Our Week in Meals #436

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included St. Patrick’s Day, a lot of sandwiches, and time with friends. 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…

Keith took the older boys to church on Sunday morning, and then joined me and Spencer in Northern Virginia for Spencer’s second soccer game of the day.

Dinner included crab melts, potato chips,

and ramen noodle coleslaw (and leftover pizza from the night before for those kiddos who didn’t want the crab)…

Ok, time for this week’s book! I finally read another novel that everyone has been talking about in recent months — The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. While it’s classified as a thriller, this one isn’t particularly scary or creepy. When thirteen-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from her family’s Adirondack summer camp in 1975—fourteen years after her brother’s unsolved disappearance—long-buried secrets resurface, entangling the privileged Van Laar family and the working-class community they employ in a gripping mystery of loss, power, and hidden truths. It’s definitely a page-turner that’s worth the read!

Monday was St. Patrick’s Day, and the boys had the day off from school for a teacher workday.

Casey joined me and Teddy for an early walk up the road, and then I headed to Charlottesville for a checkup at the dermatologist.

Spencer had soccer that evening, and then I repurposed leftovers for our St. Paddy’s Day dinner. I used the corned beef and cabbage that I baked last week to make Reuben sandwiches, which we paired with dill roasted potatoes.

Casey also made a pot of “lucky” green mac and cheese — completely on his own — by adding green food coloring to this Annie’s Parmesan Mac and Cheese. Hah! Not surprisingly, nobody else wanted any…

More blue skies and sunshine for my golf lesson on Tuesday morning!

Casey and Spencer both had soccer practice after school, so dinner was an easy meal that I could easily reheat that evening: a taco bake with Doritos…

…paired with corn, extra chips, and plenty of toppings like salsa and guacamole.

I took full advantage of the warm, 75-degree day on Wednesday and met Ashley for a walk with our dogs in the morning, and then joined Mollie for another walk in the woods that afternoon. In between, I took Teddy to the groomer and went to a dentist appointment.

After Casey’s soccer practice, Keith grilled burgers for supper. ‘Tis the season for cookouts!

We paired them with Ruffles potato chips and this store-bought French onion dip (a classic combo!), plus my easy pasta salad with mayo, lemon, and basil.

Thursday morning was devoted to lots of errands — including the car wash and Target in Culpeper, plus a Yoder’s stop here in Madison on my way home.

I took some recipe photos once I was back home, and spent the evening watching Casey’s soccer game at the school. Keith took Spencer to a late soccer practice in Charlottesville that night, so dinner was served in stages and reheated as necessary. We had this easy, one-skillet Cajun shrimp pasta Alfredo, along with a simple green salad and a pan of sweet cornbread.

This was truly the week of seeing my friends! After Pilates with Adria on Friday morning, I drove to Charlottesville for lunch with my friend Katie and her family, who were in town visiting from New Orleans. My mom joined us as well, since she’s also known Katie since we were 5!

We ate outside at Greenberry’s, where I had a tasty curry chicken salad sandwich, dill pickle potato chips, and iced tea…plus baby snuggles!

After Gibbs’ golf lesson that evening, I made the classic dump-and-bake chicken divan casserole for supper…

…along with a side of stick of butter rice. Comfort food!

And that brings us to the weekend! I took Spencer to get a haircut on Saturday morning, and then joined Mollie for a walk at her farm. Meanwhile, Keith and Gibbs went to the men’s lacrosse game at UVA.

Signs of spring…

We had baked chicken thighs for supper (so easy and so good!),

along with roasted yellow squash, Rice-a-Roni, and store-bought yeast rolls.

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!