Our Week in Meals #253

Good morning, and happy Sunday! It’s been a long week, complete with a sick kiddo, summer-like heat, and a busy agenda. That said, we’re making it feel like fall indoors with plenty of autumn-inspired recipes. Now, if only Mother Nature would just catch on! 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…

I was on my own with the younger two boys on Sunday, since Keith and Gibbs spent the night up in D.C. so that they could go watch The Washington Football Team play that afternoon, along with Keith’s dad, my brother-in-law, and our nephew. It was Gibbs’s first live NFL game and he was so excited!

Back home, we got an early start at the elementary school playground to burn off some energy before the 90+ degree temps arrived.

An afternoon outing for ice cream and milkshakes at the Tastee Freez…

I let Casey and Spencer pick our dinner that evening, since Keith and Gibbs were still gone. They requested “breakfast for dinner” in the form of these easy baked pancakes, bacon, and fresh berries. Not one of our “normal” Sunday suppers, but I appreciated minimal cooking!

It was back to the routine on Monday morning — school, work, and soccer practice in the evening.

It’s hay-making season all around us…

Since we were eating a late dinner after practice, I prepped the meal in advance and then just reheated everything when we got home. I made a pot of leftover turkey and wild rice soup (using the leftover smoked turkey that Keith made last weekend)…

…which I served with sweet potato biscuits and apple butter. By the way, you can definitely make that soup with leftover chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken as well!

I’ve got another great book to share with you this week! My mother-in-law gave me The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys, since her book club enjoyed it so much. Wow…what a fascinating, moving story! The novel takes place in Madrid in 1957, when Spain was ruled by Franco’s fascist dictatorship. In addition to the well-written story of identity, unforgettable love, and the repercussions of war, I really enjoyed learning more about a period in history that I didn’t know too much about. Highly recommend this one!

Tuesday didn’t exactly go as planned, but it all ended well.

Spencer woke up at 5:00 a.m. with a case of croup. He better shortly after, but since we’re living in a crazy time, I figured I better take him to the doctor to get him cleared before sending any of the kids back to school.

Ultimately, he got a negative test and I was told that his symptoms were not consistent with Covid. My work was largely set aside for the day while we spent a couple of hours at the doctor’s office, and then while I supervised homeschool work for all 3 boys. I know that I’m not alone in this!

Keith wasn’t home for dinner that night, so I made the kids one of their favorites: baked chicken tenders. We paired the chicken with French fries and buttered peas for an easy meal that kept everyone happy.

The kids went back to school on Wednesday, so I buckled down and got my work done before meeting a friend for a walk later in the day.

Apple dip for an afternoon snack…

I was testing a recipe for BBQ meatballs this week (similar to this Crock Pot recipe), so we had some of the leftover meatballs for supper…

…along with rice, a cool and creamy broccoli slaw, and crispy roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon.

I took the dog for a walk up the road on Thursday morning, and then stopped at Yoder’s for buttermilk, meat and cheese before heading back home to work.

We had multiple soccer practices that evening before the storms rolled through, so I prepped our dinner in advance and just popped it in the oven afterwards. On the menu: Easy Chicken Enchiladas served with tortilla chips, guacamole and corn. Since my boys aren’t big fans of black beans, I left those out of the filling and just replaced them with some extra chicken and corn. Another option if you’ve got “choosy” eaters in your house!

I got together with a friend for some fresh air on Friday morning…

before making my way to Culpeper for a couple of errands. While in town, I treated myself to the new Apple Crisp Iced Macchiato at Starbucks (which I really liked)…

…and took Teddy to the groomer.

Dinner that night included a White Cheddar, Broccoli and Bacon Pasta Bake,

along with corn muffins and salad.

Most of our Saturday was spent on the soccer fields for multiple games. By the time we got home in the afternoon, everyone was tired, sweaty, and hungry! 😅

The rest of the day included a lot of college football, multiple loads of laundry, and takeout pizza for dinner…and no dishes for me to wash!

That’s all for this week, friends! I hope that you’ve found a few new ideas to add to your dinner table in the days ahead. Thank you for joining me here, and have a wonderful Sunday!