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 Korean ground beef bowls, teriyaki chicken over rice, naan pizzas, and an Oreo ice cream cake, with text reading,

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 2/10: The day’s main kitchen project is cookies. As I published these Valentine’s-themed double chocolate cookies, I remembered an ancient recipe on the blog for double chocolate espresso walnut cookies, and suspect that recipe could be improved by simply using the Valentine’s cookie recipe as a base. Two test batches later, that suspicion was confirmed. 🙂 I’ll update the espresso walnut cookie recipe soon!

For dinner, I suggest a stir fry with ground beef and broccoli, which elicits an immediate wrinkled nose from my husband. He suggests Korean beef bowls instead, which doesn’t actually seem all that different to me, but whatever. I am happy to oblige!

Small bowl filled with Korean ground beef, rice, and sliced cucumbers.
Korean ground beef bowls.
Three Korean beef lettuce wraps piled into a white bowl, ready to eat.
Korean ground beef, lettuce wraps version.

Sunday 2/11: We’re not super invested in the Super Bowl as a sporting event this year, but we’re still in for the snacks! We pick up pretzel buns from the most amazing local bakery (Heidelburg, for locals) to make sliders. Soft pretzel bites (kids’ request), apricot brie bites (my choice because I want to photograph them for the blog), and a big veggie tray round out the spread.

Monday 2/12: I’d been thinking about making slow cooker BBQ meatballs to go with our game day spread yesterday, but it would have been too much food, so I hit the easy button and serve those with egg noodles and green beans for dinner tonight. Super easy, super delicious. Recipe coming soon!

Tuesday 2/13: Easy ground chicken tacos to keep things simple after an extra busy day of kids’ activities. (Swim + swim + gymnastics + soccer.) I just brown 1.5 pounds of ground chicken with 3 heaping Tablespoons of homemade taco seasoning and mix in some salsa when it seems a bit dry. This and a salad and we’re done. Everyone likes it.

Wednesday 2/14: Happy Valentine’s Day! We go out to Bartaco as a family. I absolutely love Bartaco because Paul and I can get interesting tacos — my favorite is the cauliflower — and great margaritas, the kids’ menu includes real, simple foods that they actually eat, and the service is always fantastic.

Thursday 2/15: We’re celebrating a milestone my son reached at his piano studio. We’re so proud of him! I tell him he can choose anything he wants for family dinner and dessert. To my surprise, he requests Crockpot teriyaki chicken, which he does tend to like, but not enough to surpass other things. I guess he’s taco’d out for the week? And I’m glad because this goes well with the broccoli that went unused Saturday.

I am not at all surprised that he requests an Oreo ice cream cake for dessert. Between that and the Valentine’s treats, the volume of sugar in our home is now at a dangerous peak, but hey, my kids are happy and Henry feels celebrated, which is the goal!

Bowl full of slow cooker teriyaki chicken served over rice with green onions and sesame seeds.
Small white plate holding a slice of Oreo ice cream cake drizzled with melted chocolate.

Friday 2/16: Build-your-own naan pizzas and salad at home and we call it a night!

Close-up of a cheesy slice of naan pizza.

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

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