Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included lots of rain, lots of kids’ activities, and lots of easy meals. 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…
We went to church on Sunday morning,
took a walk up the road to feed treats to the horse,
and played soccer and basketball in the yard.
For dinner, Keith grilled a couple of whole chickens (I’ll share his recipe in the coming weeks since he’s been perfecting it for years!).
We paired the chicken with baked potatoes and broccoli with cheese.
Shall we chat books? I really enjoyed Wild, Dark, Shore by Charlotte McConaghy! It’s set on a remote island near Antarctica, where a reclusive family caring for the world’s last seed bank takes in a mysterious castaway just as a powerful storm—and buried secrets—begin to surface. As tensions rise and trust frays, the characters must confront past traumas and make impossible choices to protect both their loved ones and the fragile future of the planet. It was definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year!
The boys weren’t happy about it, but everyone returned to school on Monday morning after a week of Spring Break. Since it was rainy and cool, I skipped my usual walk and went to a Pilates class instead. It might be wet outside, but everything is looking very green at the moment!
Dinner was a request from Gibbs, which I was happy to honor since it’s such an easy weeknight option: meatball subs (using frozen meatballs) with a side of potato chips, cut-up veggies, and Ranch dip.
I was on-the-go on Tuesday, starting with a walk with Ashley at a park near the kids’ school.
Then it was off to Culpeper for a dentist appointment (got my Invisalign off!), and then to Greene for a golf lesson after lunch.
Our mini apple orchard is blooming! We don’t spray the trees with pesticides, so the bugs and birds usually get to the fruit before it’s fully ripe. We’ll see what we can actually harvest this year…
Casey had a soccer game at the high school that evening, and then Keith took Spencer to a late practice in Charlottesville afterwards. As a result, dinner was enjoyed in shifts. I made a pan of spinach and tomato pasta,
which I served with a loaf of sourdough bread that Ashley baked that afternoon. So good!
After an early walk with Mollie and Adria on Wednesday, Keith and I drove over to Louisa County to watch Gibbs give a school presentation.
On the way home, we stopped at The BBQ Exchange for lunch in Gordonsville (one of my favorites)! This was my bbq pulled chicken platter with cornbread, coleslaw, broccoli salad, and green beans.
We had multiple practices on the schedule again that evening, so I prepped dinner in advance. My goal was to use up some leftovers and clean out the fridge. I made Southern chicken salad (my Yoder’s copycat recipe) with the extra chicken from Sunday, as well as ham salad with some extra brown sugar glazed Virginia ham that I had in the freezer. Once these were both prepared in the fridge, I let the boys choose which they preferred and made sandwiches on croissants, slider rolls, or sourdough. Plus chips and fruit on the side!
I spent most of a cool, gray Thursday in the kitchen cooking, testing new recipes, and photographing others.
We had another full evening with multiple soccer practices and a new women’s church group meeting, so I once again kept dinner very simple (and prepped ahead). On the menu: Crock Pot Mexican chicken, which I served in chicken quesadillas for a little bit of a change.
Plus tortilla chips, salsa, and this easy guacamole recipe on the side.
More rain on Friday!
I met Adria for Pilates that morning, and then ran a few errands before lunch.
My last stop was at Yoder’s, where I picked up the weekly staples (like lunch meat, bacon, buttermilk, and peanut butter), but I also grabbed a tray of the lemon squares that Debbie recently recommended. I can confirm that they’re delicious! If you want to make a homemade version, this is my favorite (easy!) recipe. They would be lovely for Easter.
After Gibbs’ golf lesson that evening, Keith picked up takeout pizza for dinner. Sometimes a Hawaiian pizza tastes soooo good!
I also made a green salad with red wine vinegar dressing, since I had everything on hand.
The rain moved out on Saturday…
…so we got out for an early walk, and then spent the rest of the day in Charlottesville at Spencer’s soccer game.
Keith was gone that night, which meant a very low-key evening at home for the rest of us. I made a pastrami Reuben for myself (using some deli meat and coleslaw that I picked up at Yoder’s the day before), while the kids had boxed mac and cheese and leftover pizza.
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!
Between the photos of food and everything in bloom and so spring like, this was definitely a happy distraction, Blair! Thank you!
