This week's menu is thanks to my cousin's wife. On her recommendation, I bought a chunk of Marukai char siu, which is really chashu, and it has yielded several meals this week.

Huh?! A point of clarification with a dose of confusion. Char siu and chashu are both pork, but not quite the same. Char siu is usually the red-colored pork that hangs in Chinese markets. I have a recipe for this, but I don't make it red. Chashu is the Japanese version made from the fatty, marbled pork. It is never red-colored, typically much richer than char siu, and I have no idea how to make this.

At saimin places in Hawaii, you are more likely to find the red char siu with your noodles. However, at ramen places, it will likely be chashu. To make it even more confusing, Marukai labels both kinds of pork as char siu.

Got it now? Here's what was and is cooking this week. Thanks for hanging with me on the late menu.

Meatless Monday
Greek Pasta Salad. The household has adjusted nicely to veg-out Mondays.

Sweep Canucks Tuesday
Love Vancouver. Canucks, not so much. Homemade Chashu Banh Mi Sandwiches. Thinly sliced chashu, Vietnamese-style pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, on a crusty French bread with Sriracha mayonnaise. I can't even begin to figure out what "kind" of food this is, other than ono. Posting instructions later this week.

Chashu Wednesday
Make Your Own Ramen. In addition to chashu, I bought tonkotsu and spicy pork flavors of fresh ramen. Eating with kamaboko, kim chee and blanched pea shoots. The photo at the top shows exactly what I had for dinner.

Thursday
Mediterranean Lamb Stir Fry. Using the rest of the shredded carrots and daikon for the lemon rice.

Meatless & De-tox Friday
Co-worker Kale Salad. Chashu is a luxurious indulgence even when very thinly sliced, so we will need a break by Friday. Kale salad is filling and sturdy enough to work as a dinner salad.

Have a great week. Hockey and basketball playoffs!

It was a glorious spring day in the Bay Area today, enough to work through that lost hour of sleep. We are going to enjoy this lovely week of darn-near perfect weather.

Meatless Monday--Breakfast for dinner
Chard picked from the garden this afternoon sauteed with garlic, onions, grape tomatoes, a shot of balsamic vinegar, sunny-side up eggs and Parmesan cheese. Inspired by a recipe on Pinterest, and eaten with a side of toasted asiago bread.  Unanimous household approval.

Any ideas for a catchy name for this would be most welcome.

Tuesday
Crock Pot Kalua Pig. I have a rare night meeting, so this will be ready for the kids and hubby. All they need to do is cook rice and make a salad. And then eat ice cream.

Wednesday
Chicken Fajitas Nachos, using leftover chicken, vegetables grilled by the husband on Sunday. He used a pre-made spice rub for the chicken, plus a lime. With guacamole with avocados from a friend, salsa and sour cream.

Might be Meatless Thursday
Pad Thai, yet again. Possibly bypassing the chicken and using only tofu. I'm still looking for a tamarind paste-less version and I have two more options Pinterest to consider.

Friday
Pretty Much My Mother-in-Law's Corn Chowder. It's supposed to be 72 degrees of Friday, but I'm craving a good soup.

Bonus
Soccer season is starting, so it's very important to keep *lots* of food in the house. Here are the teenager-approved items for the week.

Jello Mochi
Jello is on sale at Safeway this week. I'm trying fruit punch, cherry lemonade and mango. Except for the color, I'm pretty sure it's all going to taste like "sweet".

Li Hing Kettle Korn. Trader Joe's kettle korn tossed with li-hing powder. I eat this 'til my fingers are vermilion.

Homemade Pork Sausage. Time to re-stock.

Frozen green onion pancakes and eggs. My son has been going through packages green onion pancakes and cartons of eggs. Best of all, he can make them himself.

Have a great week!

Everyone LOVED this and I cannot wait to make another variation on a theme.

Literally, I decided to make it on a whim at 5:30 pm. My boss emails the NPR link. Had it for dinner with a salad. I looked for lunch leftovers and there were NONE!? Darned those teenagers, their sky-high metabolism and weird preference for home lunch!

The original recipe had me at "almost no rules" which I promptly took to heart, substituting like a hellion.

Click here for what I did as well as the original NPR recipe, but there are so many variations I can already imagine!

Today's game was No-Wallet Monday. I left my wallet in my car. Not usually a big deal, except that today my husband is driving said wallet-containing car, and I barely ever have cash on-hand. So with $20 dollars scrounged up from around the house, the challenge was to get enough for Monday's dinner.

Here's what happened on Monday and what's cooking for the rest of the week.

No-Wallet Monday
Fed the ohana for $11, plus char siu and edamame from the household 'freezer pantry'.
Pillsbury Manapua and an Edamame Salad that deserves a second look, using yuzu from a friend's yard. Bought the following: 2 tins of Pillsbury biscuits, 2 bunches of green onions, a bag of shredded carrots, 1 bunch of fresh mint, plus a cake of tofu for $11! Everyone is happy and full.

