Our Week in Meals #465

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included soccer games, a field trip, and some comfort food classics. 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 went to church early on Sunday morning, and spent the afternoon at the soccer fields in Charlottesville for Spencer’s game.

Back home, Keith grilled marinated London broil for dinner…

…which we paired with crispy seasoned roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli, and rice.

Shall we chat books? This week I read Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham, a fun, quick read from Book of the Month. In this novel, a journalist named Claire returns to her South Carolina hometown decades after her sister’s disappearance and takes a summer job at a vineyard, only to uncover a mysterious diary that may hold dark secrets about what really happened. It’s a slow-burn Southern thriller full of secrets, suspense, and that eerie small-town tension that keeps you turning the pages!

It was not a typical Monday for me! Casey and I left very early that morning for a field trip with 17 of his 9th-grade classmates to Washington, DC.

We visited the National Cathedral that morning,

and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History that afternoon. It was a long, but fun day with some really great kids and teachers.

The Hope Diamond!

We made it home right at dinnertime, so I was very grateful to have a meal ready and waiting for us. On Sunday evening, I assembled a Ritz chicken casserole (so easy, it’s basically a dump-and-bake) so that Keith could just pop it in the oven. We paired the casserole with yeast rolls and a bagged Caesar salad kit before Gibbs and Keith had to leave for a driver’s ed class that night.

Back to the usual routine on Tuesday — including a morning walk…

…and many hours of cooking and photographing recipes in the kitchen.

Casey had basketball, Gibbs played golf with friends, and Spencer had soccer, so dinner was an easy meal that we could eat in shifts as needed: slow cooker French dip sandwiches paired with potato chips and cut-up veggies with Ranch dip.

Wednesday included a walk with Mollie and Adria, followed by work at the computer.

We had another full evening of golf, basketball, and soccer practices, so I put dinner together earlier in the day and had Keith stick it in the oven for a late supper. On the menu: turkey, black bean, and sweet potato enchiladas (from page 116 in my cookbook). The perfect prep-ahead dish for busy nights!

Plus tortilla chips, salsa, and homemade guac on the side.

After a chilly Thursday morning walk with Ashley and our dogs…

…I got my first pumpkin spice latte of the season!

A cozy bowl of cabbage roll soup (that I thawed from the freezer) for lunch:

And quick and easy Bolognese with pasta,

salad, and garlic bread for supper. Then it was back to Charlottesville with Spence for the evening!

Friday included Pilates with Adria and Ashley, plus another work day at home.

Spencer had soccer practice in Charlottesville, and then we all went to the UVA men’s soccer game vs. Notre Dame afterwards.

Chick-fil-A made for a quick and easy dinner as we drove from one soccer field to the next! I tried the new pretzel cheddar club and really liked it.

And that brings us to the weekend! Spence had yet another soccer game on Saturday, so that took up the bulk of our day.

Back home, I baked a skillet of Southern cornbread to use in a separate recipe today, and took Gibbs to a party at a friend’s house.

We picked up pizzas for supper, but I did manage to make a homemade dessert (priorities!).

Since I had plenty of apples still left from the festival the previous weekend, an easy apple crisp with ice cream was calling my name. A perfect fall weekend treat!

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!