Our Week in Meals #341

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included a day trip to Williamsburg, the end of the school year, and the start of summer break. All of the highlights from the past few days, along with each of our dinners, are included in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

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 two of my friends at Mollie’s farm on Sunday morning for a walk,

tested a couple of recipes in the kitchen, and took the boys to ride their bikes.

Keith grilled New York strip steaks for supper,

which we paired with Southern cornbread, 3-ingredient roasted squash (using some zucchini as well, since I had it in the fridge), and a macaroni salad that I picked up from Yoder’s a couple of days before.

Plus blueberry pound cake for dessert! I’ll share the recipe soon…

Let’s chat about reading! This week I finished The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel — an interesting story of love and loss, with a bit of mystery thrown in. Definitely a quick, entertaining novel!

The boys started their last week of school on Monday, while I met my friend Ashley for a morning walk with our dogs.

Now that spring soccer has come to an end, our evenings are much quieter for the time being. It’s nice to not feel rushed to get dinner on the table by 3:30 p.m. before we head out the door again! Instead, I made a pan of cheesy pasta with zucchini and bacon for a supper that we could enjoy at a normal hour. Plus garlic bread and Caesar salad on the side.

Tuesday included a morning walk with Mollie, a Zoom meeting, and dinner prep for a friend of mine who recently lost a family member.

I doubled everything so that we could have the same meal that night as well: chicken and rice casserole (comfort food!), a Caesar salad,

and cornbread muffins with a jar of apple butter. Plus the same blueberry pound cake for dessert! This is an easy meal to share with someone in need, because everything can be prepped in advance and then just baked before serving.

Casey turned 12 last week, and his birthday request was a trip to Busch Gardens with his brothers. On Wednesday, my mom and I took them on a day trip to Williamsburg and made it happen!

We ate churros, soft pretzels, and cotton candy, checked out the beautiful scenery, and jumped on as many rides as possible.

The weather was a gorgeous 70 degrees, and the park was deserted! It was a perfect way to celebrate the birthday boy.

We made it back home right around dinnertime, so I had planned one of the easiest meals I know — pulled pork nachos. Since I thawed some leftover pulled pork from the freezer, this supper came together in about 15 minutes. We also added homemade guacamole and store-bought pico de gallo on top of the finished nachos.

Thursday was the kids’ last day of school! I met my friend Ashley for a walk, and then took care of as many errands and tasks at the house as possible before picking everyone up. With a few months of summer break ahead of us and three boys at home all day, I know that my “quiet” time will be hard to come by…

We had homemade pizzas for supper that night — a treat that the kids particularly love. I added a simple green salad on the side, which I dressed in this easy vinaigrette. Quick tip: to really elevate your cheese pizza, garnish it with fresh basil and a drizzle of this hot honey (it’s also delicious on cornbread and biscuits)!

We hosted a group of Gibbs’ friends for the day on Friday, and then Keith took him to play golf later that afternoon.

I served homemade Sloppy Joe’s for supper, along with this easy coleslaw dressing tossed with a bagged coleslaw mix and French fries from the freezer. A quick, simple, and tasty meal that we’ll turn to all summer long.

Fluffy pancakes to kick off Saturday!

This Memorial Day weekend has been unseasonably cool, but we sure appreciated a gorgeous 70-degree Saturday. Keith did yardwork, I went for a walk up the road with my neighbor Barbara, and the kids entertained themselves indoors and out.

We had planned to go to a cookout at the pool at Graves Mountain that evening, but it was way too chilly for a swim. Instead, the kids voted on dinner at Chili’s in Culpeper. Chips and salsa, burgers, fajitas, and chicken fingers — we covered all of the bases!

So there you go — another week of easy dinner ideas! I hope that all of my American readers are enjoying a nice, long Memorial Day weekend. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our top picks for the holiday sales, too. There are so many kitchen items at great prices right now. Take care, and have a wonderful week ahead!