Our Week in Meals #187

Good morning, and happy Sunday! We filled our week at home with plenty of summer adventures and delicious food. All of the highlights from the past few days, along with our easy dinners, are included in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

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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…

Sunday started bright and early with a cool, sunny walk with my girlfriend.

Back home, we had lunch, did some cleaning, and then headed out for an afternoon stroll on a back country road with the family.

Dinner that night was a German-themed cookout: Keith grilled brats,

while I prepared German Potato Salad,

and roasted cabbage on the side. Sauerkraut would also be great with this meal, but I had the cabbage from a farmer’s market order and it needed to be enjoyed.

Followed by homemade vanilla soft serve for dessert (kids’ request — and I’m not one to fight it)!

I’ve got another great book to share with you! I picked up The Last Mrs. Parrish because a number of folks had recommended it, and I typically really like the books that are included in Reese’s Book Club. Let me just warn you that this book was “racy” (as my mom would say!) in parts, and not necessarily what I expected.

That said, I’m so glad that I finished it! While the beginning was rather predictable, you can be sure that about halfway through the story gets really GOOD. It’s suspenseful, it’s smart, it’s diabolical and it’s juicy. I seriously couldn’t put this one down! It’s the perfect light, summer beach read. Now I see what all of the hype was about!

I met another friend for an early walk on the trails on Monday morning before Keith had to get started with work. Taking advantage of a couple of cooler days before we were right back in the heat and humidity of the Virginia summer!

The rest of my day was largely spent at home dealing with chores, cooking, and cleaning. Later that afternoon, the boys and I took Teddy for a walk in the woods before driving by the school to pick up their leftover supplies (and to wave to the teachers!).

Spencer wears that army helmet everywhere!😂

We hadn’t had Mexican food for a week or two, so I decided to make my Dump-and-Bake Salsa Chicken for dinner that night. I served my dish on top of lettuce (like a Chicken Taco Salad), while the guys wrapped their chicken in soft tortillas and added cheese (Chicken Tacos!). We all had chips, salsa and guacamole on the side.

I made sure that we front-loaded all of our outdoor activity early in the day on Tuesday — including dog walks and bike riding at the school with friends. I knew that by noon we would just want to stay tucked indoors in the air conditioning…the humidity had definitely returned!

Dinner that night was an oldie-but-goodie: Dump-and-Bake Meatball Casserole, which I paired with side salads and garlic bread. Always a winner!

After my weekly grocery run, we spent most of Wednesday at our friend’s farm. The boys had fun in the pool for a few hours, while I sat in the shade and chatted with Mollie. Everyone was happy!

Poolside lunch of turkey subs and chips…

Keith had plans with some of the guys for dinner that night, so the kids and I enjoyed Sloppy Joes and watermelon on our own. Perfect easy summer supper!

It poured rain on Thursday morning right before I took the dog out, so I witnessed some crazy skies as the clouds cleared.

The rest of the morning was a quiet one at home — a lot of cooking and recipe testing for me, and a lot of playtime for the boys.

An afternoon in the woods, which ended with Spencer covered in mud. We came home for “baths” in the hose and popsicles for snack!

We had my Perfect 15-Minute Grilled Salmon for dinner,

along with Grilled Potatoes,

and Sauteed Spinach with Garlic. Light and tasty!

Clear blue skies on Friday morning. The corn’s comin’ up!

We met my friend Ashley and her two girls at a nearby farm for blueberry picking that day.

Casey couldn’t be bothered to turn around for a picture…“not now, Mom!” He’s definitely the child that takes his berry picking (and eating) most seriously.

This one, on the other hand, picked minimal berries…but at least he smiled for a photo! And Gibbs was just off talking with his friend (also not concerned with picking too many berries)…

It was such a fun way to spend some time outside, and we came home with plenty of fresh fruit to enjoy in jam, muffins, scones and pancakes!

And since it was Friday, homemade pizza was on the menu again! We kept it simple with just fresh sliced tomatoes, mozzarella and Parmesan, plus basil from the garden.

And a simple green salad with shaved Parmesan and Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette — our favorite!

Saturday morning started with fluffy blueberry pancakes (recipe coming soon)…

…and a batch of Blueberry Jam!

The weather was perfect, so we made a point to get everyone outside.

Bike riding at the high school…

…and the sweetest tree swings at my neighbor’s house.

This week’s farmer’s market haul included English muffins, sandwich rolls, hydrangeas, carrots, sweet cherries, hot pepper jam, blueberry syrup, sugar snap peas, tomatoes and vanilla peaches (which I thought would be good with vanilla ice cream).

Keith grilled steak tips for dinner,

which I paired with risotto (I’ll share my very basic, easy recipe in the coming months),

a loaf of my No-Knead Bread,

and a Wedge Salad.

Phew! The weeks are flying by right now, so that finishes off another roundup of our stay-at-home meals recently. I hope that you’ve found something new to add to your own table in the days ahead. Stay safe and have a great week, friends!