Weekly Menu, Vol. 11
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A peek into real life here: what my family actually ate for dinners during the past week. I hope this post gives you some inspiration, something relatable, or is just fun to read.
One of the most common questions I get from friends and acquaintances is whether the recipes I post on the blog are what we actually eat for dinner. I’m happy to report that they absolutely are; I don’t have any extra time to cook different things! But given the frequency of this question, I figured people might be interested in this little glimpse behind the scenes.
Background & Daily Routine
I live with my husband and our two little-ish kids, 8 year old Henry and 3 year old Viv. We live just outside of Washington, DC and are very fortunate to have a huge variety of grocery stores and restaurants nearby.
Honestly, breakfast and lunch are pretty boring around here. Weekday breakfasts are a rotation of protein waffles, oatmeal, cereal, hash browns, or scrambled eggs and bacon, always with fruit. Time permitting I will make a quick batch of pancakes or French toast. On the weekends my husband takes over and will often make waffles or Henry’s favorite chocolate chip banana pancakes.
Lunch is also pretty predictable: leftovers, a big salad, or something very simple for the kids if they are home. Quesadillas, mac and cheese, pesto pasta, chicken nuggets, etc.
Although our dinners may be only marginally more exciting, that’s what I’m going to focus on here. 🙂
Our Week in Dinners
Friday: Pizza as usual, with a taste test of caramel chocolate chip cookies for dessert, using my bakery-style recipe as a base with a few different mix-ins.
Saturday: I roasted a whole chicken that came in my last ButcherBox with carrots and onions on the bottom. This was probably my favorite roast chicken I’ve ever made, so I jotted down notes about the few changes I made to my previous recipes. It was so good!
Sunday: We hosted family for a big brunch — including my Mediterranean frittata and these cinnamon rolls, which were insanely delicious — and then I closed the kitchen for the rest of the day, leaving everyone except the kids to graze on whatever they could find.
Monday: I experiment with chicken pesto meatballs, using these chicken meatballs as a base but mixing in basil pesto and Italian seasonings. Big hit with everyone, including both little kids and my step-son, who ate the leftovers for lunch Tuesday, so look for this recipe coming later this spring.
Tuesday: Ribs on the Traeger plus garlic bread and chickpea avocado salad. Satisfying! Does anyone want basic grilling recipes? We started writing down simple favorite rubs and methods last year after finally replacing our grill, but they’re so simple I haven’t shared most of them.
Wednesday: Creamy pesto tortellini, which I absolutely love and plan to publish on the blog next week. So good and crazy easy to make.
I’ve made this tortellini several times before but finally took photographs tonight. I try not to photograph right before dinner too often, since it’s kind of hectic, but tonight my husband is on a work trip and I shamelessly bribe the kids with screen time to buy myself an extra 20 minutes.
Thursday: WIth my husband out of town, I treat “the kids” to Chick-fil-A. 🙂
And that’s a wrap on our week(s) in family meals!
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