Our Week in Meals #238

Good morning, and happy Sunday! We celebrated Memorial Day and wrapped up another school year this week. 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.

First, though, a quick note to let you know that my latest article on Southern Ham Salad is over at Taste of Home! Ham salad is a classic Southern staple, and it’s perfect for a picnic. With salty, smoky ham, celery, green onion and toasted nuts in a creamy mayonnaise dressing, this version is delicious on sandwiches, crackers or lettuce. I hope you’ll check out the recipe and try it in your own kitchen soon!

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

Sunday was unseasonably cool and gray, but that didn’t stop us from spending most of the day outside.

Three of my girlfriends came over for an early walk, and then we piled the kids in the car and headed south to visit my parents for the day.

My dad and I made a stop at our favorite antique shop, the kids fetched golf balls from the stream, and Casey and Spencer even went swimming in the lake — in spite of the 66° F weather. They were the only crazy ones in the water (and they took hot baths and drank hot chocolate afterwards)!

My folks served grilled chicken fajitas for dinner, along with fresh corn off the cob, chips, salsa and guacamole.

Followed by local strawberries and strawberry cheesecake ice cream for dessert!

Monday was a picture-perfect Memorial Day!

We met friends for a walk, played at the playground, and eventually headed over to the pool after lunch.

The pool at Graves Mountain Lodge is still freezing cold, so the boys didn’t last long before they turned blue!

The last of the peonies…

Keith grilled scallops for supper…

…which I paired with an easy pasta salad, couscous, and corn on the cob.

We all went to the track on Tuesday morning to watch Spencer run in a race against some of the other first grade boys.

The weather was beautiful again, so we took a few walks with the dog and had Casey’s friend over to play for the day.

I made Spinach Stuffed Shells for dinner…

with a loaf of No-Knead Bread and Caesar salad on the side.

All three boys were home with me on Wednesday, so we spent the morning finishing up virtual school assignments, delivering teacher gifts to the schools, and picking up groceries.

And before heading off to Spencer’s soccer practice that evening, we had grilled shrimp with rice and salad.

I finished another book to share with you, too. My mom passed along My Four Seasons in France: A Year of the Good Life by Janine Marsh, which chronicles a British couple’s adventures when they gave up their city jobs in London to chase “the good life” in the countryside of northern France. While some parts of the story were slow, I enjoyed a look behind the scenes at what it takes to adjust to a new culture and an entirely new way of life.

The kids all went to school on Thursday, so I took the dog up the road for a quick walk and then spent the rest of the cloudy day indoors focused on my own work.

I planned a quick and easy dinner that evening, knowing that we’d be rushing out the door for soccer practice again. Instead, it rained, practice was cancelled, and we could enjoy our Sloppy Joes at a more reasonable hour.

We paired the sandwiches with refrigerator dill pickles, carrots and cucumbers with ranch dip, and potato chips.

Friday morning started with an early walk in the woods with two of my friends while the kids were finishing up their last day of school.

They had an early dismissal at noon, so Gibbs’ friend came home with us and we celebrated the end of the year with takeout pizza for lunch. Plus plenty of playtime for the rest of the afternoon…

I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken to make Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta for dinner,

along with crispy roasted green beans and garlic bread.

We spent a 90+ degree Saturday on the soccer fields for back-to-back games, followed by haircuts later that afternoon.

Spencer was so tired after spending most of the day running around in the heat that he fell asleep in the chair.😂

We had grand plans to take the kids out to dinner at a restaurant for the first time in over a year, but given how exhausted they were from the day’s activities, we scrapped those plans and just picked up carryout from The BBQ Exchange. We came home with a mix of pulled pork, pulled bbq chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, fries, mac and cheese, and this smoked salmon platter with collard greens, coleslaw, and a pumpkin muffin. Everyone was happy!

And that’s it for now, friends! I hope that you’ve found some new meal inspiration for your own table in the coming week. Thanks for being here!