Our Week in Meals #76

Hey, y’all! Happy Sunday! I hope that you’ve been enjoying a beautiful spring weekend. I’m back today with another roundup of Our Week in Meals, so let’s get right to it!

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…

While Keith and the boys did some yard work at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, I snuck out for a quick run on my own.

It was still kind of overcast and cool, but the fresh air felt so good.

Gibbs had THREE soccer games on Sunday in a little round-robin tournament, so the rest of our day was largely spent spectating and cheering.

There was also a donut snack break involved…

I pulled some fish out of the freezer for dinner, which is always a great quick-cooking option. I just had two pieces of Mahi-Mahi left from Costco, so I also cooked a few pieces of this beautiful Wild Alaskan Salmon from my recent Moink box. HIGHLY recommend! This was delicious fish!

I sliced a loaf of French bread, made a quick salad to have on the side, and dinner was served. I will share our favorite way to prepare salmon in an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned for that.

After all of the fresh air this weekend, my crew was TIRED on Sunday night. Poor Spencer had an epic meltdown around 6:30 p.m. and went to bed shortly after! It’s so hard trying to keep up with the big kids…

Monday was a busy day — starting bright and early with school drop-offs. In between taking the older boys to school and driving Spencer to preschool, I stopped by the house for about 15 minutes (as I always do), which was just enough time to start dinner in the slow cooker.

I was going to be out of the house almost all day (thanks to errands in the morning and a Board meeting at the school in the afternoon), and I needed to be able to feed the kids an early dinner at 4:30 before soccer. Crock Pot to the rescue!

My Amish Chuck Roast recipe can be prepared in the Instant Pot, in the oven, or in the slow cooker, but I went with the low-and-slow method that day since I wouldn’t be home to babysit a pressure cooker or a pot in the oven.

I shared a video of me preparing this meal on Instagram Stories, so hop on over here and follow me if you enjoy more of the live, behind-the-scenes action!

After taking Spence to school, I met Mollie (and little Miles) for a walk at the park before picking up an online grocery order.

My afternoon involved the school meeting, school pick-ups, and this delicious comfort food supper before we headed out the door for the soccer fields.

Tuesday was a total wash-out! It was cool and rainy all day long, which meant that soccer practices were cancelled and Spence and I stayed indoors for the day.

I spent the morning in the kitchen — testing recipes and photographing my oldie-but-goodie 3-Ingredient Grape Salad! I had some extra Cool Whip in the refrigerator from last week’s Orange Pineapple Fluff Cake, so this seemed like an obvious choice.???? It takes about 5 minutes to stir together and makes a delicious fruit salad for summer potlucks and cookouts!

Spencer helped me every step of the way (as you may have seen on Instagram), which means that everything took 5x longer to finish, but it was worth it because the “jobs” entertained him!

Speaking of entertainment, we had to go to the car dealer in Culpeper to get my vehicle serviced after lunch, and these massage chairs in the waiting room are the best entertainment for a 4-year-old. He had so much fun with that remote control…

Since sports were rained out that evening, we actually had a quiet family dinner together for a change! I served one of my latest test-kitchen recipes — Cuban Mojo Chicken — with a side of rice and veggies.

I got some work done at the house on Wednesday morning while the three boys were all at school. Shortly before I had to pick up Spence at noon, the rain stopped and I snuck in a quick walk at Mollie’s farm for some exercise and social time.

Chopping veggies with my “helpful” sous chef.

Love this (and found it at Costco!)…

Gibbs had soccer practice on the agenda that evening, so I made a new dump-and-bake dinner that I knew the kids would enjoy. This was Dump-and-Bake Chicken Spaghetti and it hit the spot (coming soon to the blog)! The pasta, the chicken, and the veggies all cooked in one casserole dish in the oven. So simple!

Since Spence doesn’t have school on Thursdays, we were home all morning and ready to enjoy the nice weather!

He also helped me prepare my Egg Roll in a Bowl. I just wanted to tweak the ingredients a little bit to make sure that the recipe is perfect before it goes on the blog. I made sure to cook it at lunchtime so that I could enjoy it for my mid-day meal (and I shared some videos of that process on Instagram as well)…

I had a meeting to attend at the School Board office after lunch, so off I went while Spence stayed home with Keith (who happened to be working at home).

I was on my own with the kids for dinner that evening since Keith went out with friends, so I kept it as easy as possible. The falafel from Costco is so darn good, and it’s a quick option that I can keep in the freezer. I just microwaved a few of the falafel balls and put them in a pita with veggies and homemade Tzatziki. SO YUM.

The kids voted for fish sticks, so that’s what they got — plus some chopped carrots, cucumbers, and strawberries on the side.

I spent a rainy Friday morning helping out in Spencer’s preschool classroom. There’s nothing much cuter than a group of 3-and-4-year-olds!

By the end of the week, my refrigerator was looking pretty bare. While Spencer “napped” in his room after lunch, I sat down to do some meal planning for the week ahead. I was anticipating a weekend grocery run and I wanted to be prepared!

With some help from our pantry (and freezer) staples, I pulled together one of the kids’ favorite dinners that night. We had mini flatbread pizzas, which were customized based on everyone’s individual preferences (I like more veggies, Keith likes pepperoni, and the kids like cheeeeeeese). I also threw together a salad to have on the side.

The boys rented the movie Paddington 2 after dinner, and they were treated to ice cream cones for dessert. Perfect way to kick off the weekend!

There’s nothing that feeds my soul more than fresh country air and plenty of family time — and on Saturday, I got both!

I started my morning with a jog before the boys woke up, and then we were off and running to the soccer fields for the day.

All 3 boys had games here in Madison on Saturday (which rarely happens), so my parents joined us for a day of spectating.

Spencer was first at 8:30 a.m.,

Casey played next,

and then we all came back to the house to take a lunch break. Subs, chips, and cookies!

We finished the afternoon with Gibbs’s game, and then dragged 3 very tired little boys home for supper.

All soccer action shots are courtesy of their proud dad, Keith.????

We kept the meal really easy with hotdogs on the grill! Now it officially feels like summer is on the way…

And that’s a wrap! I’m off to spend my Sunday with the family, to catch up with a couple of friends on a walk, and to make a trip to the store for our weekly groceries. I’ll see you back here with a new recipe on Monday!

Need some help planning your family’s meals? When you join Simply Mailed, I will send you 3 quick-prep dinner recipes and a grocery shopping list each week (for about $1 per week!!!). This super-affordable service takes the stress out of dinner, saves you time and money, and brings your family together at the end of the day. There are even options for smaller households of just 1 or 2!

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