It’s been a busy couple weeks around here. Two weeks ago we were in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina for the first family reunion on Brian’s side since 2019. We had a great time in the ocean, catching up with family and introducing our 3-year-old to those who hadn’t met him yet. I’ve been to several of these reunions and the system of having a different pair of couples provide dinner for everyone each night seems to work really well. We, along with Brian’s cousin and his wife, prepared a baked potato/French fry bar with lots of toppings that was a hit.
We had only been back at home for a few days before the start of our church’s evening Vacation Bible School program which both of my kids attended. The sessions ran from 4:30-6:30 every night and it didn’t make sense to drive all the way to our church, come back home, and go back out to pick them up. As a result, Brian took them two days, I took them two days and we both went on Friday for the closing program. This meant late dinners, some of which I wasn’t home to prepare.
In summary: I had to be thoughtful about how to use up ingredients and plan meals that could be eaten later than normal and/or started by my husband
I intentionally ordered foods that I knew would be easy to use up or that would last while we were gone before we went on vacation. The pick up before vacation includes more seasonal staples that we were out of.
The Pick Ups (before and after our North Carolina trip):
The Plan (before and after our North Carolina trip):
BLTs & steamed beets
(something I can no longer remember) with caprese salad
brats on rolls with carrot sticks
{vacation}
pasta with grilled chicken and carrot sticks
baked sweet potatoes topped with black beans and cheese
tempeh with rice (adapted from Bon Appetit’s Tempeh Crumbles With Coconut Rice)
Zucchini and Ricotta Galette (Smitten Kitchen) with salad and chicken nuggets, for the kids
slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches with frozen French fries
slow cooker pulled pork tacos with lettuce and tomato
church picnic – we’re bringing popcorn!
pizza
Plans for Remaining Items:
lunches: caprese salad, green salad, zucchini/summer squash pizza (next week)
most of the basil was turned into pesto and frozen before vacation
