Good morning, and happy Sunday! This last week of January included a lot of ice, a lot of canceled school, and many quiet evenings at home. 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.
This Week’s Meals
Now, let’s back up to last weekend…
As anticipated, a major snowstorm rolled into Central Virginia late on Saturday night and continued through Sunday. Church and indoor soccer games were obviously canceled, and instead we stayed safe and warm at home.
The boys helped shovel the walkways periodically, but quickly realized the sleet and freezing rain weren’t much fun to play in.
I made a slow cooker pot roast for supper that night (did not include the optional potatoes), and used the shredded beef and gravy to make pot roast sandwiches on hoagie rolls with melted cheese. This is my boys’ favorite way to eat pot roast!
We paired our sandwiches with crispy oven roasted seasoned potatoes and cut-up veggies with ranch dip.
While stuck indoors, we watched a lot of football, soccer, and basketball on TV, and also read a couple of books. This week I finished The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, which I was excited to dive into since it’s been so popular in recent months.
In this novel, an accomplished older woman who has spent her life writing letters is pushed to revisit a painful chapter from her past when unexpected correspondence stirs up old memories. It is a quiet, moving story about forgiveness, self understanding, and how the written word can connect us and help us finally let go. So beautiful!!
School was canceled all week, but the sun returned on Monday and the kids were able to get outside. In the end, we probably only got about 4 or 5 inches of snow; however, the ice and sub-freezing temps caused the most trouble.
I was making these breakfast biscuit sandwiches that morning using eggs from Adria’s chickens…
…when she texted me this photo of her very spoiled birds. They’re warm in their heated coop, eating hot oatmeal with apples and raisins! Happy chickens produce delicious eggs…
Keith and I both got some work done and made it up the street for a short walk later in the afternoon.
For supper we had the easiest burritos,
plus tortilla chips, guacamole, and salsa.
The view from our side porch on Tuesday morning:
It was nice to see the sun again, but the cold temps meant that the ice was definitely not melting. In between work and school assignments, we managed to dig out the truck to pick up a grocery order and to go sledding.
Dinner was a simple one: dump-and-bake wagon wheel pasta casserole,
plus a side of garlic breadsticks (from the freezer) and a skillet of fried cabbage (using up some extra cabbage that was hanging out in the fridge).
The boys had their friends over on Wednesday, so I had a house full of teenage boys.
They spent most of the afternoon outside, coming in briefly to eat (of course). I made a pineapple upside down cake with cake mix that they demolished for snack.
For supper that night, it was chicken bell pepper stir-fry with a side of rice, frozen pot stickers, and frozen egg rolls.
I was ready to get out of the house on Thursday, so the boys and I ran a few errands for a change of scenery. With temps in the low 20s, it wasn’t even really pleasant to be outside for very long!
Puzzle time…
For supper that night, I made Hanky Panky sliders (which would make a great Super Bowl party food, too!)…
…served with onion rings and wedge salads.
Friday, and our front yard was still a sheet of ice!
I spent a good chunk of the day at the doctor’s and then at UVA getting x-rays on Spencer’s face following a bad sledding accident. Fortunately, nothing was broken and he’s on the mend — just nursing a very swollen, bruised face.
I made a quick stop at Yoder’s for ice cream and a handful of other groceries, and then made an easy kid-favorite dinner: shrimp pesto pasta with bread and a Caesar salad.
And that brings us to Saturday! Basketball games were canceled, so it was yet another quiet day at home while Spencer continued to recover. I photographed a couple of old recipes, and got out for a very chilly walk with Keith after lunch.
Keith and the boys wanted take-out sushi for supper (not my personal favorite), so Spencer and I had leftovers that we pulled from the fridge and freezer. I enjoyed a bowl of roasted butternut squash soup, which I paired with toasted cranberry walnut bread.
So there you have it, friends — another week of easy dinners! I hope that you’re warm, safe, and enjoying some delicious food on this first day of February. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!
Good morning, Blair! Was thinking of you and your family during the storm, so sorry to hear about Spencer’s accident, praying he feels better soon!
I made a dump and bake meatball casserole for myself yesterday for dinners for this week, and it is really tasty.
Take care, and stay safe and warm. Hopefully both of us will be thawed out soon!
Thank you, Ann! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the meatball casserole. It’s comfort food, and perfect for this season! Stay warm, and thank you for kind words. Spencer is doing great!
I really like your recipes and your stories are very heartwarming. I can tell you love your family which to my estimation is pretty rare these days. You remind me of myself at your age. I am going to be 80 years old in November and I am very close to my two children.
Many blessings to you and your family,
Mrs. Mickey Sewalt
Hi, Mickey! Thank you so much for saying that. I really hope to have a close relationship with my boys when I’m that age as well! Such a blessing.
Hello. Prayers for a speedy recovery for Spencer. Our week in Meals always makes me hungry. Especially the breakfast sandwiches and easy burritos. Have a good week and stay warm.
Thank you, Jill!
Good Morning Blair and Family – I was wondering how you all faired the storm….I have two daughters – one who lives in Virginia near the WVA border and one in Maryland and they both had weather very similar to yours…we do pray that Spencer is on the mend and will make a full recovery soon. We are still in our deep freeze up here in the frozen North…although it has ‘warmed’ up a little – feels quite balmy after our -25 daytime temps…we have about 15 inches of snow on the ground but no ice…thanks as always for your wonderful photos and fantastic recipes…take care and have a blessed week.
Hi, Wendy! I hope your daughters are doing well after the storm. Yes, we got a lot of ice here, which has made the driveway, sidewalks, etc. very treacherous. The roads are totally fine at this point, but the kids still have another day off from school tomorrow!