Our Week in Meals #466

Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included beautiful October weather, fall baking, and homecoming. 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…

Sunday was rainy and cool. After an early church service, Keith and Casey went shopping in Culpeper, while I spent time in the kitchen testing a couple of recipes.

For supper, we had baked chicken thighs,

which I paired with a tray of roasted root vegetables (I used red potatoes, carrots, red onions, and turnips this time),

and a basket of biscuits and Jiffy corn muffins with sour cream (leftovers pulled from the freezer).

Plus, for dessert, the last of the easy apple crisp that I baked the night before. Delish!

Book time! I recently finished The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel, which my friend Adria shared with me. In this novel, a reformed jewel thief named Colette Marceau is forced to confront her traumatic past when a priceless diamond bracelet, lost during World War II and tied to her sister’s mysterious death, suddenly resurfaces in a Boston museum. It’s a moving story about love, guilt, and redemption that blends historical intrigue with modern-day suspense.

Monday was Columbus Day, but it was a normal work and school day around here.

Teddy and I got out for a walk that morning…

…and I ran an errand in Ruckersville. I saw this ad on my phone for the “secret recipe” caramel apple iced latte at Starbucks, so of course I had to try it while I was in town. It’s an iced latte with apple brown sugar syrup and caramel cold foam on top. For a fun change, it was pretty good!

Keith and the older boys played a round of golf that evening, so we had a late supper once everyone was back home. I made a pot of spicy Italian sausage and tortellini soup and heated up a loaf of Ashley’s sourdough bread. This is one of my family’s absolute favorite soups!

Mollie and I had a beautiful morning for a walk on Tuesday.

I filmed a couple of recipe videos during the day, and then spent the evening shuffling the kids to their activities — soccer practice for Spencer and basketball for Casey.

We had one of my childhood favorites for dinner that night (my mom called it “chuckwagon mac”): mac and cheese with ground beef,

plus a loaf of one-bowl pumpkin bread and a house salad on the side.

Another gorgeous October day on Wednesday!

I met Ashley for a walk with our dogs that morning, took Teddy to the groomer, and had a lunch date with Keith at Jersey Mike’s in Culpeper.

We’re finally starting to see the first of the fall color around here…

Keith and the older boys had haircuts and golf that afternoon, while I took Spence to Charlottesville for soccer. Knowing it would be a busy evening, we planned on slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches for supper, along with coleslaw from Yoder’s and potato chips. The perfect meal to assemble at different times to suit different schedules!

I got out for a short walk on Thursday morning, and then spent most of the day cooking and photographing recipes.

We ate an early supper, and then Casey was off to basketball practice and Keith took Spencer to soccer. On the menu: sheet pan shrimp fajitas (from page 74 in my cookbook)…

…plus rice, tortilla chips, salsa, and this easy guacamole recipe.

Friday morning Pilates was canceled, so Ashley and I took our dogs for a walk before I had to get Spencer to his dentist appointment.

We had a lovely evening off from kids’ sports, so we ate dinner at a normal time (!!!) before heading out to the high school for the homecoming football game. Gibbs requested dump-and-bake chicken Alfredo pasta, which we paired with frozen garlic breadsticks and a salad.

Go, Mountaineers!

Saturday was devoted to errands and house chores. The boys got haircuts, we picked up flowers for the dance that night, and we restocked the kitchen with groceries.

Casey and Khloe went with their 9th grade friends to dinner and the homecoming dance that evening!

Those of us at home enjoyed college football on TV and take-out pizza for an easy supper.

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!