Our Week in Meals #471

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included soccer, basketball, golf, baking, and a Friendsgiving celebration. 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 and I were still in North Carolina for his soccer tournament on Sunday. He played a game that morning, and then we hit the road to get back to Virginia around lunchtime.

One of the other moms took this picture of Teddy on the sideline hanging out in his tote bag (since he’s not supposed to be on the turf) and posted it in the team chat. He’s the official team mascot, and he loves it! hahaha

Keith was in charge of supper that night, and he had oven bbq chicken on the menu! Plus baked potatoes, yeast rolls, and salad. It was so nice to not have to worry about cooking as I unpacked and did laundry!

Since Spencer’s fall soccer season is officially over, our weeknights look slightly less chaotic these days (I was ready for a break!). With no kids’ activities on the calendar that night, I made pasta with Italian sausage and spinach for supper,

as well as a skillet of no-knead focaccia and steamed and buttered green beans on the side. Bread baking is so much more appealing in the cool-weather months…

For dessert, I made another batch of chocolate chip cookies, since most of the cookies the week before went to Spencer’s soccer team. These always disappear fast…

Tuesday included a walk with Mollie on a damp, gray morning, followed by another day of work at the computer.

Before Casey’s late soccer practice that evening, we had baked chicken thighs for supper,

along with creamy baked mac and cheese and a side salad.

The sun returned on Wednesday!

I enjoyed a walk,

and used the leftover chicken from the night before to make my Yoder’s-style Southern chicken salad for lunch.

Yet again, we had another early meal before Casey’s soccer practice that night. On the menu: the easiest burrito recipe…

…along with rice, tortilla chips, pico de gallo, and guacamole.

Thursday was cloudy and gray…

I met Ashley for a walk with our dogs, and then came home to prepare a batch of my flaky biscuits for some updated photos. These biscuits continue to be incredibly popular, and they use a very easy method for creating those stacked, flaky layers — perfect for beginners.

We had a clear night on the calendar, so I made million dollar baked spaghetti for dinner…

…along with pull-apart garlic bread and a side salad. Quick note: if you want to make a smaller batch of the garlic bread for a family (rather than the full bundt pan which is great for a party or holiday), you can bake a half recipe in a loaf pan.

I went to Pilates on Friday morning…

…and then came home to take some recipe photos. I was updating the pics for my easy chicken enchiladas, so that’s what Keith and I had for lunch!

I stuck dinner in the slow cooker that afternoon, knowing that I would be out of the house all evening. Then it was off to Gibbs’ golf,

and home to Crock Pot ranch chicken sandwiches for supper.

Plus the Arkansas green beans I prepped earlier in the day and some potato chips on the side.

And that brings us to the weekend! Spencer had basketball on Saturday morning,

and I made fried shrimp for lunch (one of Gibbs’ favorites).

We went to a Friendsgiving celebration that our friends were hosting that evening, and my contribution was a pan of easy banana pudding. A dessert that my kiddos request regularly, and it always disappears…

The rest of the spread included so many other delicious options like turkey, ham, green bean casserole, collards, franks and beans, broccoli salad, sweet potatoes and apples, pasta salad, corn dip, pumpkin roll, pie, and so, so much more.

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy dinners! I hope that you’ve found something new to add to your own table in the days ahead. Have a wonderful Sunday and a very happy Thanksgiving!