a week of meals no. 89
meal plan for the third week of July 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, and welcome to another Saturday, and another meal plan newsletter. I hope you have been well this last week. We are truly in peak summer here, with long hot days, beautiful stonefruit and tomatoes and melons gracing every meal, and plenty of time to stretch out into creative pursuits. My daughter and I made very good peanut brittle together, from Sola El-Waylly’s cookbook, Start Here, which I picked up at the library recently. She had been wanting to buy some at the store, but honestly it was so overpriced for what it is (mostly just sugar and peanuts) and I thought it would be a fun thing to do together. It was a delicious success, and very easy. We ate some while watching our Monday night tradition over the past several years, a single episode of Gilmore Girls on DVD (we’re up to season 6!).
I also finished a small knitting project earlier this week, a very cute something for a newly 17 year old friend of mine (I’ll share a photo of it next week after I gift it)! I knitted it in a bright tomato red which made me so happy, a perfect summer mood. I had so much fun knitting this one, it had been awhile since I last had something on my needles and I realized how much I have missed knitting! It’s so nice to have something to keep your hands busy while sitting. I may start on an autumn sweater for James soon, perhaps a cardigan?
We also made our first batch of ice cream this summer, which turned out quite delicious. I pinched our childhood ice cream maker from my parent’s house a few years back and it still works great! We have such fun with coming up with different flavors each summer, and of course, eating it. It’s also nice to avoid the ultra processed ingredients in lots of ice creams these days.
How about you? Have you been embarking on any little creative projects this summer, or trying something you haven’t done before? What is bringing you joy lately? I’d love to know.
some delicious lunches and snacks enjoyed this week:
This week’s meal plan contains a lot of the usual suspects! In summer we tend to repeat meals very often, as the produce is so good and we like to spend less time in the kitchen. We’ve got lots of chickpeas planned for the week, some excellent fudgy brownies, and tons of zucchini of course!
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. Bake granola for breakfasts/snacks.
Sunday: penne tossed with peperonata; grilled eggplant marinated in a puddle of olive oil, garlic, salt, and basil
Monday: farinata (a sort of flatbread made with chickpea flour) with leftover peperonata from Sunday; steamed Romano green beans drizzled with olive oil and salt; sliced perfect red tomatoes
Tuesday: zucchini and poblano enchiladas
Wednesday: tomato nectarine salad, chickpea zucchini fritters, tzatziki
Thursday: leftover enchiladas from Tuesday; cold watermelon with chile and lime
Friday: a repeat of last week, since it was so good and I froze some of the sauce: margherita pizzas with roasted sun gold tomato sauce, and drizzles of pesto; as a side, shisito peppers blistered in a hot cast iron pan with salt— summer perfection
Saturday: mediterranean chickpea salad, roasted potato wedges (gold potatoes tossed with olive oil, salt, paprika, garlic powder and roasted till tender and crisp)
weekend bake: almond butter brownies with scoops of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of olive oil, flaky salt— soooo good.
weekend breakfast: croissants, roasted apricots (halves lightly roasted with a sprinkle of sugar and nutmeg) atop thick coco yogurt
p.s.—leaving you with a poem for the week, as always. I hope your week is full of love and time outside, and the most perfect tomatoes. x A
In My Next Life Let Me Be a Tomato
Natasha Rao
lusting and unafraid. In this bipedal incarnation
I have always been scared of my own ripening,
mother standing outside the fitting room door.
I only become bright after Bloody Mary’s, only whole
in New Jersey summers where beefsteaks, like baubles,
sag in the yard, where we pass down heirlooms
in thin paper envelopes and I tend barefoot to a garden
that snakes with desire, unashamed to coil and spread.
Cherry Falls, Brandywine, Sweet Aperitif, I kneel
with a spool, staking and tying, checking each morning
after last night’s thunderstorm only to find more
sprawl, the tomatoes have no fear of wind and water,
they gain power from the lightning, while I, in this version
of life, retreat in bed to wither. In this life, rabbits
are afraid of my clumsy gait. In the next, let them come
willingly to nibble my lowest limbs, my outstretched
arm always offering something sweet. I want to return
from reincarnation’s spin covered in dirt and
buds. I want to be unabashed, audacious, to gobble
space, to blush deeper each day in the sun, knowing
I’ll end up in an eager mouth. An overly ripe tomato
will begin sprouting, so excited it is for more life,
so intent to be part of this world, trellising wildly.
For every time in this life I have thought of dying, let me
yield that much fruit in my next, skeleton drooping
under the weight of my own vivacity as I spread to take
more of this air, this fencepost, this forgiving light.
If you missed it:
I love seeing what you're cooking throughout the seasons. You asked what creative projects we're enjoying - I recently got back into scrapbooking, and am loving documenting seasons, moments, events. I enjoy keeping paper keepsakes and find it fun to have a visual display of them. It's been nice to have an easy indoor activity for blistering summer days in Phoenix.
I noticed you like a fair number of Hetty McKinnon’s recipes—my favorite of hers is this stir-fried cucumber and tofu dish, I love it for using up a bumper crop of cucumbers (current situation)! Thought you may like it as well :)
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021338-stir-fried-cucumber-with-tofu