Our Week in Meals #521

Good morning, and happy Sunday! The first week of November included a birthday, beautiful fall colors, and quick, cozy suppers. 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 were out the door early on Sunday morning for Casey’s soccer game in Charlottesville.

Back home, we watched football, took care of house chores, and had an early supper. Keith grilled salmon,

which we paired with couscous, yeast rolls, and a kale apple salad (one of my faves, but I used regular lettuce that evening since a couple of my boys don’t care for kale). The salad recipe will be on the blog tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Shall we chat books? I recently finished Lucy Foley’s Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel: The New Miss Marple Mystery. Such a fun one!

In this novel, a group of wealthy guests gathers at a luxurious hotel in the Swiss Alps, but their glamorous winter getaway takes a deadly turn when someone is murdered. With a blizzard trapping everyone at the hotel, Miss Marple starts digging into the guests’ secrets and quickly realizes that just about everyone has something to hide. It’s a fun, twisty murder mystery with a beautiful snowy setting, plenty of suspicious characters, and all the drama of a classic Agatha Christie whodunit!

We all got back to work and school on Monday…

I started my day with a walk, but otherwise stuck close to home and knocked out a lot of computer work.

Since I knew I’d be gone for Spencer’s soccer practice that evening, I left flatbread pizzas for Keith and the older boys to assemble while I was out. One of the easiest, most crowd-pleasing meals in our repertoire! I also included a Caesar salad kit for a little bit of green on the side…

Mollie and I met for a walk in the woods on Tuesday, we both stopped by Yoder’s on our way home, and Keith and I went to vote before lunch.

I spent some time in the kitchen working on a new soup recipe before beginning the evening hustle. Casey had a soccer game and Spencer had a late practice, so we all ate an early supper before heading in different directions.

On the menu: chicken parm sandwiches with onion rings and a side salad.

Wednesday proved to be another gorgeous fall day!

I went up the road for a short walk before spending most of the day testing recipes in the kitchen (and washing so many dishes).

Since we didn’t have any practices on the schedule that evening, I took the boys to get haircuts and then served a quick and easy supper once we were all back at the house. I paired this sausage pesto pasta with yet another salad and some store-bought garlic breadsticks.

I turned 47 on Thursday! My birthday started with a morning walk with Ashley, followed by errands in Culpeper.

I took advantage of my free birthday drink at Starbucks — bonus that it was the first day of their holiday menu release. I snagged my favorite gingerbread latte for the perfect mid-morning pick-me-up!

My mom and my aunt took me to lunch at Jack’s Shop Kitchen, where I had a delicious smoked cheddar grilled cheese sandwich with apple butter, bacon, and fresh apple slices. LOVED it and need to recreate it in my own kitchen!

Back home, I started a pot of my mom’s chili con carne recipe simmering on the stovetop so that it would be ready for an early supper once the kids got home from school. Spencer and Casey both had soccer practices that evening, so we were eating in shifts once again.

We paired the chili with maple pumpkin cornbread…

…and for dessert, Keith brought home a multi-layer birthday cake (the way to my heart, hah)!

Pilates was canceled on Friday, so Adria, Ashley, and I met for a walk instead!

After a quiet day of work and laundry at home, we all sat down for supper once Gibbs was back from the golf course.

I made chicken pot pie with puff pastry (a family favorite),

a side of cranberry fluff,

plus a batch of the world’s easiest 2-ingredient pumpkin muffins with cake mix. Always a hit! Quite possibly the perfect fall meal…

And that brings us to the weekend!

Fresh air on Saturday morning…

…and a soccer game for Spencer that afternoon.

Gibbs was working at the golf course, so he brought home take-out from Gino’s for supper. We had a couple of pizzas, a cheeseburger, meatballs, and chicken tenders.

So there you have it, friends — another week of easy meals. 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!