Sunday, March 11
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! That means GREEN FOOD in the Maynard house, a tradition I’ve inherited from my mother-in-law, Pat. Of course, I can’t go all green or all Irish for that matter… corned beef sandwiches with swiss cheese comprise the main dish (instead of corned beef hash). All of the supporting characters will be tinted with the traditional Irish color… green mashed potatoes? green jello? The possibilities are endless. Here’s Cate 2 years ago… sorry it’s not a picture of green food, but this picture should brighten anyone’s St. Paddy’s Day!
Song of the Week: “Heal Over” by KT Tunstall. You may be sick of her two songs that you hear all the time… but I have to say I quite like her album. “Heal Over” is near the end and I think it may be my favorite song on there. Definitely check it out. Speaking of which, you should really be checking out ALL of the songs of the week… they are all DANG GOOD and you’re missing out if you aren’t 
plus you want to be as cool as me, right? Just kidding… but honestly, take a trip to iTunes or my store and check them out!
Keep a look out for more frequent posts! I’ll be doing regular features from now on. If you have ideas or contributions for the features, feel free to email weeklydinners@gmail.com!
Homework assignment #1: Please post your menus! If you already are, you rule! If you aren’t – share! Don’t worry if it isn’t fancy, either. It’s all about sharing and stealing ideas. Homework assignment #2: Pass the blog on to others! Some of you are doing an AWESOME job at that and I thank you!!! 
Erin go bragh!!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:07 pm No Comments
Categories: Weekly Intros
Sunday, March 4
This morning was “Big Pancake Day” and my first attempt at a smiling pancake for Cate. Cate loved it and called it the Funny Pancake Face. Here he is wishing you all a good morning!
The Margherita Pizza last week was my favorite. I crushed some fresh garlic in the olive oil that I spread on the pizza, and sprinkled fresh parmesan cheese over the whole thing. Salt and pepper the whole crust, esp the edges, salted the cheese a lot too. Lucky for me it all cooked just right – the cheese didn’t overcook by the time the crust was done. YUM! And, yes, you can see from the picture I don’t use a pizza stone… I know, not cool, but it still comes out great so whatever.
The Song of the Week is “Warning Sign” by Coldplay.
When Coldplay first hit the scene I thought I didn’t like them, but now I realize I love them. This particular song I recently rediscovered on The Last Kiss
soundtrack, the recent Zach Braff movie that I hear wasn’t so good, but the soundtrack is. Maybe not as spectacular as the Garden State soundtrack, but it can hold its own.
Enough rambling… on to the menu! Have a great week!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 2:42 pm No Comments
Categories: Recipes, Weekly Intros
Sunday, February 25
Another week has FLOWN by and it’s time to plan meals already… goodness! More menus are popping up on the posts – it’s so great! I’m definitely dabbling in all your ideas. Thank you to all who have shared – keep it coming!
Yesterday we ate at Wahoo’s in La Jolla (fast food Mexican place). They are famous for fish tacos, which I ordered. If you’ve never had a fish taco, you should. Especially in San Diego – there are some good ones in this town. The best I’ve had so far is an appetizer at “George’s” in La Jolla. A bit pricier, but sooooooooooo good.
Cate was really feeling the music this week while we cooked dinner – it was like Dance Party USA around here. The Song of the Week is one that Cate danced like crazy to…King Without A Crown by Matisyahu
. I know this is his song that everyone knows and I should pick something more unknown, but it’s just so good and Cate loved it. If you haven’t heard of Matisyahu, he is an orthodox jewish rapper/reggae dude. He’s great!
I’m planning a few “special edition” posts… one on Snacks (inspired by Isa!) and one on Lunch ideas. If you have any ideas you’d like to share, please email me at weeklydinners@gmail.com – no deadline yet. I’ll post a reminder when I get closer to publishing.
Have a great week and happy planning!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:16 pm 1 Comment
Categories: Weekly Intros
Another week has FLOWN by and it’s time to plan meals already… goodness! More menus are popping up on the posts – it’s so great! I’m definitely dabbling in all your ideas. Thank you to all who have shared – keep it coming!
