Our Week in Meals #409

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included a birthday celebration and some of our favorite fall foods. 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…

Our Sunday morning got off to an early start. I baked these refrigerated pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls for breakfast,

and then Keith and the boys had an 8:00 a.m. tee time at the golf course.

Meanwhile, I headed over to Mollie’s farm to meet three of my friends for a walk and a visit.

We watched football that afternoon, sorted through the kids’ fall clothes, and enjoyed a low-key dinner at home. Keith grilled chicken wings and bbq chicken breast,

which we paired with his favorite baked potato wedges and a Southern Caesar salad (inspired by the Boar’s Head resort’s delicious dish).

And for dessert, Keith’s favorite easy key lime pie! I made it with a graham cracker crust instead of the saltine crust this time…

And now for this week’s book: The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki. My friend Sallie recommended this one, and I found it so entertaining. It’s the story of Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress of the Post cereal and General Foods empire. She led an extraordinary life!

The boys headed back to school on Monday, and I had a busy day in the kitchen. I was testing a couple of new recipes and updating photos for an old favorite.

After work that evening, Keith drove out to Luray for Gibbs’ golf match while I stayed home with the younger boys. We had sandwiches made with Crock Pot beer pulled pork and maple bbq sauce for supper, as well as coleslaw (from a store-bought kit) and potato chips.

I met Ashley for a walk on Tuesday morning, and then stopped by Yoder’s for our weekly staples on the way home.

I picked up the usual deli meats and cheeses, bread, and buttermilk, and also snagged a handful of their seasonal items (I can’t resist!). Dutch apple crisp snack mix, pumpkin butter, and fall gummy worms, just to name a few! Speaking of buttermilk, someone recently asked me how I use this ingredient in my kitchen on a regular basis. The answer is in everything from cakes, biscuits, and cornbread to chicken marinades and salad dressings. If you have some buttermilk to use up in your own fridge, you might find this list of 60 recipes with buttermilk helpful!

I made supper in advance that afternoon, since we had an evening full of kids’ activities on the agenda. We had this classic and easy beef chili, plus a molasses cornbread recipe that I saw in this month’s issue of Southern Living. I thought it sounded interesting, and I loved the taste! It was like a cross between cornbread and gingerbread, and was delicious served with butter and that pumpkin butter that I picked up earlier in the day. Definitely a favorite fall meal!

The rest of our night was spent on the soccer practice fields and at Gibbs’ golf match. Thank goodness for beautiful September weather!

A walk in the woods with Mollie and Adria on Wednesday, followed by a day of work at the computer.

Once again, I prepped dinner in advance so that we could eat at different times throughout the evening. Gibbs had golf, Spencer had soccer, and Casey had an appointment for an MRI on his knee (still trying to solve the mystery of his chronic knee pain that has had him sidelined from soccer for months). We had the easiest chicken burritos, along with guacamole, chips, salsa, and seasoned beans.

Thursday looked like an early walk, errands in Culpeper mid-day, golf practice for Gibbs, and golf lessons for the younger two boys after school.

While in town, I treated myself to this iced caramel apple cream latte. It was flavored with warmly spiced apple brown sugar syrup and topped with salted caramel cream cold foam. Such a perfect seasonal beverage!

My co-pilot is always along for the ride (but definitely does NOT get any lattes)…

It was so nice to sit down for a late dinner at the table together: dump-and-bake creamy tomato pasta with turkey meatballs, a green salad with red wine vinegar dressing, and frozen garlic breadsticks. Easy, but always crowd-pleasing!

Friday included an early Pilates class with my friends, followed by another day of work at the computer.

I was in Charlottesville with Spencer for a late soccer practice that night, while Keith was at the golf course with the older two.

He grilled salmon for supper once he returned home, plus Rice-a-Roni and leftover salad ingredients from the night before on the side.

And that brings us to the weekend! I took Gibbs and Casey to hit golf balls early on Saturday morning,

my aunt came by for lunch, and we spent the rest of the day in Lynchburg for Spencer’s soccer game.

It was fairly late by the time we got home, so we picked up pizzas for dinner on the way…

…and finished off the night with apple cider donuts that my parents brought us from the orchard near their house. Best thing I ate all week!

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy 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!