Don’t you just love the colors in that heirloom tomato bread? That is my new go-to summer lunch, dinner and appetizer. I will be posting the recipe this week, so stay tuned.
So last Sunday I helped my best girlfriend unpack and organize her new kitchen. It was seriously such much fun and I felt like a kid in a candy store the whole day. We organized her pantry, her cabinets and then finished up the day by going to Whole Foods to stock up her pantry. She had a huge kitchen in her old house, but not a pantry, so she was super excited to be able to buy more than a days worth of food. We piled in the pasta, beans, canned tomatoes, quinoa and so on. I told her that once she gets settle I will take her shopping again for the basic pantry staples, so when she gets home from work, she can throw together a meal on the fly. In the process of doing all of this unpacking and organizing, we both discovered that this is something I can actually do as a side business from the blog. I love working with people, organizing, figuring out what supplies and pantry items people need in a kitchen, so why not make a side business of it? It’s something I’m working on, so for those of you that are local, and possibly interested, stay tuned…
The best part of the day was when I got home. John took the kid’s paddle boarding that day and on top of that cooked up an amazing dinner. I’m seriously such a lucky girl! He made two types of chicken legs, (recipe soon) my kale and ricotta salata salad, and this minty limeade (recipe soon). I threw in that orange carrot and miso salad that you see in the background from leftovers in the fridge. It was tasty but doesn’t photograph well.
It was a hot night, so John piled us into the car and we headed into the city for some ice-cream sundaes at Ghirardelli. The city was about 20 degrees cooler, which felt great! It was the perfect ending to a perfect Sunday.
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July and got to relax a bit. We had a great 4th. It was a jam packed day full of family, friends and ton’s of food. Thanks to the Leung family for hosting us for lunch and thanks to the Corren family for hosting us for dinner. Both lunch and dinner were amazing, and I must admit that I ate more that day then I did for Thanksgiving, so Friday was a day full of quinoa and lighter fare. I didn’t get much in the way of pictures, but I grabbed two shots of the kids at the parade and threw them into a collage.
Ok, let’s move onto this week’s menu.
Sunday night dinner
Cilantro lime chicken tacos with mango avocado salsa and lacinato kale salad. I’ve been making so much of this salsa lately for parties and such, that I decided I wanted some tacos this week. Mangos and avocados are totally in season right now, so it’s the perfect time for this meal.
Monday night dinner
Green bean and shallot ravioli & crispy garlic bread. This is Eli’s FAVORITE dinner and I love it because it’s super easy to throw together at the last minute. It’s pretty much a pantry dinner as I always have everything on hand except the green beans. BTW, for those if you that are local, I just saw an amazing bunch of local organic green beans at Whole Foods!
Tuesday night dinner
Leftover night! How I love hearing those words in the summer. We typically don’t have tons of leftovers in the summer, as the kids are home scarfing down all the leftovers for lunch. Tonight, I’m taking the leftover chicken meat from the tacos and making quesadillas. I’m also making a fresh batch of salsa to top the quesadilla with. I will slice up some fresh summer veggies as a side.
Wednesday night dinner
Heirloom tomato soup and quinoa cakes. It’s supposed to cool down and be a bit foggy, so I’m going to make up some of our favorite summer soup and some cheesy and crispy quinoa cakes.
Thursday night dinner
Spaghetti with cheesy broiled tomatoes and basil and kale salad with ricotta salata. This is another easy weeknight summer dinner.
Friday night dinner
TGIF! Marin mama’s night off!
Have a great week everyone! BTW, for those of you that are looking for some great and easy summer reads, I just finished 3 great books, Gone Girl, Defending Jacob and The Forsaken. Gone Girl is one of those books that half the people love and the other half hate, but I loved it. Defending Jacob (no, it’s not Jacob from the Twilight series) is a murder mystery full of courtroom drama, and The Forsaken is sci-fi teen drama similar to the Hunger games, but without all the gore. If any of you have any great book recommendations, please let me know!
12 thoughts on “Marin Mama’s Weekly Dinner Menu for July 7th”
Jackie – you are a bottomless pit of energy and ingenuity and I mean that with the most admiration and respect. Good luck with the germinating side business…will spread the word when you’re ready! Andrea
Awww, Andrea, you always have the nicest things to say and thank you for your sweet comment. I totally feel the same way about you! I will let you know when I get my act together! I still have to follow up with that cooking with friends idea 😉 xoxo, Jackie
I am so impressed every week with your food, recipes, planning, etc.! And it always looks so good! I could actually put down the brownies and pick up the quinoa after your pics 🙂
Hey Averie. Thanks girl! I don’t always follow my menu to a T, but I try! 🙂
I’m sure you already saw on Instagram but I made your lacinato kale salad after weeks of planning to and it was amazing! I was actually pretty in awe on how good it was. I said to my husband about 9x during dinner “this kale salad.. I tell ya!”.
Yes, I saw that you made the salad and I’m so happy to hear that you made it and LOVED it. Can you now see why I make it every week? It’s just too easy and too good! I’m so jealous of all that beautiful kale that you have growing in the garden! xoxo, Jackie
Jackie…I just love your blog! I randomly found your blog when searching for an eggless parmesan chicken recipe. I am so glad that I found you! Your recipes are delicious and very family friendly. I am a mom to 2 small kids so finding foods to satisfy their pallettes proves challenging at times, not to mention that both have severe food allergies to eggs and nuts. I have been able to take your delicious recipes and tweak them as needed for my family. So far I have been getting happy kids and a husband who thinks that I am a chef! Thank you for inspiring me. I just went out and bought a bigger cast iron skillet too:)
Hi Danielle! Thanks so much for your amazingly sweet comment. It totally made my night. I’m so glad that have been able to adapt so many of my recipes to suit your family’s needs. I try and focus on family friendly meals, but there are a few ones in there that my kids are not fans of!
I also want to say that I’m sorry to hear about your kiddo’s allergies, that must make it difficult when it comes to trying new recipes, but you truly sound like a chef because you can adapt them so well! So give yourself a pat on the back girl!
I’m actually making a dark chocolate wafter cookie this week that doesn’t include eggs, so that will definitely be a dessert right up your alley. Thanks again for saying hi Daniele. I truly love hearing from readers! xoxo, Jackie
yum! everything looks so delicious! i think you might have planned my own menu out! 😉 thanks!
Thanks Millie! I’m glad I gave you some inspiration. 🙂 xoxo, Jackie
Oh everything looks so delicious! Thanks for organizing a wonderful weekly menu with great ideas for the whole family!
All your meals looks delicious, as usual. I think I’m going to copy your Thursday dinner exactly! Broiled cheesy tomatoes, pasta, basil….and kale salad! My mouth is watering right now, haha 🙂