Yesterday we ate at Wahoo’s in La Jolla (fast food Mexican place). They are famous for fish tacos, which I ordered. If you’ve never had a fish taco, you should. Especially in San Diego – there are some good ones in this town. The best I’ve had so far is an appetizer at “George’s” in La Jolla. A bit pricier, but sooooooooooo good.
Cate was really feeling the music this week while we cooked dinner – it was like Dance Party USA around here. The Song of the Week is one that Cate danced like crazy to…King Without A Crown by Matisyahu. I know this is his song that everyone knows and I should pick something more unknown, but it’s just so good and Cate loved it. If you haven’t heard of Matisyahu, he is an orthodox jewish rapper/reggae dude. He’s great!
I’m planning a few “special edition” posts… one on Snacks (inspired by Isa!) and one on Lunch ideas. If you have any ideas you’d like to share, please email me at weeklydinners@gmail.com – no deadline yet. I’ll post a reminder when I get closer to publishing.
Have a great week and happy planning!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 3:16 pm No Comments
Categories: Weekly Intros
Sunday, February 18
Last week’s caprese salad was delicious. My friend Adrianne was saying that she and her mom add pasta to make it a pasta caprese salad (serve cold or warm – she said cold is better). That sounds awesome… something to try one day for sure!
Song of the Week: Let Go by Frou Frou. I’m sure other songs from the Garden State soundtrack will pop up… I just don’t get sick of that CD. I really enjoyed this song this week… and it always reminds me of the last scene of that movie – the song was perfect.
Thanks to Emily and Margo for posting their menus last week!! You’ll see I did some stealing, and will continue to do so!
Everyone else – please post your menus! You don’t need to worry about recipes if you don’t have time… just put up a quick post with your meals for each night. If you don’t start sharing menus, I’ll be forced to post fake menus associated with your names… for instance, I hear Adrianne is doing corn dogs every night this week… and we all thought she was such a good cook.
Quick Note: I’ve split up the recipes into 3 categories. Also, if I’ve posted a recipe for an item on the Repertoire, it will link to the Recipes page. Hopefully this is all helpful!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 1:01 pm 9 Comments
Categories: Recipes, Weekly Intros
Sunday, February 11
Happy Week 3! Don’t forget to check the “Recipes” page for new additions!
by Ben Harper,
Song of the Week: “Picture Of Jesus” by Ben Harper.
I love Ben, it’s no secret. And this song is so beautiful. Features Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and who doesn’t love a little Ladysmith thrown into a song? The other day I was playing a song with LBM & Sarah McLachlan for Nate, who replied, “You know, if you like this song, you may want to check out an album called Graceland. Don’t know if you’ve heard of it.” Ha ha, real funny.
I’ve started baking with Cate. It is so fun! Last week we made cookies and she talked about it all week. Yesterday we made some muffins. We had so much fun and the result was quite tasty too – everybody wins! Nate says Cate’s a better baker than me… hmmmm…
Okay, confession time… I’m carrying over TWO meals from last week because I forgot we had date night on Saturday, and I was too lazy to cook on Friday. But I’ll add a bonus recipe this week to make up… The BEST Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes EVER… a great Valentine’s Day treat. They are not hard to make and definite restaurant quality. Enjoy and Happy V-Day!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:51 pm No Comments
Categories: Weekly Intros
Happy Week 3! Don’t forget to check the “Recipes” page for new additions!
by Ben Harper,
Song of the Week: “Picture Of Jesus” by Ben Harper. I love Ben, it’s no secret. And this song is so beautiful. Features Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and who doesn’t love a little Ladysmith thrown into a song? The other day I was playing a song with LBM & Sarah McLachlan for Nate, who replied, “You know, if you like this song, you may want to check out an album called Graceland. Don’t know if you’ve heard of it.” Ha ha, real funny.
