Oh my gosh, you guys! It's April and it is truly beginning to feel like it is spring...and I am so here for it! Since I missed getting a menu up last week, I'm thinking back to Easter, when we all sat outside and read books on the deck! Here in Oregon, 59 degrees in the spring feels like 70. I would be lying if I said I wasn't wearing a tank top! Anything to feel a little bit of sun on my very pale shoulders.

We detoured from the usual Easter dinner a bit - Josh made brisket taquitos instead (determined by family vote), and they were very good. A little spicy for me, but had a really good flavor. He smoked another brisket on Saturday (allllll day) for brisket nachos at the church potluck on Sunday and brisket quesadillas in the afternoon. Clearly we like brisket (and Mexican food themed brisket meals?) around here. Need to share some brisket (and leftover brisket!) recipes soon!

With the weather acting all spring-y, I'm ready to fill my menu with ALL kinds of warmer weather foods. I miss eating salads for a meal. I just don't want an entree salad in December, ya know!

Here's what's on this week's menu!

You guys! I'm going to knock on wood as soon as I type this, but I think (I think) spring has sprung! We've had a few days in the 70's and it is GIVING ME LIFE!!!! Seriously, I can't even handle how beautiful it is outside. The weather is inspiring this week's menu so I hope you're ready.

I share these menus each week so you can have some help with meal planning and offering a bit of variety to your meal plans. I know all too well as a busy mom how hard it can be to plan something different five nights a week, and I want to ease that burden a bit if I can. As for me, I've really been cooking from my freezer/pantry these past few weeks, and it has been interesting seeing what I've come up with. A lot of it has been experimentation and some of it has been good. Some has been just okay. Some has been meh. Hopefully, you'll fine something on this week's menu that you also will enjoy! Nothing meh on the menu. 😀

Here's what's cooking this week!

January seemed to take forever to come to a close, while February whizzed by. What will March be like? I suspect that it will also go by quickly, and on one hand I like that and on the other hand I don't. Regardless, we're in March and St. Patrick's Day and Easter (and a dreaded time change) are approaching. It's a packed month, kids!

I've got a weekly menu for you to take a gander at. I'm craving all kinds of things this week and I'm giving in completely. I hope you can find something on this menu that will also sound good to you to implement into your own weekly menu!

Here's what's on the menu.

We're back after taking two weeks off! It's good to be back and sharing recipes with you that just bring us together around the dinner table. It's funny, as I write this right now, it is Sunday evening and Josh is working on dinner for us all, Chicken Parmesan from Joanna's Magnolia Table Volume 2 cookbook. We've never made this recipe even though we've had the cookbook since it came out! The funny thing is, Josh starts making dinner and everyone immediately gathers into the kitchen. The baby is running around squealing with Christian and Ruby chasing him. Eden has been sitting next to me at the counter and we've been discussing American Girl books (the originals), and Grace just made her first latte with our new espresso maker. Josh is of course in the kitchen trying to engage in everyone's conversation and follow a new recipe simultaneously, as per usual!

My point is, the kitchen is a powerful space in a home. People are just immediately drawn to it. The smells, the conversations, the snatched bites of food. It's a sacred spot in our home and happens to be one of my favorites - I'm happy to share recipes with you this week from my kitchen to yours!

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Oh my goodness, can you believe that January is finally over? Why does it always feel like the longest month ever? Despite the ice storm we had in early January, we've also been really blessed with some gorgeous clear days with either full sun or part sun and I for one am not complaining. The evenings may still be so cold and get down in the 20's and 30's, but I can totally be content with these rain-free days that leave us in the 60's for a couple of hours temperature-wise. Anyone else feel the same way?

We're still meal-prepping lunches over here on our Sunday evenings - which for me, Josh, and Grace, lunch is our least favorite meal to eat. Come mid-day I have no motivation to make something. I'd honestly rather wait to eat until dinner. But meal-prepping some lunches on Sunday has really been a lifesaver for me. Grace gets really fancy with it, but Josh and I are a little more boring. I make a salad and he last week had chicken, brown rice, and broccoli (granted, he Traegers the chicken and roasts the broccoli, so it's not flavorless, but still...). I don't know what Josh's plan is this week, but I'm making a Thai-inspired protein chopped salad. Protein is something I've been really focusing on with some of my meals. Do you struggle with making lunch for yourself, too? It's not just a mom thing. Maybe it's an everyone thing. And why is that?

Here's what's on the menu this week: