Our Week in Meals #291

Good morning, and happy Sunday! It was another fun week of summer break, complete with good books, plenty of sunshine, and time with friends. All of the highlights, along with each of our 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 met my friends at Mollie’s farm early on Sunday morning for a walk, and then came home to spend the day on recipe photography while Keith entertained the boys.

With the kids home from school for the summer, my work time during the week is virtually non-existent, so it was nice to have a quiet house for a few hours that day.

Keith took the boys for a beautiful hike up on Skyline Drive, and then stopped for lunch at Rappahannock Pizza Kitchen on the way home.

We grilled salmon for supper,

which I paired with rice and parmesan roasted yellow squash.

While Spencer was at basketball camp on Monday morning, I took the older two boys to the school playground. Believe it or not, the weather was unseasonably cool this week, and it was too chilly to go swimming at the pool in the mountains!

I made easy chicken Parmesan for dinner, and put the fried cutlets with the sauce and cheese in toasted rolls for chicken Parm subs. Plus a Caesar salad and French fries on the side!

Keith and I went for a walk on Tuesday morning, Spencer went to basketball camp, and the older two boys came grocery shopping with me.

It was a rainy afternoon, which meant plenty of quiet time indoors. Perfect reading weather, right?! This week I have two more fun books to share with you! First up is a novel that my mother-in-law gave me because she enjoyed it so much. The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh is a perfect page-turning thriller for beach season! Here’s the quick summary from Amazon:

Emma loves her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby: she’d do anything for them. But almost everything she’s told them about herself is a lie.

And she might just have got away with it, if it weren’t for her husband’s job. Leo is an obituary writer; Emma a well-known marine biologist. When she suffers a serious illness, Leo copes by doing what he knows best – researching and writing about his wife’s life. But as he starts to unravel the truth, he discovers the woman he loves doesn’t really exist. Even her name isn’t real.

When the very darkest moments of Emma’s past finally emerge, she must somehow prove to Leo that she really is the woman he always thought she was . . .but first, she must tell him about the other love of her life.

I also finished a “sweet” story called The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan. It was light, entertaining, and left me craving a box of fancy French chocolates!

Anna Trent may be a supervisor in a chocolate factory…but that doesn’t necessarily mean she knows how to make chocolate. So when a fateful accident gives her the opportunity to work at the most elite chocolatier in Paris―Le Chapeau Chocolat―Anna expects to be outed as a fraud.

After all, there is a world of difference between chalky, mass-produced English chocolate and the gourmet confections Anna’s new boss creates. While she may never match him in the kitchen, Anna thinks she might be able to give him a second chance at love.

And with a bit of luck and a lot of patience, Anna’s learning that the sweetest things in life are always worth working for.

We had my mom’s baked shrimp with tomatoes and feta for dinner that night, plus sauteed zucchini and these frozen garlic knots (which the boys love).

The sun returned on Wednesday, Keith and I had eye doctor appointments in the morning while Spencer was at basketball, and Mollie came over for a (hot) afternoon walk.

The local corn is growing!

I made Dorito taco salad for supper (a personal favorite at this time of year), which we paired with plenty of tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole.

Casey said that Thursday was “the perfect summer day,” and not because it was anything special. Just beautiful weather in the low 80’s with little humidity and a gentle breeze.

I met my neighbor for an early walk, and then took the kids to the pool for a swim and a picnic lunch.

Snipped these from the yard that afternoon while the boys threw the ball for Teddy…

We had a chicken and broccoli stir-fry for supper, which we paired with rice and egg rolls. Again, nothing special about this particular day — but it was still lovely!

Mollie came over for a walk on Friday morning,

and then the boys tagged along with me while I ran a couple of errands in Culpeper. We paired our chores with a lunch date at Panera while we were in town (I know how to bribe these kiddos)!

Back home, I made a chocolate bundt cake (using cake mix) as an easy treat to enjoy for dessert that night…

…while Keith grilled hamburgers for supper.

We had the burgers with potato chips (these local Virginia chips are the boys’ current obsession), as well as a fruit salad. We finally have delicious fresh peaches and berries!

I took some recipe photos on Saturday, while Keith entertained the kids and took them shopping for new bikes in Charlottesville.

Instead of cooking dinner, we headed to a local brewery for live music, drinks, fried chicken, and fried oysters. My plate included a biscuit with apple butter, cheese grits, fried chicken (x2), southern slaw, green beans, and sweet pickles.

And there you go, friends — another week of easy meal ideas! I hope that you’ve found some new inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here!