Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included lots of sports, beautiful fall flowers, and some favorite seasonal recipes. 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…
Our Sunday got off to an early start, since Gibbs left the house at 7:00 to spend the day at Great Wolf Lodge with his friends.
Meanwhile, I went to Mollie’s farm for a walk with two of my friends, Keith took care of yard work, and we watched a lot of football on TV.
Autumn dahlias from Adria’s garden…
I baked a couple of trays of these fun cookies for the boys that afternoon. They were a big hit!
For supper that night, we had Mexican shrimp with corn, avocado, and tomato salad,
plus a pan of Jiffy Mexican cornbread. A delicious pairing! The shrimp are also really good in tacos or on taco salad.
Shall we chat about this week’s book? Blog reader Denise recommended The Secret History of Home Economics by Danielle Drelinger, so I checked it out of the library immediately. While I took Home Ec in school many years ago, I had no concept of the field’s fascinating history. This was such an interesting look at certain trailblazing women, how they shaped our society, and how Home Economics followed the currents of American culture. You’ll never look at your teacher the same way again…
Back to work and school on Monday morning! Ashley and I walked our dogs together, and I spent time in the kitchen photographing a new recipe.
Gibbs had a golf match that evening, so Keith went to watch him play while I stayed home with the younger boys. We had a chicken and Jiffy cornbread casserole for supper with steamed green beans on the side. Easy comfort food!
The rain arrived on Tuesday and hung around for a couple of days.
I had my first golf lesson that morning though, which was really fun! The boys finally wore me down and convinced me to join them out there, rather than just riding around in the cart. Hah!
Keith took Spencer to soccer practice that evening, and I stayed home to get dinner organized. We had a pot of 30-minute meatball tortellini soup (perfect for a wet fall day), which I paired with a house salad and a loaf of garlic bread.
Another rainy day on Wednesday, so my walk with Mollie and Adria was cancelled. Instead, I stopped at Yoder’s for the weekly staples, including apples from a nearby orchard.
Beautiful locally grown flowers,
and look at these enormous pots of mums!
Not from Yoder’s, but these donuts were a fun fall treat! Maple buttercream, oatmeal cream pie, spiced apple filled, and salted caramel cheesecake flavors.
Soccer and golf practices were canceled due to the weather that night, so it was nice to sit down for dinner at a normal hour.
We had another cozy fall-favorite: roasted buttermilk chicken along with roasted veggies (Brussels sprouts, carrots, and onions), store-bought cranberry sauce, Stove Top stuffing, and a loaf of pumpkin bread from Yoder’s. This meal tastes like a special holiday meal, but it couldn’t be easier to make! I put the chicken in the marinade in the morning before getting on work calls, and then just popped the chicken and veggies in the oven to roast at the end of the day.
The rain stopped on Thursday, so I got out for an early walk.
Then it was Zoom meetings for most of the afternoon…
I baked a batch of apple muffins using the apples from Yoder’s and the leftover buttermilk from the night before…
…and took the younger boys to their golf lessons that afternoon.
We had quick and easy Bolognese with spaghetti for a late supper afterwards. Plus a basic green salad with red wine vinaigrette on the side, and the apple muffins that I baked earlier in the day.
A beautiful Friday morning!
Adria brought all of us more flowers at Pilates…
Dinner that night was on-the-go, as Spencer and I went straight from his soccer practice to the high school to meet up with Keith and the older boys when they were done with golf. The folks at Subway were very generous with those toppings…
Friday Night Lights, and a big win for the Mountaineers!
I took the boys to get haircuts on Saturday morning, and then Gibbs had a golf team practice in the valley in Harrisonburg for the afternoon and evening.
Meanwhile, the rest of us had our own tee time!
We were pretty tired and hungry by the time we returned home, so I kept dinner very simple: chicken quesadillas (using this cilantro lime chicken for a shortcut), along with chips, salsa, and guacamole. The rest of the night included college football on TV and a good book…
So there you have it, friends — another week of easy dinners! 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 great Sunday!
I’m so glad the boys persuaded you into the game! Did you get the results back from Casey’s knee MRI? I hope it’s nothing serious.
Hi, Marion! It was a fun time, and I see many more afternoons ahead like that!
Yes, we received results from his MRI, but it really just confirmed the diagnosis that we already had. A severe case of a growth-related inflammation of the patellar tendon where it attaches to the growth plate on his kneecap. The good news is that there’s not something more serious going on that requires surgery. The bad news is that we just have to wait it out — there’s no “fix.” He has been forced to stop playing soccer for now, and instead will stay busy with golf and other lower-impact activities. It’s so hard for him both physically and emotionally, but I guess it’s helpful to have some answers.
Thank you for asking!
Oh, I’ll have to check out your book this week! I always enjoyed my home economics course in high school. A nice change from “heavy” courses and a good way to get a fairly high grade.