This week felt like another week of heavy rainstorms and flash flood warnings.
There was no school on Monday to observe Easter Sunday, and then school was cancelled again on Friday because of the weather. Most of the tennis activities were cancelled, the parks were closed, and all the tennis matches were called off. It was one of those weeks where plans kept changing, and we had to make the best of being indoors.
That usually means one thing in our house: comfort food.
With everyone home more than expected, this week turned into a good time for warm meals, easy lunches, and a few simple treats. We also leaned on a couple of kitchen tools that really helped make meals feel easier and a little more fun.
Here’s what we ate this week, what worked, and what made life easier.
Grocery Snapshot
Weekly grocery total: [add total]
This week’s meals leaned heavily on comfort food, leftovers, easy home lunches, and a few reliable grocery staples that worked well during a rainy week at home.
What We Ate This Week
Monday
Brunch: Fried udon
Snack: Fried tofu
Dinner: Leftovers
Monday was a stay-home kind of day, and fried udon was a great fit. It was easy to make, very tasty, and exactly the kind of warm meal that worked well with the rainy weather.
For a snack, we made fried tofu using the Instant Pot air fryer mode, which made it simple and quick. Dinner was leftovers, which always helps on a week when routines keep changing.
Tuesday
Breakfast: Toast with Nutella
Lunch: Fried rice bento
Dinner: Grilled salmon with shredded cabbage
Tuesday felt a little more structured, with toast and Nutella for breakfast and a fried rice bento for lunch.
For dinner, we used frozen salmon from Sam’s Club and cooked it on the Ninja Electric Indoor Grill. It came out juicy and full of flavor, which was a nice surprise for frozen salmon. We ate it with shredded cabbage, and it made for a simple but really satisfying dinner.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Grilled ham and cheese sandwich
Dinner: Chicken soup ravioli
Wednesday dinner was one of the most interesting meals of the week and one we would definitely make again.
It was our first time using Sam’s Club rotisserie chicken and the Instant Pot to make a chicken soup with Sam’s Club mozzarella ravioli. Usually ravioli goes with tomato sauce or a cream sauce, so this felt a little unexpected, but it worked really well. The chicken soup paired surprisingly well with the ravioli, and it ended up being one of those meals that felt cozy and different in a good way.
Thursday
Breakfast: Grilled cheese bread
Lunch: Arabiki sausage and egg bento
Dinner: Grilled tofu and pork
Thursday was a good mix of easy and familiar. Breakfast was grilled cheese bread, lunch was an Arabiki sausage and egg bento, and dinner was grilled tofu and pork.
Meals like this are not complicated, but they are filling, practical, and easy to fit into a busy family week.
Friday
Brunch: Pancakes, eggs, and link sausage
Snack: Matcha and chocolate sponge cake with peanut butter and Nutella topping
Dinner: Steak and grilled vegetables
Friday ended up being another stay-home day because school was cancelled again due to the flash flood warnings.
We leaned into the extra time at home with a brunch of pancakes, eggs, and link sausage. Later, we had matcha and chocolate sponge cake with peanut butter and Nutella, which felt like a fun rainy-day snack. The best part is that the sponge cake was made with tofu and only took two minutes in the microwave.
Dinner was definitely a treat. We used frozen tri-tip steaks and grilled them on the Ninja Electric Indoor Grill again. It worked really well with the high heat setting and low smoke, which made indoor grilling feel easy. The girls were so quiet and busy eating that there was not much to say — which is always a good sign. About 3 pounds of beef disappeared. We also grilled carrots, onions, mushrooms, asparagus, and garlic.
Saturday
Breakfast: Toasted cheese rice
Lunch: Food court
Dinner: Food court
Saturday’s plans changed because the storm cancelled a fun fair that had been planned. Instead, we found friends to hang out with at a local mall so everyone could stay dry.
Breakfast at home was toasted cheese rice, which turned out to be a great way to use leftover rice. We grilled it on the pan with shredded cheese, and it made for a simple but really good breakfast.
Both lunch and dinner ended up being at the food court, mostly because the day shifted around and that was the easiest option. Some days just turn into that kind of day.
Sunday
Brunch: Corned beef hash and eggs
Dinner: Beef curry
Sunday started with one of the girls’ favorite brunches: canned corned beef hash and eggs. They actually prefer it over fresh corned beef with mashed potatoes, which always makes me laugh.
Dinner was beef curry, which felt like a good way to close out another rainy week. Warm, comforting, and easy to enjoy together as a family. Used the Instant Pot to pressure cook the beef and the slow cooker for the base.
What Made Life Easier
A couple of things really helped this week.
1. The Ninja Electric Indoor Grill was the hero
The storm may have kept us from grilling outside, but it did not stop us from having grilled food. The Ninja Electric Indoor Grill worked so well for both the salmon and the steak. It gave us that grilled flavor without needing good weather, and the low-smoke setting made indoor cooking much more manageable.
2. Sam’s Club rotisserie chicken was incredibly useful
The Sam’s Club rotisserie chicken made the chicken soup ravioli dinner much easier. It saved time, added great flavor, and helped turn a new dinner idea into something we would actually make again.
A few other things helped too:
- using leftover rice for toasted cheese rice
- using the Instant Pot for both soup and air-fried tofu
- leaning into easy bentos and simple comfort meals
- being flexible when weather changed the day
A Few Takeaways from This Week
This week reminded us that rainy weeks really do call for different kinds of meals.
Some things that worked especially well:
- warm comfort food for days spent indoors
- using kitchen tools that make meals easier
- making frozen proteins feel more special
- turning leftovers into something new
- adjusting expectations when plans get cancelled
The weather changed the schedule, but it also gave us more time around the table, and that has its own kind of value too.
Final Thoughts
This was another week where rain changed a lot of our plans.
No school, cancelled tennis, closed parks, and time spent indoors could have made the week feel frustrating. But good food helped soften all of that. Fried udon, grilled salmon, chicken soup ravioli, steak, toasted cheese rice, and beef curry gave the week a warm and comforting rhythm.
Sometimes when everything outside feels unsettled, having something good to eat at home makes all the difference.
And this week, that was enough.
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