Our Week in Meals #390

Good morning, and happy Sunday! We welcomed May with a birthday lunch, summer-like weather, and the Kentucky Derby. You’ll find all of the highlights from the past few days, along with each of our dinners, 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…

Casey and I went for a walk up the road on Sunday morning…

Keith took Spencer to Fredericksburg for a day of soccer, while the older boys and I headed up to Culpeper. Gibbs needed a blazer and other dress clothes for the 8th grade dance in a few weeks, so we did some shopping and then got lunch. This is how you bribe teenage boys to shop — feed them afterwards! We had Mexican food from Chipotle, followed by blizzards from Dairy Queen.

Keith grilled hamburgers for dinner that night, which we paired with frozen onion rings, a house salad, and my grandmother’s easy potato salad.

Let’s chat about books! This week I read a novel by Ruth Reichl that my friend Sallie recommended. In Delicious!, a young woman working at a cooking magazine discovers correspondence between James Beard and a child during World War II. Part-mystery, part-historical fiction, it’s an entertaining story for anyone who enjoys cooking (or just eating). I also appreciated the glimpse behind-the-scenes at the world of food magazines, since Reichl served as the Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine for many years.

Monday’s 90-degree weather made it feel like Virginia jumped straight into summer.

The boys went to school, but Keith had the day off. We went for a walk, took care of house chores, and I photographed a recipe.

I love this time of year when buttercups line so many of the roads and fields!

Spencer had soccer that evening, so we ate chicken burritos for a late dinner once everyone was home. Served with tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa, and pico de gallo, this has quickly become one of the boys’ favorite meals (so you can expect to see it frequently in these weekly posts, along with their other favs like pizza and burgers)!

Tuesday was much like the day before — a morning walk before it got too hot, followed by recipe testing and work at the computer.

This is what our morning “rush hour” traffic looks like around here. Hah!

I baked the boys a batch of chocolate muffins, which we haven’t had in ages. So good!

We ate dinner in stages that night, while also juggling soccer schedules. On the menu: the easiest (and most delish) flatbread pizzas and a big green salad with red wine vinaigrette on the side.

I met Ashley for a walk once the boys were off to school on Wednesday,

…and then joined my mom and my aunt for my mom’s birthday lunch at The Market at Grelen.

This has become such a fun annual tradition, as the garden shop and nursery are always waking up for the season during the first week of May.

We had a pork and prosciutto sandwich on baguette, along with a pimento cheese tray, a hummus tray, ham biscuits, and iced tea.

Dinner included this quick 5-ingredient blackened salmon, our favorite Dutch oven mac and cheese (which would make a great meal all on its own), and a honey lemon fruit salad that I could prep in advance. Then the younger two boys were back out the door for their soccer practices that evening, and Gibbs was off to a friend’s house.

Thursday included a walk with Mollie in the woods, followed by a stop at Yoder’s for our weekly staples.

I took Spencer to an early soccer practice that evening, so I planned a supper that Keith could easily pull together while I was gone: fried chicken sandwiches (using these frozen chicken patties) with lettuce, tomato, and Chick-Fil-A sauce, as well as vinegar coleslaw that I made earlier in the day, and some macaroni salad that I picked up at Yoder’s.

Friday morning included a Dunkin’ run, a Pilates session with Barbara and Adria, the car wash, Target, and a grocery pick-up.

Keith and Gibbs played golf after school, and then we had flank steak fajitas with rice for supper afterwards.

And that brings us to Saturday! It was our first soccer-free Saturday in months, and it was so nice to have a slower morning at home. The season is winding down for both of the younger boys, which means our schedules will open up drastically in the coming days. I am very ready for the break — especially at a time of year when life is otherwise so busy with end-of-the-school-year events and excitement.

I spent a cool, rainy Saturday photographing new recipes, helping Spencer with homework, and watching Premier League soccer with the boys. I then took a night off from the kitchen and we all went out to an early supper at Rappahannock Pizza Kitchen so that we could make it home in time to watch the Derby!

We started with the cheesy bread and a mile-high Caesar salad with focaccia croutons (so good), and ordered a variety of pizzas for the table. This was the veggie pizza with added pepperoni…

And a quick stop in the Corner Store next door for some treats. I picked up these Park Ranger cookies and snapped a photo so that I could remember the ingredients. I need to recreate them! With pecans, chocolate chips, oats, coconut, corn flakes and more, they were the perfect combination of salty, sweet, chewy, crunchy, and buttery.

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy dinner ideas! 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!