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Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week we celebrated Easter, logged many hours on the sports fields, basked in the warm, sunny spring days, and finished a great book. All of the highlights, along with each of our 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 Easter, and our morning got off to an early start (as usual) with a sunrise egg hunt in the yard and baskets for the kids.
As I mentioned in last week’s post, I set a dinner table in anticipation of hosting 7 kids and 9 adults…but as we all know at this point, plans can change!
Thanks to Covid exposures, some our family members decided that it was safest not to come, while the rest of us enjoyed a socially-distanced Easter dinner outside — picnic-style. It all tasted good, no matter the location!
After a full day of fresh air, the boys and their cousins were exhausted…
My mother-in-law brought a honey-baked ham, Keith grilled salmon,
and we also had green bean casserole, a green salad, Watergate salad, bacon-wrapped asparagus, potato salad,
and a bread basket with buttermilk biscuits, dinner rolls, and lemon poppy seed bread.
Plus my mom’s bunny cake, a carrot cake, and a key lime pie for dessert!
Thank goodness we had such beautiful weather all weekend, because Monday was a total washout with nonstop rain. Other than a quick trip out to pick up my weekly groceries, I stayed dry inside and got work done at the computer. I do have a great book to share with you, though!
I finally got to The Winemaker’s Wife by Kristin Harmel, which a number of blog readers have recommended over the years. It’s been awhile since I picked up WWII historical fiction (it can be heavy, and while I love it, I also need to take breaks), and this was a great way to return to the genre! Here’s the summary from Amazon:
Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade. As the danger mounts, Michel turns his back on his marriage to begin hiding munitions for the Résistance. Inès fears they’ll be exposed, but for Céline, the French-Jewish wife of Chauveau’s chef de cave, the risk is even greater—rumors abound of Jews being shipped east to an unspeakable fate.
When Céline recklessly follows her heart in one desperate bid for happiness, and Inès makes a dangerous mistake with a Nazi collaborator, they risk the lives of those they love—and the vineyard that ties them together.
New York, 2019: Recently divorced, Liv Kent is at rock bottom when her feisty, eccentric French grandmother shows up unannounced, insisting on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive—and a tragic, decades-old story to share. When past and present finally collide, Liv finds herself on a road to salvation that leads right to the caves of the Maison Chauveau.
The boys’ soccer practices were canceled, so we had a low-key evening at home. I took advantage of the holiday leftovers and served ham biscuits (my favorite with a drizzle of honey!) and ham and cheese sliders for supper, along with the extra green bean casserole, potato salad, and Watergate salad. If you’ve got some leftover ham in your fridge or freezer too, you might like to use it in this cheesy pasta dish, in a baked omelet, in these scalloped potatoes, in this soup, in a Virginia ham salad, or in this pasta salad. So many options!
The sun returned on Tuesday, which made us all very happy. In fact, the boys were outside playing basketball by 7:00 a.m. before school — tired of being cooped up!
My time was largely devoted to cooking and photography in the kitchen, followed by a short afternoon walk prior to school pick-up.
Casey had soccer practice that evening, so I made another easy dinner that we could serve at different times depending on our various schedules: Sloppy Joe’s,
plus pasta salad on the side.
Wednesday was another routine work and school day. I sat at the computer all morning, and then met my girlfriend for an afternoon walk.
Casey and Spencer had soccer practices that evening, and Keith had a late work meeting, so we all ate an early supper before I drove the boys to Orange and Keith got on his call. Constant juggling is the name of the game!
On the menu: Sheet Pan Smoked Sausage and Potatoes,
along with roasted cabbage (which I just added to the oven with the sausage and veggies).
Scenes from Thursday…
With two more soccer practices on the agenda that night, I prepped an easy beef enchilada casserole for an early supper, which we paired with corn, tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, and seasoned black beans. Then back out the door to the fields!
I took Gibbs to a dentist appointment on Friday morning,
and met Mollie for a walk that afternoon.
I made one of the boys’ favorite dinners that night — French bread pizzas,
which I served with sauteed kale. And then it was the weekend!
Saturday was totally consumed with the kids’ soccer games — from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., with a short break for lunch at home mid-day.
I was in no shape to cook dinner when we finally returned to the house, so Keith picked up subs from a local restaurant, and we called it a night! This was my tasty chicken cheesesteak…
So there you go: another week of easy dinner ideas! I hope that you’ve had a great weekend, and that you’ve found some inspiration for your table in the days to come. Thank you for being here!
Hey, Blair
I love your dump and bake recipes, especially the pork chops. Very tastey with ingredients I would never have thought to mix together.
But here is my cooking challenge. My husband is diabetic and I’m needing some dump and bake low carb recipes. Do you have anything like that in your repertoire?
Hi, Teresa! Clearly we love our carbs around here, so I’m no low-carb expert (hah!), but maybe these ideas will work for you?
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/dump-bake-healthy-chicken-parmesan/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/salsa-chicken/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/ranch-chicken-with-bacon/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/bratwurst-recipe/ (omit the potatoes for your husband, if necessary)
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/chicken-cacciatore-recipe/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/crack-chicken/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/swiss-steak/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/baked-salmon-recipe/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/baked-italian-shrimp/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/mexican-shrimp/ (not a dump-and-bake dinner, but super quick, easy, and healthy)
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/beef-tips/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/mississippi-pot-roast/
– https://www.theseasonedmom.com/sheet-pan-low-country-boil/
Hope that helps!
Thanks, Blair
I am out of town but can’t wait to get home so I can follow your links and try those new recipes. Thanks so much. I will follow up when I can.
Teresa
Safe travels, Teresa! I hope you find some tasty new recipes to try! 🙂
Good Morning, Blair. My book club read The Winemaker’s Wife. I also liked that book. I love historical fiction. Some do not like when books bounce back and forth in different time periods but I enjoy reading about different generations and then how they merge together at the end.
Last month I read an historical fiction book that also did that.
The Last House on The Street by Diane Chamberlain. It goes back and forth between the early to mid 1960’s and present day. I liked this book a lot. It kept me guessing throughout the entire book!!!
Have you heard of Atlantic Beach Pie? It started with a chef in Chapel Hill. He must have a connection with Atlantic Beach, NC because that’s what he called his pie. It is a lemon pie just like your Key Lime only with lemon… whipped cream on top, and to be Atlantic Beach Pie, it MUST have the saltine cracker crust. There is a store in Morehead City, NC ( which is just across the bridge from Atlantic Beach) that sells Atlantic Beach Pie. They are so good!! I will be making your version in my future!!
Have a nice week.
Hi, Debbie! Thank you for that book recommendation. I’ll definitely add it to my list!
Yes, I’ve heard of Atlantic Pie (but I’ve never had it), and I used it as inspiration for the key lime pie. I thought the saltine crust would pair so well with the lime filling, since it reminded me of a salt-rimmed margarita.
Most recently, I made the pie with a traditional homemade graham cracker crust and that was also a huge hit. Basically, you can’t ever go wrong with key lime pie!
Blair,
I made your one bowl carrot cake for Easter dessert and it was amazing!! I’ve never made a carrot cake before, but I will definitely make this one again and would try making it into a 2-layer cake the next time to try something different. It was easy and so delicious. The frosting taste, consistency and volume was also perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that, Krista!
Good morning, Blair! I’m more and more back on board, cooking wise, after my move. I’m glad to see super simple cooked vegetable recipes like the roasted cabbage which can be frozen. I don’t eat as much as I used to and I really can’t eat raw or lightly cooked vegetables very well because I am missing some teeth. It will be so useful to have some recipes I can cook and freeze in small portions and thaw one at a time. I wanted to ask you your opinion about instant pots. I think the time has come to buy one because this is New Mexico and we are going to have blistering hot days and I really don’t want to heat up the house any more than I can help. I would love to be able to make things like barbe cued meats. But I’m wary because I’ve always been scared of pressure cookers. Do you recommend a particular brand or model? Thanks.
Hi, Marion! I’m definitely no expert on either of those appliances, but I can try to help. I’ve used the Instant Pot some, but I find that I lean more towards the slow cooker (because I like to be able to prep everything in the morning and then not have to fuss with it when the busy evening rush happens), or the Dutch oven (which I can use on my stovetop or in the oven). That said, if you want to purchase an IP, I would go with the original Instant Pot brand. I’ve found that a lot of recipes are specifically written for that particular device, which means that you’ll likely have to make some subtle adjustments if you’re using a different brand. Not a game-changer, but just a convenience thing.
I don’t have any opinions on a specific brand/model of air fryer. Since I’m cooking for a large family, I found that the air fryer just wasn’t big enough to cook the quantity that we needed in a single batch. The air fryer would probably be perfect for a smaller household, though!
Glad that you’re back to cooking again! 🙂
Likewise, what are your thoughts on air fryers? Any recommendations on brand or model?
Oh my goodness!!
Your photos are so beautiful and I just pretend I’m there in them and enjoying God’s most beautiful creations! I love the wonder of nature. But…………, the purple blooms you have photographed are so wonderful. Believe it or not I’ve been trying to find out what flowering plant this is! Can you tell me what it is? I would appreciate any help you can give me! Thanks for all you do on your blog!!
Jan
Thank you, Jan! I’m so glad that the photos bring you as much joy as they bring me. 🙂
To be honest, I have no idea what type of flowers those are. They’re growing in the grass along my neighbor’s yard that I walk past sometimes — like a carpet! Maybe some other blog readers can chime in if they know the variety. They’re so vibrant and beautiful.
It looks like phlox, which covers my front slope like a blanket this month (in Central VA). Your photos are so wonderful Blair. Love, Aunt Barbara
Yes, Aunt Barbara! I think that’s what it is! It’s on the Peachey’s front slope at this time of year, too! Thank you! 🙂