Our Week in Meals #352

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week we made an exciting announcement about a new launch, and wrapped up the final week of the kids’ summer break. It’s officially back-to-school time! 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.

Before we jump into this week’s dinners, I wanted to make a quick announcement here in case you missed the news earlier this week. The Seasoned Mom now has a merchandise shop! I’ve worked with a great team of folks to create a line of kitchen items including aprons, dish towels, tote bags, and more (with new options being added soon). Bring a little bit of the Virginia countryside to your own home with these “farm to table” products. You can shop the store here! Thank you in advance for supporting our little business!💓

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

Two of my friends joined me for a walk on Sunday morning, before I spent the bulk of the day in the kitchen working on a couple of new recipes.

Our Sunday supper was a summertime classic: grilled bbq chicken breast,

plus zucchini pie, sliced garden tomatoes, fresh corn on the cob, and the best store-bought dinner rolls.

And for dessert, Gibbs made a pan of one-bowl brownies (using a new recipe that my friend Jackie gave me). They were great! In fact, the younger two boys said they tasted just like boxed mix brownies (which is the highest praise in their book. Hah!) Should I post the recipe? Let me know if that’s of interest…

Shall we chat about books? This week I have to recommend The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell. I’ve never watched The Great British Bake Off tv show, but I imagine this murder mystery novel is based on the same premise. It’s a suspenseful thriller for mystery buffs and avid bakers alike, as someone winds up dead on the set of TV’s hottest baking competition. This is a fun, entertaining read that will keep you turning the pages!

Monday morning!

I picked up the most delicious peaches, nectarines, and cantaloupe from the farm stand nearby, and also went antiquing in Ruckersville with the boys.

That day marked the start of soccer season for Casey and Spencer, which now means that we’ll be spending every night of the week in Charlottesville. It also means that dinner schedules will get a lot more complicated! Unfortunately, that evening, practices were cancelled due to thunderstorms. Here’s a shot that Keith took as the clouds were rolling in over the mountains…

We had Italian sausage and peppers, along with pasta, garlic breadsticks (from the freezer), and a Caesar salad — and stayed tucked safely indoors for the night.

The weather was beautiful by Tuesday morning, so I started the day with a walk at Mollie’s farm.

After some work at the computer, I took the younger two boys into Charlottesville for the evening for their soccer practices (two different times, two different locations!).

Since I knew that we’d be gone until 8 p.m., I planned a dinner that I could make almost entirely in advance and then assemble quickly when we got back to the house. On the menu: Greek salad with shrimp,

along with hummus and naan bread.

And since I knew that the kids would not consider a shrimp salad to be an adequate meal, they had small salads as a side dish, and I used the naan bread to make them 15-minute flatbread pizzas. Everyone was happy!

It can be challenging to come up with different dinner ideas that suit the busy weeknight schedule when everyone is coming and going at various times. I’d love to hear some of your go-to easy, quick-prep (or no prep!) options! For example, chili, soups, casseroles, and Crock Pot meals are great when the weather is cooler, while Sloppy Joes, chicken salad sandwiches, and wraps work nicely in the summer. Help me (and the other readers) out and let us know your favorites!

Wednesday included in a walk with my friend Ashley, followed by a check-up at the dermatologist in Charlottesville.

The older two boys joined me for my appointment because they wanted to get Chik-fil-A for lunch afterwards!

Keith took Casey and Spencer to soccer practice again that night, while I stayed home to make dinner. We had pretzel-crusted chicken strips (a kid request), along with stovetop mac and cheese, pickles, and carrots and cucumbers with ranch dip.

Plus a peach crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Have to take advantage while the fruit is so good!

I spent Thursday morning in the kitchen testing and photographing a couple of new recipes, and then the afternoon was devoted to the kids’ back-to-school Open House. We dragged in bags of school supplies, found their new lockers, and met their new teachers.

Casey went straight from the school to another soccer practice, and then we all sat down to a late dinner of Dutch oven bbq beef. I served the shredded meat on sandwich buns, and paired the sandwiches with potato chips and fresh fruit salad (peaches, plums, cantaloupe, and berries). This was a great option to prep ahead and just reheat when we were ready to eat.

Friday included a walk with Ashley,

a golf lesson for Gibbs, and a stop at Yoder’s for bread, lunch meat, buttermilk, etc. on the way home.

Spencer had soccer that evening, so Keith picked up pizzas for everyone to have for dinner afterwards. At the end of a full week, it was nice to have a break from the kitchen!

Casey and I left the house very early on Saturday morning for yet another soccer practice.

This is the face of a happy kid, who had Duck Donuts afterwards to celebrate his teammate’s birthday. Nothing like some fried dough after running around in the 90-degree heat for 90 minutes!🤢

The rest of our afternoon included haircuts for me and the kids, followed by grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for supper. On the side, I took the easy route: frozen waffle fries, cherry tomato salad, and a broccoli and cauliflower slaw from Yoder’s (similar to this salad recipe).

And that’s it for now! I hope that this roundup provides a little bit of inspiration for your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!