That makes me so happy to hear, Ann. Thank you for reading!
You’re welcome! Had to laugh when I read Gibbs went to Louisa to be in a school presentation there, makes me remember growing up there and how much it has changed!
Oh, I didn’t realize that’s where you grew up! Yes, he was doing a presentation in Zion’s Crossroads. That area has definitely changed a lot in recent years!
Just wanted to congratulate you for your recipe in Taste of Home, the pita’s look delicious!!
Thank you, Glenda!
I love reading your about your weekly meals every Sunday morning while drinking my coffee. I really enjoy all the pictures, your recipes are easy, and it helps me with my meal plan for the next week. Thank you Blair!
Hi Blair
Saw your picture and recipe in the spring edition of Taste of Home. Greek Gilled Chicken Pitas are my all time favorite dish. Loved the recipe for your cucumber sauce…so good!
When will your cookbook be published..can’t wait!
Happy Easter to you and your family!
Thank you, Paula! I didn’t even know about that one in Taste of Home! I’ve worked with them a lot over the years, but they don’t always notify me about a publication. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
The cookbook will be available later this year. I’ll let you know as soon as there is a firm date. I appreciate your support!
About 40 years ago Billy’s aunt gave me a recipe for Hamwiches. This is similiar to a ham salad recipe but it is served hot. Back in those days ham was always a country ham so I’ve only made this with country ham but I’m sure it would be just as good with a regular ham.
You can tell this is an old recipe because you “grind” the ingredients together. We use to have one of those heavy hand grinders you clamp onto a table…. now we just use a food processor. You do process to a finer consistency than chunky.
The recipe says to put on hamburger buns but many years ago I gave a huge cocktail party. I made this mixture and spread it on small cocktail sized biscuits … back in those days I made mini Angel Biscuits…heated them up. They were delicious!
So a versatile meal or party recipe.
Hamwiches
1 and 1/2 cups cooked ham
1/4 cup green pepper
1 cup cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup sweet pickle
2 Tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup melted butter
Grind together ( or use food processor)
Ham
Onion
Green Pepper
Pickles
Cheese
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Spread on hamburger buns ( or biscuits)
Wrap in foil
Heat at 375 for about 20 minutes
Billy’s aunt also said if she has extra, she would form them into patties and freeze them on cookie sheets and then put them into a plastic bag in freezer so she could pull them out as needed.
Those sound amazing, Debbie. And yes — angel biscuits with ham salad are quite the treat!
Hi Blair! Like so many of your readers, I look forward to sipping my coffee on Sunday morning and reading your blog. I’m from Northern VA and live in CA, so your photos always remind me why I miss Virginia. Such a beautiful place with rolling hills and so much green!! I have tried many of your recipes and love your book suggestions as well. I just finished Emma of 83rd Street. Such a fun book! I noticed the beautiful flatware next to the baked potato! Would you mind sharing where you purchased the flatware? Thank you so much!
Hi, Beth! I always love hearing from a fellow Virginian — even if you’re on the west coast now! 🙂
So glad that you enjoyed that book. Thanks for the reminder; I really want to read the others in the series as well.
Isn’t that flatware beautiful? It’s pricey, so I don’t own a full set to use as our everyday flatware. I just have a couple of sets that I use mostly for photos. It’s the “Essex” flatware from Farmhouse Pottery. When I just checked the site, though, it looks like it’s not available. I know they’ve sold it at other places like Anthropologie, so maybe you can track it down elsewhere?
As always thanks for easy & delicious recipes.
I have another amazing book to recommend.
This one is by one of the fabulous podcasters of “Gastropd”, Nicola Twilley. It’s titled “Frostbite: how refrigeration changed our food, our planet, and ourselves”. Fascinating & readable.
Thank you, Denise! I’m adding it to my list!
Thank you so much for suggesting Wild Dark Shore. I bought the ebook today and so far it has been very gripping! Your beautiful photo of the ‘blowball’ or dandelion clock is very relevant based on this book. How interesting are the seed vaults?
Love your blog and all the wonderful recipes you share.
Have a great week!
We’re so glad you’re enjoying it, Christie! Thank you for your support of the blog.
Have a great week as well!