Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.

Good morning, and happy Sunday! It was a week of ups and downs, complete with sunny weather, a good book, and a very unwelcome illness. 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!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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 with an early morning walk at Mollie’s farm with 3 of my friends, followed by a short afternoon hike with the family.

My in-laws stopped by for a visit later in the day (with chocolate cupcakes for snack!),

and Keith grilled a beef tenderloin for supper.

On the side we had roasted green beans, Sister Schubert’s dinner rolls,

Overhead shot of a tray of roasted green beans on a wooden table

and Aunt Bee’s shrimp pasta salad. By the way, Aunt Bee turned 102 last week!!

Close overhead image of a bowl of lemon shrimp pasta salad surrounded by fresh parsley and lemons on the table

Monday was a quiet day at the house. I picked up our eggs for the week from my neighbor’s farm,

took the dog for a couple of walks, and otherwise spent the bulk of my time at the computer while the boys were in school.

We took a break from meat and I made a vegetable lasagna for dinner,

Overhead shot of the best vegetable lasagna recipe in a white dish

which I paired with a green salad,

Pouring red wine vinaigrette on salad

and pumpkin applesauce muffins (a favorite with the kids, which I hadn’t made in awhile). Then we were out the door for Spencer’s basketball practice!

Applesauce Pumpkin Muffin on a small white plate

Highlights from Tuesday included two different walks with friends — a short one in the morning, and a longer one in the afternoon. Taking advantage of warmer, spring-like temps — with plenty of indoor work time at my desk in between!

I also finished another book this week. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi DarĂ© was one of the best novels that I’ve read so far this year! It’s sad in some parts, but the overall story is empowering, heartwarming, and beautifully written. I can’t recommend this one enough. Here’s a summary from Amazon:

The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams. 

Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in her path, Adunni never loses sight of her goal of escaping the life of poverty she was born into so that she can build the future she chooses for herself – and help other girls like her do the same.  Her spirited determination to find joy and hope in even the most difficult circumstances imaginable will “break your heart and then put it back together again” (Jenna Bush Hager on The Today Show) even as Adunni shows us how one courageous young girl can inspire us all to reach for our dreams…and maybe even change the world.

Casey had soccer practice that evening right around dinnertime, so I knew that we’d need a meal that we could eat in shifts. I prepped a batch of my favorite seafood salad earlier in the day, which we served in croissant sandwiches for supper, along with potato chips, and carrots and cucumbers with Ranch dip.

The best seafood salad recipe served on a croissant

Wednesday was devoted to Zoom calls and work at the house, plus a couple of short walks to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. These friendly neighbors always come over to say “hi” to Teddy!

Casey had soccer practice again that night, and Spencer had basketball practice, so we (once again) ate dinner at various times throughout the evening. The boys requested flatbread pizzas, which were easy to assemble quickly when we needed them. Plus a simple green salad on the side!

Sliced flatbread pizza on a wooden cutting board

I spent most of Thursday in the kitchen and behind the camera, and later met my friends for a walk before school pick-up.

We had grilled hamburgers for dinner, along with French fries and salad. Easy, and always a favorite with my boys!

Close up side shot of the best grilled hamburger recipe served on a brioche bun

…Then things started to go downhill quickly. Spencer got hit with a nasty stomach bug that evening, which kept us up the entire night. It was scary, and definitely one of the worst parenting nights I’ve had thus far! Fortunately, by Friday morning, he was able to keep down ice chips — and slowly started to recover from there.

Needless to say, it was a very quiet Friday in our house, as we barely left the couch or bed. I definitely caught a more mild version of the same virus, so I didn’t have the energy or desire to make dinner. I pulled chicken noodle soup and crackers from the pantry; and while it wasn’t nearly as good as this homemade version, it got the job done!

Hands holding a bowl of easy chicken noodle soup.

Thank goodness, we had a clear calendar this weekend, with no sporting events for the first time in months. Saturday was the perfect opportunity to rest and rehydrate on the couch, while also catching up on all of the endless laundry, bed linens, etc.

Keith and Gibbs, who were feeling totally fine, went to the men’s lacrosse game at UVA that afternoon. They picked up supper for the rest of us, which was a very welcome treat.

Back to the regular Saturday night pizza! Yes, that’s right — pizza twice in one week. Trust me, nobody was complaining!😉

So there you have it, folks — another week of easy, real-life dinner ideas. I hope that you’ve found some new inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here!!

blair

Hey, I’m Blair!

Welcome to my farmhouse kitchen in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Inspired by local traditions and seasonal fare, you’ll find plenty of easy, comforting recipes that bring your family together around the table. It’s down-home, country-style cooking!

Read More

Square overhead shot of hands serving a chicken pot pie recipe with biscuits
Overhead image of a bowl of chili mac on a dinner table with cornbread
Hands serving a platter of sheet pan sausage and potatoes

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. I do hope that everyone has recovered from whatever ‘nastiness’ was around…always such a scary and helpless feeling time when one of our children gets so sick…I do hope Spencer has totally recovered along with his Mom…thanks for sharing your life and your recipes…and thank goodness for chicken soup!!!!

    1. Thank you, Wendy! Yes, it was so scary. But we’re both doing much better and took advantage of a quiet weekend to rest. Back to normal life tomorrow, I hope! 🙂

  2. I made the dump and bake sweet and sour chicken only with some pork loin chunks this week. It had pork chunks, onions, peppers, and mushrooms in our version. We served it over rice and had stir fry broccoli and garlic on the side. It was delicious. A definite make-again. Love those dump and bake dinners! I had a similar experience as Spencer with a stomach sickness. I totally lost Tuesday between sleeping and nausea but it was gone on Wednesday. Crazy. Glad everyone is healthy again at your house.

    1. It’s definitely “going around,” Linda! I’m glad that you’re feeling better, too. Thanks for the tip about the sweet and sour chicken recipe. Using pork is a great idea!

  3. Hi Blair,
    Good to hear you’re household is on the mend.
    Please wish Happy birthday to Aunt Bee from me! Her Shrimp & Pasta salad is my favorite. So glad she shared it with you and you shared it with us…
    And as I write this, your Zucchini Pie is in the oven right now & smells great.
    I enjoy your weekly email, photos & recipes. Thank you for sharing your talents. Have a great week!

    1. That’s so good to hear, Kris! Thank you! I hope you enjoy the zucchini pie, too. Have a great week!

  4. Hi Blair! I always enjoy reading your blog every week! I really was happy to see your recipe of Vegetable Lasagna on the menu, I am not a huge meat eater, I look forward to trying that soon! I was so sorry to hear about the stomach bug that hit you and your family. Those times are frightening when your children are younger, I remember going through tough situations, when my children were younger too! Even when they get older, there is tough times. I am also happy to hear everyone is getting back to better health! I truly wish you a much better week ahead!

    1. Thank you, Stephanie! I really appreciate your kind note. I hope that you enjoy the lasagna, too! 🙂