Our Week in Meals #464

Good morning, and happy Sunday! We welcomed October with an apple harvest festival, cooler weather, and cozy comfort food. 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 spent most of Sunday in Northern Virginia for Spencer’s soccer game.

Back home for supper, we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs to take advantage of a beautiful evening…

…which we paired with a classic pasta salad (that I assembled earlier in the day), frozen French fries, and a green salad.

Let’s chat books! This week I read The Heartbreak Hotel by Ellen O’Clover, a heartwarming Hallmark-like romance that I got from Book of the Month. In this novel, Louisa turns her landlord’s quiet Colorado home into a bed-and-breakfast for the brokenhearted, only to find herself falling for the reclusive veterinarian who owns it. It’s a sweet, hopeful romance about second chances, healing, and discovering love where you least expect it.

The kids returned to school on Monday morning, while I headed up the road for a short walk and ran a few errands in town.

One of my stops was at Yoder’s, where they’re very ready for the season — complete with pumpkins, mums, and bins and bins of local apples (I came home with the Honeycrisp).

Keith and the older boys played a round of golf that evening, so I served a later dinner once they returned. On the menu: my mom’s pork schnitzel with mushroom gravy, buttered noodles, and steamed green beans. This is one of Gibbs’ favorite meals!

A rainy Tuesday walk…

…followed by a visit from my friend Kristin for lunch. We had the fall version of my favorite toasted ham and brie baguettes, which included turkey, sharp cheddar, sliced apples, and apple butter mayo. You can find that recipe on page 83 of my cookbook!

I spent the evening in Charlottesville for Spencer’s soccer practice, and left Keith in charge of supper: ground beef nachos with a side of homemade guac.

Wednesday was the first of October, and it actually felt like it! The air was a bit cooler, and I noticed some crunchy leaves underfoot when Ashley and I walked our dogs that morning.

Keith took Spencer to soccer practice in the evening, while I stayed home with the older boys and prepped dinner. We had this old-fashioned chicken pot pie (always a favorite, especially on chilly nights), plus a simple green side salad.

Thursday was another gorgeous day for a walk in the woods with Mollie.

I spent time in the kitchen cooking and photographing recipes, and then took Spencer to Charlottesville that evening. Since I knew I’d be gone until late, I planned a dinner that Keith could easily pull together after Casey’s basketball practice: these 5-ingredient chicken parm sandwiches with a side of potato chips and fruit.

Pilates with Ashley and Adria on Friday morning…

and lunch with my friend Tanya at the Blue Ridge Cafe that afternoon. The yeast rolls with cinnamon butter are always the best!

Spencer had another practice in Charlottesville after school, so I picked up an easy pizza dinner for everyone on our way home. A welcome night off from cooking!

And that brings us to the weekend!

We were up and out early on Saturday morning — Spencer had a soccer game, and Gibbs was working the Apple Harvest Festival with his golf teammates at Graves Mountain Lodge.

The team worked at a food tent all day, serving Brunswick stew, pulled pork, coleslaw, etc. Gibbs came home exhausted!

Of course, I made my way to the festival once Spencer’s game was over and Gibbs was ready for a ride home. Here are a few snapshots from the afternoon…

Bluegrass music, hayrides, vendors, pony rides, and lots of great food.

Apple butter making…

ice cream…

…and fried apples and apple butter donuts!

I came home with only edible goodies: a variety of apples, Pop Pop’s Blue Ridge kettle corn, and cotton candy.

Knowing it would be a busy day, I planned a supper that didn’t require much effort: Crock Pot cream cheese chicken with spaghetti, a side salad, and frozen garlic breadsticks.

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!