Sunday: Costco Sticker Shock, Silver Spring House Leftovers & One Last Summer Dinner

Got up this morning and the kids finished off the last of the donuts my dad brought over yesterday.

So the donuts officially lasted about 24 hours.

But there are five kids eating donuts around here. I think 24 hours is actually a respectable showing.

I also made a fresh batch of bacon to get us through the next couple of days, and then I headed to Costco.

How Did This Costco Trip Cost So Much?

I really didn’t buy that much meat today.

For protein, I bought:

• Chicken breasts
• Chicken thighs
• Ground beef

That’s it.

Normally the meat is the part of the Costco cart that makes me wince, but today it was everything else.

We were low on basically every fruit and vegetable, so I did a major produce restock. And it felt like every single package of fruit or vegetables was at least six or seven dollars.

Then add toilet paper, baby wipes and all those other Costco things that aren’t technically groceries but somehow make the receipt terrifying.

Expensive trip.

I’m also trying to think ahead a little because I’ll be out of town next weekend, and Chris will be home with some of the kids. So I’m purposely stocking things I know they’ll actually eat and trying to make sure the house is in good shape before I leave.

Still.

That total hurt.

Turning Last Night’s Restaurant Leftovers Into Lunch

When I got home, lunch was basically a complete Silver Spring House leftover clean-out.

We always seem to come home from there with a ridiculous amount of food, which I am not complaining about.

My teen had leftover BLT pizza.

I pulled off the old lettuce and tomato before reheating the pizza. The bacon, cheese and rest of the pizza reheated perfectly, and then she added fresh lettuce and tomato back on top.

A little ranch for dipping, fruit and vegetables on the side.

Excellent leftover pizza.

We also had crispy chicken tenders and fries, so I put those onto a big tray and reheated them.

I didn’t think there was quite enough protein for everyone, so I pulled out some of the Costco ham from Friday night and crisped up a few slices of that too.

Those Costco Ciabatta Rolls Got Me Again

My 11-year-old came to Costco with me today and convinced me to buy those square artisan ciabatta-style rolls from the bakery.

We probably buy them about once a month, and admittedly, they never have trouble disappearing.

They’re really versatile.

Make a sandwich.

Toast one and add peanut butter and jelly.

Turn them into garlic bread.

Make a quick snack.

My daughter immediately used one today to make herself a crispy chicken sandwich with the leftover chicken from last night.

So perhaps she was right.

Chris’s Open-Faced Leftover Sandwich

I used another roll to make Chris an open-faced sandwich.

I crisped up some of his leftover roasted chicken from Silver Spring House with a little ham, then piled that onto the toasted bread with:

• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Red onion
• Mayo
• Salt
• Pepper
• A little Italian dressing

He said it was delicious.

And then I took the very last of the Silver Spring House chicken, warmed it with some barbecue sauce and made myself a barbecue chicken salad.

And with that, all of the Silver Spring House leftovers are gone.

We still have a little ham, but everything from last night’s dinner has officially been eaten.

That’s a successful leftover lunch.

Prepping Dinner Before the Pool

Right after lunch, I started working on dinner.

Today was the last day our neighborhood pool was open, and it was around 90 degrees outside.

It’s September. I feel like I should be thinking about fall.

But if it’s 90 degrees and the pool is open for one final day, we’re going swimming.

So I leaned into it and planned one last very summery dinner.

Before we left, I cut up a watermelon and got almost everything for dinner prepped.

My Dijon Grilled Chicken

I had the big package of chicken breasts from Costco, and I marinated the entire thing.

My standard marinade:

• Dijon mustard
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Smoked paprika
• Italian seasoning

The Dijon is important to me because it helps emulsify everything into a marinade that actually clings to the chickeninstead of sliding off the second the meat hits the grill.

I also like my chicken breasts to be a fairly even thickness, but I don’t love pounding them out. I personally think it changes the texture.

Instead, I use my kitchen scissors to cut the thinner portion away and butterfly or slice the thicker pieces so everything is relatively even.

That makes grilling so much easier because I’m not waiting for one enormous section to cook while the thin end dries out.

Into the refrigerator that went to marinate.

Prep the Vegetables Now, Roast Them Later

I also took the little new potatoes from Costco and quartered them.

Those went into water to soak until dinner.

Then I chopped onions, mushrooms and peppers and put all of those into a bag with:

• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Italian seasoning

I actually like letting my vegetables sit in that seasoning and oil for a while before roasting them. I think it makes a huge difference in the final flavor.

So at this point, dinner was essentially ready to cook.

And we went swimming.

One Last Pool Day

We soaked up the final afternoon at the pool and then came home hungry.

This is when doing all that prep before we left paid off.

I got a pot of water boiling for corn on the cob.

The chicken went onto the grill.

Then I pulled out two sheet pans.

On one went the drained potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

On the other, I literally dumped out the bag of already-marinated vegetables.

Both pans went into my 425°F convection oven.

Smash the Potatoes

Convection is especially helpful here because I want moisture to get out.

I don’t want steamed potatoes.

I don’t want watery roasted vegetables.

I want browned vegetables and crispy potatoes.

About 20 minutes into roasting, I pulled out the potatoes and used the flat bottom of a metal measuring cup to smash them.

Then they went right back into the oven.

Now you’ve taken each little potato and created all these extra craggy edges that can get browned and crispy.

And my kids LOVE crispy potatoes.

Those disappeared tonight.

Completely.

Sometimes the Basic Dinner Is the Best Dinner

So tonight we had:

Grilled Dijon chicken.

Smashed crispy potatoes.

Roasted onions, mushrooms and peppers.

Corn on the cob.

Watermelon.

Nothing groundbreaking.

But it was so good.

Chris kept saying how delicious everything was, and I think sometimes that’s the reminder I need: dinner doesn’t have to be clever.

Good grilled chicken, crispy potatoes and vegetables in late-summer weather?

That works.

Starting the Week With a Stocked Refrigerator

And now I’m in a very good spot going into Monday.

I grilled the entire package of chicken breasts, so there’s plenty of cooked chicken in the refrigerator.

We have a little of the roasted vegetables left.

The potatoes are completely gone.

There’s leftover corn.

And I was able to pack an entire lunch for Chris tomorrow from tonight’s dinner.

Tomorrow I’m planning to tackle the ground beef.

We haven’t had taco meat in a couple of weeks, so I think most of it is headed in that direction.

But I also want to experiment.

I loved the teriyaki seasoning in my homemade beef sticks so much that I’m thinking about using that same flavor profile in my homemade beef summer sausage.

Teriyaki homemade beef summer sausage?

So we’ll find out tomorrow.

For tonight, the refrigerator is stocked, the Silver Spring House leftovers are gone, the pool is officially closed, and I suppose we’re finally going to have to admit that summer is ending.