Our Week in Meals #339

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included colorful spring flowers, kids’ sports, and a handful of very easy weeknight suppers. 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…

We had a free Sunday with no kids’ sports on the agenda, so we took advantage of the time and washed the cars, picked up groceries, baked a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and got outside for a walk before the rain arrived that afternoon.

Keith grilled honey garlic dijon pork tenderloin for supper (you can also do this in the oven),

which I paired with Duke’s mac and cheese, 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits, and oven-roasted asparagus.

I have a fun book to share this week, too! I finally read Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which has been on my library holds list for quite awhile. I’m not necessarily a tennis fan, but this was still a very entertaining story. Nothing earth-shattering, but it would be a great beach read in the months ahead!

It was back to work and school on Monday morning!

I took Casey to an orthodontist appointment around lunchtime, baked a batch of one-bowl zucchini muffins, and got some work done at the computer.

Then it was an early supper of shrimp fried rice, steamed broccoli, and frozen egg rolls before Keith had to take Spencer to Charlottesville for soccer practice.

Tuesday was cloudy and rainy, but I managed to sneak in a morning walk with my friend Ashley before getting to work in the kitchen for the day.

Spencer and Gibbs both had orthodontist appointments that afternoon, so I planned a quick dinner that I could easily pull together once we made it back to the house.

Casey recently asked what chicken tikka masala is, which prompted me to buy this simmer sauce. I combined the jar of sauce with the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken, and just warmed everything in a skillet until it was sufficiently heated through. Paired with rice, Naan bread, and steamed green beans, the meal was definitely a hit. Spencer thought the sauce was a bit spicy, but the rest of us liked it. The Naan was the most popular item on the table, though!

Wednesday started with a walk in the woods with Mollie, followed by a Mother’s Day lunch with my mom here at the house.

She picked up sandwiches from Yoder’s, and I provided the zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert (recipe coming soon). We also went flower and herb shopping at the garden center. It was a beautiful day to be outside!

Spencer had soccer practice that evening, so we ate an early dinner after school before heading into town. I prepped the hamburger patties and coleslaw early in the day, so that I just had to cook the burgers in a cast iron skillet when we were ready to eat. We also had potato chips on the side.

It’s officially peony season in Virginia — one of my favorite times of year!

There are rows and rows of the fluffy, pale pink flowers on my neighbor’s property…

…while these vibrant magenta beauties are growing in our yard.

My friends helped me transplant some of these tubers from Mollie’s farm a couple of years ago, and they seem to be quite happy in their new soil.

I also spent some time outside that afternoon potting the herbs and flowers that my mom and I picked up the day before, and cleaning the porch furniture (so much pollen!).

From the hanging baskets to the potted geraniums and the yellow flowers in front of the porch, the spring colors are bringing me a lot of joy right now.

Keith went to a concert with friends that evening, so the kids and I were on our own for supper. I served one of their favorite (very basic) dinners — spaghetti with marinara sauce and garlic bread. Here’s my recipe for easy homemade marinara, but that night I just heated up a jar of Rao’s!

I met up with Ashley on Friday morning, stopped by Yoder’s for our weekly groceries, and took Teddy to the groomer.

We had a very busy evening of soccer practice and golf, so I picked up subs for supper, which we ate after school before heading in different directions. Not a glamorous shot of my steak and cheese sub, but everyone was fed and happy!

And that brings us to Saturday! Casey woke up with a fever (likely the same virus that his brothers had the week before), so I stayed home with him while Keith took Spencer to a soccer game.

We had tamale pie for dinner that night, and otherwise enjoyed a quiet evening at the house while Casey rested.

So there you have it — another week of easy meals! I hope that you’ve found some new inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Wishing all of the special ladies out there a very happy Mother’s Day. Thank you for being here!