I’ve started baking with Cate. It is so fun! Last week we made cookies and she talked about it all week. Yesterday we made some muffins. We had so much fun and the result was quite tasty too – everybody wins! Nate says Cate’s a better baker than me… hmmmm…
Okay, confession time… I’m carrying over TWO meals from last week because I forgot we had date night on Saturday, and I was too lazy to cook on Friday. But I’ll add a bonus recipe this week to make up… The BEST Mini Molten Chocolate Cakes EVER… a great Valentine’s Day treat. They are not hard to make and definite restaurant quality. Enjoy and Happy V-Day!
Posted by Jane Maynard at 12:51 pm No Comments
Categories: Weekly Intros
Sunday, February 4
This is a good sign… I’m actually getting my menu up on Sunday! Can’t wait to see what others are doing… I’m already stealing a meal idea from Margo on this week’s menu. Thanks to everyone who sent me excited and supportive emails about the blog… I think it’s going to be very helpful and lots of fun!
There is a VERY interesting article on New York Times called “Unhappy Meals” by Michael Pollan. It’s LONG but great – I’ve been reading it in installments when I get a minute. Really makes you think about what “healthy” means. Go whole foods! (The foods, not the store.) You can’t access it anymore on the NYT site, so if you would like a copy of the article, email weeklydinners@gmail.com
Last week I made a spinach salad with rio red grapefruit (peeled and pith removed by hand – the BEST way to eat grapefruit) and Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette. It was DELICIOUS. So simple, so good. I was loving it, then Nate mentioned on his own how good it was. Just thought I’d share!
Now that I have a computer in my kitchen, iTunes is becoming a big part of cooking. I am LOVING having music playing while I cook. As I was listening and really enjoying some of the songs this week, I thought it would be fun to share those with you as well as my menus. So, here’s the “Song of the Week”…drumroll…“The Wind”, by Cat Stevens. It’s on the Rushmore soundtrack, which is quite quirky and has a few good oldies on there. “The Wind” is just good. Nuf said.
Thank you to those that have posted and I look forward to more and more posts! Please pass the site on to others – the more the merrier!
PS – I noticed that Trader Joe made a lot of appearances in my posts last week… sorry to those who don’t have a TJs nearby… I promise to try to rely less heavily on TJs, although it’s bound to creep in…
Posted by Jane Maynard at 1:50 pm No Comments
Categories: Recipes, Weekly Intros
Wednesday, January 31
“What’s for dinner?” How many times have I asked myself that question with absolutely no idea what the answer is? (Case in point… it is 4:10 pm right now and I still don’t know what we’re having tonight.) I don’t hate cooking, I hate thinking up what to cook! Solution: meal planning. When I DO actually plan a weekly menu, I cook a lot more, spend less money and am generally a happier person. This blog is an effort to keep myself planning and to get ideas from friends on their weekly menus!
So, here’s the plan. I will post my dinner menu weekly, shooting for Sunday nights. I’ll try to post a few recipes as well, although this isn’t really a recipe site, more of a place to get ideas. Then, hopefully, friends who visit will post comments with THEIR menu for the week (and recipes if they want), providing ME (and everyone else) with some fresh ideas!
Check the archive for my list of meals that I use when planning each week, as well as 3 old menus I put together years ago.
DISCLAIMER: I’m not promising that my menus will be fancy. I like to cook nice dinners, but I also go for classics like sloppy joe and hot dogs from time to time, much to nate’s, and maybe even my own, dismay
Posted by Jane Maynard at 7:03 pm 3 Comments
Categories: Weekly Intros
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! That means GREEN FOOD in the Maynard house, a tradition I’ve inherited from my mother-in-law, Pat. Of course, I can’t go all green or all Irish for that matter… corned beef sandwiches with swiss cheese comprise the main dish (instead of corned beef hash). All of the supporting characters will be tinted with the traditional Irish color… green mashed potatoes? green jello? The possibilities are endless. Here’s Cate 2 years ago… sorry it’s not a picture of green food, but this picture should brighten anyone’s St. Paddy’s Day!
Hello! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and then count on you to share your own! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!
