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Good morning, and happy Sunday! We’re cleaning up and recovering today after a very exciting, festive, and delicious Christmas celebration. I hope that you enjoyed the holiday with friends or family, too! 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…
Sunday was a fairly quiet day at the house. I did some cooking in the morning while it was rainy outside, and Gibbs had a friend come over in the afternoon.
There was plenty of football on TV, as well as in the yard. At one point Spencer had me taking videos of his throw (he’s determined to grow up to be Tom Brady)…😂
We’re trying really hard to gradually clean out and work through the food in our deep freezer (because it’s kind of a disaster right now), so our dinner was an odd hodgepodge of grilled salmon (because there was one small piece in there for Keith), Dutch oven beef stew (so perfect for me on a chilly night!), and grilled burgers for the kids (since there were some frozen patties tucked away). I also sauteed asparagus for us to enjoy on the side, and toasted a loaf of crusty bread. Slowly making a dent in the freezer madness!
The kids had school on Monday and Tuesday before they were off on Christmas break, so I did my best to take full advantage of the last of my quiet time.
In addition to my regular work at the computer, I visited my neighbor’s farm to pick up eggs for the week, took the dog for a walk, and then returned home to do some baking.
We needed to re-stock our Chex Mix stash, so I stirred together a batch of that…
…and also made Keith’s favorite treat: Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Paired with the dark chocolate peanut butter balls that my friend Jackie delivered that same day!
The boys all had basketball practices that evening, so we had Potato Chip Chicken Strips for an early dinner. Plus waffle fries, vinegar coleslaw, and steamed broccoli on the side.
After a chilly morning walk with my friend Ashley on Tuesday, I drove all of the way to Ruckersville (the town with the closest Starbucks) to treat myself to a white chocolate peppermint mocha. A blog reader named Kelly recommended this new-to-me drink, and I was instantly intrigued. I needed to sneak it in before the holiday.😉 Delicious!
Back home, I made a batch of farmhouse cinnamon roll dough to stash in our freezer for Christmas morning. While I had the bread flour and yeast out on the counter, I also stirred together the dough for a loaf of overnight no-knead bread. It only takes about 5 minutes!
Lunch was a cozy bowl of roasted butternut squash soup, which I thawed from the freezer in my continuing effort to use up the food that we have on hand.
Book report time! I recently read The Land of Mango Sunsets, which was recommended to me by a blog reader after I mentioned one of Dorothea Benton Frank’s other novels (Shem Creek). I really enjoyed this heart-warming story, which is light enough for a relaxing vacation read, but also addresses some more complex emotional and relationship issues. It’s not total fluff, but you’ll cruise through this one!
To celebrate the end of the boys’ school semester and the start of vacation, we had a homemade pizza night. They love this meal (not surprising!), which I served with a green salad for some extra veggies.
The boys requested Chik-Fil-A for lunch on their first day off from school, so we headed up to Culpeper on Wednesday morning. On our way to pick up lunch, we stopped at the Civil War battlefield at Cedar Mountain for a walk. Ran off some energy and enjoyed the sun!
I made a batch of saltine toffee that afternoon…
…and then Gibbs’ friend came over to join us for dinner before their basketball practice. I served the kids spaghetti, while Keith and I finished off the last of the beef chili that I had stashed in the freezer.
Plus a loaf of my crusty no-knead bread on the side!
Thursday was a cozy day at home. Knowing that we would be gone on Friday, I spent time in the kitchen getting prepared for Christmas — making gingerbread cake, cranberry sauce, corn sticks, and au gratin potatoes.
Keith was working from home, the boys were content in the yard or playing quietly, and there was a fire in the wood stove. The perfect slow day before the excitement of Christmas Eve!
I had a lone sheet of puff pastry hanging out in the freezer, so I made one of my favorite comfort food meals for supper that night: Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry, which I served alongside a green salad and a loaf of pumpkin bread.
Friday was Christmas Eve!
We drove a couple hours north to celebrate with Keith’s family for the day. Lunch was our main meal, which included my mother-in-law’s Christmas Eve lasagna, ambrosia, salad, and bread. Followed by a slice of pecan pie for me…
…and donuts for the cousins!
We made it back home right around dinnertime, so I kept the meal really simple: minestrone soup, plus leftover toasted no-knead bread.
Then Christmas finally arrived!
Friday started with gifts, of course, and we enjoyed cinnamon rolls, quiche Lorraine, and sausage for brunch mid-morning.
Highlights of the day included a tackling dummy and receiver gloves for Spencer, a soccer goal for Casey, and a flying yoke for Gibbs’ computer. Plus lots of Lego, always!
My aunt and uncle came over for a visit in the afternoon, so I set out a cheeseboard complete with candied pecans, mixed nuts, Chex mix, crackers, cheeses, sausage, jams, mustard, fruit, and assorted holiday cookies. A tasty substitute for lunch!
And last but not least, Christmas dinner! Keith grilled a standing rib roast (good thing it was almost 70 degrees in Virginia), which we served alongside pineapple glazed ham, au gratin potatoes, homemade dinner rolls, cranberry orange sauce, and a house salad.
Plus old-fashioned gingerbread cake for dessert!
Ho, ho, ho! I hope that you all had a relaxing, festive holiday as well. Thank you for joining me here today, as always. Wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year!🥂🎉🍾
Merry Christmas – one day late and best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year – 2022!
Thank you, Cathy!! Happy holidays to you!
Thank you so much for always making my week look better with all your meal ideas! This is my first year without my husband he passed the day before thanksgiving 2021. I am raising my 12 year old granddaughter who brings me much comfort. I ENJOY YOUR SITE SO MUCH!
Thank you for being my inspiration in this hard time.
Yours, Brenda Knopp
Hi, Brenda! Thank you for your kind words. It makes me so happy to know that you find some inspiration from my site. I’m very sorry for your loss. Hope that you and your granddaughter have a happy New Year! xoxo
Merry Christmas, Blair! We’ve had a Seasoned Mom Christmas–we’ve made several batches of the candied pecans and two batches of the shortbread (using gluten-free flour), and yesterday’s dinner included the easy overnight mac and cheese. They’re becoming staples for us, I’m sure. I hope you and your family enjoy the rest of the holiday season! Happy New Year!
I’m so happy to hear that! Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Blair.
An idea for your Chex Mix recipe. Maggie, Sallie’s sister put me on to this.,,, for the pretzels, use the Ultra Thin Pretzels that you buy at WalMart. For years, I felt the pretzels were just to big for the Chex Mix… even the little ones. I did find some skinny pretzel sticks at Yoders that I used for years. But then Maggie showed me the Ultra Thin ones from WalMart. Sallie had some of my Chex Mix ( she also makes tons like I make) and she noticed the Ultra Thin pretzels and asked about them. She liked them also.
Yes! Sallie gave me some mix with the pretzel crisps, too! They sell those at Food Lion and Target as well (they’re a staple in our pantry). Delish! 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and your family Blair. Our Christmas Day has been delayed because my new grandson decided to make his appearance at 12.45 am Christmas morning. I don’t think the gifts get much better than that!
Thank you for your weekly posts. Your boys are certainly becoming young men quickly. You have a beautiful family. Take care and be safe.
Merry Christmas, Donna! You’re right, there’s no better gift than a new baby!! Congrats to your family, and happy holidays!
Lots of options for Chex mix. My family loves Yoder’s sesame sticks instead of pretzels. I’ve always though all pretzels were just too big for the mix. I also eliminate the nuts as we have people who can’t eat them.
Yes!!! I just made a batch with the sesame sticks from Yoder’s last week, and it was one of my favorite versions! My neighbor turned me on to that idea and I think it’s genius.
Hi Blair! Merry Christmas to you and your family! Our holiday week has been interesting; my stove stopped working Thursday just as I had rolled out three batches of sausage balls (my family’s favorite holiday treat.) But, my air fryer saved the day (batch by tiny batch!) My plan for Christmas day lasagna was a bust, but thanks to 70 degree weather, we thawed out some ribeyes and grilled them for an unexpected Christmas dinner treat! Just goes to show, the holiday spirit always prevails despite Murphy’s Law! I’ll definitely be looking to your website and blog for holiday and New Year’s meal ideas (sans oven) this week!
Oh, my gosh — I can only imagine the stress of no stove on Christmas. Kudos to you for figuring out a solution! Happy holidays, Kim! 🙂
Dear Blair,
I made your Pineapple Glazed Ham for Christmas. Delicious! It is now my go-to recipe for preparing a ham. Thank you!
Wish you and your family a happy and healthy Holiday Season.
Kathy
That’s wonderful to hear, Kathy! Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
Thank You very much Blair for all your recipes, l do love them but unfortunately don’t do many as I would like as it would coast me a small fortune to buy the ingredients here in the UK and that’s if I could find them . Unfortunately Pembrokeshire although Beautiful is in the back of beyond. Best Wishes to You and all Your Family for 2022. Take Care from Helen .
Thank you, Helen! I hope that our meals offer some new ideas, even if you can’t follow them exactly with the limited ingredients available where you live. I appreciate you following along with us each week. Have a happy New Year!
Thank you so much, Helen. I appreciate you following along with us. Have a happy New Year!
I think Teddy looks so handsome in his plaid coat.
Thank you, Maureen! 🙂
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. So many delicious recipes to try. Can’t wait. Always love your pictures.
Thank you, Jill!
A ‘picture story’ of where you live, the foods you serve for your ‘active’ family life and the contentment of life that you share with your readers…….says a lot about your website, and what you achieve with your postings. Everything is extremely interesting. I can only think that you must have a rewarding life all year long. Your ‘seasonal’ displays of wonderful pictures are something to behold. Keep up our enjoyment in 2022 and thank you for 2021.
You are so kind, Virginia. Thank you! It’s not perfect here (nothing is, right?!), but I certainly try to focus on the good each day, and I feel very blessed for the life that we have. Thank you for following along with us each week! I hope that you have a happy New Year!
Good Evening Blair! I loved your recipe idea of the cheeseboard! I love new ideas for appetizers! I have been looking for a great gingerbread cake recipe. Thanks so much! Happy New Year to you and your precious family!! Talk to you in 2022!
Stephanie(from Wisconsin)
Thank you, Stephanie! A big cheeseboard is always a hit, and so easy to throw together. Have a happy New Year!