Cows will not be sacred this week. My son, who doesn't eat cow as a lifestyle choice, has educated us. We rarely eat beef. However, he is on a school trip. While I miss him dearly, much more than say, his older sister does, we will console ourselves with beef. Here's what's cooking this week.

Monday
Korean Egg Meat Jun, My Mom's Japanese Coleslaw and hot rice. I don't have enough time to make Macaroni Salad, otherwise, this would be a pretty fair plate lunch dinner.

Tuesday
Salt and Pepper Shrimp, green beans, Okinawan sweet potatoes and rice. Day 1 prep for Beef Barley Soup/Stew. 

You didn't really think we would eat beef every day did you?! Even the steak-loving husband has limits.

Wednesday
Beef Barley Soup and Fluffy Wheat Bread because it's supposed to rain, rain, rain. Perfect soup weather.

Thursday
Chicken Piccata, mashed potatoes and broccoli. Fresh lemons from my neighbor work well. This may turn into Fixed Lemon Chicken, depending on how I feel. I may even feel like a cheeseburger from In-n-Out.

Friday
Christine's Clam Chowder and the rest of the bread. Fish on Friday, more or less.

Please note that this is a one-week cow-feasting anomaly. I do not advocate eating this way as a normal routine. I'm grateful and proud that my son has steadfastly stuck to his no-cow commitment.

Eat Well. Be Well.

I tried out 4 new recipes this week; two of which involved baking. They came through a friend, the newspaper, and an amalgamation of cookbooks. Then they went through the "Hmm, I don't really like this, that or the other thing" filter to change things up.

This results were definitely a mixed bag. I've already posted Beer Bread, by far the week's winner. This will be a regular from now on and the bread maker is looking neglected and a little worried.

Next was getting to a practical Pad Thai without using a telephone and a credit card. I went through 3 cookbooks, the back of a few boxes at the market, and a few standby cooking sites to cobble something together. About half of the recipes included few tablespoons of tamarind paste, but definitely not enough to justify buying an entire jar of the stuff.  My goal was to not to use tamarind paste but still taste "like takeout". 

I used a combination of catsup, black bean sauce, fish sauce, white pepper, ginger, lime juice, Sriracha sauce and fish sauce. What I ended up with was not bad, but definitely not takeout. Bean sprouts, lime juice, green onions and fish sauce are definitely in. The rest needs some research.

I also have to give a big assist to the Facebook Feeding My Ohana for their moral support and suggestions for Pad Thai. I shall have to try this again, especially since I've got half a package of rice noodles. 

Eat Well. Be Well.