Marin Mama’s Weekly Dinner Menu for February 17th

Marin Mama's weekly dinner menu - February 17th

Cookies, cookies, cookies!  I love cookies!  Yes, there will be cookies on the blog this week and yes, they are the ones pictured in the above photo. Yippee! I gave you some healthy but cheesy quinoa cakes last week, so this week it’s all about the dessert baby. If you like bittersweet chocolate, sea salt and cookies, then you will love these. I was actually going to post this easy, one-skillet, weeknight dinner of sausage and white bean stew but…

I made the mistake of posting this below cookie photo on my Facebook and Instagram pages and the readers demanded that I post this recipe sooner than later. So, I will post the recipe for these cookies this week and the sausage skillet dinner next week, sound good?  See, I do listen to you all.

Chocolate chip cookies

So, its 5:30 and I’m up.  Yep, I know I said a few weeks ago that 5:00 was my new go-to time to get up, (not every day though) but I went to bed late last night and actually wanted to sleep in a bit later.  You want to know what got me up?  I heard the giggle and pitter patter of 4 little feet run into the den.  I knew that those feet and giggles belonged to two excited little boys (Eli had a sleepover last night) that couldn’t fall asleep till 11:00 the previous night.  I quietly walked them back to Eli’s room telling that they had to try and get a bit more sleep, so now I’m up playing police hoping that they get another hour or two of shut-eye (for their sake, not mine).

Since Eli had a sleepover last night and it was unseasonably warm in our neck of the woods, Zoe decided to whip us up some dark chocolate magic shell from her cooking with kids series. We haven’t had this since summer, and I tell you, it’s just so darn good and not just a summer treat.  Yes, that is my bowl pictured in the below photo and yes, I put chocolate shell on top of chocolate ice-cream.  See, I am a chocoholic, I wasn’t lying when I said that earlier.  This magic shell is so easy to make.  It just requires bittersweet chocolate chips and coconut oil.  Easy peasy.  YOU should really make it not just because it tastes great, but it’s also so cool to see the chocolate instantly harden on the ice-cream. We all get a kick out of it each time we see it.

Bowl of ice cream, chocolate and whipped cream

You all know I have a cooking blog, right (just some light humor here)?  Well, I asked Eli to pick out something from the blog for his sleepover dinner. You want to know what he requested (see the below photo)? He wanted and asked for kid food. He said his buddy Oliver loved chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and baby carrots. Yes, I can make home-made chicken nuggets, but sometimes we gotta cut corners where we can, and honestly, the boys were not going to care whether their nuggets were homemade or not.  We can’t nor do we always want to be Martha, right? You want to know something else?  That box of pasta and chicken nuggets were GONE (not the baby carrots, but they each had 7). Yep, they ate it all and were very happy little boys. I realize that Eli is a trooper and really doesn’t get the typical kid fare. I have to remember that he’s 8 and throw him a bone sometimes.  Zoe, John and I had the sausage and white bean stew pictured above in the post paired with some soft whole-grain bread, and we were happy campers as well.

Sleepover food

I did have some amazing lunches this past week. I had quinoa cakes galore and paired them with my lacinato salad a couple of days and my carrot ginger soup another day. Yes, that is one big plate of salad, but as I said before, I could eat a whole head of this salad.

Quinoa cake and kale salad

See, my working lunch of quinoa cakes and soup and that abundant sunshine?  I had the windows open and the birds were chirping away.  I seriously can’t wait for spring.

Quinoa cakes and soup

I also had this quinoa and steel-cut oat cereal for breakfast every day this week, yes, everyday. Ok, I do realize that I am a bit quinoa and kale crazy.  Maybe I should take a week off from the two, or not.  I’m also looking for some new recipes from Dr. Weil’s new cookbook and I can’t wait to give some a try.

Quinoa and steel cut oat cereal

Ok, lets move onto this week’s menu!

Sunday night dinner

Shrimp fried rice.  I’m trying a new recipe here and I’m hoping that it turns out well. I sort of have an aversion to raw shrimp, (they kind of freak me out) so John is going to help me cook them up.  We really love fried rice, so I’ll be happy if it all works out. Fingers crossed.

Monday night dinner

Sautéed gnocchi topped with some basic tomato sauce, a side of crispy garlic bread and kid friendly caesar salad.  I have to show you all how to sauté gnocchi.  It’s super easy and super good, because the gnocchi is all soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Tomato sauce

Garlic Bread slices on a cutting board

Kid Friendly caesar salad

Tuesday night dinner

Carrot ginger soup and popovers.  Sadly after a week of 70 degree temps and sunshine galore, it looks like there is going to be rain in our forecast.  Rainy nights and soup go hand-in-hand.  I made up some of this soup last week for the kid’s lunches and everyone requested it again for dinner this week.  It’s such a simple soup to throw together.

Carrot ginger soup with homemade croutons

Popovers

Wednesday night dinner

Easy skillet chicken parmesan, crispy garlic bread and I’m going to try a new kale salad recipe on the gang. I have extra tomato sauce from the batch I made up on Monday, so I’m using it in this chicken parmesan dish. I love this chicken parmesan because it literally takes 30 minutes to make and tastes amazing. It’s a perfect weeknight meal that doesn’t taste like a weeknight meal.

Skillet chicken parmesan

Garlic Bread slices on a cutting board

Thursday night dinner

Orecchiette pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe.  This is an easy one-bowl, family approved weeknight pasta dinner.  I love on-pot and one-bowl pastas, because they make eating and cleaning up a cinch.

Orecchiette pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe

Friday night dinner

TGIF!  Friday is Marin mama’s night off.  Yippee! I am loving my Friday nights, I tell ya!

Stay tuned for Wednesday when I will be posting the recipe for these puppies!

Chocolate chip cookies

Now, guess where were off to?  We’re biking the kids to donut alley for some donuts and then I’m hitting the trails for a run to work off those donuts and that big ice-cream sundae I ate last night.

With love Jackie
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7 thoughts on “Marin Mama’s Weekly Dinner Menu for February 17th”

  1. oh i can’t wait till tomorrow when I can get that recipe for the cookies! They look delicious. They look alot like my recipe as far as how my cookies turn out so I am eager to see what is the same or different. I am a cookieacholic! LOL! Hope you are doing well. I had the flu last week so I was out of commission but i’m back now! Love ya

    1. Hey Jessica! I’m a cookieaholic as well, but I baked so many cookies this past week, that I am over them! I’m glad to hear that you’re feeling better 🙂

  2. Hi! I am a new reader of yours. I also saw your quinoa cakes posted on pinterest this week (I had found you a couple weeks before your recipe popped up in pins). I am super excited about the sausage skillet to come. Looks DELISH! Thanks!

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