Good morning, happy Sunday, and welcome to July! This week included a cookout with friends, the 4th of July holiday, lots of summer fruit, and plenty of summer flowers. 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.
This Week’s Meals
Now, let’s back up to last weekend…
After a very humid walk with Keith on Sunday morning, I pulled out the ladder and picked more apples in our yard than I could carry into the house!
We had friends over for a cookout that afternoon, so we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs,
which we set out with a fruit salad,
5-minute corn dip with tortilla chips and potato chips, and the baked beans and strawberry spinach salad that Tina brought.
Plus Tina’s chocolate chip bundt cake for dessert, as well as some store-bought 4th of July cookies that I picked up.
We were blessed with a cool, crisp Monday to kick off the holiday week.
The kids spent most of the day outside, and I put up a few jars of applesauce to use some of the Golden Delicious apples that I picked the day before. The best!
For supper that night, Keith grilled our favorite 15-minute salmon recipe.
That reminds me — I recently ordered the ingredients for my all-purpose seasoning in bulk from Walmart, stirred everything together, and now we have many, many jars of the seasoning stashed in our pantry. We go through the stuff so quickly that I was getting tired of preparing a single jar at a time. We use the blend on grilled salmon, but also on grilled steak, burgers, roasted veggies, salads (like potato salad, pasta salad, and green salad), on chicken, on pork chops, etc. If you haven’t tried it yet, you definitely should!
We paired the fish with roasted yellow squash (which I also seasoned with the all-purpose blend), rice, and dinner rolls.
We got an early start on Tuesday morning to take advantage of another pretty day. While Teddy went to the groomer, Spencer rollerbladed at Yowell Meadow Park in Culpeper…
…and Casey wore his Crocs so that he could hunt for critters in the creek.
The younger two boys had soccer training in Charlottesville that afternoon, so I served a quick and easy supper when we got home: ground beef nachos, homemade guac, and the leftover corn dip from Sunday.
Wednesday was almost entirely devoted to work in the kitchen. I took a break around lunchtime to bring the dog to a vet appointment, but otherwise I was cooking and testing recipes. Plenty of good stuff coming to the blog!
Dahlias!
And more flowers!
Keith took the boys to play pickleball that afternoon, while I got supper organized. We had vegetable lasagna, along with a salad and garlic bread. This is a great lightened-up comfort food recipe for the summer months!
Thursday was the 4th of July!
I headed up the road to beat the heat early that morning,
and we went to a classic car show in Culpeper that afternoon.
He may have cut off my head, but Gibbs did get a shot of my “bourbon on the rocks” ice cream!
With thunderstorms and oppressive heat in the forecast, we decided to have a low-key evening at home. Since we had our traditional cookout fare (burgers and hotdogs) with our friends on Sunday, we opted for marinated grilled chicken that night (a family favorite!),
which I served with succotash and 3-ingredient biscuits.
Plus Southern peach cobbler with Jiffy mix and vanilla ice cream for dessert! I actually used a combination of peaches and nectarines this time, since that’s what I had in the kitchen…
We were up and out early on Friday morning — Keith and the younger two boys to Charlottesville for soccer, while I took Gibbs to golf.
We stayed cool indoors while watching the Euros soccer games that afternoon, and then Keith, Gibbs, and Casey went to dinner and the movies that evening. Spence didn’t want to see the movie, and instead requested IHOP takeout — so that’s what we did! Pancakes and sausage for both of us…and a very happy 10-year-old.
And that brings us to the weekend!
I canceled my plans with friends on Saturday morning so that I could take Teddy back to the vet. He gave us quite a scare this past week as he became very sick with what we believe is an infection. He’s on antibiotics now, and seems to be feeling better. It just took many rounds of tests (and a few stressful days) to figure out what was wrong.
Keith took the boys to the pool that afternoon while I stayed home with the dog. Since I was at the house, I made a batch of our favorite easy pizza dough for supper. I used fresh mozzarella and marinara that I had leftover from other recipes, as well as fresh basil from the garden. Delicious!
So there you have it, friends — another week of simple summer 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!
Good morning!
No book review? I look forward to those each week as much as your recipes! I have read many you have recommended!
Have a great week!
Dani
Hi, Dani! How could I forget the book review?! It totally slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder, and stay tuned for next Sunday’s post! 🙂
I made the Southern Tomato Pie for the first time last night. Oh my goodness, so easy to put together! We have a produce stand near our home where I buy fresh tomatoes, delicious and full of flavor. They were the perfect filling for the pie. We loved the recipe and will definitely make it again…soon.
