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Good morning, and happy Sunday!❤ We’ve been enjoying snow days, Valentine’s treats, and plenty of cozy, cold-weather comfort food recently. 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.💕
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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…
We woke up to a little bit of snow on Sunday, but that didn’t last long and it melted quickly as the sun came out. Definitely made for a cozy morning, though — and the boys even squeezed in a few quick sledding runs!
An afternoon walk…
Since it was Super Bowl Sunday, we planned a fun dinner menu complete with some of the best finger foods for snacking: Fried Chicken,
and veggies with Spinach Dip. We obviously spent the evening in front of the TV with the fire roaring!
Spencer returned to school on Monday morning, while the older two boys stayed home to do their virtual learning.
Keith and I had a meeting with our architect later in the day, so I dragged Gibbs and Casey along with us and “bribed” them with heart-shaped donuts from the Dunkin’ drive-thru (plus a mocha macchiato for me) on our way out of Culpeper.❤
We had meatloaf for dinner,
along with mashed potatoes and peas,
plus classic farmhouse oatmeal bread on the side. Comfort food!
The older boys and I ran a couple of errands on Tuesday morning after Spencer went to school, finished their online classwork, and then my parents stopped by for a visit and to deliver some Valentine’s Day goodies.
My mom made these Peanut Butter Blossoms, but used Dove chocolate hearts instead of the Hershey’s kisses. They were perfect!
I had a PTO meeting on Zoom that evening, so we ate an early supper of Sheet Pan Shrimp Tacos with slaw,
plus corn, tortilla chips, and homemade guacamole. This family loves taco night — especially now that I bought everyone these taco holders!🙂
I’ve got another great book to share this week, too. Quite a few of you have recommended The Last Flight by Julie Clark over the past year, so I finally grabbed a copy and cruised through it. I can see why so many of you loved this one! Such a fun thriller (without feeling scary or keeping me awake at night), and a great plot twist. This book will definitely keep you turning the pages…
We went from sunny and 60 degrees on Tuesday, to cloudy, cold and rainy on Wednesday — with snow in the forecast.
The kids were all at home for virtual learning, so we spent on our morning working on school projects — like building a model of an animal cell with donuts for 5th grade science, and making rafts for a penguin in a bowl of water for a 1st grade sink-or-float science activity. Never a dull moment this year…
We had Crock Pot Smothered Pork Chops for dinner…
…along with Arkansas Green Beans and rice.
Thursday was rainy, nasty and cold, so I didn’t leave the house except to drop off Valentine’s gifts for the teachers at school around lunchtime. I had a quiet day to myself, so I took full advantage and just focused on work.
We had Baked Ziti with Sausage for dinner (but omitted the asparagus from that recipe since I know the boys prefer it without any added veggies!).
On the side, I served homemade garlic bread…
…and a spinach salad.
We woke up on Friday morning to another 1-2 inches of snow, which was just enough to cancel school for the day — but not so much that we were stuck at home.
I took the boys to the sledding hill at the primary school for some fresh air, and then we headed up to Culpeper for a few errands — poster board for one of Casey’s projects, bagels at Panera, and lunch at the Chik-Fil-A drive-thru.
Dinner was the perfect snow day meal: Farmhouse Chicken and Noodles! I simmered the pot on the stovetop all afternoon, which had the added bonus of making our house smell really cozy. We had a baguette that I bought at Panera earlier in the day as well — ideal for dipping in the broth!
Saturday was a wash-out, with sleet and freezing rain all day long. We stayed close to home and entertained ourselves indoors with movies, card games, and work on Casey’s school presentation. I also baked the kids some Valentine’s Day cupcakes!
We had the usual Saturday night pizza, followed by an early bedtime.
Today we’re celebrating the holiday with some chocolates and gifts for the kids this morning, plus a special dinner for the whole family tonight. We’ve got mussels, homemade bread, filet mignon, Caesar salad, and chocolate pound cake on the menu! Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week ahead!💕❤
Happy Valentines Day, Blair.
Read your Farmhouse Chicken. I have another idea for you…
I have many friends in southeastern North Carolina and one of their “to go to” recipes is Chicken and pastry.
Made similar to your Farmhouse.
When the chicken is done and the broth is strained you add homemade pastry.
For pastry:
Mix 2 cups flour and 1 cup water.
Divide into 3 balls.
Put one ball on a well floured cutting board and roll to about 1/8 inch thickness. Use as much flour as you need so it doesn’t stick. Cut into strips about 1/2 inch wide and 3 inches long. Repeat with other 2 balls.
Bring broth to boiling and and add strips one at a time. Once all strips are in, then add your cut up chicken.
Simmer until most of the broth is absorbed or until you think it’s thick enough. I cut up my chicken before adding the strips so I can just dump it in after the last strip goes in. The flour on the strips helps thicken the broth.
Instead of a whole chicken my recipe says 3 large chicken breasts with bone in and skin on.
To make it easier for me, I use skinless boneless breasts and cook them in one of those 32 oz. boxes of chicken broth.
If cooking in just water, you may want to add bouillon cubes to taste.
We love this!!
However Mark does not like it.
Just an idea if you want to try something different.
I loved the “ red herrings” she put in The Last Flight. I really thought the man driving her to tv studio was a bad guy… but he was not sent by her husband… keeps you on ups and downs!!
Thanks, Debbie! Your chicken and pastry sounds a lot like classic chicken n’ dumplings! I’ll have to try that soon. 🙂
And yes — thank you for the book recommendation. Such a fun read, and I passed it along to my mom (who also enjoyed it). Have a great week!
Happy Valentine’s Day Blair!
I think Baked Ziti with sausage sounds like a good idea today (It snowed here last night). Thank you!
But I’m with the boys about the cooked asparagus. I never liked that vegetable until a few years ago when I had it raw for the very first time. I never knew it could be eaten raw until then. Now I do look forward to it every Spring. They had bunches of less than pencil thin stalks the last time I was at the store. Although I won’t be including them inside the casserole, fresh raw ones will be great on the side!
I hope your day is sweet, full of love & peaceful Blair. Thank you for sharing your talent! I appreciate you!
That sounds like the perfect snow day meal, Kris! 🙂 Hope you have a happy Valentine’s Day as well. Thanks, as always, for your kind note!