Our Week in Meals #309

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included a vintage fair, a short week of school, and plenty of fall sports. 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…

Sunday was a very long day on the soccer fields in Richmond again, since both of the younger boys had tournaments there over the weekend. Dogs weren’t allowed on the turf fields, so I had to bring Teddy in a bag. Gibbs took this picture because he thought it was so funny/embarrassing!

Champs!

We got home around dinnertime, so we had chicken wings (Keith’s request!), along with carrots, celery, and Ranch dip, plus frozen French fries baked in the oven.

A crisp, cool Monday morning walk…

The leaves are looking prettier by the day!

Keith had the day off for the holiday, so we went into Charlottesville to run a house errand, and then grabbed lunch at Mane Course Sandwiches while we were in town. The reuben was delish!

My parents stopped by for a quick visit that afternoon, while I fed everyone an early supper before Gibbs’ soccer practice. On the menu: one-pan homemade hamburger helper, plus a salad and dinner rolls.

Tuesday was a long work day in the kitchen — testing new recipes, photographing others, and washing a lot of dishes.

The younger two boys had soccer practices in Orange that evening, so it was a late night on the fields again. Before we left, I served honey Dijon roasted pork tenderloin for supper, along with rice and green beans. Eating at 4:15 p.m. has become the norm around here during this crazy season…

I do get quite a bit of reading done while waiting for the kids, so that’s one added benefit! This week I cruised through a sweet romance by Lauren Kate entitled, By Any Other Name...

…and also finished book #7 in Jan Karon’s beloved Mitford series, In This Mountain. If you’d like to dive into the Father Tim stories, you’ll definitely want to start with the first novel, At Home in Mitford. You’ll fall in love with the characters, and will find yourself laughing out loud!

Finally, I enjoyed Majesty by Katharine McGee, which is the second book in the American Royals series. I find the premise of these novels to be fascinating, and I always enjoy the light-hearted drama. You can find the first book here.

I spent most of Wednesday away from home — including a morning walk with Mollie, a work meeting mid-day, a grocery pick-up, an orthodontist appointment for Gibbs, and three soccer practices that evening. Phew!

I knew that dinner needed to be easy, and something that we could reheat in shifts when we ate at different times. On the menu: a pot of my grandmother’s hamburger soup…

…plus cornbread muffins on the side.

The kids only had a half day of school on Thursday, with the rest of the afternoon off for parent-teacher conferences. I crammed my morning with a cloudy, damp walk, a bit of work,

and a stop at my friend Adria’s farm before scooping them up at lunchtime. Adria’s dahlias are still flourishing — pictured in a new little vase from my aunt!

We got ice cream cones and sundaes at the Tastee Freez, and then returned to the school to meet with the teachers.

I made sheet pan chicken fajitas for supper, which we paired with chips, salsa, corn, and homemade guac.

Friday’s big adventure was a trip to the Luckett’s Vintage Market at the Clarke County Fairgrounds.

My friends and I bought these tickets about 6 months ago, and had planned a Mom’s Day Out (just like last year). Then it turned out that the kids had the day off from school for a teacher work day, so my girl’s trip became a mom + boys trip. Hah!

Casey and Spencer came with us to the fair, while Gibbs chose to hang out at Keith’s office.

It was a beautiful 90-minute drive northwest of our house, over the mountains, into the Shenandoah Valley. We had perfect 70-degree fall weather, and bought as many treasures as we could carry!

Gibbs had a golf lesson that evening, and I served my mom’s shrimp and grits for supper (rice for those boys that didn’t want cheese grits).

Plus a house salad,

and brown sugar roasted acorn squash on the side! If you want to make the acorn squash part of your main course, I LOVE this stuffed acorn squash with sausage and apples, too.

We started our Saturday morning off with stacks of fluffy pancakes…

…and then spent most of the rest of the day on the soccer fields for the boys’ games.

We returned home shortly before supper, so I was happy to take the night off from the kitchen. Instead, Keith picked up pizza, pasta, and subs from Giovanna’s — which always keeps the troops happy!

And there you have it — another week of easy dinners done! I appreciate you being here, and I hope that you’ve found some new inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Have a wonderful Sunday!