I’m so happy that it was a success, Cristina. It’s the perfect way to take advantage of local summer tomatoes. Thank you for letting me know!
I love your 30 days of healthy meals!! Do you have more of those to print out?
Thank you, Linda! We have several similar themes if you search 30 days in the search bar at the top!
Prayers for Teddy, poor pup.
Thanks, Elaine. We’re working on getting him patched back together!
I sure hope Teddy continues to improve. I know he’s a much-loved member of the family.
Lots of good recipes this week! Succotash is on my short list!
Thanks, Tim. You’re right — he’s like the 6th member of our family! I appreciate your kind note. 🙂
Lots of thoughts and prayers for Teddy…and for you and the family as I know how much anxiety and tears that ‘little one’ can cause when not feeling well…they are family…hope that the vet has found the cause and has him on the right course of antibiotics…
Thanks, Wendy. Yes, it’s so stressful and sad when the dog is sick and we don’t know why. I’m hoping that we’re on the right track!
Hi Blair – I’m happy to hear that Teddy is on the mend! Nothing worse than having to worry about your sweet pet. Love the beautiful photos of your area and yummy food. I always look forward to reading your blog on Sunday mornings. Take care and I hope Teddy keeps improving!
Thank you, Tylene! I hope that Teddy continues to improve, too. At least his appetite has returned! 🙂
I made your Egg Roll in a Bowl last weekend. My husband and I both enjoyed it. The leftovers heated up nicely too. My husband has requested that I keep it in the rotation! Your photos are beautiful! You should publish a coffee table book of them. I always enjoy the mountains, and the flowers you just posted are gorgeous!
That’s great, Michelle. I’m so glad that your husband approved, too!
Thanks for your kind words about my photos. Maybe some day I’ll pull them all together!
I hope Teddy is feeling better and all is well with you and your family. Thank you for your recipes that you share with us. My family enjoys eating them as much as I do making them. I hope you all have a wonderful day.
Thank you, Mary! You made my day! 🙂
Poor Teddy! I hope he goes on making rapid progress! I have had pets all my 63 years and I know how worrying it is when they get sick. He is such a cutie. If you don’t mind me asking, about how old is he?
Making applesauce is such a practical way of dealing with apples which need to be dealt with NOW. You can freeze it and make wonderful things later. I remember that, when I was a teenager, I used to make a type of applesauce “pie” with no bottom crust but a crumb topping. It was good.
My ability to shop and cook is really minimal at the moment due to this vicious weather down here. 106 yesterday. Just so little decent temperatures and, therefore, physical energy in a day but I am taking careful note of your recipes and making plans for later. That corn dip looks doable in the next few days and the refrigerator fills have been very worthwhile. Thanks!
I love classic cars! That photo is so funny but I’d love to try that bourbon ice cream!
What does Casey hunt for down in the creek? Back in Morgantown, there was a Deckers’ Creek where my brother and his buddies used to go mess around. I remember him talking about finding crayfish. The boys were about the age of your sons. I didn’t go myself, a little too far away from home for me.
My love to all, as always, and extra for Teddy. Have a serious talk with him and tell him that he has to get well now because so many people are rooting for him!
Take care!
Thank you, Marion! Teddy is doing a little bit better each day (thank goodness)! He’s almost 6 years old, so still young. That’s why we were so surprised when the vet initially thought he was experiencing liver failure (testing confirmed that’s not the case). Anyway, hopefully he continues to improve!
I’m not even sure what Casey was looking for in the creek. Probably fish, frogs, or lizards. We’ve found crayfish before, but not as often. He just likes to get muddy, I think!
I’m glad he’s improving. I suppose the vet checked for diabetes. I had a mixed-breed who was diagnosed with diabetes at six and the vet told me that was a typical age for that ailment. Well, with a bit of luck, Teddy just has an infection out of left field and will be well before we know it!
Kids and creeks! Somewhere I saw a line about asking a child what he was hunting for. The answer was “Something with finding”. It may have been a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. As you say, a good excuse to get muddy!
Poor Teddy – glad to hear he is feeling a bit better – scary when our pets are sick and can’t tell us what is wrong. They are such an important part of our family and bring such joy. Hope he is back to his usual, adorable self very soon! And yes …. I missed your book review as well!
Thank you for your kind words, Joan!