Wednesday: Crispy Pancakes, Exploding Pizza Dough & Dinner Prep That Paid Off

Got up this morning, and before I even thought about breakfast, I headed to the refrigerator to pull out my focaccia pizza dough.

Remember that dough I mixed last night?

Well, apparently I underestimated just how much it was going to rise.

The dough was practically exploding out of the bowl.

I had used a glass bowl that was entirely too small for the amount of dough I made.

Thankfully, Tuesday night I realized this might become a problem, so I wrapped the bowl in plastic wrap.

And thank goodness I did.

Because otherwise I think I would have opened my refrigerator this morning to find focaccia dough making its way across the shelves.

Note to self: Use the bigger glass bowl next time.

But the dough itself looked fantastic.

It was fluffy, bubbly, and exactly what I wanted to see after an overnight rise.

My One-Minute Morning Pizza Prep

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

And this is why I love it so much.

All the actual dough-making work happened last night.

I mixed everything, did the stretches and folds, and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator.

So this morning?

I grabbed my half-sheet pan.

Added parchment paper.

Drizzled on some olive oil.

Pulled the dough out of the bowl and plopped it right into the pan.

Covered it.

Done.

Less than a minute of work.

I didn’t even worry about stretching the dough all the way to the edges immediately.

I just let it settle into the pan and gave it time to relax and rise.

Then I put the pan on a shelf in my dining room, where it could sit undisturbed throughout the day.

And that’s it.

Dinner was already well underway before we’d even eaten breakfast.

Which was a good thing, because Wednesdays are busy around here.

We Finally Ate the Pancakes!

And then I remembered something very important.

The pancakes.

THE PANCAKES.

The ones I made on Saturday.

The ones I forgot about on Monday.

And then forgot about again on Tuesday.

Well, today was finally their day.

Most of the kids were perfectly happy to have their pancakes warmed up in the microwave with butter and maple syrup.

But one of my boys had a special request.

He likes waffles.

Specifically, he likes crispy waffles.

He loves a good crunch.

And leftover pancakes from the refrigerator are not exactly known for being crispy.

So I decided to try something.

My Crispy Leftover Pancake Hack

I took a couple of the leftover pancakes and tore them into large chunks.

Not tiny pieces.

Just big, irregular pieces with lots of exposed edges.

Then I spread them out and put them into the oven.

And it worked!

The edges crisped up beautifully.

Instead of a soft, slightly soggy reheated pancake, he had these little crispy pancake pieces.

Almost like pancake bites.

And because I tore them instead of leaving them whole, there were so many more edges to get golden and crunchy.

He loved them.

So there’s your little leftover pancake trick.

If you have a kid who prefers crispy waffles but you’ve got pancakes sitting in the refrigerator, try tearing the pancakes into chunks and crisping them in the oven.

It’s such an easy way to change the texture without making an entirely new breakfast.

And, most importantly, the pancakes are finally gone.

Wednesday Means Co-op Lunch Prep

After breakfast, we got started on school.

And because it’s Wednesday, that also means I have to get everything ready for homeschool co-op on Thursday.

One of those jobs is packing our PlanetBoxes.

I’ve talked about these before, but I really do love them.

We have a whole collection of the Rover PlanetBoxes, and I’ve been using them for years.

In fact, I bought our very first one when my now-16-year-old was in kindergarten.

And here’s the amazing part.

I couldn’t even tell you which one is the original.

They’ve held up that well.

After years of lunches, washing, packing, unpacking, and being hauled back and forth to co-op, they still look great.

Over the years, we’ve also accumulated quite a collection of the magnetic toppers that go on the lids.

And my four-year-old has appointed herself the official PlanetBox magnet coordinator.

A Very Important Job for the Four-Year-Old

She absolutely loves this job.

I pull out the lunchboxes and the collection of magnets.

Then she goes through all the different designs and asks each of her five siblings—including herself—which magnet they want on their lunchbox.

She sorts everything out.

Matches the magnets to the boxes.

And makes sure everybody has the one they picked.

It’s a whole production.

And she takes it very seriously.

I love giving her little jobs like this.

It’s something she can do independently, it genuinely helps me, and she feels like she’s contributing to our co-op preparations.

Plus, it keeps her happily occupied while I’m packing lunches.

So I got the PlanetBoxes filled and ready for tomorrow.

One more thing off the list.

Lunch Was Another Refrigerator Platter

For lunch today, I pulled out the last of the grilled chicken thighs from Sunday.

We also had a little cooked sausage left in the refrigerator.

So I decided to make platters.

This is one of my favorite ways to use up smaller amounts of different foods.