Tuesday
Should be a normal weekly shopping trip now that I've retrieved the wallet. Chicken Divan, at the request of the teenagers. 

Fishy Wednesday
Mahi-mahi with tomato butter sauce. It's time to get this out of the Greenhouse and into a regular rotation. It's too good, too close and too easy not to finalize it.

Meatless Thursday
PDQ Hot and Sour Soup. Skipping the pork and using only the tofu from the $11 purchase on Monday.

Friday
Mediterranean Lamb Stir Fry. We had takeout Caribbean food this weekend and tried curried goat. I may try to use goat instead of lamb, as it is the more locally raised animal, but we shall see.

Eat Well. Be Well. 
Be grateful for those who defend our country.

Even if it means crock-pot, freezer or takeout, make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday. I have already exercised my privilege as an American and voted and you should too. Whatever your politics, we live in an amazing and diverse country. 

Thank you also to those who have already donated $980 to the Feeding My Ohana Virtual Food Drive on behalf of Second Harvest Food Bank. The hardworking people at Second Harvest tell me they update results manually, so matching funds and weekend donations post slightly more slowly. Thank you to all who have donated thus far! 

With that, here's what's cooking this week. 

Monday
Ground chicken with Chinese long beans stir-fried with black bean sauce and sriracha sauce. Bok choy with oyster sauce and rice. College kids: you don't need a recipe for this, just wing it.

Tuesday--Get out and Vote!
Crock pot BBQ sliders. Sandwiches to watch the election results. And Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey, Phish Phood, and Imagine Whirled Peace, which is on sale this week. A low-maintenance dinner so we can de-construct election results whilst eating ice cream from the carton.

Wednesday
Somen salad. As you enjoy  80 degrees in November in California, please keep our 'back East' ohana in your thoughts.

Thursday
Thai Chicken Curry and rice. Cauliflower is coming into season!

Friday
Weekday Lasagne. A nice way to end the week.

Extras
Yoplait coconut yogurt, which I have for lunch with
Home-assembled trail mix: sesame sticks, cashews and dried raspberries
Perfectly hard-boiled eggs
Roasted tomatoes, with some late-season heirloom German Stripes I got at the Farmers' Market yesterday.

Eat Well. Be Well.

I was at the Farmer's Market yesterday and  it feels like everything is in season. We can still enjoy the last bits of summer--tomatoes, zukes and berries, plus the great fall produce--apples, pears and kabocha. I'm in a soup and sandwich-ey  mood, so here's what's cooking this week.

Meatless Monday
My son's favorite Simplest Spaghetti with a side of farmer's market heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.This is a bread-less tomato sandwich.

Tuesday
Fall panini. Using Homemade Pork Sausage Patties. Defrost them and cook them.Then stack it on toasted sourdough with arugula, Havarti cheese and sliced pears. Finish them in the microwave for about 30 seconds, just enough to melt the cheese so that everything sticks together.

Wednesday
Dinner inspired by Mom. Braised Kabocha and My Mom's Miso Soup with an egg dropped in. Believe it or not, we might even get the first rain of the season.

Thursday
Another riff on fall panini, inspired by Ike's Sandwich Lair in Cupertino, CA. Roasted turkey (or possibly chicken) with fresh (traditional) cranberry sauce, havarti cheese, mayo and Sriracha. Why save cranberry sauce just for Thanksgiving?

Almost-Meatless Friday
Jane's Stuffed Zucchini and Roasted Broccoli with lots of garlic and a teeny bit of pancetta.

Eat Well. Be Well.

This post is dedicated to all college kids (and a few in particular) who are now living the dream of off-campus apartment living. 

Ah, yes. The freedom of selecting exactly what you want to eat. No more mass-produced, pre-selected dorm food to be eaten at specified times.

The reality of which quickly becomes, "Oh (appropriate college-level profanity here)!? I have to cook! And wash dishes!? And buy food?! Hello, Mom!?" 

A friend of mine has a child is in just such a predicament, with two vegetarian roomies thrown in, just for some added fun. 


Do not despair, or worse yet, whine. Armed with a salad spinner, rice cooker, a non stick pan, a non-stick spatula and a baking sheet, you will neither starve nor burn through your parents' money eating out. 

What you can make with the above supplies plus a trip to the grocery store for fresh produce.

So whether you are Lions, Tigers or any-type-except-Golden-Bears, 

Cardinal, Crimson or Big Red--enjoy college.

Remember that if you have aluminum foil and an iron, you can make grilled cheese, and that snow banks are excellent temporary coolers.

Eat Well. Be Well. 

Study Hard. Play hard, but not too hard. After all, I'm still a mom!

Hmm. When last I posted, I deliriously anticipated a speedy return to cooking after a couple of days. My kids cycled through this cold after a few days, why not me too? Then the reality of a middle-aged body with bad sinuses made itself very apparent.

