I’m on Spring Break this week! Â My husband, son and I are visiting the girls in Dallas this weekend. Â I always teach a private class at my good friend Lisa’s house while I am in town, as well. Â And then my son and I will go East to see my family for a few days. Sooooo, I’m not really cooking much for us this week. Â But if you are home and need some inspiration for your meals, here are some ideas:
Happy Spring!  This is a wonderful time of year.  It is Nature’s New Year, a fresh start, a rebirth, a time to clean the slate (and everything else.)  If 2019 didn’t get off to a good start, now’s the time to set new intentions.  The universe is listening.  🙂
For my friends in Orange County and Los Angeles, I will be returning to Roger’s Gardens this Sunday, March 24th from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm for a book signing since there were not enough books last week when I was there. Â Hubs is coming with me, so if you’ve always wanted to meet the mister, now’s your chance! Â You can also call Rogers Gardens and pre-order a book and tell them how you want me to sign it and pick it up another time.
Here’s your transition-to-spring menu for the week:
Happy weekend, friends! Â For those of you in LA or Orange County, I will be doing a free cooking demonstration at the GORGEOUS Rogers Gardens in Corona del Mar on Sunday, March 17th at 10:00 am. Â They also have lots of my cookbooks for purchase and I will stay after the demonstration to sign copies. Â If you can’t make it, feel free to call over there and reserve books which I can sign on Sunday and you can pick them up or have them sent. Â Makes a great hostess gift for Easter or Passover, graduation or Mother’s Day gift!
Online cooking class students, your March class is up, so log in to take the class. Â I’ll be posting my next FB live date soon. Â I’ve had some requests for a weekday, so I’ll probably try for this Monday. Â Stay tuned!
Here’s your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading
This was the first year in a while that I have not gone to Expo West, the gigantic natural foods show which is happening right now in Anaheim. Â Truthfully, the show is so overwhelming with about 90,000 people (not an exaggeration) and it’s all packaged food. Â It’s not to say that there can’t be higher quality packaged food, but even “better” processed food is still processed food. Â Word on the street is that CBD is now in snack foods, plant milks are going strong, grain-free tortillas and taco shells are big, keto is a big influence in products and being totally manipulated so that people can still feel justified in eating loads of dessert (#sarcasm), and more. Â Maybe I’ll go back next year.
Don’t forget to set your clocks forward before you go to bed on Saturday (March 10) night. Â I love springing forward since we get more daylight in the afternoons! Â My daughter is in town from college this week. Â I am going to give her some cooking lessons! Â Here’s your dinner planner for the week:
This week starts the beginning of Lent which means I will try to remember to include a fish or vegetarian meal on Fridays. Â My mom used to ask us kids to give up one thing during Lent and we would always to try to be sneaky and pick things we didn’t care about, like milk or bananas. Â She was onto us. Â Occasionally she asked us to give up fighting with each other. Â Never!
Speaking of giving up things, I am excited (yes, excited) to be doing the Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet again this week. Â I did it three times last year and I’d like to continue to do it three times a year going forward. I believe the science that shows that fasting supports metabolic balance, cellular rejuvenation, weight loss (disclaimer: in a clinical study, ProLon is shown over three cycles to help individuals lose an average of 5.7 ibs and 1.6 inches off their waist circumference), and healthy aging. Â If you’d like to see what it’s all about, click here and follow my Instagram stories this week. If you’d like to try the program, 1 kit/box is all you need for the 5-day program. You can use my discount code pamela25.
For those of you eating this week, here’s your dinner planner:
Someone commented on my Instagram feed the other day after I posted cauliflower in three different colors, that winter was her favorite season for produce.  Huh.  I’ve never thought that before, but there is so much bounty even in winter.  I don’t buy summer goods in the winter because that would just disappoint me.  All the cruciferous veggies, winter squash and citrus are amazing right now. Â
I added a local book event to my calendar for those of you who live in Orange County (or LA.) Â I’ll be doing a free cooking demo at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar on Sunday, March 17th at 10:00 am. Â I’ll also be signing books! Â Come join me if you’re in the neighborhood. Â I hope you are staying warm and toasty! Â Here’s your dinner planner for the week:
Brrrrrr!!!! I’ve heard from many of you recently that you are having quite the winter. Â Even LA has been unseasonably chilly (and wet.) Â I don’t know why 50 degrees here feels much colder than 50 degrees in NY. Â Is there a logical explanation for this? Â I have retreated to Palm Springs for the long weekend as I always do for President’s Weekend to participate in Modernism Week. Â Mr. Salzman is a home builder and Modernism afficionado, so I go to keep him company and basically have a little change of scenery. Â Alas, even in Palm Springs the weather isn’t too groovy and won’t be above 60 degrees. Â Sad face.
Let’s talk about food for a minute. Â I have been talking a lot more in my classes, both in person and online, about how to become more confident in the kitchen, see formulas in recipes, make substitutions more comfortably, and ultimately be able to cook without a recipe. Â If I didn’t have to develop as many actual recipes as I do, I would really just cook more from what I had in my pantry (see Saturday’s lunch idea.) Â This week I made one of the most satisfying meals in minutes without a plan or a recipe. Â I riced a bunch of leftover cauliflower cores and half a raw sweet potato to make cauliflower rice and sweet potato rice which I sauteed with garlic, salt and some Countertop Foods kitchari spice blend + some leftover cubed chicken. Â I topped it with cubed avocado, some leftover turmeric yogurt (greek yogurt + turmerice), and fermented hot sauce. Â Unbelievably good. Â Any LA restaurant would charge $18 for that bowl. Â Try this method out and let me know what you come up with.
Here’s your dinner planner for the week:
Coming off the most boring Super Bowl I can remember, the rest of the week seemed downright exciting. Â I debuted a new menu in my cooking classes this week and filmed this class for my online class platform. Â Speaking of which, I am going live on Facebook on Saturday at 9:30 am PST if you are a subscriber to my online classes. Â I love this group so much!!!
Just a heads up that this Thursday is Valentine’s Day. Â Buy a card for your sweetie and think about how to spread some love around! Â Here’s your dinner planner for the week:
