Our Week in Meals #362

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included an apple harvest festival, a handful of flavorful weeknight dinners, and the regular kids’ sports and school activities. 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 was a picture-perfect fall day, so we did our best to take advantage of the weather.

Spencer was supposed to have a soccer game in Virginia Beach, but that was canceled due to all of the rain the previous day. Instead, we suddenly had a clear schedule.

Adria came over for a walk in the morning, I did some cooking and put dinner in the slow cooker, and then Casey and I went over to the Apple Harvest Festival at Graves Mountain Farm here in Madison.

We saw some local friends, ate funnel cake, and brought home a big crate of apples, cotton candy, and kettle corn. The other boys stayed home to watch football!

Making apple butter…

…and picking out a pumpkin for carving. It appears as through my boys have officially outgrown the hay bale maze, pony rides, hay ride, hay mountain, and petting farm. In fact, their friends were working and volunteering on the staff at the festival, and I’m guessing that Casey just came along for the food!

Back home, we had Crock Pot chili for dinner,

with a side of pumpkin cornbread.

And apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Let’s chat books! This week I read The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis — a fun mystery-thriller with some unexpected twists at the end. I especially enjoyed the setting in Provence (it makes me want to hop a flight to France)!

Highlights from Monday included a walk at Adria’s farm,

and a lunch date with Gibbs at Piedmont Deli before his orthodontist appointment.

I took Casey and Spencer to soccer practice that evening, and left Keith in charge of dinner prep: pulled pork nachos (using bbq pork that I picked up at Yoder’s the week before), plus a side of Mexican street corn (from Target) and homemade guac.

A morning walk with Ashley on Tuesday…

…a doctor’s appointment for Casey in the afternoon, and a quick spin through the Spirit Halloween store afterwards. He loves seeing those horrifying animated creatures!

After soccer, I served pretzel crusted chicken strips for supper (a regular request from the kids), along with potato chips, carrot sticks, sliced cucumber, and Ranch dip.

Wednesday was another jam-packed day, complete with computer work, Zoom meetings, soccer practice for Spencer, and golf for Gibbs.

I prepped dinner that afternoon so that we could easily get it in the oven when we returned home later that night.

My friend from high school, Julie, has boys about the same age as mine. She recently messaged me and told me that this dump-and-bake Cajun sausage pasta is one of her family’s favorites, which was a great reminder for me to add it to our menu!

We paired the casserole with 3-ingredient biscuits and steamed green beans.

Another walk with Ashley on Thursday morning, followed by a day of cooking and testing recipes in the kitchen.

Keith took Casey to soccer practice that evening, and then we all had the easiest meatball subs for a late supper. I added waffle fries and iceberg wedge salads on the side.

Friday was rainy and gray, so after a walk with Mollie that morning, I largely stayed warm and dry in the house.

I took care of chores, cleaned the car, baked a batch of monster cookies for the boys,

and enjoyed a bowl of autumn chicken noodle soup for lunch. I’ll share this recipe on the blog in a few days, so stay tuned. It’s a perfect fall twist on the classic comfort food!

Keith met up with some of his guy friends for drinks at a local brewery that evening, so the kids and I picked up pizzas in Ruckersville and enjoyed a quiet night in front of the fireplace.

And then it was the weekend! Keith and Casey spent most of Saturday in Northern Virginia for a soccer game, while I stayed home with the other two boys.

I baked an apple Bundt cake to have for dessert that night, and joined Sallie and Mollie for a walk at Mollie’s farm after lunch.

Bourbon-marinated baked chicken thighs were on the dinner menu,

along with Rice-a-Roni and roasted Brussels sprouts. I’m basically the only one around here who loves the sprouts, so I also roasted broccoli for the rest of my crew.

And the “apple dapple” cake for dessert!

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy, fall-inspired meals. I hope that you’ve found something new to add to your own table in the days ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!