Then I put it into the refrigerator for an overnight rest.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll pull it out, transfer it to my oiled, parchment-lined half-sheet pan, and gently stretch it toward the edges.

Then I’ll let it rise throughout the day.

And by dinnertime, I should have a beautiful, puffy focaccia dough ready for pizza toppings.

I love this method because most of the work happens when I actually have time to do it.

Tonight, I can spend a few minutes mixing and folding dough while I’m already in the kitchen.

Tomorrow, the dough can rise while we’re doing schoolwork and running to appointments.

And then dinner is basically just assembling and baking the pizza.

For my usual focaccia pizza, I bake it in a hot 475°F oven, checking that the thick center is fully baked.

It makes such a good family dinner.

And hopefully we’ll have leftovers for Thursday, too.

Because Thursday is going to be another busy day.