a week of meals no. 84
meal plan for the second week of June 2025
Welcome to mamaeats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. I’m a mother of three, avid reader, gardener, and home cook who focuses on nourishing, whole food meals with a focus on plants. This newsletter is my labor of love—if you are not already, and are able to do so, please consider becoming a subscriber to support my work here, which takes time and effort. Doing so gives you access to all the archives and recipes (find the recipe index here), as well as cook-along videos which go along with most recipes. If a recurring payment is too much for you right now, but you’d still like to contribute, I’d be delighted to receive a one-off tip via my ko-fi. As always, thank you for being here, reading this newsletter, and sending me your thoughts.
Good morning friends. Saturday is here, once again, “and then, one fairy night, May became June.”1 How has your week been, I wonder? Over here, we are really feeling the arrival of summer. We hit 102f weather, swam in the pool, went cherry and blueberry picking, luxuriated in spending quality time with friends, and harvested our garden garlic, among other things. The garden, as always, is my solace, the best balm for anything ailing me.
This coming week is our last week of school for the children, and everyone is absolutely ready for the break- what a year it’s been!
Some things enjoyed this week:
Reading: I finished Hisham Matar’s novel My Friends, lent to me by a dear friend who had the highest praise for it. I had never read this author before, nor did I know much about Libyan history, which made it doubly interesting. The blurb from when it was longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize is the perfect summation: “An intensely moving novel about three friends living in political exile and the emotional homeland that friendship can provide.” Exquisite!
“Brownie batter” pudding made with sweet potato: I don’t eat sweets often, but I do have a sweet tooth, which I try to satisfy most of the time with nutrient dense options. This week, I had a chocolate craving, and a roasted sweet potato in the fridge. I scooped it out of its skin and into the food processor, along with dark cocoa powder, extra-roasted almond butter that I had made, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt. The result was a thick, velvety, and luscious brownie batter/pudding situation that I spooned into a beautiful small glass and ate with relish one night while reading a book in quietude- everyone was out of the house at various engagements- pure bliss!
Yoga: I loved this 40 minute yoga class so much that I did it thrice this week (skip 7:44 minutes in to skip the chat). The pace and sequence feel like exactly what my body needs at the moment. I’ve been doing yoga with Ali online for over 11 years now, her classes are excellent and there’s something for everyone.
Almond butter lattes: the above mentioned extra-roasted almond butter, blended with hot espresso and hot water and a tiny bit of almond extract, makes a very delicious, frothy, nutty drink. This came about because I had no milk in the house—my forever favorite is Silk unsweetened soymilk, but I’m trying to reduce consumption here because of microplastics, trash, general wastefulness—and have been experimenting with substitutes. Perhaps you saw my cashew cardamom lattes in last week’s videos? Cashews make excellent milk, but almonds are hyperlocal for me and I also have a cache in the freezer to get through. With the almond butter, I don’t even need to strain and I don’t have to worry about nut milk going off in the fridge. The extra-roasted quality adds so much flavor!
Some very good breakfasts, lunches, and snacks I ate this week:
the meal plan
weekend prep work: clean out the fridge, go to the farmer’s market and grocery store to re-stock pantry and fridge. Soak and cook black beans. Make bread dough to bake sourdough boules on Monday morning.
Sunday: pasta con crema di zucchine; cherry tomato and chickpea salad with torn basil leaves, shallot, and vinaigrette
Monday: best pot of chickpeas, with cooked long grain white rice scooped into the bowls of brothy chickpeas, sauteed garden zucchini, marjoram, extra lemon, chile paste
Tuesday: chipotle black bean burrito bowls; making extra of everything to be able to simply repeat the meal the next night—everyone loves this kind of bowl in our house, and Wednesdays are always an easy dinner night as we go to the creek late afternoon with our nature group
Wednesday: leftovers from last night- might fry up some soyrizo (I get the Trader Joe’s one) to add if I need to bulk it out a bit
Thursday: falafel bowls again (made a double batch last week and froze the extras) with hummus, whole wheat pita, shredded cabbage (tossed with salt, cilantro, onion, and lime), cherry tomatoes, sauteed zucchini (quickly seared with olive oil, salt, garlic, fresh oregano)
Friday: pizza night; sourdough crust, topped with zucchini, mozzarella, pesto, cherry tomatoes + little gems salad with basil vinaigrette (I quickly blend a whole bunch of fresh basil with garlic, shallot, salt, vinegar, and olive oil- this is also so good drizzled over grilled veg and white beans)
Saturday: burger night; these buns (I use olive oil instead of butter as per usual with everything lol, and flax egg, double the recipe and freeze half for next week- it makes 8, but the kids eat the extras as sandwich buns in the next few days) + beyond burgers, caramelized onions, ketchup/mayo etc. Simple side salad with farmer’s market greens and leftover basil vinaigrette
weekend bake: blueberry cornmeal tart
weekend breakfast: vanilla berry baked oatmeal
p.s.—leaving you with a poem for the week, as always. Feels perfect for right now. x A
To bless the space between us : a book of blessings / John O'Donohue, 2008
This is the time to be slow, Lie low to the wall Until the bitter weather passes. Try, as best you can, not to let The wire brush of doubt Scrape from your heart All sense of yourself And your hesitant light. If you remain generous, Time will come good; And you will find your feet Again on fresh pastures of promise, Where the air will be kind And blushed with beginning.
If you missed it:
F Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned
I finally made it into your mama eats world, as I am missing you and your family and our time at the creek. And what a beautiful space this is….such a natural reflection of all that you are and have to offer. Looking forward to brining some of this into our home. I hope you are well and sending ❤️🙏