Tuesday: Peach Oatmeal, Expander Survival & A Boatload of Grilled Chicken

Got up this morning and made a fresh batch of bacon to carry us through the rest of the week.

I also made a big pot of oatmeal.

When I’m making oatmeal for a bunch of people, I almost always do it on the stovetop, and I don’t really use a recipe. It’s more of a formula based on whatever fruit is in season and whatever oats I happen to have.

My Big-Batch Fruit Oatmeal

In the summer, I’ll usually use peaches. In the winter, apples are perfect.

I dice the fruit pretty small and put it into a pot with a pat of butter, some brown sugar and cinnamon.

Let that cook for a few minutes first so the fruit starts to soften.

Then I add milk and oats. Old-fashioned oats, quick-cooking oats—it doesn’t really matter to me. The amount of liquid will change slightly depending on what you’re using, so I just eyeball everything and add more oats or milk until it’s the consistency I want.

Then I add:

• A little salt
• More cinnamon
• Brown sugar to taste

Let everything simmer together until the oats are tender and the fruit is soft.

And then I serve it with heavy cream.

This is not diet oatmeal.

I’m feeding growing kids in the morning, and I want them to actually feel full. Oatmeal with milk and cream, plus bacon on the side, gives them a lot more staying power than a bowl of plain oats.

Then we got to work on some school before heading out for the big event of the day.

Our Third Expander

One of my kiddos got an expander this morning.

This is our family’s third expander experience, so at this point I feel like I have a system.

Before we go, I do two things:

Feed them a big meal.

And I give them Motrin ahead of the appointment.

Those first 24–48 hours can be rough, and eating becomes a whole lot less appealing once everything starts feeling sore.

Daphne came along with us today, and because these appointments take a while, I brought her PlanetBox.

That worked perfectly because I could open it whenever she wanted something, let her eat a little, close it back up and keep going.

At one point she started playing with an orange slice, so naturally I had to teach her how to put it in her mouth like a giant orange smile.

That bought us some entertainment.

Turning Mediocre Fruit Into a Really Good Snack

When we got home, I made my lunch and also made a pan of my one-pan apple oat nut for my teen and me.

Except there were no apples involved today.

I bought trays of peaches, nectarines and pears at Costco, and none of them are particularly wonderful right now.

We’re at that weird point where stone-fruit season is winding down, but pear season isn’t quite here yet.

This is exactly when I like using fruit in something cooked.

I followed my regular one-pan apple oat nut method but used about half a peach and half a pear instead.

Much better use of mediocre fruit.

Taco Salad Without the Taco

For lunch, I used some of the plain ground beef I’d cooked when I made burgers on Sunday.

I heated that up and put it onto a salad with salsa.

Basically taco salad without taco-seasoned meat.

It worked.

But I was still hungry afterward, so I made another snack.

Peanut Butter Banana Rice Cake With Magic Shell

This was so simple and really good.

I took a crispy rice cake and added:

• Thin layer of peanut butter
• About 1/2 banana, sliced

Then I made a tiny batch of chocolate magic shell.

For that, just combine semi-sweet chocolate chips with a little coconut oil and microwave until melted and smooth.

Pour that over the banana and peanut butter, then put the whole thing into the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

The chocolate hardens on top and you get peanut butter, banana and chocolate, but the rice cake bulks the whole thing up enough that it actually feels like a substantial snack.

Stocking Up on Grilled Chicken

This afternoon I also marinated a big batch of chicken breasts.

I used my standard Dijon marinade:

• Dijon mustard
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Lots of smoked paprika
• Italian seasoning
• Splash of vinegar

I let that marinate and then grilled the whole batch later in the afternoon.

Again, if I’m grilling chicken, I’m grilling a lot of chicken.

And now I have a boatload of cooked chicken breasts in my refrigerator that can become lunches and dinners for the next several days.

Feeding a Kid With a Brand-New Expander

Because it’s Tuesday, my mom took two of my girls to violin this afternoon, and they stopped at Chick-fil-A on the way home.

This actually worked out particularly well today because of the new expander.

One of my biggest goals during those first 48 hours is simply:

Keep the kid full.

There are plenty of sweet soft foods.

Smoothies. Milkshakes. Yogurt. Protein shakes. Ice cream.

We’ve already done some protein drinks today.

But I think savory food is much harder.

Yesterday I purposely overcooked some macaroni and cheese so the noodles would be extremely soft. He had some of that for a snack this afternoon and could eat it pretty easily.

Then tonight I took his Chick-fil-A chicken and diced it up really, really small.

That worked surprisingly well. He could barely gum it and then swallow without having to do much chewing.

The French fries worked well too because they’re soft inside.

And here’s another thing I’ve learned after doing this three times: give them food they really want to eat.

A kid with a sore mouth may not be particularly motivated to work through a bowl of some random soft food.

Chick-fil-A?

Suddenly we’re willing to make an effort.

So between very finely diced chicken, soft fries, deliberately overcooked macaroni and cheese and protein drinks, he’s getting food in him.

That’s the goal right now.

An Easy Dinner for Everyone Else

While the kids ate their Chick-fil-A, I finished grilling all those chicken breasts.

Chris and I made salads with the freshly grilled chicken for dinner.

Simple, good, done.

And now I’ve got that entire batch of chicken waiting for me in the refrigerator.

That’s dinner insurance for the rest of the week.

Ingredient Household Chocolate-Covered Raisins

And finally, I wanted a little something sweet tonight.

No actual dessert was required.

I put semi-sweet chocolate chips and raisins into a bowl with a little sprinkle of salt.

Chocolate-covered raisins, Ingredient Household edition.

Sometimes that’s all you need.