 We like to have very non-Thanksgiving food before, so here's what's cooking before Big Thursday, as well as what's prepping daily. SundayCrock pot kalua pig, asparagus, salad and rice Thanksgiving prep: My Daddy's Ogo and list-making MondayCurry House at 25% off (see coupon below), and no, I don't get any money for promoting this, but perhaps I should...hmm. Thanksgiving prep: pick-up turkey, groceries and make cornbread
TuesdayOkonomiyaki with the leftover Kalua pig and pickled ginger. This is about as un-Thanksgiving as you can get. Thanksgiving prep: chop-chop-chop bread and veggies for stuffing. Start turkey brining (evening) WednesdayYakisoba. Thanksgiving prep: Oven work. Bake pecan pie, both stuffings, bake furikake chex mix. Make gravy. Time permitting, make guacamole and/or hummus. Thank you for all of those who have supported the Feeding My Ohana virtual food drive! Happy Thanksgiving all! Eat Well. Be Well.
I'm not sure if we won or lost leftovers roulette, but at least the fridge is remarkably Tupperware-free. More importantly, there was very little waste--we only tossed about handful of tomato salad that had rather ungracefully expired. Blech.
 The very last of the Swiss chard This week finally uses quite a few fresh veggies from the garden, and also with a focus on making freezer space. Berries are in peak season, so it's time for some freezer jam. Here's what's cooking this week. Monday-- Pillsbury manapua--using homemade (frozen) char siu, the last of the Swiss chard (see right), some shredded carrots and part of a cabbage. I'll probably mix in a little hoisin and Sriracha sauces for a bit of kick.
 Tuesday-- Spanish Rice wraps with fresh guacamole. Using up the last of the flour tortillas. Wednesday-- Okonomiyaki with a bit more char siu, kamaboko, green onions and more of the cabbage. Thursday-- Chicken Adobo, wrapped sticky rice from my friend Christine and namasu again. Cukes are starting to come in. Friday-- Roasted Zucchini and Penne. There are at least 5 zucchini in the garden that will be ready this week. Also looking forward to Mountain View Obon this weekend! Eat Well. Be Well.
 Kamaboko & Green Onion Okonomiyaki Mostly Japanese food, and pretty light on meat. We go through periods where our vegetable consumption wanes, so I'm focusing on adding more vegetables to complete our dinners. Monday-- Okonomiyaki, with just cabbage, kamaboko and fresh green onions from our garden. Tuesday-- Shabu Shabu. Another all-veg meal using tofu and the other half of the kamaboko from yesterday's dinner. Shabu-shabu got canceled awhile ago because we were out dipping sauces. Now I've started working on making the sauces from scratch. Wednesday-- Kara-age fish, but using chicken. Fish was not looking very happy this week. I think the swap will work. With the first harvest of Romaine lettuce from the garden, kim chee and hot rice. Thursday-- Stir-fried Lazy Wraps, for lack of a spiffier name. Take a package of sausage. Smoked Brats, Chicken Apple, or Portuguese are the household faves. Slice them and toss them in a non-stick pan. Slice an onion, 2 red peppers and some mushrooms. When the sausages are almost brown, add the onion, then peppers and then mushrooms. When everything is cooked, heat up some tortillas and make wraps. Add salsa if you like.
 Maruchan Fresh Yakisoba Friday-- Misoyaki Butterfish with steamed broccoli, another fresh head of lettuce and rice. Bonus Saturday-- Yakisoba, made by the husband. Use Maruchan *fresh* and *not instant* yakisoba. He adds green beans, carrots a bit of pork, chicken, or kamaboko and red pickled ginger (kizami shoga) as a garnish. Fresh yakisoba is in the refrigerated section of most Asian grocery stores as well as in some Safeways. Eat Well. Be Well.
Once a week, I ask my family this, and usually the answer is, "uh, I dunno?" So every week, I aim to have 4-5 meals with a few basic rules. They are:
1) No Spam, bacon or sausage in the same week. As much as we love cured meats, moderation wins out.
2) Try to have one multi-dish meal.
3) Try for fish or vegetarian once a week.
4) Try to use all veggies over the course of the week.  A menu comes together like this:
1) Fish Tacos (done first because I buy fresh fish) with fresh guacamole, cabbage, tomatoes, spiced yogurt and salsa
2) Multi-dish meal = Orange-Salsa Pork Chops, green beans, Okinawan sweet potatoes and jasmine rice. Uses salsa from Fish Tacos. The colors and flavors all play off each other. Spicy Orange-Salsa Pork Chops, simple fresh green beans and sweet and creamy Okinawan purple potatoes and the light, fragrant white jasmine rice all play nicely together.
 3) Nakayoshi Gakko Somen Salad--Uses leftover lettuce and tomatoes, adds a cuke, kamaboko and scrambled eggs. Meatless, and for home lunches.
4) Quinoa Salad--Use the rest of the cuke, and finish up the leftover fish or pork chops. Use whole cans of corn and black beans. Also good for lunch boxes.
5) Okonomiyaki (right)--This is a kind of Japanese dinner pancake/pizza. Uses eggs, the rest of the cabbage, kamaboko and any green beans
The actual shopping list is pretty efficient:
Pork chops
Fresh Fish
Orange juice
Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Avocados (4)
Limes (2)
Cilantro
Small red onion (1)
Jalapeno peppers (1)
Green beans
Cabbage (1)
Lettuce (1 bag or 1 head)
Tomato (3-4)
Cucumber (2)
Kamaboko (Japanese fish cake, the pretty pink kind)
Eggs
Canned Black Beans
Canned Corn
Corn Tortillas
Okonomiyaki Mix (from Safeway or Japanese grocery store, such as Nijiya, Marukai or Don Quijote)
Pantry Items You Probably Already Have In-House (add what you don't have to your shopping list)
Garlic
Sesame Oil
Canola Oil
Shoyu
Vinegar
White Sugar
Brown Sugar
Mayonnaise
Salsa
White Sesame Seeds
Cumin
Ginger (Powdered)
Somen
Jasmine rice
Quinoa
Dried Cranberries
Pine Nuts
Newman's Own Balasmic Vinegar Salad Dressing
Bulldog Tonkatsu Sauce (Safeway or Japanese grocery store, such as Nijiya, Marukai or Don Quijote)
At the end of the week, you end up with about 3/4 of a red onion, some cilantro, and perhaps some leftover corn tortillas. So next week, you can think about gyros to use the red onion, and chicken tortilla soup for the rest. It doesn't always work out this neatly, but this is what I aim for. Let me know what works for you!
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