Our Week in Meals #394

Good morning, and happy Sunday! The first week of summer break included a cookout with friends, an amusement park, mini golf, and a handful of easy 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…

I met a few of my friends for a walk at Mollie’s farm on Sunday morning,

and then spent time at home baking and prepping for a cookout that evening.

We had friends over for a pre-Memorial Day bbq, which included some intense cornhole matches.

The menu was classic: grilled burgers and hotdogs,

pasta salad, fruit salad with vanilla pudding, and chips.

And for dessert, popsicles, one-bowl brownies, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

As far as books go, this week I read This House of Sky by Ivan Doig. A blog reader recommended the memoir to me, and I’m so glad that I finally got around to reading it! Doig grew up working on ranches in Montana with his widowed father and his grandmother. He was the first in his family to go to college, but maintained his close family ties throughout his adult life. Doig’s writing is practically poetic, and his story will move you.

Monday was a cloudy Memorial Day, which wasn’t great pool weather, but it was really nice for a morning walk with Adria and Barbara.

Keith and Spencer went for a hike, my in-law’s stopped by for a visit, and everyone did some yard work to clean up after the previous night’s storm. We had another little cookout that evening: grilled marinated chicken thighs (a family favorite),

and a delicious kale Caesar salad using kale from Adria’s garden and my creamy Caesar dressing. Leftover hamburger buns became homemade croutons, and I finished it off with plenty of grated Parmesan.

We rounded out the meal with Dutch oven mac and cheese and leftover fruit salad from the night before.

And an evening with friends at the high school boys’ soccer game.

For Casey’s birthday a little over a week ago, his one request was a trip to Kings Dominion with a friend. We made it happen on Tuesday!

I took my three boys and Casey’s buddy to the amusement park for the day, where they rode the roller coasters, got drenched on the water rides, and enjoyed all of their favorite park foods.

How do boys eat Dippin’ Dots ice cream, soft pretzels, cotton candy, and Cinnabon cinnamon rolls and then ride the coasters?!?! My stomach hurt just thinking about it…

We made it back to Madison in time for dinner and much-needed showers. Hah! I served ground beef and corn casserole, along with a very simple green salad and frozen garlic breadsticks.

We got off to a slower start on Wednesday, still recovering from a busy day before.

I went for a walk, had a dentist appointment,

and played mini golf with the boys.

The last of the peonies…

The kids requested chicken lo mein for supper, which I served with a pan of frozen egg rolls on the side.

Adria joined me for a walk on Thursday morning, Spencer’s buddy came over to play and have lunch with us, and I did many loads of laundry (what’s new?!).

It’s finally line-drying season, so the kids’ quilts are getting some fresh air!

We had tacos for dinner that evening, this time using leftover Dutch oven carnitas that I had stashed in the freezer. Plus tortilla chips, salsa, guac, and corn on the side.

Friday included a Pilates class with Barbara, 9 holes of golf for Gibbs, and a much-needed re-stock of groceries in our kitchen.

I had a package of maple breakfast sausage in the fridge that needed to be enjoyed, so it was breakfast-for-dinner: baked pancake squares, the sausage, and a fruit salad with honey lemon dressing.

And that brings us to the weekend! After a week of playing “summer camp counselor” with the kids, I needed to get work done in the kitchen. While I tested a handful of new recipes, Keith took the boys to the pool for the first time this season.

We watched Champions League soccer and lots of college baseball, and then headed up to Culpeper for dinner. A night off from cooking sounded great to me! The kids wanted burgers, chicken tenders, and fajitas at Chili’s, so that’s what we did. Always a hit!

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. Have a wonderful first week of June!