One week later and still sniffling.

I've never been a fan of starving a cold or anything else, so we did not starve last week, thanks to takeout and my truly awesome husband. I've chose spicing out a cold and so here's what we ate last week.

Monday
Indian Pizza from Pizza Pub. Yes, we used a ValPak flyer, but it turned out pretty well. Indian pizza is more like putting the spicy Indian chicken dish of your choice (tandoori, tikka masala, paneer or butter) on a flat naan bread-like crust with onions, hot peppers and a little cheese. Not so much pizza as flatbread, with a nice differentiated crunch from both crust and veggies. Plus, it was temperature and spicy hot, just what stuffy noses needed. We will definitely try this again, and not just when we are sick.

Tuesday
Oyako donburi. Almost chicken soup and pure comfort.

Wednesday
From-scratch Grilled Pork Loin. This is becoming a good go-to meal for especially hectic days. Start-to-finish in about 45 minutes, including marinating time.

Thursday
Kalua pig and Kim chee fried rice. We had leftover kalua pig, snow peas, shredded carrots and rice. Add an onion and kim chee for another meal of spicy comfort food. 

Friday
Sandwiches from Ike's Lair, Cupertino. IF hockey season ever gets started, this will likely replace our beloved Togo's. Gasp, there I said it. Why? A great value, a lot of vegetarian and vegan sandwiches, and seriously amazing Dutch crunch bread. Our favorites, #19 Home for Thanksgiving: turkey with Havarti, cranberry sauce and sriacha; Steve Jobs: eggplant with pesto and provolone and #6 Hot Momma Huda: Halal chicken, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, ranch and provolone. Four sandwiches will run about $40, but you will have enough for at least two meals.

I would also like to thank the cyber-ohana for all of your kind words and cold remedy suggestions! Hearing from you all was good medicine indeed. I am on the mend!

Eat Well. Be Well.

Crock Pot Kalua Pig is one of the all-time Feeding My Ohana favorites. 

It is foolproof, using three absolutely simple ingredients and a crock pot. It makes you look like a genius. And the potential for full-meal and even-a-little-fancy leftovers makes me love it even more. Here is the Kalua Pig retrospective.

Day 1
Kalua pig solo. 

Rice balances out the salt/smoke flavor. Salad and fresh melon made for a complete meal.

Day 3
Kalua pig and cabbage. 

Shred a head of cabbage thinly, either by hand or using a mandoline. Heat a hunk of kalua pig in a wok and add cabbage. No oil necessary. As the pork and cabbage heat, the pork will release some of its flavors and the cabbage will soften and get slightly sweet. Another salty/smoky/sweet balance.

Fried egg on top is optional, and was a little overkill this week.

Day 5
Kalua pig taco cups.  

Kalua pig masquerading as carnitas. The Li-hing pineapples need to be worked out a little more, so instead, a quick salsa from a gigantic heirloom tomato.

The leftover gyoza wrappers work out really well when you use a muffin tin to shape them into cups. A quick bake crisps them up.

Please note that I do not advocate pork three times a week as a regular practice, even though kalua pig and cabbage and the kalua pork tacos use very little meat. This was an 'off' week to play with food. In a normal week, I'd freeze the leftovers for another time.

Eat Well. Be Well.

As much I as love summer vacation, I believe that the world ultimately works by the academic calendar. Full-time onsite employees with kids typically takes weeks of summer off, and in Europe and parts of Asia, companies definitely slow down in August. And while I almost look forward to the faster M-F cadence that the household shifts to once, school starts, it's always important to keep your inner aloha. With that, we end summer with "eat outside" food.

Monday
Teriyaki Chicken and Quinoa Salad, using dressing from Spinach Salad, but using honey instead of sugar. This worked really well as a change-up. I was out of Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette and the Caesar or the Miso-Goma dressing in-house just wouldn't do.

Tuesday
Simple summer panini with fresh heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella and choice of pesto or tapenade. No roasted tomatoes needed in the summer! Plus fresh cantaloupe and watermelon.

Wednesday
Crock Pot Kalua Pig. Everyone seems to like this and here is the most recent no-joke request for it. When I was in New England, someone left a sort-of-frantic-and-quasi-anonymous voice mail asking for the recipe. I had to figure out who it was by their voice and area code. This week, I'm serving it in a very down-home "Hawaii" way with cabbage, a fried egg and rice.

Thursday
Sweet and Sour Chicken. This now takes more than an hour since the kids eat so many, so I'm making it while I still have time in the afternoon.

Friday
Kalua pig taco cups with Li-hing pineapple. Since we missed going home to Hawaii this summer, I'm going back to some Hawaii cookbooks. This sounds like a good way to use those orphaned gyoza sheets one inevitably ends up with.

Enjoy every last bit of summer. 

Eat Well. Be Well.