🗓 July 27, 2025 — by Carol in 2025, Summer Week, From Scratch, Meal Plan, Weekly Dinner
We made it! Not just to the end of another week—but through five home-cooked dinners, no substitutions, no takeout cop-outs (until the weekend, of course), and only a mild amount of existential dread while grocery shopping in 90-degree weather. The extras? Let’s just say they took the week off for mental health. It’s summer, we all need a break.
But the real victory? Everything got made. Sure, one of the meals was a shrimp-shaped disappointment, but hey—five out of five dinners served and plated is still gold star territory. Let’s take a look back at the week that was.
How the Meals Played Out:
🟩 Monday, July 21 – Ranch Chicken and Rice Salad
Quickest of the bunch. You had groceries and laundry but plenty of time to toss this salad together — literally.
Read the full post: 2025 Monday’s Blog Post
🟥 Tuesday, July 22 – Tex-Mex Chopped Salad with Ground Turkey
No oven, no problem. This one came together faster than I could say “do we still have chips?” (We did. It was fate.)
Read the full post: 2025 Tuesday’s Blog Post
🟨 Wednesday, July 23 – Mexican Street Corn Bacon Pizza
We’re calling this the flavor bomb of the week. I mean, bacon, corn, and cheese on a pizza? If you didn’t love this, you might be broken inside.
Read the full post: 2025 Wednesday’s Blog Post
🟪 Thursday, July 24 – Grilled Steak and Potato Salad
Sometimes you just want to chew something substantial. This meal was me asserting dominance over summer by lighting a grill anyway.
Read the full post: 2025 Thursday’s Blog Post
🔵 Friday, July 25 – Angel Hair Pasta Salad with Shrimp
It had shrimp. It had potential. It had a cool name. But did we like it? Not really. We gave it the ol’ Catholic try, but this one’s not coming back.
Read the full post: 2025 Friday’s Blog Post
🍽 Saturday, July 26 – Akina Sushi & Asian Bistro
Barbara picked the spot, and she nailed it. The pepper steak was chef’s kiss, the chicken was… meh. But hey, the soup and salad are always there to lift us up.
Read the full post: 2025 Saturday’s Blog Post
🍽 Sunday, July 27 – Chipotle Bowls with June & Rich
Chipotle: where the food is good when they remember your order. This time they didn’t—but we found it sitting there anyway. So that was weird, but it worked.
Read the full post: 2025 Sunday’s Blog Post
🧐 Lessons Learned This Week
It turns out, summer cooking success isn’t always about perfection—it’s about attitude, improvisation, and a little bit of luck. I kicked off the week with every intention of following the plan, and for once, the plan didn’t fight back. There were little hiccups, of course—like completely forgetting the ranch dressing on Monday’s salad and realizing, to my shock, that no one seemed to care. The dressing didn’t even get a mention. Maybe that’s a sign I should stop overthinking things… or at least stop buying a backup bottle “just in case.”
Salads were the clear theme of the week, and while some brought the flavor, others were more about learning what not to repeat. The Tex-Mex one hit all the right notes—cool, crunchy, satisfying. But by Friday, my enthusiasm for chilled meals had faded right along with the shrimp salad’s personality. It looked beautiful, but let’s be honest: that meal was all style, no substance. Still, I don’t regret it. Every flop is just a test meal for next year’s “nope” list.
The real gem was the pizza. That Mexican Street Corn Bacon Pizza felt like a celebration—bold, a little messy, and totally worth every step. And when I dragged myself out to the grill midweek for the steak and potatoes? Yeah, that moment reminded me that effort can pay off, even when it’s hot enough outside to fry the actual steak on the sidewalk. And I have to give credit where it’s due—our weekend takeout choices held up just fine. Akina never disappoints, and Chipotle was an adventure, as always. They may have lost our order, but we found it, and honestly, that’s a decent summary of how the whole week felt: a little unpredictable, a little sweaty, but in the end, it all came together.
Summer Week #6 through the years.
🔮 Looking Ahead…
Brace yourself, because Summer 7 is rolling in like a thunderstorm with a side of hot sauce. We’re jumping into Spicy Chicken Salad on Monday—because apparently we like to fight fire with more fire—and then the Steak Fajita Pasta Salad is coming in hot (literally). Taco Tuesday vibes meet pasta? We’re intrigued.
Wednesday’s Burger Salad Bowl is everything you love about summer grilling… minus the grill. Bacon will be involved, and that’s all that really matters. By Thursday, we’re slow-cooking our way to peace with a Pulled Pork Pasta Salad while trying to remember what day it is and why it still feels like June.
Friday? Oh yes. It’s Lemon Shrimp Rice Salad, because we’re still Catholic and still pretending rice counts as hydration in this heat. Add in Dill Cottage Cheese Rolls, a Ribbon Pudding Pie fit for royalty, and a Strawberry Milkshake Cupcake situation that screams “I need a treat,” and you’ve got a week that’s equal parts bold, comforting, and a little chaotic—just how we like it.