We can carry the vegetarian challenge one more day, especially since the hot weather makes me unlikely to want to cook anything. But meat returns, and the husband is relieved. Here's what's cooking this week. MondayIt was about 90 degrees in the Bay Area today and I really didn't feel like cooking. So I've made a variation on C's Orzo Salad that requires even less cooking. I'm calling it On-the-fly Orzo Salad, and it's at the bottom of C's Orzo Salad page. Fresh berries and maple yogurt for dessert. Instead of cooking onions and corn, I'm using fresh mozzarella balls, red peppers, cucumbers, a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, the last of the roasted tomatoes, fresh basil and a little bit of balsamic vinegar.  Kai choy in the garden TuesdayBanish the Bottle Teriyaki Chicken, musubi, Ponzu parmesan yaki corn, and kai choy sauteed in the teriyaki sauce. Kai choy is in season and the hot weather will either wilt it or turn it to seed, so we'll be eating a lot of it this week. WednesdayNakayoshi Gakko Somen Salad. Both my kids have after-school sports on Wednesdays now, so it has to be something that can be made well in advance. Another great hot weather meal salad. ThursdayAmped Up Macaroni and Cheese and the other half of double batch of From Scratch Pork Loin that I made a couple of weeks ago and froze. FridayFish and rice. Omi's Shoyu Fish, rice and more kai choy. Snacks and lunch foodDecidedly vegetable based for my voracious teenagers. Fresh black-, blue- and straw-berries. Fluffy Wheat Bread, Steve's Hummus, roasted cauliflower with curry (as suggested from Facebook), Baba Ghanouj and more Roasted Tomatoes. Fresh vegetables, in-season berries and warmer weather. Finally on our way to summer. Eat Well. Be Well.
 Omi's Shoyu Fish |  Nakayoshi Gakko Somen Salad |
Here are two more ridiculously simple yet ono recipes with made with items that are always in your pantry.  Formerly known as " Costco (and Others) Pork Loin." This marinade is 5 ingredients and fool-proof. Garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil. Marinate for as little 15 minutes before grilling. 30 minutes on the grill and you are done. I made a double batch (4 pork loins) and I'm thinking I'll freeze an uncooked one for "one of those days." Click here for updated recipe.
 With another nod to Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa. On Wednesday night, I had one potato, two potato, three potato, four. By Thursday afternoon, no more. Plain ole' brown potatoes with olive oil Hawaiian salt, pepper and garlic. 40 minutes or so in the oven, with a flip at 20. Crunchy outside, fluffy inside. Click here for the recipe. Have a great weekend! Eat Well. Be Well.
90 degrees one day and 55 degrees the next. Try cooking, let alone dressing for days like this.
shorts, pool and grill today
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Sweaters, umbrellas and the oven tomorrow
| But we are lucky to live in such a beautiful place. Transition seasons mean taking advantage of spring vegetables; think greens and asparagus, as well as the occasional kabocha when the weather gets cold. Monday Sunny and pleasant. One of those trademark Bay Area days. Misoyaki Butterfish, My Mom's Japanese Coleslaw and rice. Butterfish was fresh and on sale yesterday. Even better, we had it grilled instead of the usual bake. Great when grilled, and is updated as such on the recipe.  Homegrown arugula TuesdayStill pretty nice, but clouds are a-coming. Having Macadamia Arugula Pasta because the arugula in the garden is happy and waiting to be eaten. Wednesday is Rain DayOven cooking. Mayonnaise Chicken, Roasted Asparagus and TBD cooked potatoes--likely also roasted somehow. Thursday is Grill DayGrilled Pork Loin panini with mushrooms and Jarlsberg cheese, or sriacha mayonnaise and leftover coleslaw. The husband made a great and very easy pork loin rub/marinade over the weekend. This means we bid adieu to the pre-seasoned pork tenderloins. The new method is just that easy, and no preservatives. As a bonus, we can make a lot and keep the rest for sandwiches during the week. Recipe posting later this week.Friday Daikon was also on sale and looking very fine. It's still too cold for Na-omi-take tofu, so I'm trying a modified agedashi tofu. Pan saute or grill tofu slices brushed with a little sesame oil. Grate the daikon, mix with ponzu and green onions. Slather over the tofu and eat. Braised kabocha to balance out the high-strung flavor of daikon/ponzu. Rice and kim chee. I do like the sound of this meal already. Adventures from Vancouver start this week too. Eat Well. Be Well.
Yes, I know the week doesn't start on Tuesdays, but things sometimes take longer than you think. And Monday showed no signs of pausing just for me. So here's a quick re-cap on what's cooking this week.