I pulled out:

• Grilled chicken thighs
• Cooked sausage
• Hummus
• Crackers
• Cheese
• Cut-up vegetables
• Fruit

And everybody made a plate.

Nothing needed to match.

Nobody needed an elaborate lunch.

We just used what we had.

And that’s another batch of cooked chicken completely finished.

A Beautiful Afternoon Outside

The weather was beautiful again this afternoon.

So we spent quite a bit of time outside playing.

And I was very happy about that because we had a full day ahead of us tomorrow.

But I was also trying to figure out some more food options for one of my boys.

He’s had dental and orthodontic work done this week, and eating has been a challenge.

He’s hungry.

He wants to eat.

But chewing certain foods is difficult right now.

So I’ve been trying to come up with things that are soft enough for him to manage.

Which brings me to today’s Cream of Wheat experiment.

Cream of Wheat and the World’s Most Ridiculous Box

I bought Cream of Wheat.

I haven’t personally bought Cream of Wheat as an adult, but I remember having it as a kid.

And I thought it might be a good option for my son while he’s having trouble chewing.

So we made some and everybody gave it a try.

He’s not a huge fan yet.

But I think I can experiment with the preparation and flavors a little bit to see if I can make something he likes.

However.

Can we please talk about the packaging?

Because WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE CREAM OF WHEAT BOX?

It literally tells you to press here for easy opening.

And you push in this little cardboard flap.

And then what?

You just have an open hole in your box?

How are we supposed to close this?

How are we supposed to store it?

I remember these boxes from childhood, and I cannot believe we’re still doing this.

We’ve managed to invent all sorts of incredible kitchen gadgets, appliances, and food packaging.

But apparently the Cream of Wheat box is still operating with the same cardboard flap situation from decades ago.

I started talking about it on Instagram Stories, and the response was hilarious.

Apparently I’m not the only person who finds this completely ridiculous.

So many people agreed.

I feel like someone in the packaging industry needs to explain this to me.

Because surely we can do better.

Another Soft Food Win: Tiny Pasta Shells

Thankfully, I did find another food that’s working really well for my son.

Pasta.

Specifically, those extra-small pasta shells.

I purposely overcooked them a little bit so they’d be nice and soft.

Then I warmed them with some butter.

And because the shells are so small, they’re much easier for him to manage.

Dinner Was Practically Done Before I Started Cooking

By the time dinner rolled around, I was so happy I’d done all that prep yesterday.

Because today had been busy.

Schoolwork.

Co-op preparation.

Lunches.

Outdoor play.

Trying to find soft foods plus an eye dr appointment for one kiddo.

And everything else that happens on a Wednesday.

But remember that focaccia dough I put into the pan this morning?

It had been sitting on the shelf all day.

And by dinnertime, it was beautifully risen and fluffy.

Exactly what I wanted.

So all I had to do was preheat the oven and add the pizza toppings.

It took me less than five minutes to get the pizza ready for baking.

Less than five minutes.

And we had homemade focaccia pizza for dinner.

This is why I love making the dough the night before.

You do the work when you have time, and then you let time do the rest.

Grilled Chicken in Under Ten Minutes

But pizza wasn’t the only thing on the menu.

Remember all those chicken breasts I marinated Tuesday night?

I pulled those out and grilled them while the pizza was baking.

And here’s another little trick.

I had already trimmed and sliced the chicken breasts into thinner, smaller pieces before marinating them.

So they cooked incredibly quickly.

I’m talking less than ten minutes on the grill.

Obviously, cooking time depends on the thickness of your chicken, and I always make sure it reaches 165°F internally.

But when you cut the chicken into thinner pieces, it cooks so much faster than trying to grill enormous, thick chicken breasts.

And because it had been marinating overnight in olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, it had plenty of flavor.

I didn’t need to do anything fancy.

Just get the grill hot and cook the chicken.

Meanwhile, the pizza was baking.

And dinner came together beautifully.

Three Containers of Chicken and Half a Pizza

After dinner, I packed everything away.

And I had to laugh because this is exactly the kind of refrigerator situation that makes me happy.

I now have three glass containers full of grilled chicken.

And about half of a homemade focaccia pizza left over.

That is a lot of ready-to-eat food.

And tomorrow is Thursday.

Which means we’re going to be gone at co-op all day.

We’ll come home tired.

The kids will be hungry.

And I probably won’t feel like spending an hour making dinner.

But now I don’t have to.

We can reheat pizza.

Make chicken salads.

Turn the chicken into wraps.

Warm it with pasta.

Or just pull out whatever sounds good.

I have options.

And I did the bulk of the work Tuesday night, when I had a little extra time.