Our Week in Meals #372

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included a Christmas celebration, a quick day trip to West Virginia, and plenty of relaxing time at home with family. You’ll find all of the highlights from the past few days, along with each of our dinners, 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…

Sunday was Christmas Eve, so we had gingerbread muffins with cinnamon streusel and eggnog glaze for breakfast (which I thawed from the freezer), and then made the trip up to Northern Virginia to celebrate with Keith’s family.

We opened gifts, watched football, and the boys played with their cousins.

I made my mother-in-law’s Christmas Eve lasagna to bring with us, while she prepared the salad, rolls, and ambrosia. Then we hit the road back home to get the cookies out for Santa!

As far as books go, I’ve got a light “beach read” to share with you this week. It might be chilly at the moment, but we can still dive into easy, breezy stories set in the warm summer months!

Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan follows Sam as she settles into life with the “perfect” doctor fiancé, ready to plan a wedding and move on from her past. What she doesn’t expect is running into her first love, Wyatt, who broke her heart when she was seventeen…

Thanks to my two younger boys, we greeted Christmas well before sunrise on Monday morning.

After working our way through Santa’s gifts, we had our favorite cinnamon rolls for breakfast (which I had prepped a few days before and stashed in the freezer).

Followed by a short walk for some fresh air!

My parents arrived late morning to exchange gifts, visit, and enjoy a holiday lunch.

I kept it as easy as possible: a make-your-own sandwich buffet with a variety of rolls, bread, meats, cheeses, and toppings from Yoder’s, plus potato chips. And of course, cookies, fruitcake, and chocolates for dessert!

Keith smoked two turkey breasts for dinner that evening, and I reheated some bourbon-glazed ham that I had in the freezer leftover from my birthday celebration last month.

We served the turkey, gravy, and ham with sausage stuffing, a cheesy broccoli rice casserole, 5-minute cranberry fluff, and a house salad. I was able to prep the stuffing and the rice casserole in advance, so I did very little actual cooking on Christmas Day (definitely the goal).

Southern red velvet cake for dessert to finish off the celebration (a personal favorite)!

Adria came over for a walk on Tuesday morning, and then the rest of the day was devoted to holiday cleanup. I love the season, and then I also love starting fresh with the New Year!

I’ll spare you a photo of dinner that evening, since it was a repeat from the night before (turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry fluff, broccoli rice casserole, and salad). Leftovers for the win! Instead, here’s the shot that Casey took with his new drone when he was flying it around our yard for the first time that afternoon. So fun!

We had originally planned a few days away in the mountains of West Virginia this week; however, due to a variety of reasons, we decided to scale it back to a quick day-trip across the border.

On Wednesday we made the fairly short drive over our Blue Ridge Mountains to the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia, stopping for lunch at the 42 Deli in historic downtown Clifton Forge, Virginia. This was my “Farmhouse Sub,” which included chicken salad, bacon, cheddar, lettuce, and tomato. Hit the spot!

We then drove about 30 minutes west, where we spent the afternoon at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs.

The Christmas decorations were incredible!

I especially loved this pink and green tree in the pink and green room…

…and the bellhops loved watching Casey play soccer out front. Hah! They were cheering him on.

A walk around the grounds was lovely — cloudy, but warm (even though I have on about 10 layers in this photo)! I quickly shed those extras when I realized they weren’t necessary. We expected snow in the mountains at this time of year, but it was 60 degrees instead!

To end the day, we had a quick dinner as we cruised through Waynesboro on the way home. The kids’ choice: Chick-Fil-A. The highlight was definitely my peppermint chip milkshake. Had to get one before they’re gone!

Another foggy day on Thursday,

another family walk,

…and another soccer ball along for the fun.

We were all in the mood for a quiet day at the house, so I picked up groceries and simmered a pot of the best spaghetti sauce all afternoon. Served with pasta, a simple green salad, and a side of garlic bread for a cozy supper! Bonus — there’s now plenty of leftover sauce stashed in the freezer for later meals.

Friday wasn’t exactly fun, but it was productive. I spent the morning testing a couple of new recipes in the kitchen, and then Casey joined me in Culpeper that afternoon for a variety of errands. The weather was crummy again, so it was good to get out of the house.

We had a light, fresh dinner that evening, which tasted great on the heels of plenty of indulgent holiday fare: sheet pan shrimp and potatoes with veggies plus a baguette that we picked up from Panera earlier that day. I love a meal that cooks entirely on one tray!

And that brings us to Saturday! Casey and Spencer requested a visit to the Wilderness Battlefield, while Keith and Gibbs opted to stay home.

We love this meandering walk through the woods.

Snacks in the trenches, followed by McDonald’s drive-thru for lunch on the way home. Vacation mode!

I served this easy taco soup for supper, along with tortilla chips for dipping and salsa and guacamole on the side.

So there you have it — another week of dinners in the books — and 2023 almost behind us! Before I sign off for the day, I thought it would be fun to share a roundup of the most popular recipes on my website over the past year. It’s a nice variety of dinners, sides, and desserts, and includes everything from beef and pasta to pork and chicken. Hopefully you’ll find something new to try in 2024! Thank you for being here, friends. Happy New Year!