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Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included the end of summer vacation, the start of a new school year, and late nights with kids’ sports. 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.
This Week’s Meals
Now, let’s back up to last weekend…
We watched one last sunrise on the Choptank River of Maryland’s Eastern Shore on Sunday morning before packing up and heading back home to the mountains of Central Virginia.
Once unpacked at the house, Gibbs joined me for a short walk up the road.
We visited a neighbor’s farm, and helped her feed her horse.
Keith grilled simple marinated chicken breast for supper that evening,
which I served with white rice, a cucumber onion and tomato salad, and some dinner rolls.
Let’s chat about books! This week I read Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand — perhaps one of the most talked about novels of the summer! At this point I think I’ve read all of her Nantucket-based books, and this was definitely one of my favorites. Few authors weave a better story, complete with mystery, drama, romance, and humor. It’s sad that this is her last, but she’s definitely going out on a high!
Monday morning was cooler and less humid than it’s been in months.
It actually felt like fall might eventually arrive…
Can you spot the deer?!
I took a walk up the road, and picked up sandwiches at Yoder’s for lunch with my parents. They took care of Teddy while we were away, so they brought him home!
Gibbs had golf practice with the school team, while Keith and Spencer had their own tee time. Dinner beforehand was quick and easy: bourbon-glazed salmon, which I served with a baguette from Panera and steamed broccoli (from the freezer).
They weren’t happy about it, but the boys returned to school on Tuesday. 5th grade, 8th grade, and 9th grade! I appreciated a quiet house for the first time in awhile, and actually got a decent amount of work done.
And for a fun comparison, this photo popped up as a Facebook memory from the first day of school back in 2017 — 1st grade for Casey and 2nd grade for Gibbs (Spencer was 3). Where does the time go?!
Keith took the younger two boys to their soccer practices that evening in Charlottesville, which meant they were gone from about 4 pm until almost 9 pm. I packed up leftover grilled chicken sandwiches for them to eat on the go. Meanwhile, after Gibbs finished golf practice, we enjoyed Sunday’s leftover chicken in this chicken and corn casserole. I also made a batch of my mom’s marinated cucumbers to have on the side, since we’ve got an abundance of cucumbers at the moment.
A beautiful Wednesday morning for a walk with Ashley, followed by a day of work at the computer.
Before Casey’s soccer practice that night, we had dump-and-bake creamy tomato pasta with turkey meatballs and a green salad with red wine vinaigrette. I reheated these leftovers for Gibbs when he got home from golf…
Thursday was largely devoted to running errands in Culpeper. I tried adding a Starbucks order to my Target pick-up for the first time — what a treat! I wish that service existed when I had toddlers. Hah!
We had flatbread pizzas for dinner that evening, which definitely make a regular appearance around here. They’re quick, they’re easy to prepare in shifts to suit different schedules, and they make everyone at the table happy. That night I added some browned Italian sausage to the pizzas, which was delish. I also finished off the last of the marinated cucumbers from a couple of nights before. My plate needed something green!
Friday morning included a Pilates class in Culpeper, followed by a quick stop at Yoder’s on the way home.
I grabbed our weekly staples like deli meats, cheese, and freshly-ground peanut butter,
but also picked up this peach salad dressing to try. The ingredients are simple, so I bet I can recreate it at home!
Teddy was brave (sort of) for his checkup with the vet!
Gibbs had a golf tournament in the Shenandoah Valley after school, so he was gone all afternoon and evening. Meanwhile, I took the younger two boys to Charlottesville for Casey’s soccer practice. By the time we made it home, we were all ready for a quick dinner that I could throw together in minutes: chicken salad sandwiches, cut-up veggies with Ranch dip, and potato chips.
And that brings us to the weekend!
After a short walk up the road on Saturday morning, we spent almost the entire day traveling back and forth to Northern Virginia for Casey’s preseason soccer game.
Home in time for dinner, I thawed some hot dog chili from the freezer and let everyone make their own chili dogs! Plus onion rings and another green salad on the side.
So there you have it, friends! Another week of easy dinners — perfect for back-to-school season. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!
Hope the boys have a successful school year and you get some time to yourself with their busy schedules!
Thanks for the great recipes! I so enjoy making so many of them. No-knead bread makes a frequent appearance at our house and Farmhouse Chicken remains a favorite!
