Our Week in Meals #30

Hey, friends! We’re finishing up our first week of summer vacation, and I’m happy to report that I survived.????  Our week was full of sunshine, pool time, easy dinners, and a few challenging moments with the kiddos (life, right?)! Are you ready to jump right in?

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 meals 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 spent the morning photographing a few recipes, fed everyone lunch, and then we headed out for a walk before the rain rolled in.

Someone was grumpy…

Dinner that night was straight from the grill (as it should be on Memorial Day weekend!) — Italian sausages, salmon burgers, veggie kabobs, and a loaf of Italian bread from the bakery.

I cut the zucchini, peppers, and onions into bite-sized pieces, marinated them in Italian dressing, and then threaded them on skewers for easy grilling.

Dessert was s’mores by the fire pit!

On Monday morning I took advantage of having Keith at home for the holiday and headed out for a walk/jog up the road after breakfast. It was foggy and cool when I started out, but within a matter of minutes the sun was peeking through the clouds.

Next door neighbors!

The corn is growing...

By the time I got back to my house, the sky was blue!

It warmed up quickly, so we made a late morning trip to the pool before lunch.

The rest of our afternoon included dipped cones at the Tastee Freez,

followed by a stop at the farm stand next door to buy some new herbs for my garden. Mission accomplished!

For dinner I grilled a new recipe for “No Work” Marinated Chicken (recipe coming soon!), and served it with macaroni and cheese and steamed broccoli. An All-American supper to finish off Memorial Day weekend!

On Tuesday morning the boys were already bored and looking for entertainment by about 7:15 a.m. Welcome to Summer! By 7:35 a.m. they were outside doing arts and crafts! I quickly realized that it was going to be a very long day…

Painting birdhouses!

We ran errands later in the morning, including stops at the post office and Costco. Much to my surprise, we made it through the store without incident and without whining, so I let the boys pick out a treat in the bakery before we headed home for lunch.

Cookies!

Dinner that night was a pizza party! We met Gibbs’s soccer team for an end-of-the-season celebration, which the boys loved (of course).

After a walk around our property with Mollie on Wednesday morning, I packed up a picnic lunch and off we went! I took the boys to the library to check out some new summer books, and then made our way to the pool for a mid-day swim.

The pool was quiet and empty, but we spent the whole time listening to bluegrass music as everyone at the lodge was getting ready for the start of the Bluegrass Music Festival on Thursday.

There was plenty of swimming and dancing…

I served my Bacon Cheeseburger Pockets for dinner that night, which obviously made Keith and the boys very happy! There were french fries and a salad on the side.

I’m not gonna lie…Thursday seemed like a really looooooong day! Maybe because it started with a mess like this by 7:30 a.m.?!

We made a run to the grocery store (definitely not easy with 3 boys in tow), and picked up our CSA for the week at my neighbor’s farm. We got new potatoes, kale, and carrots!

Casey wasn’t feeling well and I could tell that Spencer was exhausted and grumpy after a week of trying to keep up with his brothers (and no napping). Since Keith was gone for the night I kept dinner very simple — this Dump-and-Bake Summer Pasta with Corn, Zucchini, Tomatoes and Chicken. It was the perfect solution for a stressful evening, and I will be sure to share the recipe on the blog soon!

We made another trip to the pool on Friday, where we listened to music from the Bluegrass Festival and snacked on this 5-Minute Fruit Dip that I brought along (recipe coming soon)!

Gibbs had a late soccer practice that evening, so we all ate an early dinner together. I was testing a recipe for 5-Ingredient Dump-and-Bake Spinach Ravioli Casserole, which turned out perfectly! Can’t wait to share it with you! I used these 4 ingredients:

Plus a batch of homemade 20-Minute Garlic & Herb Tomato Sauce (another new recipe for you — just in time for summer tomatoes and fresh herbs)!

And since we’re in the heart of hay-making season around here, you can be sure that Spencer has spent just about every free moment outside (on his own tractor) watching the farmers around us. Can you see the round bales and the rows of hay in the field across the street?

I went for a walk after breakfast on Saturday morning and came home to find these three guys trimming trees in the yard (and finding lots of poison ivy, too).????

I planned some meals for the week, wrote a grocery list, and then Spence and I went shopping after lunch.

Keith had a craving for smoked whole chickens for dinner that night, so that’s what we did! I bought the meat and a bag of charcoal at the store and I left him in charge. Keith used a really great Jack Daniels Barbecue Glaze to finish the chicken. The glaze was made by Keith’s coworker, who brought it to us at a recent cookout. YUM!

On the side I served the oven roasted new potatoes from our CSA and a BBQ Ranch kale salad.

Kid’s plate: the boys ate everything, but they really loved the chicken and went back for seconds on that! Plus some unpictured sugar wafer cookies for dessert…

And that’s where I’ll leave off for the week! We’re looking ahead to another busy day with a soccer game and a cookout with friends before starting a week of camp for the older boys. Check back tomorrow for a new easy weeknight dinner recipe!