Happy Weekend, friends!  This week, I started a new menu in my classes and it’s so fantastic!  I know most of you don’t live close to me and can’t take my classes, but you can always check to see what I am teaching by clicking on this link. I hope to post some of these recipes soon.  After seeing my posts of the finished dishes on my Instagram feed, many people will ask me if the recipes are available anywhere and unfortunately I always wait until I have finished teaching every class over the month before I post the recipe online.  Stay tuned!  Today I’m making a gigantic batch of vegan queso to bring to a Super Bowl party tomorrow and I am doing a little prep for a TV segment I am taping with KABC’s Lori Corbin on Monday.  I’ll let you know when it airs!

Have a great week!  Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

Continue reading

Chinese New Year begins today, January 28th, with the Year of the Rooster. I thought I would share some interesting information from my friends at the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) World Foundation have to say about this new year. 

“This is an energetically powerful time to make room for the new—a new life, new hope, and new beginnings. Can you sweep away old habits to make way for a new perspective?  To make the most of this energetic shift, you need ample energy to make the transition and tackle endeavors in the new year. This is a good time to rest and clean house in mind, body, spirit: your saved energy will serve as a springboard to the changes you’ll pursue in the year to come. 

Traditionally, this period of preparation begins a week before the New Year, followed by a week or two of rest. This used to give farmers time to prepare and recharge before the busy planting season. However, even in modern Chinese culture, everyone takes a week-long holiday at the start of the New Year, and celebratory parties last for two weeks. 

Every year has a particular kind of energy, embodied by 12 animals, according to the Chinese zodiac. This year is represented by the Fire Rooster—an exciting, eccentric, yet loyal, hardworking, and proud bird. The Rooster is a symbol of energy. Why does it wake up in the early hours, right before dawn? Why does it sing and dance when the Sun rises? It intuitively knows when energy shifts and changes in the Earth, and as a fearless leader, it has no qualms about letting the rest of us know. Are YOU ready to “wake up” and harmonize with the Rooster? If so, this might just be your year to dance with the Rooster.”

Continue reading

PamelaSalzman.com will always be a political-free zone because #1) you likely don’t care what I think about politics and #2) it’s nice to know there’s someplace you can go to take a break from it all.  So here we are and I don’t know about the rest of you, but I still have a full-time job and a family to feed and I need to do my dinner planner today!  After I do a quick grocery run, I am going to do a little meal prep for the week, work on my book edits and then watch football while it rains like mad in LA all day long.  As if things weren’t already crazy enough out there, it’s actually raining in LA!  Have a great week!

Continue reading

It has been so fantastic having my girls home from college, but they are going back this weekend.  Sad face.  I am already counting the days until spring break.  But life goes on, and so do work and school.

I wanted to mention that I am having some problems with my website loading.  I won’t be able to connect with my web programmer until Tuesday, so we’ll all have to hang in there a few more days.  Keep trying to load the page and it comes up eventually.  I apologize for the inconvenience.  I know it’s annoying to have to wait for a website to load. In the meantime, there are lots of delicious recipes you can make this week.

 

Continue reading

How are those resolutions coming along?  This year my resolution is…no resolutions!  Actually, my intention in 2017 is to be more compassionate to myself and more forgiving.  As always, I am here to help you continue cooking healthful meals from scratch.  Nothing is better!

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

Continue reading

Oh my stars.  As I sat down to write this, I realized that I have posted an entire year of dinner planners on the blog!  Time flies when you’re having fun cooking, don’t you think?  I hope you have found the post useful.  Even if you don’t use the recipes, I hope that seeing the posts has encouraged you to sit down and organize your meals for the week.  The idea is to help you cook more from scratch, waste less, save money and just be less stressed about cooking.  Please share what helps you get organized for meal preparation during the week!

I just returned home from a much-needed and very relaxing vacation, first in Hawaii and then at my parents’ house on Long Island.  Both weeks were as perfect as I could have hoped for and I am feeling restored and ready for the new year!

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

Continue reading

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a general happy holidays to everyone!  So sorry I am late with this post!  I hope you all had a festive and fun weekend.  These are my favorite two days of the year and I said to my kids in the car to Christmas Eve dinner that it warmed my heart that they were doing the same drive that I have done every year of my entire life to participate in the same traditions that I did when I was a child.  Very special.

I did a little bit of cooking this weekend and I am currently in a pow-wow with my mother and my sisters planning the menu for this week.  This is not our exact menu since I have some recipe-testing to do and friends to visit for a dinner, but it’s a good start.  I need to make latkes at least once this week, and on Friday we are having a big pizza party at my cousin’s house in Scarsdale which will involve procuring pizza from at least 5 or 6 neighboring pizzerias.  It’s crazy and my husband loves every bite.  New Year’s Day we always eat lentils in some form as they supposedly bring good luck in the coming year :).  Have a wonderful week!

Continue reading

Aloha!  I’m on a little getaway with my husband and the three kiddos in Hawaii for most of this week.  This means I won’t be cooking a thing until I arrive at my parents’ house next weekend, but you might be.  So I am posting a meal plan for you to help keep you organized in the kitchen this week.  Truth be told, I forgot to email myself the master dinner planner document, so I winging it right now.  Forgive me for any repeats from the last couple of months!

Continue reading