Our Week in Meals #328

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week we enjoyed warm, spring-like temps, I was on TV, and we traveled to Williamsburg for another soccer tournament. All of the highlights, along with each of our dinners, are included in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

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.

Before I jump into this week’s post, I wanted to share the link to my most recent TV cooking segment, which aired this past Friday. You can watch the full segment HERE.

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

Sunday was a gorgeous, warm, and sunny day. My friend Adria came over for a walk in the morning, and then I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen. I prepped a loaf of homemade focaccia bread to have with dinner that night, and also helped Gibbs with a baking project that he wanted to try.

He found these blue sugar cookie ice cream sandwiches in his Star Wars cookbook, so that’s what we did! They were essentially sugar cookies with blue coloring, vanilla ice cream, and galaxy sprinkles. Not bad!

Unfortunately, Casey had a fever that day and felt pretty crummy, so he missed his soccer practice. At least I could take Spencer to his hockey game that afternoon…

And for supper, Keith grilled our favorite 15-minute salmon,

which we paired with the focaccia bread, a box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice, and sauteed zucchini. Plus Gibbs’ homemade ice cream sandwiches for dessert!

Let’s chat about this week’s books! I’ve read quite a few of Ruth Ware’s novels, and they’re always very well done. She has a gift for creating quick-paced, mystery-thrillers that will keep you turning the pages, and In a Dark, Dark Wood was no exception. Here’s the quick summary from Amazon:

What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.

Sometimes the only thing to fear…is yourself.

When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods.

And I finally read Snowed In for Christmas by Sarah Morgan, which had been on my library holds list for months. I would have loved to read this during the holidays, but it was still a cozy, entertaining story — no matter the season!

Monday was the President’s Day holiday, so the whole family was home from work and school.

Adria came over again to join me for another walk, we took care of some errands and house chores, and otherwise had a fairly quiet day at home.

I served an early supper before hockey practice that evening, which included baked rigatoni, a green salad with red wine vinaigrette, and the leftover focaccia from the night before. Since the rigatoni recipe makes a large batch, I divided it between two smaller pans and froze the extra for another day. Two meals for one effort, which will definitely come in handy when our spring sports ramp up again in the coming weeks. It’s so nice to have prepared meals ready for us in the freezer!

I made a batch of lemon poppy seed muffins on Tuesday morning for an early-spring treat to match the warm, sunny weather.

After a quick walk with Keith, I worked on editing photos at the computer, prepared a batch of biscuits to have with supper that night, and then jumped on a Zoom call for a good chunk of the afternoon.

We had garlic and herb roasted chicken thighs that evening,

along with drop biscuits,

and a cucumber dill salad.

Keith snapped this beautiful photo of a rainbow at sunrise when he stepped outside on Wednesday morning!

I broke from my work late morning for a walk up the road, and then made a stop at my favorite antique shop in Ruckersville after lunch.

I feel strongly about furnishing our new addition with period-appropriate antiques that suit our 100+ year-old farmhouse and the furniture already inside. Blending the old with the new! I had good luck with a chest of drawers and a pie safe that particular day, so I’m making good progress…

I made skillet shrimp fajitas for dinner that evening, which we paired with rice, black beans, corn, tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole.

It was 80 degrees on Thursday, so I took advantage of the beautiful day by starting the morning with a walk at a nearby park with my friend Mollie.

Before heading home, I stopped at Yoder’s for a few groceries, and then spent the bulk of the afternoon working at the computer.

Dinner was really simple, since I just thawed and baked an extra chicken and stuffing casserole from the freezer.

We paired the casserole with steamed broccoli and a loaf of my easy one-bowl pumpkin bread (always a favorite with the kids)!

No practices on the schedule that night, but lots of soccer in the yard!

I joined my friend Ashley for a walk on Friday morning,

and then helped Casey and Keith get off for their trip to Williamsburg. Casey’s playing with the Virginia State Team in a tournament on Saturday and Sunday, so they left town on Friday (and missed work and school!).

Meanwhile, Spencer and I took Gibbs to golf that afternoon, and then came home to enjoy “breakfast for dinner.” On the menu: these oldie-but-goodie oatmeal pancakes, which are a heartier, more satisfying twist on the classic recipe, as well as crispy bacon and fresh berries.

Spencer, Gibbs, and I left the house early on Saturday morning to join Keith and Casey in Williamsburg for the day. It was rainy and cold — not exactly good playing or spectating weather — but we survived! In between Casey’s two games, we did some very quick outlet shopping…

…and joined my parents for lunch at an Italian restaurant, where our pizza slices were bigger than our heads!

Casey has a third soccer game today, so they stayed at the hotel for another night. I brought the other two boys home last night so that Spencer can play in his hockey game this afternoon.

After a long, chilly, damp day, all I wanted for supper was a skillet of cornbread with some apple butter (the boys just wanted turkey sandwiches)! I paired the cornbread with leftover bean soup that I had picked up at Yoder’s earlier in the week, and called it a night.

So there you go — another week of easy dinners! I hope that you’ve found some new ideas to add to your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, thank you for letting me know when you try my recipes, and thank you (always!) for your kind words and support. Have a wonderful Sunday!