Marin Mama’s Weekly Dinner Menu for January 27th

Marin Mama's weekly dinner menu - January 27th

Took that opening shot in the car via my iPhone last night. I thought it was cool because you can see all the hustle and bustle of the city, the Transamerica building and all the beautiful architecture of San Francisco right smack in front of you.  I truly love living here and whenever I head into the city, I feel alive.  My favorite part of heading into San Francisco is crossing over this beauty of a bridge.  I have lived here a little over 15 years, and I never tire of this bridge. Zoe took this below picture last night through the sunroof and instagramed it.

San Francisco Bridge

She’s a natural I must say.  BTW, she recently joined instagram, (privately with her friends) and she had to teach me how to use it, as I really had no clue. I will be adding an instagram button to my blog once I figure out how to do it.  In the meantime you can follow me on instagram via marinmamacooks.  I don’t have any cool pics yet because I’m just starting. I have a feeling that it will become another addiction, so watch out!

The kids had Monday off and it was so beautiful out that we decided to go to one of our favorite local lunch spots, Rustic Bakery.  Here’s a photo I took of my lunch.  Leek and potato soup and grilled cheese.  Yum!

Soup and sandwich

Here’s Zoe with posing with her lunch, an asian chicken salad, which is another one of my favorite lunch items.  I tried to get a picture of Eli but he wasn’t in the picture taking mood.

Zoe eating a large salad

Ok, one last shot that Zoe took and instagramed. I love this shot!  Ok, it’s a no brainer for me, I choose Mt. Tam as my destination.  That’s Mt. Tam in the background, for those of you not familiar with the area (btw, it’s much larger than it looks in the below picture).

Destinations signs

Ok, enough with all the instagram photos (see, I told you I would become addicted). Let’s move onto what I ate and made this week. Since everyone I know is still working on their New Year’s resolutions of healthy eating, (blah blah blah) I decided that I would make and post two new healthy recipes in the next two weeks (after those two recipes, I’m being bad and posting a cupcake recipe). The first recipe that I’m going to post are those spaghetti squash tacos that I showed you last week. You won’t feel guilty shoveling 2-3 of these tacos down, as I did.  I will post this recipe on Wednesday.  Pair them with a kale salad and you will be feeling the love of healthy eating. Your body will truly be thanking you and then you can sneak in a cupcake for dessert. Hey, it’s all about moderation folks.

Spaghetti squash tacos

Speaking of healthy eating at night, why not eat healthy in the morning as well. Here’s my newest breakfast addiction. Yes, Jessica, I have given up my daily regimented cereal routine for this. It’s a mixture of hot quinoa, steel cut oats mixed with goji berries.  I top it with some walnuts, cranberries and a bit of maple syrup and I’m ready to take on the day!  It’s truly a breakfast of champions. The best part of this nutritious breakfast is that it can be quickly assembled the night before and left to sit out overnight. All you do the next morning is simply re-heat it. How easy is that?

Hot quinoa with goji berries

I also tried a new kale salad last week. I really enjoyed the salad, as it was super easy to whip up and had a nice sweet flavor to it.  Sadly, unlike my other kale salads, it doesn’t carry over to the next day.  It’s really best served up fresh.

Kale salad

Whew, I covered a lot so far, so for those of you that are just here for my weekly menu, lets move onto it.

Sunday night dinner

Pan roasted chicken paillard, mashed potatoes with kale and kid friendly caesar salad.  I’m going to whip out my trusty cast-iron skillet for 2 meals this week.  I saw this chicken recipe in the most recent issue of Bon Appetit and I can’t wait to try it, as we love skillet baked chicken dishes. I will definitely keep you posted on the results.

Mashed potatoes with kale

Kid Friendly caesar salad

Monday night dinner

Meatless Monday!  Paul McCartney’s refried bean tacos and lacinato kale salad.  This is such an easy and healthy Monday night dinner to throw together. The tacos literally take 20 minutes to prep and cook up, and the salad takes no time as I always have prepped kale ready to go in my fridge. I love easy Monday night meals!

Paul McCartney's refried bean taco

Kale Salad

Tuesday night dinner

Cauliflower soup with grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.  This is an easy meal for a hectic night!  I usually make up the soup over the weekend and then just re-heat it for dinner.  Zoe actually makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches in our house. She makes them in the cast-iron skillet, and oh my, they are crisp and grilled to perfection.  I have to get have her do a demonstration my cooking with kids series.

Cauliflower soup

Wednesday night dinner

Cheesy baked tortellini and broccoli rabe. Need I say more?

Cheesy baked tortellini

Thursday night dinner

Sausage and white bean stew. This is another new recipe that I’m going to try.  It’s a one-skillet, one-bowl meal, and it’s supposed to be quick and easy.  I can’t wait to give it a try and let you know how it turns out.

