What We Ate This Week
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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
Saturday 1/6: I test a copycat version of Noodles & Company’s penne rosa using my creamy tomato pasta recipe as a base. We love it! I’ll make it again in a couple of weeks to take photos and share on the blog. Most penne rosa recipes I see online use jarred sauce as the base, which I am totally good with when needed, but I like a from-scratch, still-super-quick sauce even more.
Sunday 1/7: We graze all day, serving the kids little sandwiches and quesadillas, and eating leftovers and the like ourselves. Henry’s Sunday night swim practice has really thrown a wrench in big Sunday dinners this year, but no one seems to mind, so I am trying to embrace the upside of having a night more or less off from major meal planning and cooking.
Monday 1/8: Chicken tacos from Isabel Eats! These are one of my favorites, and it’s even more festive because my step-daughter, Elena, comes for dinner. We add corn to the tacos and as a side for the kids, and round out plates with an everyday Mexican salad.
Tuesday 1/9: Slow cooker French dips are on the menu, along with roasted carrots. It absolutely pours freezing rain all day, so I’m extra glad to have a cozy dinner planned.
The kids do a role reversal: Vivi, who is typically quite the tiny carnivore, snubs the meat, while Henry declares this “the best sandwich ever.” I am shocked and dubious this will ever be repeated, even if I make them exactly the same way next time.
Wednesday 1/10: I pair my favorite blackened tilapia with my favorite mango salsa and serve it over white rice. I’m overjoyed with how the flavors come together and how delicious and nutritious this is. When I make blackened tilapia, I usually serve the kids breaded tilapia filets from Trader Joe’s, which they love, so they’re totally happy eating that plus rice and plain mango and avocado.
It’s actually pretty rare that I eat leftovers for lunch, just because I try to keep my lunches super full of protein and veggies, and dinners are more of a compromise between those priorities and what my kids will realistically try and enjoy. This is that unicorn dinner that everyone enjoys, is quick and easy, and I will happily eat for lunch again the next day.
Thursday 1/11: I meet a friend out for dinner, and my husband gets kebabs from a local chain for himself and the kids. Everyone wins!
Friday 1/12: Homemade pizzas in our Ooni: one cheese, one pepperoni, and one pesto with pine nuts and Kalamata olives. Grateful we have a screened-in porch so we can fire up the pizza oven despite another round of cold, cold rain.
I grab a Mediterranean salad kit for the adults and forage the fridge for the kids’ extras — grapes and raw baby carrots. Viv and I make chocolate cupcakes for dessert, and I plan to decorate the rest of the batch with football-inspired frosting on Saturday.
And that’s a wrap on our week in family meals!
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