Our Week in Meals #432

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included a holiday, more snow days, and a handful of quick suppers. 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 started with church,

followed by Spencer’s last indoor soccer game of the winter season,

and an afternoon walk with Gibbs.

It was windy, but so nice to see the sun after a weekend of rain!

For supper we had these easy baked chicken thighs,

which I paired with Aunt Bee’s 3-ingredient sour cream muffins (very similar to drop biscuits), crispy seasoned roasted potatoes, and a house salad with candied pecans.

Let’s chat about books! This week I finished All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers — a page-turning thriller with plenty of fun, surprising twists…

Monday was the Presidents’ Day holiday, so the kids had the day off from school. Mollie came over for a walk that morning,

and then Casey and I made a quick stop at Yoder’s for a few staples. He was very happy to see that they were giving away giant pancakes for free in the cafe all morning!

Spencer had soccer practice outside that night, and I made chili dog casserole for supper. Paired it with another house salad using leftover ingredients from the night before…

The boys returned to school on Tuesday, Teddy went to the groomer, and I ran a few errands in Culpeper.

Spencer had soccer practice in Charlottesville again, so I planned a meal that we could easily make and reheat in shifts: dump-and-bake honey soy chicken, rice, steamed broccoli, and frozen egg rolls. Spencer and Casey request this meal on a regular basis; it’s definitely a favorite!

The kids went to school on Wednesday morning, but it started snowing almost as soon as they arrived. Needless to say, they were only there for a few hours before everything closed early and I had to pick them.

I baked a loaf of Casey’s favorite one-bowl whole wheat banana bread to take advantage of the overripe bananas sitting on our counter.

And we had a very cozy winter meal that evening: this Italian casserole with ground beef,

a green salad with red wine vinaigrette, and garlic bread.

The boys had another day off from school on Thursday, but the roads were clear and we were all itching to get out of the house.

Casey and Spencer went to play basketball with Spencer’s friend at a gym in Culpeper, while Gibbs and I got lunch at Panera…

autumn squash soup, sesame chicken salad, and baguette for me!

For supper that night, I made Crock Pot Mexican chicken for tacos — another favorite with the boys.

Plus tortilla chips, this easy guacamole recipe, salsa, and corn on the side.

I was supposed to meet a couple of friends for a walk on Friday morning, but it was so cold and windy that we decided to change plans.

Instead, I picked up Starbucks and then went over to Ashley’s for a visit. She sent me home with two loaves of her homemade sourdough bread. Such a treat!

I met my friend Jan for lunch at Yoder’s, where I got the weekly special: a Monte Cristo sandwich with raspberry jam on the side for dipping…

Spencer’s soccer practice was canceled that evening, so we had a quiet evening at home. I made bourbon-glazed salmon,

which we paired with rice-a-roni, Arkansas green beans, and Ashley’s bread.

And that brings us to the weekend!

Casey and I walked the dog up the street to visit Chip on Saturday morning,

I took Gibbs to a golf lesson mid-day, joined Adria and Barbara for a walk that afternoon, and took Casey shopping for some soccer equipment in Charlottesville before dinner.

We went the easy route for supper and enjoyed take-out German food from The Bavarian Chef — lots of Bavarian pretzels and schnitzel!

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