Our Week in Meals #95

Hey, friends! Happy Sunday to you!

It’s been quite the week around here. From soccer games to dates with friends and even a party, just about everything on our calendar was cancelled. Poor Casey has been so sick that I have barely left the house (other than to go to doctor’s appointments), so it was a very quiet-yet-stressful few days. I’ll spare you the not-so-pleasant details, and I’m happy to report that he’s finally feeling better!

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…

I met Mollie for a very foggy morning walk, and then came home to photograph and test a couple of recipes.

There was a classic car show in Culpeper that Keith wanted to go to, so we made the drive north and stopped at Wendy’s for lunch.

Taco Salad!

Frosties! Did you know that you can get a “half and half” Frosty that includes both the chocolate and the vanilla flavors? This is life-changing news, folks!

Car show (in the 90-degree heat)…we didn’t last long…

We had a delicious dinner that night! In addition to my 4-Ingredient Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin,

I decided to take full advantage of the fresh local veggies at the market and make a batch of my Dump-and-Bake Ratatouille to have on the side. I made it in the slow cooker, though, because I didn’t want to heat up my kitchen (about 6 hours on LOW or 3 hours on HIGH).

We also had a 5-Ingredient Cranberry Salad on the side, plus garlic bread that I made with a loaf of leftover French bread from the night before. The cranberry salad recipe will be on the blog in time for the fall holidays!

Monday was the Labor Day holiday, and our “big” outing was a drive into Charlottesville to buy a new mattress!????

We dragged the kids along and bribed them with donuts on the way. Works every time!

I had the Pumpkin Swirl Iced Coffee (SOOOOO good),

and a pumpkin munchkin. Casey tried the Fall Fest Glazed Donut and Gibbs got the Apple Crisp Donut, which had an apple pie filling and a crumb topping (he was a BIG fan, obviously)! Spencer just sticks with his tried-and-true chocolate frosted with sprinkles every time.????

Keith had heard good things about the Purple mattress, so we wanted to try it in person before ordering one. It felt comfortable, so we’ll be proud new owners of a Purple mattress when it’s delivered in a couple of weeks. Anyone else have one out there? Do you love it? Or not? We’ll have 120 days to try it at home, so we’ll see…

The rest of our afternoon was spent on a hike in the woods! On a 90-degree day, the shade felt really good.

Guess who came home wet, muddy, and naked because he decided to go “swimming” in the river?!

Dinner that night was a classic Labor Day cookout! Keith grilled hamburgers, which we had with chips and Oven Roasted Asparagus on the side.

With the long weekend over, Tuesday was back to the grind…kind of. It just went nothing like I had expected!

Our morning started as usual, and included bowls of this delicious new cereal for breakfast. I spotted it at our local Food Lion when I was at the store last week, and I can officially say that it’s kid-and-mom-approved!

I dropped the boys off at school, ran some errands to Yoder’s and the bank, and then returned home. Not long after, I received a call from the school nurse. Casey had a fever and wasn’t feeling well, so I scooped him up and brought him home to rest. My job was “nurse” for the rest of the day!

In between Spencer’s arrival home at lunchtime and Gibbs’s school pickup, I squeezed in a doctor’s appointment for Casey.

After the appointment, we headed across Main Street to Madison Drug to pick up a prescription. This is just the cutest little old fashioned pharmacy you’ve ever seen! It’s such a throw-back in time. They even have a soda fountain where you can order a tuna melt, hot dog, chicken soup, or a milkshake! Spence just got a chocolate bar while we waited for Casey’s prescription to be filled.

Since he wasn’t feeling well, Casey obviously didn’t go to soccer practice that night. Instead, we had a quiet evening at home and enjoyed a delicious new recipe that I was testing for my Simply Mailed subscribers.

This One Skillet Coconut Shrimp Curry was SO good! I served it with rice and broccoli and it totally hit the spot.

Wednesday was another quiet day at home while Casey rested on the couch.

We picked up Gibbs that afternoon and headed to Charlottesville for a dentist appointment.

By the time we made it back to the house, we had about 30 minutes for everyone to eat dinner so that Gibbs could get back out to the soccer fields for a 5:30 p.m. game. I had dinner waiting for us in the slow cooker, so our meal came together really quickly (and it tasted good)!

I made my healthy shredded Mexican chicken in the Crock Pot, which I used in chicken quesadillas for supper. Chips, salsa, and guacamole on the side!

I started Thursday morning with one of my favorite fall-inspired breakfasts — an Apple Pie Protein Smoothie! I also showed a behind-the-scenes look at me making the smoothie on Instagram Stories. Did you catch it?

I hope you’ll give this recipe a try soon!

I spent the morning photographing recipes and working on a couple of projects for clients before Spencer came home at lunchtime. Casey didn’t go to soccer practice that night because he wasn’t feeling well, so we all had dinner together without rushing out to the fields.

I made my Dump-and-Bake Healthy Chicken Parmesan, as well as pasta, a salad and garlic bread. This meal is always a hit!

This pretty much sums up our Friday:

Poor Casey still had a high fever that just wouldn’t go away, and he hadn’t felt like moving off of the couch all week (NOT normal for this kiddo). I was worried about him, so I took him back to the doctor in Charlottesville. Keith was working from home that day, so he was able to get Gibbs from school while I spent most of the afternoon in town.

We didn’t make it home from the doctor’s until dinnertime, and everyone was starving, so carryout pizza was on the menu! At that point, it was all that I could handle…

Saturday was Keith’s birthday! Initially our plans for the day included a morning soccer game for Casey, followed by a big cookout and cornhole tournament at our house to celebrate with friends.

Since Casey was still on the mend, we obviously couldn’t risk exposing other kids to his germs, so he missed his soccer game and we cancelled the party. We had to regroup, focus on getting Casey healthy, and find other ways to celebrate Keith’s special day.

I went to the grocery store in Culpeper to restock our kitchen, while Keith took the boys to get fried chicken and biscuits for lunch from Bojangles in Charlottesville!

Shortly after, Keith’s parents arrived for a birthday visit. They brought him his old high school football letter jacket, too!????

For dinner I made my mom’s crab cake recipe (which is a treat because it uses jumbo lump crabmeat, which is definitely not a staple on our regular grocery list). They’re so good, though!

On the side we had a salad, garlic mashed potatoes, and breadsticks (the kids’ request).

Keith’s not really a big fan of cakes (crazy, right?!), so his birthday dessert included these Apple Pecan Date Bars, as well as a few slices of cheesecake that I bought at the bakery. YUM.

It wasn’t the big party that we had planned, but it still felt special.

And that’s where I’ll leave it for today! I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thank you so much for stopping by!

Need some help planning your family’s meals? When you join Simply Mailed, I will send you 3 quick-prep dinner recipes and a grocery shopping list each week (for about $1 per week!!!). This super-affordable service takes the stress out of dinner, saves you time and money, and brings your family together at the end of the day. There are even options for smaller households of just 1 or 2!

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