Our Week in Meals #272

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included plenty of comfort food, a good book, and a little bit more snow in Virginia. 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 morning started slowly, as I stayed home with the boys to bake a loaf of bread, while Keith made the trip into Charlottesville for a rare Costco run. This fluffy, milk and honey white bread recipe will be on the blog soon!

Once the weather warmed up a bit, I met my friends at Mollie’s farm for a walk before supper.

Keith bought some beef tenderloin when he was shopping that morning, so dinner was a real treat: our favorite grilled beef tenderloin with baked potatoes, the bread that I made earlier in the day, and a house salad. Felt like we were dining out at a steakhouse!

The sun was out on Monday morning, the boys returned to school, and Keith and I got back to work.

Other than a walk up the road with the dog, my day was largely devoted to time at the computer.

We went from having 4 nights of basketball practices and multiple games per week…to zero. Thanks to Covid outbreaks, the boys’ teams are on a hiatus for the next couple of weeks, so we’ve had less-rushed, quiet evenings at home. That night I made cioppino (fisherman’s stew) in the slow cooker, which I paired with a crusty baguette. Tasty, warm, and easy!

It was a balmy 50 degrees on Tuesday, but that snow and ice was still hanging around…

I met my friend Ashley for a walk in the morning, and then had a productive work day at home.

Dinner that night was the kids’ request: my easy Bisquick waffles, paired with maple sausage and fresh fruit.

A beautiful Wednesday winter sunrise!

It was a routine day — not too much to report. I made another kid-favorite that night for dinner: 5-Ingredient Taco Casserole. Can’t beat the convenience of this simple recipe, which I actually received from a blog reader years ago! We paired it with tortilla chips, salsa, corn, and homemade guac.

Time for this week’s book recommendation! The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is one of those great mystery thrillers with a mind-blowing ending. You won’t be able to put this one down. Highly recommend! Here’s the synopsis from Amazon:

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations―a search for the truth that threatens to consume him…

I had some photos to take on Thursday morning, a webinar to attend at lunchtime, and a walk with my friend before picking up the boys that afternoon.

Dinner was our favorite slow cooker white chicken chili…

…which I paired with a pan of “secret ingredient” Jiffy cornbread (an oldie-but-goodie!).

Friday morning flew by, as my friend Ashley came over to walk, I ran a couple of errands, and then had to hustle to pick the kids up by noon.

There was light snow in the forecast for the afternoon, so schools closed early and everyone stayed safe and warm at home for the rest of the day.

The boys built Lego castles and painted cardboard boxes to serve as “bunkers” for their toy soldiers…

In keeping with the cozy evening, I made my easy Bolognese sauce for dinner, which I paired with spaghetti, garlic bread, and a Caesar salad.

We only got about 1-2 inches of snow, so our Saturday plans were not totally foiled. Since the kids’ basketball was canceled, we jumped in the car and made our way south to drop the boys off with my parents for the day.

Meanwhile, Keith and I drove west over the Blue Ridge mountains to the Allegheny mountains of Bath County, Virginia. I had purchased a table and pie safe from a local antique shop when we were visiting back in November, but we didn’t have room in the car for the furniture at that point (since we were loaded down with kids and luggage). Instead, it gave us a good excuse to go back!

Our friends happened to be in Bath County at the same time, so we met them for a kid-free lunch date at The Homestead.

I had the fried trout sandwich with slaw, plus some very crispy French fries to go with it.

We scooped up the boys, and made it back home with takeout pizza for dinner. A long, but fun day!

And that’s it for now, friends! I hope that you found some new meal inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here!