Our Week in Meals #124

Good morning, and happy Sunday! We had another busy week around here, complete with good food and plenty of sunshine. I’m sharing all of the highlights from the past few days, along with our easy 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…

I met my friend Mollie for a hike in the woods bright and early on Sunday morning.

We had the most beautiful spring day here in Virginia!

After lunch, I took the younger boys up to Culpeper for their swimming lesson while Keith and Gibbs went on a hike together.

Post-pool caramel iced coffee (for me) and strawberry Coolattas (for them)! Dunkin Donuts is literally right across the street from the rec center, so…

I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting through the kids’ clothes, pulling out the warmer weather shorts and tees, and packing away the items that they’ve outgrown. It’s such an overwhelming task each season, but I’m always glad when it’s done, too.

Dinner was a favorite around here! I wanted a classic Doritos Taco Salad, but I know very well that my boys don’t consider a salad to be a complete meal (even when it includes chips and beef!).

So I served the salad on the side for them, and also made a batch of Baked Taquitos to go along with it. Everyone was happy! I’ll share the full salad recipe soon, because it’s just about the easiest, most delicious bowl of goodness that I’ve had in a long time (and a total throwback to my childhood in the 80’s!).

Monday morning started with a pretty sunrise before I dropped the kids off at school and met my friend at the gym for a strength class.

We played outside that afternoon,

worked on reading,

and enjoyed an early dinner before soccer practice. I served a 5-Ingredient Ham and Noodle Casserole, which I prepped earlier in the afternoon and then just baked at mealtime. Keeping it as simple as possible around here!

I headed over to Main Street for a dentist appointment on Tuesday morning. I love my dentist, but man — this task ranks high on my list of least favorite “adulting” activities! So glad that’s done with for another 6 months…

I stopped at Yoder’s on my way home, where I grabbed the deli meat and cheese that I went in for, along with a still-warm loaf of sourdough bread straight from the oven (!!!), three-bean salad, fresh strawberries, oriental rice cracker snack mix, chocolate-covered graham crackers and lemon fry pies. I never know what I’ll come home with when I stop in that store!

I served a new recipe for Dump-and-Bake Swiss Steak for dinner that night, along with mashed potatoes on the side. I’ll share the steak recipe soon, so stay tuned!

It was a sunny but cool evening, and since we didn’t have any sports practices to rush off to, we spent a little time outside…

…and then came in to watch the 1960 classic, The Swiss Family Robinson! Gibbs recently read the book, so he wanted to watch the movie as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Casey and Spencer were willing to sit and watch it too — at least for a few minutes. That rarely happens!

Wednesday was pretty routine, including a quick hike with the dog in the morning, a strength training class at the gym, and a stop in the grocery store to pick up carrots and cucumbers to send in for Spencer’s class on Friday.

I dragged Spencer with me to my haircut appointment that afternoon before we picked up the older boys from school. Look at the view from my hairstylist’s chair…

We had 3 different soccer practices on the agenda that evening, and Keith was out of town — which meant a quick, easy dinner for the four of us at 4:45 p.m.!

I pulled out my panini press and made a Ham, Brie and Apple Panini for myself (using cheddar instead of Brie, since that’s what I had), along with regular grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids. Served with fruit and potato chips, I always love this meal!

Then it was a mad dash to make it to practice on time! Getting all 3 kids fed, dressed in their equipment, and out the door in time for a 5:30 practice is no joke!

I made a batch of Fannie’s Frosted Lemon Bars on Thursday morning to share with the kids’ teachers.

While the bars cooled, I met my friend for a hike in the woods, and then returned home to add the frosting and sprinkles to the lemon bars. Definitely one of our favorite spring treats!

It was another beautiful afternoon! We spent plenty of time in the yard since there were no sports practices on the agenda.

Dump-and-Bake Salsa Chicken was on the dinner menu! I enjoyed my chicken and salsa in a big salad, while the boys tucked it into taco shells.

Then we were back out the door for Casey’s 2nd grade spring performance. I’m not sure that Casey was thrilled about being on stage, but the kids did a great job!????

I had an annual checkup at my doctor in Charlottesville on Friday morning, so my mom came to meet Spencer when he arrived home from school at lunchtime.

While in town, I got my car washed (thank goodness!) and picked up a lunch bowl to-go from my favorite quick Mediterranean spot, Mezeh. This was loaded with all of the goodies, including falafel, eggplant caponata, roasted veggies, hummus, pickled onions and plenty of Tzatziki sauce on top — plus a side of soft, warm pita bread!

After school, Mom treated everyone to ice cream at the Tastee-Freez.

Perfect Friday treat to kick off their spring break!

This was the Birthday Cake Oreo Shake!

We had my 20-Minute Linguine with Clam Sauce for supper, which I served with green beans and garlic breadsticks.

Saturday was an unusually quiet day at home, spent taking care of laundry, working in the yard, and playing in the sandbox.

I pulled some wild caught cod fillets from Costco out of the freezer, so we grilled those for dinner. I used my favorite grilled salmon recipe to prepare the fish, but substituted the cod in place of the salmon. On the side we had brown basmati rice, three bean salad from Yoder’s and coleslaw.

And that’s all I’ve got, friends — another week of easy dinners, which hopefully provides some new ideas for your family in the week ahead. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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