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Hey, hey! Happy Super Bowl Sunday to you, friends! I hope that you’ve had a great week. Are you ready to play a little bit of catch-up to see what we’ve been up to and what we’ve been eating over the past few days? It’s time for another round-up of Our Week in Meals!

For those of you who are new around here, this is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our meals each night. I hope that 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. Shall we back it up to last weekend?

After lunch on Sunday I took the younger two boys into Charlottesville to run errands. Casey needed to buy a birthday present for his friend, so Toys R Us was our first stop. I avoid going in that place at all costs, but we were on a mission to find very specific Star Wars figures that I couldn’t get online. I considered it a huge success when we made it out of the shop with the gift, no tears, and just a few Pez candy dispensers for my three boys!

We also made a quick run through Costco, which we hit right at prime time for free samples. The boys literally ate their way through the entire place, devouring croissants, meatballs, animal crackers, beef short ribs, rice cakes, potato chips and about a zillion other things. It was basically lunch #2.

And dinner that night was another round of our favorite Roasted Chicken. You can find my general recipe in last week’s post (here), but this week I cooked two chickens since Keith was home. This is seriously one of his Top 5 favorite meals that I make, and we enjoy the leftovers all week long.

I served the chicken and roasted veggies with dinner rolls on the side. So good!

We woke up to about 1/2 an inch of snow on Monday morning, which was enough to shut down Central Virginia and cancel schools for the day.????

I lit a candle and tried to stay cozy indoors (while the boys were roughhousing/bickering/whining about being bored)!

For lunch I used some of the leftover chicken from Sunday night to prepare my Healthy 4-Ingredient 4-Minute Chicken Taco Rice Bowls. These are a great option for dinner, too — especially when you just want something easy that serves 1 or 2 people.

I wanted to bake a batch of cornbread to have with dinner,

so a couple of assistants joined me. We loved that mix, by the way.

Later that afternoon we headed to Charlottesville for Gibbs’s annual checkup at the pediatrician. Since I knew that we would be gone until dinnertime, I planned a Crock Pot meal that would be waiting for us when we arrived home. This Slow Cooker White Chicken & Quinoa Chili was perfect for the cold evening.

The boys all went back to school on Tuesday morning, so I spent time at the house getting work done before picking up Spencer at lunchtime.

I had leftover chili with cheese and avocado for a quick midday meal,

and played outside with this little guy in the afternoon.

We also did some artwork, which inevitably means ALL THE GLUE!!!

And then later that evening, just as I was putting the kids in the bath before dinner, I noticed that Casey’s upper arm was red and swollen where he had a flu shot the day before. I called the pediatrician right away, and of course they wanted to see him. So, we packed up and headed back into Charlottesville for a 45-minute drive to the doctor’s office. Fortunately it was just a severe allergic reaction and not an infection. Never a dull moment with this crew!

We got home late, so I was glad that dinner was quick and easy. Earlier in the day I had prepped a new recipe for the blog (coming soon): Healthy 4-Ingredient Chicken Quesadilla Casserole. I just had to heat it in the oven before serving. This was a great way to use up the leftover chicken from Sunday night, and it was such a hit with the family!

Wednesday morning was spent at home with Spencer, where I got some work done, had a conference call for a work project, and planned our meals for the coming week.

After lunch Spence and I met my friend Mollie for a walk outside to take advantage of the warmer temps before heading over to the school to pick up the older boys.

Gibbs is officially the world’s most serious 1st grader. My mom gave him the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series for Christmas, and he has recently started putting on these FAKE glasses to read a chapter each morning and afternoon.????

Keith was out of town that evening, so the kids and I enjoyed Breakfast for Dinner! We had my 3-Ingredient Healthy Cinnamon Banana Pancakes,

along with berries and this chicken sausage that I sauteed in a skillet. Keith doesn’t think that pancakes qualify as “dinner,” so we seized the opportunity to have them while he was gone!

I went for a walk with my girlfriends on Thursday morning, and then picked Spencer up from the preschool at noon. We headed straight to Harris Teeter for a grocery pick-up, and then treated ourselves to a dessert date next door at Sweet Frog. Our favorite!

His and Hers.

For dinner I pulled out one of my dump-and-bake freezer meals (recipes coming soon). This was the Turkey Meatball and Tortellini Soup, which I served with garlic bread on the side.

Spencer accompanied me to a doctor’s appointment in Charlottesville on Friday,

 and then we met my mom and Aunt Barbara for lunch afterwards at Jason’s Deli. Love that salad bar!

