Our Week in Meals #462

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included kids’ sports, easy meals, and a fun book. 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…

We left the house early on Sunday morning for Spencer’s soccer game, and didn’t return home until later that afternoon. Meanwhile, the older boys went to church, spent time with friends, and took care of homework.

We had bratwurst sandwiches for an easy supper,

which I paired with fried apples, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and green beans.

Let’s chat books! This week I read It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan — a cute, predictable, enemies-to-lovers romance that I had been meaning to get to all summer. Better late than never! If you enjoyed Nora Goes Off Script, then you’ll probably like this one, too!

The kids returned to school on Monday, I took the dog for a walk, and then I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen — cooking, photographing, and filming video.

Dinner that night was from my cookbook! We had the bbq salmon bowls in the Sheet Pan Dinners chapter on page 67. Served with rice and a variety of toppings like green onions and diced avocado…

Mollie, Adria, and I dodged the rain on Tuesday morning and got out for a walk before settling into work for the day.

We had a golf match, basketball practice, and soccer practice on our agenda that evening, so I planned a supper that we could easily reheat as needed: Crock Pot potato soup, a loaf of Ashley’s sourdough bread, and a simple green salad.

Wednesday was rainy, so most of our outdoor activities were canceled that day.

Keith and I got our flu shots and had a lunch date at The Market. This was The Farmington — smoked turkey, bacon, Havarti, coleslaw, lettuce, tomato, and herb mayonnaise on French bread. Delish!

No golf or soccer that evening (thanks to the rain), so we had an unexpected but very welcome dinner together before the boys went to youth group.

On the menu: dump-and-bake meatball casserole, store-bought garlic breadsticks, and a salad.

The sun returned on Thursday!

I had a doctor’s appointment that morning, took Teddy for a walk, and prepped dinner in advance of a busy evening.

Keith did the golf and basketball runs at the high school, while I took Spencer to Charlottesville.

For dinner, I made herb roasted chicken thighs (which we just reheated later that night when we were eating at different times) and paired the meat with pita bread, tzatziki sauce, hummus, feta cheese, rice, marinated cucumbers, lettuce, and tomatoes. It was like a make-your-own Mediterranean sandwich bar, which the kids always love.

Adria came over for a walk on Friday morning…

I reheated a bowl of roasted butternut squash soup for lunch, which I paired with the last of the sourdough toasted and buttered. One of my very favorite fall meals! The kids wouldn’t love to see this soup on the dinner menu, so it’s a nice freezer-friendly option that I can thaw in smaller portions when I need a quick (but delicious) lunch.

Since Friday evenings are always spent driving around to multiple soccer and golf practices, I planned a meal that we could pack in coolers and eat on-the-go.

This idea comes from my brother, since it’s one of his recent favorites: chicken dill ranch wraps. There’s no specific recipe, just layer chopped grilled chicken, chopped dill pickles, romaine lettuce, and ranch dressing in a wrap. What’s not to love?! I used store-bought rotisserie chicken because that’s what I had. Plus chips and apple slices with caramel dip on the side!

And that brings us to the weekend! Gibbs was gone all day playing golf with his team in the valley. Meanwhile, Casey wanted to do some shopping for fall clothes, so we spent a few hours at Barracks Road. Plus lunch at Chipotle afterwards!

An afternoon walk…

…and Crock Pot white chicken chili, tortilla chips, and college football that night!

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 wonderful Sunday!