Our Week in Meals #385

Good morning, happy Sunday, and happy Easter to those who celebrate! We wrapped up March with spring showers and flowers, the boys kicked off a week-long break, and we drove north for a short getaway. 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…

For the first Sunday in weeks, we weren’t traveling for the boys’ soccer and had a free day at home. I met two of my friends at Mollie’s farm for the morning, helped Spencer with a school project, and then took Gibbs to play golf with a friend for the afternoon.

Keith went to a Caps hockey game and spent the night up in D.C., so the kids and I were on our own for supper. We made deep-dish cast iron skillet pizza (using store-bought dough for convenience), I added my favorite Caesar salad…

…and we finished off the evening with a plate of Amish drop sugar cookies and March Madness basketball on TV.

Let’s chat books! This week I read Sophie Kinsella’s most recent novel, The Burnout. Like all of her books, this was a light, feel-good mix of humor and romance. It would be a perfect Spring Break beach read.

Back to the routine on Monday! I walked the dog at the park near the kids’ school after drop-off, and then spent most of the day in the kitchen photographing a couple of recipes.

Before taking Spencer to his late soccer practice that evening, we had ground beef enchiladas for supper. Plus tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, and seasoned pinto beans on the side.

I met Adria for a Pilates class on Tuesday morning, tested a couple of new recipes, and put together a colorful spring arrangement with yard clippings — apple blossoms, peach blossoms, forsythia, and daffodils.

Keith took Casey to soccer while I stayed home with the other two boys and prepped dinner. Once everyone was home, we had honey Dijon oven roasted pork tenderloin (I double the recipe for 5 of us) along with rice, steamed green beans, and dinner rolls.

A very rainy Wednesday…

My morning walk with Ashley was canceled thanks to the weather, so instead I used some overripe bananas on the counter to bake a loaf of chocolate chip banana bread.

The boys’ soccer practices were also canceled, so we enjoyed a quiet evening at home. I made copycat Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets, waffle fries, and cut-up raw veggies with Ranch dip — always a winning meal with the kids! We always have these bottles of Chick-Fil-A Polynesian sauce and Chick-Fil-A Sauce on hand, too.

Thursday morning was devoted to errands in Culpeper: the dog groomer, the car wash, a Target pick-up, etc.

After Casey’s soccer practice, we had dump-and-bake chicken pesto Alfredo pasta with garlic roasted broccoli and frozen breadsticks for dinner. Keith and the boys love this dish!

Adria came over for a morning walk on Friday. The sun was finally shining again!

Picked up sandwiches for lunch at Yoder’s, and said “hi” to the goats while I was there…

Babies!

I had to take Gibbs to a golf lesson that afternoon, so I planned a meal that I could pull together quickly when we arrived home hungry: baked shrimp po’ boys…

…with potato chips and iceberg wedge salads.

And that brings us to the weekend! We headed north on Saturday morning for a road trip up to Annapolis, Maryland.

The boys have soccer during their Spring Break, so this was the only weekend that we could get away for a quick vacation.

We arrived around noon, parked at our hotel (The Graduate), and found giant crab cakes at Chick & Ruth’s for lunch. We loved our food! This place should be on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives!

Followed by shopping, ice cream cones, and a walk around the Naval Academy.

These boys are getting so tall!

For dinner that night, we went to Cantler’s for crabs, fried fish sandwiches, peel-and-eat shrimp, and hush puppies.

Plus chocolate cake and key lime pie to end the night. Delicious!

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy dinners! I hope that you’ve found a few new ideas to add to your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful holiday!