Aunt Barbara recently renovated her kitchen and came across my grandmother’s vintage tin recipe box — with recipe cards included! I’m going to have fun sorting through these and trying the meals that look good. I can tell you right now, though — there are a lot of recipes for mousse, molds, and souffles that probably won’t make the cut!

Casey’s current favorite afternoon snack:

For dinner I prepared an old blog favorite: Healthy Chicken Chow Mein. This is a great 20-minute dinner that’s perfect for weeknights (and kids love it, too)!

On Saturday morning we drove south to visit my in-laws at their mountain house. We had lunch,

Bagel sandwich with ham, turkey, provolone, avocado, lettuce, and tomato.

and then we headed outdoors to get some fresh air. Casey and Spencer wanted to go for a hike, so I took them out on the golf course to collect acorns and to hunt for “gems.”

Meanwhile, Keith and his dad took Gibbs to the ski slopes for snow tubing. It was really cold, but at least it was sunny and not too windy.

The kids were hungry all afternoon, so they were thrilled with all of the “fun” snacks that their grandmother had for them (and that I don’t normally buy). I think they each ate about 3 bowls of Froot Loops (among other things)!????

We stopped by my parents’ house for dinner on the way home. My dad grilled this Cedar Plank Salmon and my mom served it with Caesar Salad and a baguette. It was the perfect dinner to end the day.

Pro Tip: My mom made a glaze for the salmon that was based on my recipe for 4-Ingredient Maple Glazed Salmon, BUT she totally upped the game! She swapped out the soy sauce and replaced it with BOURBON. Holy YUM. I need to recreate that soon!

And that brings us to Sunday! Keith has his Super Bowl pool set-up for betting, and I’ve got nachos on the menu for dinner. I hope that you have a wonderful week, and stay tuned tomorrow for a new tasty pasta recipe!

blair

Hey, I’m Blair!

Welcome to my farmhouse kitchen in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Inspired by local traditions and seasonal fare, you’ll find plenty of easy, comforting recipes that bring your family together around the table. It’s down-home, country-style cooking!

Read More

Square overhead shot of hands serving a chicken pot pie recipe with biscuits
Overhead image of a bowl of chili mac on a dinner table with cornbread
Hands serving a platter of sheet pan sausage and potatoes

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Comments

  1. You’ve had a delicious week! Both that roast chicken and quinoa chili look so good! I’ll have to give them both a try. I’m glad your little guy is ok after his flu shot reaction!

  2. I love al fresco chicken! our go to for breakfast or adding to meals. Gosh, looks wonderful, you’re a super mom!

    1. Isn’t that funny…I think of you when I roast a chicken! I know that you prefer the chicken over turkey at Thanksgiving, and I’ve just never forgotten that! 🙂

  3. Your boys are seriously the cutest – and I love that Gibbs has to have his glasses on to read. Whatever gets them reading, right? 😛

  4. I love your blog. What a wonderful life you have. Your recipes are so inspiring to eat healthy and your boys are so adorable.
    I look forward to reading about your weekly adventures.

  5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid was one of my son’s favorites books. His other, The Adventures of Captain Underpants. He even handed them down to his sister!
    How can you go wrong with a book called… Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants. They are very well reviewed.

    1. Oh, Jill! That’s such a great suggestion — my boys would love the Captain Underpants books! I had students who read those books when I was teaching school, but I had completely forgotten about them. Potty humor is the way to a boy’s heart. 🙂

  6. Just found your blog and I am in love!!! Looking at this week of fun and food made me feel like “girl, you can do this!” Also the meals you have on here make me feel better just looking at them, let alone eating them. My family has been in a rut (ok, let’s be honest I have been in a rut) when it comes to healthy eating. Which then turns into me just not wanting to do anything about dinner and then we end up eating out way more than we should. I am always stressed and looking over healthy meals for my family, but all the ones I find tend to be time consuming or something my family won’t eat anyway. I cannot say thank you enough. Now off to make one of your meals for dinner tonight.

    1. Brittney! You just made my day!!! My ultimate goal is to show other crazy-busy and stressed out parents like myself that it’s possible to get dinner on the table most nights…even if it only requires 5 minutes of prep. And it’s also fine to get carry-out pizza sometimes — no guilt allowed! 🙂

      I hope that you find plenty of other easy ideas on the blog to get you out of the mealtime rut. Thank you again for taking the time to leave me a note. I love to hear from readers like you!