Friday night dinner

TGIF!  You all know the routine now. Fridays are now Marin mama’s night off, at least for the time being!  This past Friday we went to check out this local butcher shop/restaurant called Belcampo, (which is located in the Marin Country Mart) for some burgers and milkshakes. The kids actually had the chocolate milkshakes. I had a glass of wine and John had a beer.  Belcampo is a ranch located near Mt. Shasta that’s known for their sustainable meats.  The kids and I ordered some cheeseburgers and John ordered a french dip sandwich. We also ordered up some french fries, of course, and these fried Brussels sprouts which were amazing. They were deeply fried (pretty much charred) and then tossed in a some sort of dressing consisting of lemon juice, sage and red pepper flakes.  I love trying new and local restaurants, and this one had a fun and relaxing atmosphere.  Here’s a photo of the kids with their milkshakes.

Kids enjoying milkshakes

See you all back here Wednesday where I will showcase these spaghetti squash tacos!

Whoo hooo!

Spaghetti squash tacos

With love Jackie
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20 thoughts on “Marin Mama’s Weekly Dinner Menu for January 27th”

  1. I miss you! I was going to say ‘that’s all’ but its not quite all.. :). First off I AM working in a homeless shelter and its absolutely the best job of my LIFE. Busy is not the word, but Im currently in the process of writing a blog post with all the updates. Suffice to say its an amazing combination of social work AND cooking and (for now at least, I never like to tempt fate with these things..) I literally couldnt be happier. I actually (And it feels so weird saying this) LOVE going to work every day and I just feel like my life has such meaning. Ive also turned into an obsessive baker – it so IS the best way to get people to like you! – and I DID make your brownies and they were a HIT. I ate far too many end bits with tea, vanilla ice cream, as a midnight snack you name it! – but those that made it into work were DEVOURED> I wanted to take some photos for you but I think its against the rules.:) Anyway, like I said, Im in the middle of a blog post, which I will now go back to, but I just wanted to update you! AND however totally happy I am seeing your photos makes me miss the bay. I mean it just is the most beautiful place on earth right!? So glad you had a fun lunch date with the kids… and 1000% mean it about missing you super girl! xoxo

    1. Oh Em! I love and miss you so much as well. I’m so excited and happy for you that you found such an amazing and rewarding job. I showed Zoe your comment because we were just discussing the other day about careers and how I hope someday that she does something that doesn’t feel like a job, but feels like a passion. I said I want her to so something that makes her want to leap out of bed everyday. I showed her your comment to show her that it’s possible and very attainable. You are the perfect person to work at a homeless shelter. You have such a HUGE and AMAZING heart and soul and you light up a room when you enter it. You are turning lives around and those treats that you’re baking for them, you’re so spoiling them and they so deserve to be spoiled and taken care of. I wish I could visit and help you out. I can’t wait for you to be a mom because you’re going to rock! I’m excited to hear that you will be out for a visit this summer! I can’t wait to see both you and Louis. I loved the instagram photo of him with his burger. Such a guy! Love you tons! Jackie

  2. Love the pics of your kids…they truly look so happy, joyous, content, and you and your hubs are clearly doing the right things! I often wondered if people who live in SF ever get tired of the bridge and all those natural beauty views…and clearly the answer is no. Every time I go there I am in awe; and sounds like you still appreciate it every day too! Glad it’s nice up there. San Diego has been socked in with rain since Monday! Have a great week!

    1. Thanks Averie. I’m so proud of Zoe and Eli and who they are becoming. They truly are wonderful little souls and the most caring and considerate kids. I truly just love spending time with them. I never get tired of the bridge or the views or the redwoods. I’m grateful every day that I live here. I know the rain is not fun, but you all need it down there. I’ll be sending you down some sunshine though! xoxo, Jackie

    1. The pork chops looks so amazing! We loved the chicken paillard. You should definitely make it. Have the butcher take the chicken off the bone and pound it, as it will save you so much prep time. It was my first time making clarified butter, but I think I did it right, as the dish came out amazing.

