Our Week in Meals #406

Good morning, and happy Sunday! It was another routine week around here, complete with school, kids’ sports, and fall-like temps. 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…

It was eerily foggy on Sunday morning…

I made it out for a walk, but couldn’t see much!

So many fields of soybeans…

Spence played a lot of golf with Keith and Gibbs over the summer, and recently requested a lesson with Gibbs’ coach. We made it happen on Sunday, and Casey even had a lesson, too. All three boys have jumped on the golf train!

I made our favorite marinated grilled shrimp for supper that evening,

which we paired with a skillet of no-knead focaccia, some leftover potato wedges that came with our takeout fried chicken lunch from The Market, and a house salad. I swapped the mandarin oranges for fresh peaches in the salad, and used store-bought candied pecans for convenience.

Let’s chat books! This week I have to recommend Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez. I’ve loved all of her novels, and this one did not disappoint! The author manages to write a romance with deep, interesting characters that also touches on some really tough issues — while still making the story fun to read. It’s a fine balance, and one that she strikes beautifully!

After a night of rain, the sun returned on Monday morning.

The boys went to school, and I worked on a couple of new recipes in the kitchen.

Our apple trees are full right now, but the bugs and birds have already feasted on many of them…

…and we’ve got almost as many rotting on the ground.

Gibbs had golf practice that evening, but there were no soccer practices on the agenda. We enjoyed ground beef nachos for dinner, along with corn and homemade guacamole.

Aside from a short walk on Tuesday and a couple of errands at lunchtime, my day was largely devoted to work at the computer. So it goes sometimes!

I roasted a whole Cider Dijon chicken that afternoon, and used some of the meat to make sandwiches that we packed and ate on-the-go throughout the evening. Spencer and I took Casey to his soccer practice in Charlottesville, while Keith drove over to Bryce Resort after work for Gibbs’ golf match.

It was crisp, cool, and felt like fall on Wednesday!

Spencer and Casey had soccer practices, while I spent the evening on the golf course watching Gibbs’ match.

Dinner obviously needed to be simple: Crock Pot spaghetti for the win!

Paired with a green salad with red wine vinaigrette and frozen garlic breadsticks.

After a walk with Ashley on Thursday, I headed to Charlottesville for a checkup at the dermatologist.

The boys had dentist appointments that afternoon, and then Keith and Spencer had a tee time to play golf together after dinner. We’re juggling a lot of balls in the air at the moment — just like so many of you!

Knowing that we’d be out of the house for hours, I prepped dinner in the slow cooker again. That night it was Crock Pot Mississippi chicken served over rice with a side of steamed broccoli and green beans on the side.

Teddy turned 6 years old on Friday! To celebrate his birthday, the boys each gave him a new stuffed toy (these are the only ones I’ll buy, because they’re the only ones I’ve found that he can’t destroy immediately).

I went to Pilates after dropping the boys off at school, and had a lunch date with Keith at Yoder’s. In honor of the store’s 40th anniversary, Yoder’s is selling their original deli sandwiches for the original price of just $1.99 all month long. Such a steal!

The highlight, though, was the apple cider whoopie pie that I had for dessert! I also picked up a blackberry fried pie, cookies, and a chocolate whoopie pie for the kids.

Casey and Spencer both had soccer practices that evening, while Gibbs had golf. Before I took the younger boys to Charlottesville, we had bbq chicken wraps for a hearty snack (using some of the leftover chicken from the night before). We also stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream on our way home after practice. Everyone was starving again by 8 p.m.!

Saturday got off to a fairly slow start, since the family was tired and we didn’t have any plans that morning.

I headed out for a sunrise walk, the boys hit golf balls in the yard, and Keith was thrilled that college football was officially back on TV.

Spencer had soccer games in Charlottesville that afternoon, so we spent the rest of the day on the sidelines.

For dinner, we took the easy route — takeout Italian from the shop in town. We had chicken parm subs, pizza, and wings. Makes everyone happy!

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