Our Week in Meals #437

Good morning, and happy Sunday! We’re wrapping up March with plenty of kids’ sports, fresh and easy weeknight favorites, and a good book. 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…

We went to church on Sunday morning, and took a walk up the road before lunch.

Keith and Spencer went to watch a friend’s soccer game that afternoon, while I stayed home and worked on reorganizing the boys’ closets for spring and summer.

We had grilled New York strip steaks for supper,

along with my favorite Southern Caesar salad,

baked potatoes, and 7UP biscuits.

Shall we chat books? This week I finished The Wedding People by Alison Espach — a novel that I was excited to finally read, since it has received so much attention and praise. Alone and at rock bottom, Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand Newport inn, mistaken for a wedding guest but seeking a final indulgence for herself. As she unexpectedly connects with the bride, their encounter leads to surprising confessions and a fresh start. It’s a heavy, tender novel about life’s unexpected turns.

Keith and I went for a short walk on a cloudy, cool Monday morning.

All three boys had dentist appointments after school, so while I was with them, Keith was in charge of supper. He grilled salmon (and also reheated some leftover pizza),

which we paired with a store-bought crusty loaf of bread and iceberg wedge salads.

I took full advantage of a beautiful Tuesday morning. Ashley and I walked our dogs together, I played golf, and I stopped at Yoder’s to pick up lunch and a few groceries before my afternoon Zoom meeting.

The weekly sandwich special was one of my favorites, which they call the “Sweet Southern Heat”: toasted sourdough, mayo, hot honey, rotisserie chicken, lettuce, tomato, coleslaw, and pickles.

Casey had soccer after school and Spencer had a late practice in Charlottesville that evening, so we ate dinner in stages. I had originally planned on serving these Crock Pot chicken cheesesteak sandwiches, but I ran out of time to start the slow cooker. Instead, I pivoted and made these even quicker and easier 5-ingredient chicken Parm sandwiches with ingredients that I always have in the kitchen. Plus potato chips, cut-up veggies, and Ranch dip. A favorite with my boys!

After a morning walk on Wednesday and a quick run to the store, my day was largely devoted to work at the computer.

I also prepped dinner early that afternoon so that it would be ready to reheat at various points throughout the evening as the kids were coming and going from sports practices.

Casey requested these dump-and-bake sesame noodles (again!), but I switched it up and added cooked shrimp at the end instead of chicken.

We paired the noodles with frozen store-bought egg rolls and my ramen noodle coleslaw (one of the few ways my boys will eat cabbage)!

Thursday started with a walk in the woods with Mollie and Adria, followed by some cooking and photography for the rest of the afternoon. You can see that we’re still waiting for leaves on most of the trees around here!

Then we were off in different directions again — Keith went to watch Casey’s game in Fluvanna, Spencer had a late practice in Charlottesville, and Gibbs played a round of golf in Greene. Keith and Casey ate dinner at the concession stand since they were gone all evening, while the rest of us had bowls of tomato basil soup with grilled cheese sandwiches at home.

Friday included Pilates with Adria and Ashley, as well as a quick trip into Charlottesville to drop the dog off with my parents for a few days.

Gibbs had golf that afternoon and Casey had soccer, so we ate a later meal once everyone was back home. On the menu: dump-and-bake creamy tomato pasta with turkey meatballs, a simple green salad, and store-bought garlic breadsticks.

And that brings us to the weekend! I baked a batch of one-bowl brownies on Saturday morning and got outside for a short walk with Casey.

Spencer had a soccer game that afternoon, so I was glad to have an easy dinner waiting for us at home: Crock Pot chicken tostadas,

plus guacamole, chips, salsa, and corn. For dessert, Casey made this air fryer smores dip that he found on Instagram…and we spent the rest of the evening watching college basketball.

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!