Our Week in Meals #403

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included a visit from family, a lot of kids’ sports, and an entertaining book. You’ll find all of the highlights from the past few days, along with each of our dinners, in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Our Week in Meals is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our dinners each night. This series gives you a glimpse “behind the scenes” at some highlights from our life, shows you how I balance a busy schedule with feeding my family, and offers a few new ideas for your own weekly meal plan.

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

After a morning walk, I dropped Gibbs and Spencer off at the golf course. These two walked 9 holes in the 95 degree heat!

Spence has been asking to go to dinner at The Bavarian Chef again, so we made it happen that evening.

My parents joined us for the Bavarian pretzels, sausages, German potato salad, schnitzel, and more!

Let’s chat books! I love a good psychological thriller that keeps me guessing, and The Locked Door by Freida McFadden did not disappoint. I definitely didn’t see this ending coming!

Our Monday started bright and early with kids’ activities.

I dropped Gibbs off for his first morning of high school golf, took Spencer to a friend’s house, ran a couple of errands, and brought Teddy along for a walk with Casey at a park in Culpeper. Teddy’s doing really well these days (and we’re praying that continues)!

Supper included my grandmother’s baked eggplant Parmesan (a personal fav)…

…along with pesto pasta (the boys’ favorite) and garlic bread. The summer basil is still going strong!

Back at it on Tuesday! The younger two boys had early soccer training in Charlottesville, so I walked the dog while waiting for them to finish.

We hustled back to Madison to get Gibbs to his golf practice before lunch, and then eventually had a quiet afternoon at the house. One thing that I also accomplished, which I wanted to mention here, was ordering new lunch boxes for the kids. We’ve been using these for years, and I can’t recommend them enough. They’re inexpensive, sturdy yet lightweight, big enough to hold plenty of food for my hungry teenagers, and they even go through the washing machine well! In case you missed it, you can find all of our recommendations for the best lunch containers, as well as a list of our favorite packed lunch ideas, on the blog. Hopefully those posts are helpful, since it’s that time of year again!

We had Goldfish baked chicken nuggets for supper, as well as steamed broccoli and frozen sweet potato fries. These little nuggets are a regular request from the kiddos!

I met my friend Ashley for a walk on Wednesday morning, took Casey and Spencer to hit balls at the driving range, and then made it home in time to get Gibbs to his golf practice at the high school. I’m basically the kids’ Uber driver at this point, and I know other parents can relate!

The rest of the day included a Zoom meeting, more transporting of boys, and an easy supper: flatbread bbq chicken pizzas…

…with a side of roasted yellow squash.

Out the door early again on Thursday for the boys’ soccer training and golf practice!

I’m so lucky to have friends who not only help with the carpooling, but also drop off flowers at the same time! I found these on my kitchen counter from Adria…

Since we were home for most of the afternoon and evening, I made a Dutch oven pot roast and a pan of Jiffy cornbread with creamed corn for supper. Comfort food — even in the summer!

After dropping Gibbs off at golf on Friday, I met Ashley for a walk, photographed a couple of recipes, and then took the boys to get haircuts that afternoon.

Supper was another common kid-request: the easiest chicken burritos! Plus tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole on the side.

And that brings us to the weekend…

I headed over to Mollie’s farm bright and early on Saturday morning for a visit and walk.

Then it was off to the golf course with Spencer and Gibbs, while Keith and Casey picked up my brother-in-law and our nephews from the train station. I was the official golf cart driver for the morning!

Kevin and the kids are staying with us for the weekend, and joined us at the golf course that afternoon for swimming at the pool, pickleball, and lunch. I’ve got a house full of boys at the moment!

Dinner was a classic summer cookout: grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken wings,

plus pasta salad, potato chips, and watermelon on the side.

And for dessert, a double batch of one-bowl brownies!

So there you have it, friends — another week of dinners! I hope that you’ve found something new to add to your table in the days ahead. Thanks for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!