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Good morning and happy Sunday! It was an odd week around here, thanks to a school break and sick kids. We definitely didn’t find our rhythm, but we did manage to eat well.😀 All of the highlights from the past few days, along with our easy dinners, are included in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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…

The sun was shining on Sunday morning, so I met my friend for an early walk before returning home to cook and photograph a few recipes.

Gibbs was still sick with a fever, so we stayed close to home and only left the house once — to drop Keith’s truck off at the shop (and to get ice cream snacks)!

We did our best to entertain the younger two boys outside, since they don’t do too well being cooped up indoors.

They splashed in the stream, built bug houses and found a snake…and then I quickly brought them inside for baths!

Since the weather was nice, Keith grilled our favorite 15-minute salmon for dinner.

We paired the fish with potato pancakes (leftover from last weekend, which I kept in the freezer) and salad.

Close up front shot of potato pancakes on a blue and white plate with sour cream and applesauce

And then I parked it on the couch, where I finished my latest book: The American Agent. This is the most recent novel in Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series, and I really enjoyed it! I haven’t read all 15 of the mysteries, but it’s nice that you can kind of jump around and still enjoy the story — even if you haven’t followed the books in order.

The Maisie Dobbs novels are really well written, fast-moving, and smart. I’m always surprised by the ending, which is fun. Highly recommend!

Gibbs was feeling better on Monday, but he stayed home to continue recovering (and not share germs) — which meant a quiet day at the house for me, too. I took advantage of the time and got a lot of work done at the computer, in addition to the regular daily chores of dog walks, laundry, and dinner prep.

Keith was working late that evening, so I made a really tasty, kid-friendly meal for me and the boys: Porcupine Meatballs, which I served with pesto noodles and steamed French-cut green beans.

Wooden spoon scooping up porcupine meatballs from the dish

Tuesday was mostly gray and wet, so I snuck in a walk before the rain arrived, and then ran a few errands in town that I had been putting off until Gibbs was better.

The boys had basketball practice that evening, so beforehand I fed everyone Cornflake Chicken with fries, broccoli and coleslaw on the side. The meal was a big hit with everyone at the table (which isn’t always the case)!

Front shot of a plate full of Corn Flake Chicken with a side of pickles

Spencer and I were up for a large portion of the night because he suddenly came down with a case of croup at about midnight. I’m pretty sure that he caught the same illness that Gibbs had the week before, so his fever lingered off and on for the rest of the week!😩 Needless to say, he didn’t go to school on Wednesday, so (once again) I was housebound with a sick kiddo. This winter needs to end!

Since I knew that I’d be home all day, I decided to go ahead and make a couple loaves of the Basic Homemade Bread recipe that I received earlier in the week from my friends at Taste of Home. It came inside the winter Special Delivery subscription box, along with a cookbook and a bunch of kitchen supplies.

I’m not an expert bread baker AT ALL, so I figured this simple recipe would be a manageable undertaking…and it was! There’s nothing difficult about the process, you just need to make sure that you allow plenty of time for multiple risings. It would be a good weekend project!

We paired the warm bread with Mustard and Brown Sugar Baked Pork Tenderloin for dinner, along with a side of sautéed spinach.

Close shot of baked pork tenderloin with mustard marinade in background

And since I’m washing my hands about every 60 seconds these days (in an effort to avoid any more illnesses), my hands have become incredibly dry and chapped. I prefer small tubes of hand cream that I can stash in kitchen drawers, in my nightstand, in my purse and in the car, so I recently purchased this set of 12 on Amazon Prime. I have been so pleasantly surprised by the quality of the cream, the light, fresh scents, and the fact that the lotion absorbs quickly and doesn’t feel greasy — so I thought some of you might appreciate the tip, too!

The boys had school off on Thursday and Friday for teacher conferences and a teacher work day, so the whole crew was home. My girlfriend came over for a walk on Thursday morning, and then I spent the afternoon at the school — meeting with the teachers and working at the Book Fair on behalf of the PTO.

I knew that I wouldn’t get home until after 5:00, so I had planned a dinner that would be ready and waiting for us in the slow cooker. We had Crock Pot Ranch Chicken Tacos, which are great served with spicy buffalo sauce, but my boys prefer them with salsa and cheese. On the side, we had seasoned black beans, tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole. Easy, fast and tasty!

Since Spencer still wasn’t feeling well on Friday, the boys and I stayed close to home again. Not exactly their idea of a fun way to spend their day off from school, but we certainly weren’t going to spread germs around town.

Our biggest outing was a walk to the pond…

We picked up Givoanna’s pizza for dinner that night, so I got the night off from cooking!

I stayed home with Spencer on Saturday morning (his fever finally broke!),

…while Keith took the older boys to their basketball game.

The rest of our afternoon included college basketball, another walk to the stream, and Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta for supper. We added French baguette and salad on the side. Delicious!

Close overhead shot of Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta in a cast iron skillet

So there you go — another week of easy dinner ideas! I hope that you found some new recipes to try in your own kitchen, too. Have a great Sunday!

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!

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  1. Oh my goodness! The homemade bread recipe is AMAZING! After I read this post, I could not stop thinking about it so I headed back to the kitchen and was surprised how easy it was. I even kneaded the dough in my kitchenaid mixer. Took about 3 hours start to finish with two rises (my dough had doubled in about an hour both times) but boy, is it worth it! And I love that I get 2 loaves for the effort. I have tried many bread recipes over the years but this one will be my new go to recipe.

    I love Taste of Home and have never had a failed recipe from their site. Thanks for bringing this recipe to our attention.

    1. I’m so glad that you loved the bread, too! I agree — it’s definitely worth the effort! I’ll have to use my KitchenAid for the kneading next time. Great tip! 🙂