Our Week in Meals #338

Good morning, and happy Sunday! We welcomed May with a birthday celebration, beautiful flowers, and sick kiddos. 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…

It was pouring rain on Sunday morning, so I skipped my usual get-together with friends at Mollie’s farm, and instead stayed home and baked these apple cider donuts for breakfast. Not a bad trade-off, right? Since it’s not apple cider season, I swapped out the cider and used extra milk instead. So really, they were cinnamon-sugar donuts!

Keith drove Casey a couple of hours north for a soccer game, while I stayed home with the other two boys. I pulled out my spring and summer clothes, packed away my wool sweaters, and baked a batch of easy chocolate chip cookies.

We snuck out for a quick walk when the weather cleared that afternoon,

and Keith grilled bbq chicken breast for supper.

We paired the chicken with classic iceberg wedge salads,

white rice, and corn sticks (a kid favorite)!

As far as books go, this week I finally read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. This novel received overwhelming buzz and praise when it came out last year, so I had very high hopes. While I found the story to be beautifully written, it was also quite sad. Have you read this one? I’d love to hear your thoughts, as I’m conflicted!

Friends on Monday morning!

The boys returned to school for their final few weeks (!!!), I had a work day at the house, and I fed everyone an early supper before Keith took Casey to soccer practice in Charlottesville.

I prepped our meal early in the day so that I could just pop it in the oven after school. We had chicken alfredo casserole, along with a side of garlic bread.

Poor Spencer stayed home sick on Tuesday with a stomach bug and ear infection. I snuck out for a short, cloudy, cool walk, but otherwise stayed close to home.

The older boys and I had haircuts that afternoon, and Keith played golf that evening, so we needed a dinner that we could reheat at different times.

I cooked skillet shrimp fajitas early in the day, stashed it in the fridge, and then just microwaved the individual servings as needed. Plus tortilla chips, pico de gallo, and guacamole on the side!

May flowers…

Spencer was home sick again on Wednesday, so Keith stayed with him while I made a stop at Yoder’s, and then joined Mollie for a beautiful morning walk at her farm.

I also threw a couple of loads of laundry into her washer and dryer, since our laundry room was out of commission (thanks to our house construction). That’s what friends are for, right?!

Before Casey’s soccer practice that evening, I served everyone flatbread pizzas and Caesar salad. One of the easiest, most popular weeknight dinners in our house!

After a walk up the road on Thursday morning,

I joined my mom, my aunt, and a couple of my mom’s friends at the cafe at The Market at Grelen for my mom’s birthday lunch.

We had sandwiches and homemade ice cream, chatted, and did some shopping. Such a fun way to celebrate the birthday girl!

We didn’t have any sports practices on the schedule that evening, so I planned a meal that would require at least slightly more than 15 minutes to throw together: pork schnitzel and mushroom gravy (one of the boys’ favorites),

along with dill roasted potatoes and steamed, buttered green beans.

I met my friend Ashley for a walk on Friday morning, and tested a couple of new recipes in the kitchen. The rest of my day was largely devoted to taking care of sick kiddos. Spencer was still fighting a virus and double ear infections (so back to the doctor we went!), and Gibbs started feeling crummy, too.

I don’t do well when the kids are sick. It’s so stressful for me, and I don’t sleep well, so I was completely exhausted by the end of the week. With no motivation to make supper, I pulled out leftovers from the fridge (largely the remains of new recipes that I was working on). We had a ground beef casserole (similar to this one), as well as bbq pork sandwiches using some leftover sliced pork tenderloin (like this). No crazy Cinco de Mayo parties around here this year!🤪

The new antibiotic finally started working, so Spencer was feeling better by Saturday (thank goodness!). While Keith and Casey traveled up to Baltimore, Maryland for Casey’s soccer game, I had a quiet day at home with the other two kids.

We spent some time on the front porch catching up on Spencer’s missed school work,

and Teddy sunbathed on the window seat.

Dinner looked like take-out pizzas from the local Italian restaurant and watching the Kentucky Derby. I hope that some of you enjoyed my Kentucky hot brown sliders, Kentucky butter cake, or a mint julep for a festive celebration!

And that’s it — 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 have a wonderful Sunday!