We are on the move again!  This weekend Hubs and I are taking Anna and Mr. Picky to Boston to poke around and help Anna find an apartment since she’ll be moving there in August for her new job.  From there, we head down to Long Island for our annual summer trip to my mom’s house with my sisters and their families.  Fingers crossed for good weather!  We will be on the East coast for July 4th for a change 🙂 I have lots of great ideas in this week’s dinner planner for your July 4th weekend parties, and do follow along on Instagram this week where I’ll be posting lots of easy, festive ideas for the 4th!  Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

Meatless Monday: Salmorejo (I made this on Instagram live this week) and tortilla “pizza” (place a tortilla on a baking sheet and top like a pizza with or without cheese or use vegan soft cheese, bake at 400 until warmed through.)  I like Siete Foods grain-free chickpea tortillas or Food For Life sprouted grain tortillas.

Tuesday: Tuna “ceviche” with avocado p.255 from Quicker than Quick served with tortilla chips or plantain chips, quinoa salad from Cookie + Kate and watermelon agua fresca

Wednesday: The Best Turkey Meatloaf, sautéed green beans or zucchini, millet cauliflower mash

Thursday: Farro chopped salad with orange juice vinaigrette, pan-seared halibut

Friday: BBQ chicken with homemade BBQ sauce, cole slaw (I like baking chicken pieces smothered in BBQ sauce because it won’t burn like it does on the grill.) Another really easy option is to make the slow cooker pulled barbecue chicken  and serve over buns with coleslaw.

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 (4th of July): Here are my July 4th menu ideas with some great menus for summer entertaining.  Check out the most fabulous American Flag pie – it is a must-make!  There was also this 4th of July menu I did with Jenni Kayne a few years ago which I loved and this one which was also great. I’ll be posting other 4th of July dessert ideas this week!

 

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

Sunday:

Make cold tomato soup

Make salad dressings

Cook quinoa

Tuesday:

Make meatloaf mixture

Cook farro

Thursday:

Make barbecue sauce if making from scratch

Saturday:

If you’re making food for 4th of july, most desserts can be made ahead of time (day in advance – baked desserts can be stored at room temperature) or components can be prepped in advance. Vegetables can be cut, salad greens can be washed, and dressings or marinades can be made well in advance.

 

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 discounted for the first time 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”!