Our Week in Meals #331

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, finished up a soccer tournament at the beach, and enjoyed plenty of quick suppers-on-the-go. 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.

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

We were still in Virginia Beach on Sunday morning for Casey’s soccer tournament, so we got an early start at the Brooklyn Bagel Shop for breakfast. We don’t have bagels in Madison (at all!), so these were a big treat. Casey was very excited about his green bagel for St. Patrick’s Day — hah!

Spencer and I headed back home to the mountains of Central Virginia, where we picked up Gibbs and the dog (who had spent the night with my parents), and made our way back to the house to unpack, do laundry, and get settled for the week ahead.

Meanwhile, Keith and Casey stayed behind in Virginia Beach to play in the championship game that afternoon (they won!).

Since it was a chilly night, and we hadn’t had a homecooked meal in a couple of days, I was ready for comfort food that evening. I made my favorite Southern meatloaf for supper,

along with 3-ingredient buttermilk mashed potatoes,

and Arkansas green beans with bacon.

I also finished a couple of great books this week! Emma Straub’s novel, This Time Tomorrow, is a delightful story about Alice, and her ability to travel back in time, change different events from her past, and ultimately see how her life as an adult would be different. It’s reminded me a lot of The Midnight Library, but not nearly as dark and sad. I really enjoyed it!

I also finished The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan, which was an interesting look at the history of the Vanderbilt family, The Biltmore, the Grove Park Inn, and the city of Asheville. Having spent quite a bit of time in that part of North Carolina, I appreciated an entertaining, in-depth portrayal of the people who transformed this part of southern Appalachia.

The boys were thrilled to have a 2-hour school delay on Monday morning, thanks to some slippery roads in the mountains.

My aunt and uncle stopped by, I took Gibbs and Spencer to orthodontist appointments around lunchtime, and I prepped an early dinner before Spencer’s soccer practice.

We had Crock Pot chicken cheesesteaks, with chips, cut up veggies, and Ranch dip on the side.

Tuesday started with a walk with my friend Ashley, and then I spent most of the rest of the day in the kitchen testing new recipes.

The construction crew was happy to serve as taste-testers, and I even had dessert for them after lunch: no-bake lemon cheesecake bars, which are similar to this recipe. I’ll share the no-bake version soon!

I took the kids to get haircuts after school, and then came home for supper. No sports on the agenda that night! We had chicken parmesan with pasta and marinara,

as well as a side of garlic bread and a Caesar salad. I’ve been putting shredded mozzarella and Parmesan on top of the garlic bread before baking it, and the boys love the “cheesy bread.”

I spent the morning with my friend Mollie, walking and talking, since we hadn’t seen each other in a week or so. Moms’ catch up time on a sunny day!

Back home, I edited photos and baked a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

We had two soccer practices that evening, so I needed a quick meal that I could feed everyone after school before they headed into Charlottesville. Flatbread pizzas to the rescue! These are a kid-favorite around here, which each individual can customize to his liking. Such an easy winner!

Thursday wasn’t necessarily “fun,” but it was productive — a stop at Yoder’s for a few groceries, a regular cleaning at the dentist, and work at the computer. I also prepped dinner in advance, knowing that we’d be out of the house later in the afternoon.

We were happy to have supper waiting for us after Gibbs’ golf lesson: Mississippi pulled pork (which I made in the Crock Pot for convenience),

vinegar coleslaw, potato salad (from Yoder’s), and canned baked beans.

Friday was St. Patrick’s Day!

Teddy went to the groomer (and came home with a handsome St. Patrick’s Day necktie, haha!), and I spent the morning shooting recipe photos.

I had grand plans to make an Irish stew and soda bread for supper, but Keith was out of town that night and Spencer had soccer practice in Charlottesville, so convenience won out. Instead, I just reheated leftover salmon that I had photographed earlier in the day (similar to this 4-ingredient recipe), and served it with steamed broccoli and rice.

I did prioritize a festive dessert, though! The builders were happy to help me enjoy an Irish whiskey cake made with Jameson. Instead of the pecans, I used some shamrock sprinkles that I picked up at Yoder’s, which I stirred into the batter (like a funfetti cake) and also sprinkled on top of the glaze.

And that brings us to the weekend!

We spent Saturday morning on the soccer fields watching Spencer play, Adria came over for a walk after lunch, and then Keith and I went out for dinner while the kids ate frozen pizza.

We got Thai food in Culpeper, including shrimp dumplings, red curry, and a really good chicken and shrimp ramen dish.

The rest of our evening was spent watching March Madness and cheering on the Princeton men’s basketball team. Go Tigers!

So there you have it — another week of easy dinners! I hope that you’ve found some new inspiration for your own table in the coming days. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!