Our Week in Meals #281

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week we welcomed April with fresh flowers, crazy wind and storms, and a fun new book. All of the highlights, 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…

I met two of my friends for a walk at Mollie’s farm on Sunday morning,

and came home to bake a batch of peanut butter blossoms for a sweet treat that afternoon.

Keith and the boys did yard work, we took another short walk, and eventually pulled together a delicious Sunday supper.

Keith thawed a couple of steaks to grill, but Spencer and Gibbs really wanted fried shrimp, so we had a combination of “surf n’ turf.” That shrimp is one of the kids’ favorite dinners, and I haven’t made the recipe in months. It was definitely a hit! You can see the video of me preparing the shrimp on Instagram Reels here.

We paired the steak and shrimp with baked potatoes,

one-hour dinner rolls,

and a Caesar salad. Then finished the evening with cookies, March Madness, and US men’s soccer on TV!

It looked like spring on Monday morning, but it definitely felt like winter out there.

I walked the dog to my neighbor’s farm to pick up eggs for the week, and then had a quiet work day at the house while the boys were in school.

Gibbs and Spencer both had soccer practices that evening, so we ate a very early supper before heading out the door for a (cold) night on the fields. I made sheet pan garlic and herb pork tenderloin with vegetables,

plus corn sticks on the side.

Tuesday was my day to get a lot of cooking and photographs done while the house was quiet. I walked with my friend Ashley in the morning, and then spent many, many hours in the kitchen before it was time to get the kids.

We had an easy 4-ingredient enchilada casserole for dinner,

which I paired with corn, chips, salsa, and homemade guac.

Wednesday included a stop at Yoder’s Country Market to pick up a birthday gift for a friend, computer work, and an afternoon walk with Mollie.

We ate an early dinner before Gibbs’s soccer practice that evening: Dutch oven chicken,

plus succotash (using frozen corn and lima beans, since we’re not quite into fresh corn season yet!),

and a basket of 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits.

It was such a pretty, golden sunset…

…and fortunately Teddy was willing to pose for photos!😉

I snuck in a walk on Thursday morning before the rain, storms, and wind passed through, and then it was a wash-out for the rest of the day.

The weather wasn’t ideal for outdoor sports practices (both of which were canceled), but it was good for reading! I finished another novel by the author duo known as Christina Lauren, The Honey-Don’t List. This was a fun romantic comedy with a predictable-yet-happy ending. I wouldn’t call it fine literature, but it was a light, entertaining story, and it would make perfect spring break or summer “beach read” material! Here’s the summary from Amazon:

Carey Duncan has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and—more than anyone would suspect—has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There’s only one problem: America’s favorite couple can’t stand each other.

James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus.

Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses’ secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along—and start playing for keeps—they may have the chance to build something beautiful together…

Keith was at a concert with his brother that evening, so I kept dinner simple for myself and the kids: a 4-ingredient baked salmon recipe that they love, along with rice and steamed broccoli.

Friday morning was devoted to a long list of errands in Culpeper,

…and a not-so-glamorous drive-thru lunch from Panera before heading back to Madison for an afternoon walk with my friends. I tried the new Mexican Corn Chowder with a baguette on the side, and I was so pleasantly surprised. The soup was cheesy, spicy, and delicious! I need to recreate this one at home…

We had some leftover chicken to use up in the fridge, so I made my brother’s old recipe for 10-minute buffalo chicken wraps. For a similar meal that’s not spicy, you can use barbecue sauce instead of the buffalo wing sauce, and try grated cheddar cheese in lieu of the blue cheese. We paired the wraps with chips and fresh fruit for an easy, low-key meal to end the week.

Then it was Saturday! We had multiple soccer games on the agenda, so Keith and I split up to get everyone where they needed to be. Casey played down in Nelson County (right near my parents’ house), so he had a full cheering section on the sidelines: his parents and his brothers, plus both sets of grandparents!

We had a late lunch at my parents’ house after the game, and then drove back home to Madison for the evening.

Dinner looked like take-out cheese pizza, followed by Final 4 basketball on TV.

That’s all for now, friends! Thank you for joining me here today. I hope that you’ve found some new meal inspiration for your table in the coming days. Have a great week!