A lot of you have started your summers this week with kids now out of school.  I used to love it when my children could be more relaxed and not stressed out about homework and running to activities.  Plus YAY! no more making school lunches at 6:30 in the morning! Buuuut, providing structure so they didn’t get “bored” or sit on devices all day was a challenge.  I have an idea – tell your kids to make dinner once a week.  Tell them to find a recipe and you’ll shop for it and they can make it!  That’s how I learned how to cook – I wanted something different from my mom’s standard weekly meals (which were delicious, but on repeat a lot!), so I found recipes for things I wanted to eat!

Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

Meatless Monday: Try doing a summer snack/dinner board!  Take your biggest cutting board and arrange some delicious (but easy) bites like cheese (there are great vegan ones out there like Violife), sliced tomatoes, pesto, toasted bread, lettuce leaves, avocado, hummus, sliced raw veggies like carrots, cucumbers and sweet bell peppers.  Open a bottle of rosé.  Dinner’s done!

Tuesday: Fattoush Salad, chicken souvlaki, rice or cauliflower rice if you need more

Wednesday: Zucchini pizza boats (add cooked ground turkey or tempeh to the marinara if you want some more protein), vegetarian chopped antipasto salad

Thursday: Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken on rolls/buns or in a bowl with pinto beans and lettuce, cole slaw or jicama slaw for a change of pace

Friday: arugula and farro salad with peaches served with a simple piece of fish.

Saturday brunch: breakfast burrito bar:  scrambled eggs or scrambled tofu, tortillas, salsa, avocado or guacamole, refried beans, turkey bacon, sautéed onions or mushrooms.  Let everyone make their own!

Sunday: Corn cakes with avocado salsa, grilled shrimp (I do a quick spice rub on these with my fish taco seasoning), and green salad with radishes, red cabbage, white beans and cilantro dressing

 

Here’s what you can do in advance if it helps you: 

Sunday: 

Wash greens

Make pesto

Make marinade for chicken

Make salad dressings

Tuesday: 

Cook ground meat if using for zucchini boats

Wednesday: 

Cook beans if making from scratch

Thursday: 

Cook farro

 

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!

My cookbook, Quicker Than Quick, is on sale for $14.99 on Amazon!  If you have 1 minute, would you mind leaving a review on amazon?  I would be so grateful, thank you! Take a peek at my first cookbook “Kitchen Matters”!