Our Week in Meals #337

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included a quick trip to New Orleans featuring time with friends, work, and plenty of great Southern food. All of the highlights from the past few days, 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…

I left the mountains of Virginia on Sunday morning for an adventure in The Big Easy!

The digital media company that I work with hosted some of its publishers for a conference this week. As a bonus, one of my best friends lives in New Orleans now, so I could combine business and pleasure in one trip!

Katie picked me up from the airport around noon, gave me a tour of the city, and took me to lunch at Columns, where we had a beautiful meal outside. The weather was perfect — mid 70’s and low humidity. My order of shrimp and grits was absolutely delicious, too!

The conference was held at Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter, where Katie dropped me off shortly before I needed to meet my group for dinner.

Wow, what an evening they had planned for us! A live brass band paraded us through the streets of New Orleans to The Pelican Club, where we started with cocktails, and then dined on salad, bread, pan-fried fish with crabmeat and béarnaise sauce,

and white chocolate bread pudding. I stayed out way past my bedtime, but loved getting to see so many colleagues.

Monday started with an early yoga session with four other women at our conference, complete with a view of the Mississippi River from the top of our hotel.

We were in meetings almost all day, but highlights from the afternoon included a chat with Harry Connick, Jr. and beignets for snack!

When we had a little bit of downtime before our dinner excursion, I took advantage and explored the French Quarter. I needed to bring home some Creole pralines and other goodies for my boys!

Here are some of my favorite snapshots from the beautiful, unique buildings in the city…

We had cocktails and appetizers at Mardi Gras World that evening,

and a buffet dinner along the river.

This was a plate of crawfish etouffee and grits, a jalapeno corn muffin, and salad, while another (unpictured) plate included sweet tea pork tenderloin and red beans and rice. Plus eclairs for dessert! There’s just so much amazing food in New Orleans!

Meanwhile, Teddy was living his best life with my parents while I was away!

Tuesday was a long day of travel, which went very smoothly — so no complaints! I had breakfast in New Orleans at The Vintage Restaurant with my friends Katie and Sarah Blake before they dropped me off at the airport. A cappuccino and an epic breakfast sandwich hit the spot: a fluffy biscuit served with bacon, artisan cheese, poached egg, and arugula.

One advantage of multiple flights = lots of time for reading! I finished Louise Penny’s latest mystery, A World of Curiosities, which was just as entertaining as the others in her Chief Inspector Gamache series. This was book #18, and they’re still a joy to read! If you’re interested in diving into these novels, I definitely recommend starting with the first — Still Life. You won’t be disappointed!

By the time I made it back home, the boys had already eaten dinner, and Keith was with Spencer at soccer practice. I was tired and hungry, so I made myself a tuna melt — one of my favorite quick meals when I don’t want to cook!

While I really enjoyed the excitement of Louisiana, it was so good to be home!

Wednesday was largely devoted to getting back into my usual routine — laundry, groceries, packing backpacks and school lunches, and working at the computer.

Before Casey’s soccer practice, I made dump-and-bake tortellini and meatballs for supper…

…along with Caesar salad and garlic bread on the side.

I met my friend Mollie for a walk on Thursday morning, and then spent the rest of the day cooking and taking photos in the kitchen.

Spencer had soccer that evening, so we ate chicken quesadillas with corn and black beans beforehand, along with tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole.

Friday was a day full of April showers — which will no doubt bring beautiful May flowers! My morning walk with Ashley was a bust (thanks to the weather), so instead I made a quick trip to pick up groceries at Yoder’s, and otherwise had a quiet day at the house.

Spencer’s soccer practice was cancelled that evening, so we didn’t have to rush to eat an early supper. I made Bisquick waffles in a new Belgian waffle maker, which we paired with maple breakfast sausage and fresh fruit.

Soccer was cancelled again on Saturday since the fields were flooded, so we had another unexpected free day.

I went for a walk with Keith in the morning, and tested some new recipes in the kitchen while he did yard work with the boys outside.

The skies cleared and it warmed up, so we grilled marinated flank steak for supper,

which I paired with grilled potatoes, broccoli and cheese,

and cheddar biscuits with chives.

There you have it, friends — 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, and enjoy your Sunday!