Our Week in Meals #349

Good morning, and happy Sunday! It was another hot and humid week full of summer fun here in Virginia. 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…

On Sunday we made the long drive back home from Connecticut, where we had been staying for Casey’s soccer tournament. It’s always so good to see the Blue Ridge again!

We arrived at the house just before supper, and I hadn’t been to the grocery store in about a week. That meant that dinner was a simple pantry meal: spaghetti with a store-bought jar of marinara sauce (here’s my very quick homemade recipe if you prefer to make your own sauce with canned or fresh tomatoes), as well as garlic bread (that I prepped a few weeks ago and froze), and steamed broccoli (also from the freezer). Not fancy, but it got the job done!

I have a great book recommendation for you this week! My mother-in-law shared The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell with me, and I really enjoyed it. The perfect combination of historical fiction and thriller, this story takes place during the Italian Renaissance, and is loosely based on the real-life duchess Lucrezia de’ Medici. The fascinating time period, the drama of the court, and the romantic and political intrigue had me turning the pages in anticipation.

Monday was largely devoted to settling back into our routine after the trip. I re-stocked the kitchen with groceries, did a lot of laundry, cleaned, and took Casey and Spencer to the high school track to do a workout for their pre-season fall soccer. Hard to believe that regular practices start up again in a few weeks!

We had this ground beef stir-fry with cabbage for supper, but instead of the ground beef I used ground pork. Equally delicious, and a nice change! Plus rice and egg rolls on the side.

After a morning walk with my friend Ashley and our dogs at a local park, the rest of my Tuesday was largely spent in the kitchen testing new recipes.

I roasted a Dutch oven chicken for supper,

which I paired with a half-batch of creamy baked mac and cheese,

and a tomato salad with basil and balsamic.

Wednesday morning!

My day started with an early walk,

and then I helped Casey with his soccer conditioning.

We brought a picnic lunch to the pool, and I took Gibbs to a golf lesson later that afternoon. A day on the go…

I served cowboy baked beans for supper, which certainly work well as a side dish, but are definitely hearty enough for a main course, too.

Plus cornbread and refrigerator dill pickles on the side!

Other than a couple of errands, we largely stayed at the house on Thursday.

Fields of growing hay…

I had a recipe to photograph and computer work to get done, and the boys seemed happy to entertain themselves inside and out.

Spencer had soccer in Charlottesville that evening, so we enjoyed a quick summer meal before Keith took him into town: New England-style shrimp rolls, along with potato chips, the refrigerator pickles from the day before, a plate of sliced fresh tomatoes…

…and a pitcher of sun tea.

I was out at the high school track bright and early again with Casey on Friday morning. Beat the heat!

Then off to Mollie’s farm to catch up with her, and to go for a walk of our own. Travel and kids’ activities have made it difficult for us to see each other this summer, so we enjoyed the uninterrupted quiet time.

My parents brought Yoder’s sandwiches and brownies for lunch that day, too!

I made homemade pizzas for supper, complete with fresh basil, and a drizzle of pizza oil or hot honey. Plus a classic Caesar salad on the side!

And that brings us to the weekend! Saturday included a walk with my friend Barbara up our road, house chores, and a trip up to Culpeper for Target and a few other stops.

We picked up takeout from a local bbq restaurant, The Wolf’s Fixins, and had a quiet night at home. We had pulled pork, burgers, chicken fingers, mac and cheese, potato salad, and boatloads of hush puppies. I always appreciate a break from the kitchen and dishes!

This was the Smokehouse Salad with Cornbread.

There you go, friends — another week of easy dinners! I hope that you’ve found something new to add to your table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!