Our Week in Meals #348

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included pool time, kids sports, and a trip to New England. 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…

Sunday started with an early walk, before the rain arrived later that afternoon.

I always notice the light!

I finally had my first tomato sandwich of the season for lunch that day! Our basil is thriving, and I picked up a bunch of fresh tomatoes at the farmer’s market on Saturday, so this meal has been on repeat recently…

Keith grilled beef tenderloin for dinner that night,

which we paired with crispy Parmesan potatoes, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes with salt, pepper, and fresh basil, and garlic dinner rolls that I also bought from my neighbor at the farmer’s market the day before.

Let’s chat about books! This week I have a fun, twisty thriller to share. If you love a page-turner with an unpredictable ending, then you’ll definitely enjoy Liv Constantine’s The Stranger in the Mirror. A great summer beach read from the author of The Last Mrs. Parrish!

Monday morning!

I took the boys to ride bikes up at the high school before lunch, and then drove Gibbs into Ruckersville for an orthodontist appointment that afternoon.

Keith and Gibbs had a tee time to play golf that evening, so we needed a quick and easy early supper before they headed out. On the menu: 5-Ingredient Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches, along with potato chips, cut-up veggies, and Ranch dip.

And an evening swim for the younger two boys!

It was a relatively quiet Tuesday, complete with another trip to the pool. It’s just the best way to see some friends while also burning off the kid energy around here!

Casey had soccer in Charlottesville that afternoon, so dinner was a bit later than usual. Once everyone was back home, we had Mexican shrimp (served in tacos) with fresh tomato and corn salad, plus tortilla chips and guacamole on the side.

We were gone most of the day on Wednesday…

First, a golf lesson for Gibbs, and then a drive up to Culpeper for lunch at Chick-Fil-A and a variety of errands.

Supper was a great summertime meal: Crock Pot bbq chicken,

paired with coleslaw, cheese grits (for me, rolls for the boys), and a can of baked beans.

Keith and Casey left early on Thursday morning to head up to Connecticut for Casey’s soccer. The younger boys and I stayed home for an extra day to help the construction crew move furniture into our new addition.

Since it was just the three of us at the house for supper that night, I kept our meal very simple: 5-ingredient pasta with cherry tomatoes, along with garlic bread from the freezer.

Gibbs, Spencer, and I left Virginia really early on Friday morning to make the loooong (8+ hour) drive up to Connecticut to join Keith and Casey.

We rented a house on a farm in Middlebury, visited with the animals at the barn, and then jumped back in the car to drive to Farmington to watch Casey’s evening game.

We were on the soccer fields until almost 8 p.m., so we picked up a quick, late dinner on the way back to the house…

…burgers and hotdogs at Five Guys. And then we all crashed…what a day!

Saturday was another long, hot day at the soccer fields.

We made it back to the rental house at the farm for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and then were right back out there to watch Casey’s night game before a late supper.

Dinner looked like takeout pizza and pasta from Middlebury Pizza, when everyone was too tired for a real sit-down meal. Hit the spot!

So there you go — another week of easy dinner ideas! We’re heading back to Virginia today, and looking forward to some home-cooked meals in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful week!