Where does Summer go?
Schools have been starting around here from August 15th! We're going light on meat this week as we still have a lot of summer veggies from our garden and the 'ohana' trading system--zukes for string beans, overstocked tomatoes and squash, and even sleepovers for brownies! This week's menu is to keep the summer vibe going.
 Monday: Misoyaki salmon and edamame rice. Using King salmon, which is on sale, instead of butterfish, which is not available. Separately, I'll be roasting some humongous tomatoes from a friend and more of our zukes since I'll already be using the oven. Tuesday: Roasted tomato/zucchini and basil pizza using another whole-wheat Boboli. There's no recipe for this one, it's really just construction. No bok choy this time!Wednesday: Nakaoyshi Gakko Somen salad (again), using the cukes, tomatoes and lettuce from the garden, scrambled eggs and kamaboko. This is very popular in the summer.
 Thursday: My Daddy's Killer Fried Rice, using some fresh string beans, the rest of the kamaboko, carrots, onions and the rest of the homemade char siu that I froze awhile back. Friday: Nametake Tofu. My sister sent me this recipe. It's supposed to be hot again, so no cooking and all-veg today. Have a good week back to school (!?) Eat Well. Be Well.
Meals this week are very end-of-summer, casual, hand-friendly food. This seems to work out well when kids and/or their friends come in and out looking like we've never fed them. Lots of grab-and-go food that can be eaten hot or straight out of the fridge as a leftover. Monday--Sticky rice from my foodie friend Christine. She gave me some homemade, leaf-wrapped Chinese-style sticky rice that we are excited to try. I will try to get the recipe from her. Tuesday-- Chili. Not portable, but useful for nachos or chili dogs for lunch or afternoon munchies for the kids.  Gyros Wednesday-- Korean Egg Meat and bean sprouts. Bento food. Just add musubi and you can almost forego utensils. Thursday-- Somen Salad. I always make a double batch for lunches. Friday-- Baba Ghanouj and Gyros. Using lots of cucumbers and eggplant. While Baba Ghanouj will never win the food Miss USA pageant, it is a go-to afternoon snack veggies or crackers. Eat Well. Be Well.
 My neighbor kindly shared a *huge* box of home-grown lemons. So the game of the week is to use them in as many different ways as we can. Here's what's cooking. Monday-- "Fixed" lemon chicken, broccoli, home-grown lettuce salad, and rice Tuesday-- Ex-pat poke (nice tuna again!), oven-baked purple Okinawan sweet potato fries (an experiment inspired by the Bon Chon sweet potato fries), Nakayoshi Gakko Somen Salad. A lemon-free day. Wednesday-- Lemony Bacon Farfalle. Double the recipe to use lots of lemons, plus enough for lunches. Thursday--New recipe. Mahi-mahi in a Mediterranean-ish red sauce using tomatoes and, wait for it, lemon. Friday--Leftovers' Buffet. Cut up the leftover lemon chicken and toss it over the remaining farfalle. Eat the rest of the fish with brocooli and the sweet potato fries. I guarantee there will be no leftover poke. Add some more lettuce and cukes to the somen salad and to finish. Lemony extras this week: More Strawberry muffins, Lemon Bars, Hummus, Guacamole (usually a lime, but when you've got a crateful of lemons...) and maybe some Baba Ghanouj as an experiment. Life gives you lemons so you can Eat Well. Be Well. And send any lemon recipes my way.
The weather forecast is hot and cold, and even the possibility of rain. So we're going with a little bit of everything for dinner this week. We're eating Hawaii, Chinese, Thai, American and Japanese. I even managed to go to the Chinese (for fresh char siu and Chinese-style roasted chicken--these are definitely 'buy' items), Japanese (for rice, somen and Hawaii chow fun noodles) and 'regular' grocery stores (everything else) in one power trip today.  Monday-- Pillsbury Manapua (see right, using ground pork filling). Mixing it up a little this time. Filling #1 = char siu (bought) and green onions. Filling #2 = roast Chinese-style chicken (bought) + spinach + green onions. Plus spinach sauteed with garlic and green onions using sesame, chili and canola oil. Tuesday-- Sick and Wrong Fish and Nakayoshi Gakko Somen Salad. Wednesday-- Amped Up Macaroni and Cheese and sauteed Swiss chard. Hoping for a decent picture of the mac and cheese. Thursday-- Thai Chicken Curry. My daughter's favorite. Coincidentally, also in need of a photo. Friday-- Salt and Pepper Chicken/Shrimp, take 2. A few fixes and using both chicken and shrimp this time. Spring is in the air! 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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