Our Week in Meals #191

Good morning, and happy Sunday! I’m checking in after another quiet summer week at home — including plenty of pool time, fresh fruit, and quick meals. 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…

Even on an overcast Sunday morning, it didn’t take long for me to get sticky and sweaty just walking the dog up the road after breakfast.

Summertime = a tomato sandwich for lunch!

Keith’s parents stopped by for an outdoor visit that afternoon, and then we had 15-Minute Grilled Pork Chops for an early supper.

Plus Grilled Potatoes and a green salad on the side.

Beautiful golden evening light on the front porch of our general store building!

I’ve got another book to share with you this week! As you might remember, I read JoJo Moyes’s The Giver of Stars a few months ago and loved it. I didn’t realize at the time, but apparently some folks claim that Moyes plagiarized from The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. Naturally, I was excited to compare the two and decide for myself!

While both books are based on Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, the stories are quite different. I honestly enjoyed The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek even more than The Giver of Stars. What a powerful, beautifully-written novel! Highly, highly recommend it!

Monday morning!

The boys and I spent the first half of the day at the pool, and then returned home before the thunderstorms rolled in that afternoon.

I made a Quiche Lorraine to have on hand for easy breakfasts and lunches during the week, since I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen. Love this recipe!

Supper was Crispy Fried Chicken, which I always know will be a hit with my boys!

We paired the chicken with Aunt Bee’s 3-Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits,

and a salad dressed with Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette.

Another day, another pool…

I picked up a grocery order on Tuesday morning, fed everyone lunch, and then went over to our friends’ farm to swim for the afternoon. It’s one of the few outdoor options that we can all enjoy in the oppressive heat and humidity of a Virginia summer!

My mom recently reminded me of one of her favorite recipes from my blog, Linguine with Clam Sauce, so that’s what we had for dinner. This is an oldie-but-goodie — and ready in about 20 minutes! Can’t beat that for a weeknight meal. I paired the pasta with garlic bread and salad.

Wednesday was another scorcher, so we spent the morning at the pool again.

The afternoon was a quiet one inside, while the boys played and I got some work done around the house. I recently ordered new bed linens, blankets and quilts for all 3 of the kids’ rooms, so I must have done at least 8-9 loads of laundry that day between pool gear, our regular clothes, and all of the extra bedding!!😩

Bonus points if you can spot Teddy hiding in this picture…

I served Dump-and-Bake Bruschetta Chicken for dinner,

along with Cucumber Salad and couscous on the side. Taking advantage of the season’s fresh veggies and herbs!

On Thursday we went to a friend’s farm to pick blueberries from their bushes (in our bathing suits), and then spent a couple of hours swimming in their pool to cool off.

In reality, Mollie and I did 95% of the blueberry picking while our boys played on a giant tree swing. Not helpful, but they had fun!

Supper was a Tamale Pie with a salad on the side.

I dragged the boys on an early hike in the shady woods on Friday morning to beat the heat.

And then spent the rest of the morning in the kitchen making another batch of Blueberry Jam with the berries that we picked the day before. These will be holiday gifts for friends and neighbors in December, so it’s nice to get them prepped so far in advance.

We had a fish fry for dinner that night! I made Crispy Southern Fried Catfish,

plus Fried Okra (’tis the season!),

coleslaw, and sliced fresh tomatoes with basil. The boys don’t share my love for the little green veggie, so I just made a small batch of the okra and baked some tater tots for them to have instead.😬

I wanted to make a special dessert using the fresh fruit in our kitchen, but I couldn’t decide between a Blueberry Cobbler, a Peach Cobbler or a Peach Crisp. Both the local blueberries and the local peaches are ripe right now, so I combined the two and made a Peach Crisp with blueberries added to filling in place of some of the peaches. Best of both worlds!

I met my girlfriend for a walk on Saturday morning, picked up a farmer’s market order, and photographed a couple of old recipes while Keith took the boys to the pool for a swim.

This week’s haul included so many great summer items: flowers, fresh dill (which I can’t seem to keep alive in my own garden), green tomatoes (for frying), red tomatoes, peaches, zucchini, string beans, many ears of sweet corn, dinner rolls, cookies, pork shoulder and pizza sauce.

Our afternoon looked like this: sitting on the front porch with Keith and a glass of sweet tea, watching the farmer across the road make hay. It was so nice to relax in the shade with a breeze and less humidity!

Keith smoked a couple of racks of ribs for dinner that night,

which we paired with corn on the cob, salad with my favorite Buttermilk Dressing, leftover coleslaw from the night before, and Zucchini Pie.

So there you go — another simple summer week at home! I hope that you’re all staying safe, enjoying some good food, and taking advantage of the sunshine. Thanks for joining me here today!