Another Saturday, Another Cart Full of Real Food
Saturday morning I loaded all four boys into the car and we made our weekly run to Costco. If you’ve never taken four boys between the ages of 6 and 15 to a warehouse store on a weekend morning, I’ll just say it’s an adventure in patience and gratitude. But we made it home with a cart full of whole ingredients, quality proteins, and a few smart snacks — and I’m genuinely excited about what we’re cooking this week. Let me walk you through what I grabbed and why.
The Proteins: We Don’t Mess Around
With four growing boys, protein is always the foundation of our grocery haul. This week I stocked up on several packages of bacon, a big pack of fresh beef strips, a beautiful set of steaks for a weeknight dinner, and some wild-caught salmon. I also grabbed a package of grass-fed ground beef that is going to pull double duty this week. On top of that, the Kirkland Chewy Protein Bars and the Quest Protein Bar variety pack are going straight into the snack rotation — my older boys especially burn through these after sports and outdoor time. The Carolina Protein Snack Mix and the Archer jerky round things out for after-school snacking when someone walks through the door absolutely starving at 3:30 in the afternoon. Every single time.
The Produce and Fresh Items
I try to keep our produce simple but versatile. This week I grabbed a large pack of Tanimura & Antle romaine lettuce, a container of Earthbound Farm organic baby arugula, and a small clamshell of organic cherry tomatoes. These three items are going to show up in at least two dinners and several lunches this week. I also picked up a couple jars of Kirkland organic chunky salsa and some diced tomatoes — pantry staples that make quick weeknight meals come together in minutes. The Polly-O string cheese is an easy win for the younger boys’ lunch boxes, and the hummus gives us a clean, satisfying snack option alongside the romaine leaves.
The Pantry Additions That Make Cooking Easier
A few items this week are what I call “cooking infrastructure” — things that don’t star in a meal but make every meal better. I grabbed two bottles of Chosen Foods avocado oil spray, which I use constantly for roasting and searing. Two bottles of Palemon lemon juice will go into dressings and marinades all week. The Kirkland Montreal Steak Seasoning is a household staple at this point — it’s on practically everything we grill or roast. I also picked up three cartons of heavy whipping cream for coffee and for a couple of recipes I have in mind. The Kirkland Style Blend Cheese and two blocks of cheese round out the dairy. And yes, the Batassos Gluten-Free Four Cheese Pizzas are in the freezer for a Friday night when nobody wants to cook. That counts as meal planning too.
Recipe 1: Bacon & Arugula Steak Salad
This one has become a genuine family favorite and it comes together faster than you’d think. I season the steaks generously with Montreal Steak Seasoning and sear them in a hot cast iron pan with a quick spray of avocado oil. Once they rest and slice thin, they go right over a bed of baby arugula and chopped romaine. I top the whole thing with crispy bacon crumbles, halved cherry tomatoes, and a handful of those Kirkland whole cashews for crunch. The dressing is dead simple — lemon juice, avocado oil spray, salt and pepper, shaken together. My 15-year-old loads his bowl like it’s a competition. My 6-year-old gets his steak sliced extra small and usually eats more bacon than anything else, which feels about right. This salad easily feeds all six of us from the large lettuce pack, and it’s the kind of meal that leaves everyone genuinely full and satisfied without that heavy, sluggish feeling afterward. That matters to me — I want my boys fueled, not weighed down.
Recipe 2: Open-Faced Taco Toast on Good Seed Bread
This one is a weeknight hero in our house. I brown the grass-fed ground beef in a skillet with Montreal Steak Seasoning until it’s deeply caramelized, then I toast slices of the Good Seed thin-sliced bread. Each slice gets a smear of hummus as the base, then a generous scoop of seasoned ground beef, a spoonful of chunky salsa, diced tomatoes, and a blanket of the Kirkland shredded cheese blend melted right on top under the broiler for two minutes. I throw a few leaves of arugula on top for freshness right before serving. The bacon crumbles can go on for extra texture if someone wants them — and in this house, someone always wants them. What I love about this dinner is that every boy can customize his own toast. The younger two keep it simple. The older ones pile it high and add hot sauce from the cabinet. Dinner is on the table in under 30 minutes, which on a Tuesday night is a genuine blessing.
Recipe 3: Sheet Pan Salmon with Sweet Potato Fries
Midweek we’ll do the salmon alongside the organic sweet potato fries on a sheet pan. A spray of avocado oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a dusting of Montreal seasoning on everything. The salmon and fries roast together at 400°F and come out perfectly in about 20 minutes. I serve it with a simple side salad of arugula and cherry tomatoes dressed with lemon and avocado oil, and the chunky salsa makes a surprisingly fresh and vibrant topping for the salmon itself. This meal is balanced, colorful, and the boys actually eat it — which after 15 years of parenting I’ve learned is the only metric that truly matters.
Grateful for Another Good Week
Every week I’m thankful we can fill this cart with real, nourishing food for our family. Feeding four boys well is a responsibility I take seriously, and it’s also one of the great joys of being their dad. I’m looking forward to cooking alongside them this week and sitting down together at the table each night. That’s what this whole thing is really about.