Monday
This was a very long day. We did takeout Chinese. Hot garlic eggplant, Singapore-style noodles, sautéed pea shoots, braised spicy tofu and lemon chicken. I could have made all of these things at home, but we'd be eating them sometime Wednesday. Chinese takeout gives us variety, is pretty reasonable, and makes for great leftovers.
 ThursdayThis really needs to be the day the San Jose Sharks take one from the St. Louis Blues. All our collective mojo will be channeled to that effort--because we all like to believe that a good luck jersey and a teal and black manicure have the absolute and uncanny ability to cause positive outcomes for hockey games. So it'll be Crock Pot BBQ Pork Sliders as the TV dinner. Start it in the morning and have dinner right in time for the puck drop. FridaySomething nice and soothing for whatever happens on Thursday. Shabu-shabu will be a restful way to end the week. All I need to do is boil water. Eat Well. Be Well. -->GO SHARKS!
With the recent attention focused on the now infamous pink slime filler in ground beef (Is it beef? Isn't beef?), I have been thinking much more critically about what goes into ground meat. Besides the icky filler, parts from many cows or pigs can be funneled into a single pound of ground meat. Thus, it was the perfect time to try homemade pork sausage.
 Fresh homemade pork sausage It was infinitely easier than I thought. It's less expensive. It freezes well. And I know exactly what the ingredients are--meat from one little piggy, spices, and some organic maple syrup. No fillers, ammonia, nitrites, preservatives, MSG or lamb casings. The household approved, and promptly passed a referendum putting an immediate halt to store-bought pork sausages. Pork sausage is about 2 pounds of boneless organic pork butt, sage, nutmeg, thyme, Hawaiian salt, black pepper, and 2T (about 25 cents' worth) of organic maple syrup. Give chunks of pork a whir in the food processor for about 20 seconds, mix in the spices. Voila ici--bulk pork sausage. I took the extra step to make patties. Yield was 17. At least 2 breakfasts' worth, enough to start two batches of meatballs, or a full recipe of cornbread stuffing. I estimate it's about 25-30% less expensive that either Jimmy Dean or Jones brand sausages. We are not abandoning Spam, Portuguese sausage or kamaboko, which is the fish equivalent of Spam. Let's be honest, giving up these would cause anarchy. However, these items tend to be 'special occasion' food. I've already found a couple of recipes for homemade Portuguese sausage that I'm evaluating. Lastly, thank you to one of my wisest and dearest friends who does not eat any ground meat, or as she refers to them, "parts". She has always inspired me to find better alternatives in everything I do. Mahalo KT! Eat Well. Be Well.
 Snow, finally in Lake Tahoe Today is the first day of the year of the Dragon. Being a Dragon Lady rather than a Tiger Mom, this is supposed to be my year for new undertakings. The signs are everywhere.
#1 sign. A friend has encouraged me to put together a book proposal. Whoa! and Yay!
#2 sign. Over a cup of Kona coffee on a getaway Lake Tahoe weekend, one of my dearest, most loyal and refreshingly candid Feeding My Ohana followers gently reminded me that, "Your recipes are all good and we all know you can cook, but you've not had many new recipes lately. What more are you going to do with Feeding My Ohana?"
#3 sign. Today, I had lunch with a former boss who asked me the very same thing, along with, "What are your plans for a mobile app?"
Food for thought indeed. Fabulous Ideas and a whole new year to Do Something. So Step 1: New recipes. Here's Week 2 of better four legs/feathers/gills/plants distribution and three new meals to foist upon the family.
 Hot and sour soup in 30 minutes MondayPDQ Hot and Sour Soup (four legs). No gau, the Chinese mochi that is typically served for Lunar New Year's, so it'll have to be Jello mochi instead. TuesdayCrock Pot Peanut Butter Beer Miso Chicken (new feathers). I've been wanting to try this for awhile now-a Honolulu Advertiser recipe I brought back this past summer. I will post to the Greenhouse later this week. Wednesday
Lemon pasta with macadamia nuts, mushroom and parmesan (new plants). This is based on a recipe that uses hazelnuts, and I'll likely throw in some arugula for color and a little peppery zap.
