Our Week in Meals #430

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included sick days, snow days, easy meals, and sweet treats. You’ll find all of the highlights from the past few days, along with each of our dinners, in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Our Week in Meals is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our dinners each night. This series gives you a glimpse “behind the scenes” at some highlights from our life, shows you how I balance a busy schedule with feeding my family, and offers a few new ideas for your own weekly meal plan.

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

Spencer had an indoor soccer game in Charlottesville on Sunday morning,

and we had fried chicken and biscuits for lunch with Keith’s parents afterwards.

I made baked bbq chicken thighs for supper,

which we paired with Jiffy cornbread with creamed corn, baked potatoes, and a winter salad.

Let’s chat about books! I finally read Ina Garten’s memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, which Keith’s mom gave me for Christmas. It was wonderful! I loved learning more about this inspiring, strong woman and her relationship with Jeffrey.

Unfortunately, Spence came down with a stomach bug on Sunday evening, so he was home from school on Monday. He felt good all day, so at least it was short-lived!

While playing “nurse” to Spencer, I also had a dentist appointment, took the dog for a walk, and tackled many loads of laundry.

We had 15-minute honey garlic shrimp for supper, along with rice, steamed broccoli, and frozen egg rolls.

Tuesday was sunny and 70 degrees, so I took advantage of the spring-like weather and got out for a golf lesson that morning.

I also walked the dog and made a quick stop at Yoder’s for some weekly staples. Stars of the show this week included these salted dark chocolate caramel hearts…

…and a coffee cake that’s almost identical to this easy cinnamon coffee cake with cake mix.

Dinner that evening looked like Mom’s easy red beans and rice recipe,

paired with tortilla chips, salsa, this easy guacamole, and sauteed peppers and onions.

Wednesday was an odd one. I thought that I would have a fairly busy day out and about, but instead I had a quiet one at home.

Casey was home sick from school, my friend had to cancel our walk because she wasn’t feeling well, and the dog groomer canceled Teddy’s appointment because her daughter was home sick from school. Clearly there are a lot of germs going around right now!

I made crescent roll stromboli for dinner and served it with potato chips and veggies with ranch dip on the side. This would be perfect for a Super Bowl party tonight!

We woke up to ice and freezing rain on Thursday morning, so schools were canceled.

The kids and I went to the Blue Ridge Cafe for lunch while we waited for our power to come back on. We love this spot! A jumbo pretzel with queso to start,

followed by a Greek chicken salad,

and chocolate lava cake to share at the end.

I know it’s totally ridiculous, but Teddy recently got a backpack for those times when we walk farther than his little legs can carry him. The best part is that my teenagers have no shame in carting him around (there are carrots and apples in the side pockets for the horses, too)! haha!

In spite of the wintry start to our day, it warmed up nicely throughout the afternoon, which meant that Casey and Spencer could still go to their golf lessons.

I simmered a pot of the best spaghetti sauce recipe on the stovetop for a few hours earlier in the day, so that a quick meal would come together easily once we returned home. Is there any better snow day supper that spaghetti with meat sauce?! We also added a Caesar salad and garlic knots on the side.

Friday morning was dedicated to errands in Culpeper, Pilates with Adria, and a quick stop for coffee while in town.

It was warm enough for a mocha cookie crumble Frappuccino — which, let’s be real, is basically a chocolate milkshake!

Gibbs played golf after school, and we had Crock Pot turkey Sloppy Joes, pickles, and French fries for supper once we returned home.

Plus salted chocolate chip cookies for dessert, which I baked earlier that afternoon.

More freezing rain on Saturday meant another day spent largely indoors, with plenty of puzzles, reading, and college basketball on TV. Keith and the boys did get outside to clean up some tree limbs that came down in the ice storm earlier in the week…

We were ready for a change of scenery by dinnertime, so we headed to Pancho Villa in Culpeper for fajitas, enchiladas, chips, salsa, and margaritas. Casey also discovered the beauty of a virgin strawberry daiquiri!

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy dinner ideas! I hope that you’ve found something new to add to your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Super Bowl Sunday!