  3. I love all the pics, especially of the kids. The one with Zoe and Eli drinking the milkshakes is so sweet! I had an instagram account but didn’t use it a lot, so I cancelled it. Funny how when you cancel something like that, then you sort of miss it! I might have to reopen it again. 🙂 The bridge photo and the sign of all the places makes me want to visit that area even more!
    That new restaurant sounds great as well, the brussels sprouts sound so unique and delicious too. I love places with a great menu and relaxing atmosphere.
    That breakfast quinoa oatmeal sounds wonderful too. Can’t wait to see how you made that. I would love something you could make the night before and then just heat up in the morning for all of us. We often do a smoothie for breakfast but sometimes a nice hot hearty breakfast sounds good.
    I wrote you back on my latest cupcake post too, so more there for you too! Hope you have a great day. I’m running errands and getting tax stuff done for work. Fun stuff! Not. 🙂
    Alright doll, I’m going to run now but I’ll talk to you soon. Have a great week! xoxo, Sharon

    1. Hi Sharon! Don’t go back to instagram because its super addicting and it’s on the phone which is worse because its another thing to check out on the phone all them time. The biggest reason I went on was to follow Zoe and see what she’s up to, (make sure she’s not abusing the privilege) and also for the blog. I’m still confused by it, but oh well.
      Have you ever been to SF? If not, you need to come and visit!
      Taxes, yuck! I haven’t even started mine yet! Not looking forward to it at all. xoxo, Jackie

      1. Can you believe I’ve never been to SF? I can’t. It’s so my kind of town too. If I ever get there, I would definitely have you on my list of places/people to visit!
        The taxes are work related tax documents I had to pick up. I haven’t even thought of our own personal ones yet. Eww, I’m with you, don’t want to think about that yet. Have a great evening! xoxo, Sharon

  4. oh i am so jealous seeing your outdoor pictures that look like such nice weather…we were hit with freezing rain Sunday 🙁 i love trying out new restaurants too…for us we have to travel a bit further but is is always so fun and such an “adventure” your leek soup and grilled cheese I wish i had for lunch right now! I can NOT wait for the spaghetti squash taco recipe.

    1. Hey Angela. Warmer weather is just around the corner. It’s almost February right? That soup was great and I haven’t been able to replicate it at home, so I’m not going to post that recipe I was working on a few weeks back. I just don’t feel it’s up to par! Spaghetti squash tacos are coming up Wednesday! Whoo hooo!

      1. and I forgot to say i just started instagram…one of my new years resolutions was to take a picture a day project 365 some call it…well instagram is an easy way..and yes it is addicting..another social media you feel you have to “follow” BUT is so cool and people can have the cutest pics.

  5. Hi Jackie, the first photo made me laugh: One time I was driving on Hwy 101 into the Golden Gate bridge and took a wrong exit. Guess what, shortly after the same building appeared before my eyes. I was in panic, didn’t know where to go, and the traffic was horrible, especially a foot traffic as it was around lunch time. Somehow I did get out of there, arguing each turn with GPS, and found the place I was going to, but each time I see the Transamerica building, I smile remembering that episode.
    Last weekend I experimented with meatless menu. Teenager didn’t like it: he was looking for a meat in any dish he had! 🙂 I am going to post about it later this week. I hope to have enough time to post chicken stock today (my version is easy, and stock comes very clear and reach in flavor). Some of my friends adopted this recipe and like it. They actually were the ones who told me to post it. 🙂
    You are so good in meal planing. I don’t know what I am going to cook until I start cooking! This week is a refrigerator cleaning week, meaning that I am using only what’s in the refrigerator and around, no shopping. I was fond of this idea for many years, but was using it only 3-4 times a year. About a year ago I started to do it every month, and it works great and saves a lot of money.
    Beautiful photos! 🙂

    1. Thanks Marina! Such a funny story and I kind of felt the same way the other night in the car when I looked up and bam the Transamerica building was right in front of me. It’s so beautiful though. I will give your chicken stock recipe a try. I’ve just been too lazy to make my own stock and I do hear from everyone that its the easiest thing. I use to be intimidated by making soup and now I think it’s the easiest and best thing, so maybe I will change my mind about making stock.
      We had a few meatless nights in a row last week and by Friday we were all craving burgers! I don’t think I could be a full fledged vegetarian. Our clean out the fridge time is on the weekends. I only serve leftovers for lunch Sat and Sun and that seems to do the trick. I feel so good when everything is cleared out and eaten from the fridge.
      Have a great night and I will be sure to stop by and check out your stock recipe tomorrow!
      xoxo, Jackie

  6. mmmmm….your breakfast looks delicious! I need to make that! Love your photos of the kids! I need to add an Instagram button too! It’s so fun…and Zoe’s pic of the Golden Gate Bridge out the sunroof…how cool is that??

  7. Okay where do i begin. I so wish I lived near you and we could go visit new restaurants and cafes and butcher shops:) all the time. I love the shot of Z with her salad and she is really good at her instagram photos. all the dishes well they look just look like how they look every week- DELICIOUS AND AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL AND DROOL WORTHY!

    1. I know, wouldn’t it be the bomb! You and my other friend Sharon need to move to the Bay area and then we can all be foodie besties. It’s scary that my 12 year old is teaching me the art of instagram and other technical things. I’m so behind the times 🙂

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