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.

Composite image of tortellini pasta salad, honey garlic shrimp, ground chicken tacos, and pizza, with the overlay text:

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 4/12: Dinner out at Pupatella, a local-ish Neapolitan-style pizza chain we like a lot. We’d hosted some friends earlier in the week and had leftover chocolate cake from that for dessert. Yum!

Saturday 4/13: Grilled ButcherBox steaks, green beans, a little salad, and garlic bread. Easy and delicious.

Sunday 4/14: We sat down to a large-ish brunch of our favorite cottage cheese pancakes with fruit and bacon, then more or less grazed on sandwiches the rest of the day in between soccer games and swim practices.

Monday 4/15: I made two things earlier in the day to photograph: an Italian tortellini pasta salad (already published) and honey garlic shrimp (coming soon). Monday is our night for soccer carpool so we all grazed on a mix of these two things on the go.

Close up of a bowl full of tortellini pasta salad loaded with peppers, pepperoni, tomatoes, mozzarella, and Italian dressing.

Tuesday 4/16: Broth-y Mediterranean beans and greens, another one coming to the blog very soon. This is a great recipe packed with protein and veggies. However I freely admit neither kid even tried it; they ate leftover pasta salad and carrot sticks instead.

Wednesday 4/17: Sheet pan miniature pierogies with chicken sausage, peppers, and onions. I am always a little stunned by how well baked pierogies come out, since my Mom only ever boiled them. This recipe requires essentially zero effort and is coming to the blog next week.

Thursday 4/18: Ground chicken tacos. Yes, again. But I make these over and over for a reason – they’re so dang easy and so good. I literally ran into the grocery store for the ingredients with about 5 minutes to spare before picking up my daughter, then had all kinds of time to hang out with the kids before starting to make dinner because they’re so fast.

These Ground Chicken Tacos are super delicious, quick, and easy to make for a weeknight meal everyone will enjoy with no hassle! Protein-packed chicken, plenty of taco seasoning, and a little of your favorite salsa make the magic. Just add your favorite toppings and dig in!

And that’s a wrap on our week(s) in family meals!

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