ThursdayAlan Wong-inspired avocado poke stacks (new gills) and Bri's Butternut squash. The avocado poke stacks are one of the doable-at-home recipes from the Blue Tomato cookbook, and I'm using the spam musubi maker as a mold. Balancing the lightness and saltiness of the ahi with the substantive creamy sweet of butternut squash. And perhaps some kind of wilted arugula for salad. This could be a great meal, or just plain weird. FridayPannini using bread-machine bread with roasted tomatoes, mozzarella and arugula. Roasting tomatoes seems to be the best way to get good flavor from winter tomatoes, and we are two days with plants this week. Any other suggestions for Feeding My Ohana are most welcome. What do You want to do this year? Eat Well. Be Well.
 My children: sous chefs in training It's going to be a hectic week. So I'm conscripting my children sous chefs, and dinners will be a little off-website. I'm hoping sous-chef-ing will become a regular gig for them. This is what one of my girlfriends has done with her teenagers and it has worked out well.
To reinforce the idea of helping out, I keep reminding my children that to this day, my parents have gotten along perfectly fine without a mechanical dishwasher; Dishwashing is what my sisters and I were for.
With thanks (in advance) for my children, here is what's cooking this week.
 Crock Pot BBQ Sliders MondayLeftovers roulette pasta with chicken, roasted tomatoes, broccoli and hot pepper flakes. The last of the Costco chicken and roasted tomatoes, plus an errant head of broccoli, cut into florets by the children. Tuesday" Sausage Stir-Fry" Chicken-apple sausages stir-fried with onions and peppers. Slice sausages, onions and peppers. Brown the sausages first, then toss in the onions and peppers. Eat with Asiago cheese bread from Safeway and salad. The kids may even make this one themselves. WednesdayCrock Pot BBQ Pork Sliders and salad. The children get a break today. ThursdayChicken, Rice and Cheese. According to my husband, this is going to be some sort of tortilla-less enchilada. FridayMaPo Tofu with green beans and rice. Tofu slicing, rice making and green bean shucking duties for the children. After all the warnings about not touching knives and not playing with a hot stove, it's time to turn 'em loose. Eat Well. Be Well.
 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.
This is a very typical meal rotation. A balance of 'American' meals like spaghetti and chicken divan with 'Asian' food like Kim Chee Pork and Dan Dan Noodles. I'm finally getting to a Poached Salmon with Grape Sauce Recipe from the Greenhouse. SundayHow do you feed 4 hungry teenage boys who have decided to stay for dinner? Spaghetti Sauce II--Laurie and the Jars and lots of it. Friends and family are always welcome here. MondayIt's dinner for breakfast. Ham cups filled with egg, a little pesto, chese and tomato. How can this not be good?! Plus fresh hash browns. I've borrowed a brunch cookbook from our local library at least three times and now I'm hell-bent on finally making this. I anticipate this will be fast-tracked in the Greenhouse too. TuesdayKim Chee Pork. Another fast-tracker in Greenhouse. All I need to do is balance out the enoki to kim chee to thin pork ratio. This is going to be a great winter speed dinner.  WednesdayChicken Divan. Mid-week comfort food. What's not to love about cheese and broccoli? ThursdayDan Dan Noodles. I'm finding that the Middle Eastern tahini paste has become very, very handy for Asian-type recipes. Will try making Dan Dan Noodles with tahini. FridaySalmon and grape sauce. This is another recipe that's been sitting in the Greenhouse for way too long. Happy Halloween. Eat Well. Be Well.
 Some quick updates and long overdue additions. Tonkatsu. I don't think of it as a recipe, but the kids were Most Displeased that this was not in the Four Legs section. So now it's there. We had Shabu Shabu this week and I made the ponzu and sesame sauces from scratch. It was very easy, and will eliminate the half-used bottles in the fridge. Kim Chee PorkI made this awhile ago with 4-thumbs up around the dinner table. It rocks over hot rice, and just needs a little tweaking for the pork to enoki mushroom ratio. Really, it could almost be a vegetarian meal.
Triple-D Recipe ReviewUpdates from the new recipes from this past week. Triple-D recipes were 2-1 this week, with the winners fast-tracked to the Greenhouse. I'll make them once more, just to make sure. Shoyu salmon sandwiches with ginger/sriacha mayonnaise was definitely a unanimous "Yes." Easy and ono. Mahi mahi, snapper and even a big fish like halibut would work with this too. Spicy Asian Coleslaw. Also a yes, but I need to take it easy on the Sriracha sauce. Not all recipes find a home in this house. The sweet potato/black bean empanadas were weirdly dessert-like and too much work, even with wonton wrappers as a shortcut. While I like the idea of black beans, sweet potatoes, a little cinnamon and cilantro, if I make this again, I'll just serve it like mashed potatoes as a side dish. A rare free Saturday night's all right for getting my electronic recipe drawer in order. Eat Well. Be Well.
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