Our Week in Meals #25

Good morning, and happy Sunday to you! We had another very full week around here, which means it’s time for a roundup of Our Week in Meals.

For those of you who are new to the blog, 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. With that, let’s back up to where we left off last weekend…

Easter started early on Sunday (at 5:55 a.m.!) with baskets, a quick breakfast, and an egg hunt in the yard!

Casey’s only goal was to find The Golden Egg!

We then drove an hour south to my parents’ house for…another egg hunt (this time, with money inside)!

Lunch was PERFECT. Mom had a beautiful spread of honey baked ham, roasted turkey, rolls, French bread, potato chips, salad, fruit, veggies, potato salad, and deviled eggs.

We were in charge of dessert! Casey helped me make the cake, which you might remember from last week’s post. It wasn’t necessarily the prettiest cake ever (we ran out of frosting on the sides and it started to sink), but it certainly tasted delicious! I don’t even want to think about how much sugar my kids consumed over the course of that day!????

We came back to our house mid-afternoon, so dinner was simple and fast that night. Keith grilled barbecue chicken thighs while I baked biscuits and prepared a Caesar salad.

Then, just like that, it was back to school on Monday!

Spencer and I took advantage of a rainy day and spent the morning in Charlottesville at Costco. It’s not my favorite errand, but I had put it off for a couple of weeks so we were in major need of some re-stocking!

We made it home in time for lunch — a hotdog for Spencer (his favorite!) and leftovers for me. This was a big tub of my mom’s leftover salad from Easter lunch, which included berries, spiced pecans, and poppy seed dressing. I topped it off with some of the grilled pork tenderloin and veggie kabobs from Saturday night’s dinner. It was kind of a weird mix, but it tasted good. When I was still hungry afterwards, I finished off the last of the bag of my favorite popcorn!

The rain cleared up late afternoon, just in time for Casey’s soccer game.

Spectators.

Dinner was more Easter leftovers — eaten picnic style on the sidelines at the 5:30 game! I made leftover ham and Swiss sandwiches,

served with Mom’s fruit salad and a big tub o’ pretzels.

Tuesday was a very routine day — busy, but nothing too exciting. I walked with my friend Amanda in the morning while Spencer was at preschool, and before Keith took Gibbs to soccer practice in the evening we all ate an early supper. On the menu? This oldie-but-goodie Slow Cooker Beef Barbecue!

Keith was working from home that day and every time he walked in the house he commented on how good the barbecue smelled. It’s seriously delicious, and this meal is always a big hit. I served the boys’ barbecue on sandwiches, while I stuffed my barbecue in a baked sweet potato. We all had salad and sliced apples on the side. Quick, easy, and perfect for a weeknight when we were rushing out the door again to practice. This is also a nice option if you work in an office all day because it has a very long cook time (8-10 hours on low).

The rain returned on Wednesday, so Spence and I were happy to have indoor plans that morning. We headed over to my friend Mollie’s house to meet her new baby! We also brought along a bag of food for the family (because seriously…is there anything better than a home cooked dinner when you’re taking care of a newborn?!).

I included my Whole Wheat Banana Bread for breakfast; my Chicken Poppy Seed Casserole for dinner + a Kale Salad + a baguette; and Black and White cookies from the bakery at Costco.

Baby Miles is 100% perfection (as all babies are)!????

Keith was gone that evening for dinner, which usually means that the kids and I eat something very simple (like spaghetti or breakfast food!). This time, though, I was testing a new recipe for the blog and we were able to enjoy the leftovers. We had these Chili-Rubbed Pork Chops, which turned out even better than I had hoped, along with some brown rice (that I microwaved) and leftover salad from the night before.

After a Board Meeting at the preschool on Thursday afternoon I squeezed in a hair cut before picking the older boys up from school. We don’t have any fancy hair salons here in Madison, but this is the beautiful view that I get to look at while I’m getting a trim. I’ll take it!

Since I knew that I would be out of the house all day, I planned an easy dinner to use up the leftovers from Tuesday night. I took the extra Beef Barbecue and turned it into beef barbecue quesadillas. Served with corn, chips, and salsa!

Friday isn’t normally a school day for Spencer, but this week we joined his preschool buddies for an Earth Day field trip at The Market at Grelen.

We inspected the plants at the nursery and went for a short hike.

Of course, the highlight for the kids was the homemade chocolate ice cream that they enjoyed for snack!

In other exciting news from the afternoon, Keith brought a few loads of firewood home from our friends’ farm. Spencer was thrilled, and he spent hours helping Dad do “jobs.”????

While the boys were busy outside, I baked a batch of blueberry streusel muffins,

as well as a quiche before picking up the older two boys from school. I found this frozen whole wheat pie crust in the natural foods section at Kroger not long ago and I knew that it would be the perfect base for a quiche to use up the last of our leftover Easter ham.

I added some baby spinach that I had on hand and then finished it off with about 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese that I grated over top. It was delicious, and I’ve been enjoying it for breakfast and lunch over the past couple of days.

Here’s the recipe in case you want to give it a try!

Ham, Spinach and Cheese Quiche

Prep: 10 minutes minutes

Cook: 40 minutes minutes

Total: 50 minutes minutes

Servings 8

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk or cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup diced cooked ham
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or other type of cheese
• 1 9-inch frozen pie crust, thawed

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a blender, combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
• Place spinach and ham in the pie crust. Pour egg mixture over top. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
• Bake quiche for about 40 minutes, or until egg mixture is set.
• Slice into 8 wedges and serve.

Author: The Seasoned Mom

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Dinner that evening was a simple meal to take advantage of some kitchen staples. I had half a jar of marinara sauce in the refrigerator that needed to be used, plus meatballs in the freezer. Spaghetti and meatballs was the end result!

The rain held off on Saturday morning long enough for both of the older boys to have their soccer games.

This is how Spencer entertains himself for a few hours on the fields…

We came home for lunch and I made a quick batch of our favorite No-Bake Blueberry Almond Energy Snacks. They’re such an easy grab-and-go option, and we’re still not tired of them!

The rest of the rainy, cold day was spent indoors with some major spring cleaning. We moved some beds around in the house so that Spencer could graduate from a toddler bed to a regular full size bed. That involved a lot of cleaning, sheet-changing, and toy sorting in the process, and it consumed our entire afternoon. Not fun, but such a sense of accomplishment when everything was done!

Keith was in charge of the hamburgers for dinner, which we served with baked potatoes and salad. We took advantage of the grill in spite of the crummy weather!

I’ll leave it there for the week as I head off to enjoy another (rainy) Sunday. Have a great Sunday, friends!