Dee
Thank you, Dee! It makes me really happy to know that you’ve found some favorites on my site. Have a great week!
The pictures of your boys from way back is so adorable! It does go by so fast.
Sometimes I wish I could go back & have another week of when my kids were toddlers.
Have a great week!
Thanks, Renee! I know! I love watching them grow, but it would be a kick to spend a week with them again as toddlers. I don’t really miss those days too much, though. I enjoy them now!! 🙂
The pictures with the river look so peaceful! I love it. Thank you for sharing with us!
It was! I hope that we can go back next year. It was a new spot for us, and we really enjoyed it. Hope you have a nice week, Dana!
Good morning!!! I finally made the chicken and stuffing casserole! It was so good! With just the two of us, we had several meals from it! I hope you are getting cooler weather. A heat advisory just pooped up on my phone-109 for a high today. I am wishing for cool weather!! Have a great week!
Whoa!! 109?! I can’t even imagine. That’s crazy hot. I hope you have great AC!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed the chicken and stuffing casserole. Bonus that you got a couple of extra meals out of it! We love that comfort food classic. 🙂
Have a great week, Candice!
I have meal planning block. Food block. Is it cooks block? Whatever, I came across your blog and saw these weekly recaps and I’m so excited ! These will help so much! Very inspiring! Thanks for putting these together!
We’re so happy you found us! We hope you enjoy the recipes, Jen.
The photo of the boys in the younger years is so cute! Teddy looks really good. Hope his check up was great. Texas is very hot right now, hard to do much outside. God Bless You and the Family.
Thanks, Melody! Teddy’s checkup was really good. I’m still waiting on bloodwork results, but he seems to be feeling pretty normal at this point, so we’re hoping it continues. Thank you for thinking of him!
Hope you stay cool this week!
Blair: Thank you, as always, for the tasty recipes and glimpses of family life with three active youths. I always look forward to your book notes each week too, having enjoyed reading Swan
Song this summer. I’ll miss her stories, but anticipate future writings with her daughter to be
just as entertaining. On that note, I’d like to recommend The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. She’s
written several historical novels and her latest one centers around a boarding house in Washington, D.C. in the early 50s. As a way to further friendships, one character hosts a
weekly dinner in her tiny kitchen, encouraging other members to contribute ingredients or
favorite recipes from their own families. Kate even includes the recipes at the end of each
chapter. Friendships, political intrigue, historical events, mysteries, plus food!!
That book sounds right up my alley, Stephanie. Thank you! I’ve read other novels by Kate Quinn, but hadn’t heard of that one. I’m adding it to my library holds list as we speak! It looks like there is a fairly long wait, but I’ll get it eventually. 🙂
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Hi Blair..firstly I love your recipes..Tried many and never been dissapointed…I live in England and I’m always in awe of the place you live. I would be out walking every day enjoying that scenery. Truly beautiful. Please keep the book recommendations coming . I’m a bookworm. The old photo of the boys was adorable. Thankyou for sharing your life with us. I also have 3 boys. All young adults so I remember well the constant driving to sport games and practices. I really miss those days. Take care x
Hi, Louise! Thank you so much for reading along with us and for trying some of the recipes. I remind myself regularly to appreciate where we live — I never want to take it for granted! I’m just happy that I can share little snippets of our community with all of you. I should be on the Virginia Tourism Board! Hah!
Take care, and have a wonderful week!
Hi Blair – beautiful photos again and I loved the early photo of the boys to compare to today! Time goes much too fast!
Thank you, Tylene! It’s crazy how much changes in a relatively short amount of time! Hope you have a nice week!
Really enjoyed the update and of course the photos–as usual! Envy you being so close to Yoder’s but I stock up when we make it down there. A friend and I do a “girls’ day out” to Charlottesville from time to time (lunch, shopping, Costco, etc.–different when my husband and I go Lol!) and always stop by Yoder’s on our way back. Enjoy your time to get more things done with the kids back in school! Our grandkids up in Fauquier don’t go back until after Labor Day so we still have another week to enjoy our end of summer time with them.
Thanks, Norma! I hope that you’ve had a nice summer with the little ones! Our break flew by, and the boys were definitely not ready to go back. 🙂