Our Week in Meals #478

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included back-to-school, braces, and a chili cook-off. 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…

I started Sunday with an early walk before I had to take Spencer to Charlottesville for an indoor soccer game. Meanwhile, Keith and Casey were still in North Carolina for Casey’s tournament…

Back home that afternoon, I baked a one-bowl buttermilk chocolate cake (the BEST) for dessert when Casey returned home later that night,

and we enjoyed my mom’s easy chicken pot pie for supper with a side salad.

Fortunately for the kids, they were still on winter break on Monday and Tuesday. Unfortunately for Spencer, he had to get braces on Monday morning! Not exactly the way he would have liked to spend the end of his holiday, but his teeth will thank us later!

Keith and I got out for a walk and ran some errands,

and I made a cozy pot of meatball soup for supper.

I met Mollie and Adria for a walk on Tuesday morning,

while Keith and the boys did yard work.

I baked a loaf of banana nut bread to have on hand for easy breakfasts and snacks,

and prepared another tuna melt for myself for lunch. I’m on a roll and can’t get enough of these!

For supper, we kept things simple: Crock Pot brats with apples and onions (from page 96 in my cookbook), plus the leftover sauerkraut from New Year’s Day, cut-up veggies with Ranch dip, and potato chips on the side.

And our neighbor, Mrs. Peachey, dropped off a delicious homemade peanut butter pie for dessert. What a treat!

Back to the regular routine on Wednesday (finally)! Ashley and I walked our dogs together once the kids were off to school, Teddy went to the groomer, I got my car washed, and then spent the rest of the afternoon plugging away at work.

We had an early supper before a busy evening of Youth Group and basketball practice: baked chicken taquitos,

with a side of tortilla chips, salsa, and homemade guac.

Another beautiful morning walk on Thursday with Ashley and Adria,

plus a lunch date with Keith at the new noodle shop in Culpeper. We started with a salad that had a delicious creamy sesame dressing and spicy dumplings…

…and then they gave us each these complimentary fried chicken nuggets, plus my entree: the lemongrass chicken.

For dinner, I made a pot of Southern tomato bisque and paired it with grilled cheese sandwiches. Classic cold weather comfort food!

Friday was cool and gray, so I was happy to meet my friends indoors for Pilates that morning.

I had a day of computer work and Zoom meetings, Gibbs had golf that evening, and Keith went to the men’s chili cook-off at our church. He made my Crockpot white chicken chili, and he brought home the first place trophy!

Since the rest of us needed an easy meal after golf, I baked a homemade lasagna from the freezer, which I had assembled last month. On the side, we paired the casserole with a Caesar salad from Costco and these cheesy garlic breadsticks that my boys love.

And that brings us to the weekend! Spencer had a basketball game on Saturday, but we otherwise stayed tucked inside as it rained all day.

Casey wasn’t feeling well, so I simmered a pot of chicken and dumpling soup on the stovetop (added noodles instead of dumplings to the kids’ bowls who preferred them). Total comfort food!

And for supper, it was take-out pizza night. I was ready for a break from cooking…

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy dinners! 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!