Good morning, and happy Sunday! We welcomed May with summer-like weather, easy weeknight meals (for a particularly busy season), and plenty of kids’ activities. 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…
Spencer had a soccer game in Lynchburg on Sunday morning, so we left the house early and didn’t return until late afternoon.
Dinner was classic comfort food! I made healthy mini meatloaf (a favorite from when the boys were little), plus red skin mashed potatoes and roasted yellow squash. Instead of the yellow squash, I used zucchini and roasted it in the same 400 degree oven with the meatloaf. So simple, and one of the veggies the kids will reliably eat…
Let’s chat about books! This week I read Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi, which I picked out from Book of the Month. What a wonderful novel! In this story, nurse Sona’s life is thrown into chaos when the mysterious death of a glamorous patient, painter Mira Novak, entangles Sona in suspicion and sends her on a journey across Europe to uncover hidden truths. Inspired by the life of Amrita Sher-Gil, this is a tale of identity, belonging, and the secrets people leave behind. Highly recommend!
Monday was a gorgeous spring day…
I took Teddy up the road for a short walk, and then spent time in the kitchen updating the photos for a couple of old recipes.
For supper before Spencer’s late soccer practice and Gibbs’ round of golf, I served King Ranch chicken with a side of tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, and corn.
Tuesday was warm and sunny again, so I took full advantage: first a morning walk with Ashley and our dogs, followed by golf before an afternoon of Zoom meetings.
Casey had a soccer game out in Luray, so he and Keith were gone all evening. For the rest of us, supper was very low-key: slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches (thawed the pork from the freezer), plus coleslaw that I bought at Yoder’s and a side of potato chips.
Wednesday included a short morning walk, a lot of time cooking in the kitchen, and practices for both Casey and Spencer.
The neighbor cows were very interested in Teddy!
We had marinated grilled salmon for supper,
along with a salad dressed in Dijon vinaigrette, rice, and a baguette from Panera.
After a walk with Mollie on Thursday, I photographed a new summer recipe and prepared a meal for a family from church. Side note: we used Take Them a Meal to coordinate the meal train, which was started by a high school friend’s husband. It’s a great resource!
Casey and Spencer had soccer practice that night and I had a women’s group meeting at church, so we squeezed in a quick meal: this one-pot taco pasta with another simple green salad on the side like the night before.
After Pilates with Ashley and Adria on Friday morning, the rest of my day was largely devoted to computer work.
Keith went to Casey’s game over in Shenandoah County, so they were both gone until late that night. Meanwhile, I took Gibbs to golf, and picked up takeout pizza for the rest of us on the way home.
An easy end to a very full week!
We were back out the door very early on Saturday to make our way south to Roanoke for Spencer’s soccer game.
Since I knew we’d be out of the house for most of the day, I kept the dinner plans simple. We watched the Kentucky Derby, grilled burgers, and had frozen French fries and cut-up veggies with Ranch dip on the side.
So there you have it, friends — another week of easy dinners! I hope that you’ve found some new inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!
Thank you, Blair! Just signed up to take a meal to a church family myself- taking your Cheesy Chicken and Rice bake, since they are a family of six this larger casserole is better!
Sounds perfect, Ann! That’s a crowd-pleaser! 🙂
Very good! Have a good week!!
On your mini meatloaf to jazz it up for the children, you can pipe mash potatoes on it to make it looks like frosting. The kids will love it because they think they are eating cupcakes for dinner.
I love that idea, Cecilia!