The Thanksgiving countdown has begun!  And mean countdown in a good way.  My family and I are so excited for Thanksgiving.  Funny, my husband suggested that we all go out to eat this year to give me a break, and my younger daughter actually started crying!  It’s everyone’s favorite holiday and it has really become a family affair with everyone cooking and being together.  And yes, it’s about eating delicious food, but for me it’s not about doing everything perfectly.  But it helps to be organized so the execution goes smoothly and without stress.  I am pushing my Thanksgiving ebook this year because the feedback was so good and anyone I spoke with said it was a game changer.  Check it out here.

Also check out this past Thursday’s post on what you can start to do ahead of time to prepare for Thanksgiving.

Here is your dinner planner for the week (and it’s a good one!):

Meatless Monday: Vegan lentil shepherd’s pie, fresh side salad

Tuesday: Easy Chinese chicken, steamed rice, steamed or roasted broccoli

Wednesday: Roasted fish with chermoula, fall/winter tabbouleh

Thursday: Baked Asian turkey meatballs, mixed greens with creamy miso ginger dressing

Friday: Easy flatbread with cauliflower and tofu from bon appetit

Saturday Brunch: Hen of the woods mushroom toast

Sunday: Slow cooker white bean soup with sausage and collard greens, mushroom and leek quiche with sweet potato crust

Here’s what you can do ahead if you need to:

Sunday

Cook lentils

Wash greens

Make all dressings and sauces

Prep veggies for the next three days

Wednesday

Make turkey meatball mixture

Saturday

Make quiche crust

Saute mushrooms and leeks

I have LOVED seeing all your creations of my recipes on Instagram. If you make any of my recipes, please tag me @pamelasalzman #pamelasalzman so I can check them out!

Click here to learn more about my online cooking classes! If you like my recipes, you’ll LOVE my cookbook!  If you have 1 minute, would you mind leaving a review on amazon?  I would be so grateful, thank you!

I’ve spent the week with my mom on Long Island and I am now in NYC to celebrate the big birthday!  I decided I just wasn’t feeling up for a big, crazy birthday party this year, so I’ll be marking the milestone with several small, low-key events. This weekend I am in NYC to have a birthday dinner with some of my cousins and then another with my mom, aunt, sisters and their husbands.  I also turned in the edits on the proofs of my next cookbook.  It has been a very busy week indeed!

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading

I finished another round of Prolon’s Fasting Mimicking Diet this week!  It was my sixth time (3 times last year and 3 times this year.)  I think it’s an amazing modified fast.  It’s not for everyone and I am not a spokesperson, but here’s a link if you’re interested to learn more and I did ask them for a discount code for my readers.  Use the code pamela25 for a discount on 1 or 2 kits or for a subscription to 3 or more kits.

I’m headed to New York this week to spend time with my mom and to celebrate my big birthday next weekend with my family.  It will be a bittersweet occasion without my father, but I know he’d want me to mark the milestone and even better to do it with my family.  I’ll be testing Thanksgiving recipes all week at my mom’s house, but this week’s dinner planner sure looks great!  The 2019 Thanksgiving ebook will be released very soon and it is a must-have!!  It’s basically my Thanksgiving bible in a PDF form for you to get through the holiday with ease and enjoy it every step of the way!

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading

Happy weekend!  I have barely recovered from this week’s holidays.  I had 22 people for the break fast on Wednesday night and then I had to leave early the next morning to teach a class.  Remind me not to do that again! 😉  If you take my online cooking classes, I am doing a Facebook LIVE Saturday (October 12) morning at 9:30 am PST. If you take my classes aand want to join the private FB group, you have to answer the questions!  I hope to connect with many of you Saturday morning.  The theme is AMA – ask me anything!  Here’s your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading

It’s October already!  Online cooking class subscribers, the new October cooking class is great and will be uploaded early this week.  Lots of great tips and info + really versatile recipes.  My goal this month is to not eat the apple cider-pumpkin bundt cake more than once a week!

I am in Dallas this weekend.  I taught a cooking class at my friend Lisa’s house and I am visiting my daughters the rest of the weekend.  We always have the best time.  Next week I will be on Hallmark’s Home & Family Tuesday morning.  And then in between a few cooking classes, it’s Jewish holiday time!  I am hosting the break fast once again.  I make a lot of food since most people will have fasted all day.  I’m going to try to get a lot done on Monday evening after dinner.  Anyone else hosting?  What are you making?

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading

Friends, sometimes you have to admit that you can’t do everything and be at peace with that.  I am still struggling with the sudden loss of my father and my uncle, as well as catching up with a ton of work.  I decided that I can’t handle my traditional 30-person Rosh Hashana luncheon this year, so I’m downgrading to a small 9-person lunch for immediate family AND I’m letting my nephew bring dessert.  5 years ago I would have pushed through, not slept enough in the days preceding the holiday, told everyone “I’m totally fine and I can do it all!”  But I am still weary from all that has transpired and I am not “totally fine.” I will not win the Rosh Hashana lunch award this year, but I will also remind myself that I’ve never won it because it doesn’t exist.  In the meantime, for those of you hosting, I would love to help you enjoy the process, feed your loved ones healthy food, and start your new year off right.  If you do not celebrate the Jewish holidays, you still need to eat this week, right?  Here’s your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading

Can feel the transition to a new season?  It’s not just the weather.  It’s also evident in the offerings at the market.  I’m seeing local apples and pears, and winter squash like spaghetti squash.  We still have the last of the tomatoes, eggplant, figs and plums, so it’s a really nice time of year.  Unfortunately, my husband and son have both come down with a little cold, so just to remind, it’s also a germy time of year.  I just made my first batch of bone broth so I can make a beautiful pot of soup this weekend, like this immunity-boosting soup.

Lastly, I offered some options for Rosh Hashana dinner if you are cooking this year.  Wishing you a sweet new year.  🙂  Here is your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading

My name is Erika and I am Pamela’s cooking class assistant.  I am guest posting for Pamela while she spends time with her family in New York this week after both her father and her uncle passed away on the same day.  She didn’t want you to be without your weekly dinner planner, so she asked me to pitch in and help.  I will be the first to admit that writing out my meals for the week like Pamela does has allowed me to cook much more often at home and I have actually saved a lot of money because I only buy what I have a plan for!  I picked some of my favorite recipes for your dinner planner this week.  Feel free to ask me any questions and I am happy to answer them, especially with respect to substitutions.

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading