Barilla no-boil lasagne noodles are the most amazing time-saver. Possibly ever. Feeding My Ohana's preferred lasagne was Stouffer's, but a friend of mine served from-scratch lasagne with these noodles and it was too good and too easy not to try at home.

I'm converted.

I love lasagne, but traditional production made this impossible to do on a weekday, unless you want to eat at 10:00PM.

Here's a quick overview of what I did for vegetarian lasagne. Total time was about 90 minutes. Click here for the complete recipe.

1) Used Spaghetti Sauce II as the base sauce, but ditched the sausage and added an eggplant. 

2) Assembled lasagne in 9 x 13 pan. 4 pieces of no-boil lasagne noodles, ricotta cheese, sauce, mozzarella, sauce. 

3) Repeated 4 times. Top with remaining sauce and mozarella cheese. I didn't have parmesan, but would have sprinkled a bit on top if I did.

4) Cover loosely with aluminum foil and baked at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. Don't let the foil touch the cheese or it will stick and make a mess. On the subject of messes, best to put the pan on a shallow baking sheet because the noodles do expand and there is a little bit of drip-over.

5) Remove foil. I had to detach hot stringy cheese because I didn't foil properly (See #4). Bake uncovered for another 10 minutes and then let it sit for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Honest to the non-denominational supreme being of your individual religious or emotional leanings, this was last week's carpool Wednesday dinner. Note that I did have a kid at home so I could run the oven while I drove.

And while the husband sniffed, "It would be even better with a little sausage," the kids said, "No more Stouffer's"

Eat Well. Be Well. We sure did.

This post is late because I've come down with a stuffy head cold. I felt it coming on yesterday, and today I took a full-blown sick day. Until now, offline and in bed. There have been plenty of times when we've dragged your contagious selves to the office thinking, "I've just got to get this one project done"  and then wandered rheumy-eyed through the grocery store. For fear of a freak micro-tornado in your cube and your family having a starvation meltdown. It's only taken me at least 2-score and several more to grasp that my imagination far outpaces reality.

So, thanks to conscripting the kids, Costco and a bunch of Superbowl leftovers, we will not starve. Especially since we have a bag of tortillas (unbelievable, huh?), a bag of potato chips, eggrolls, a dozen garlic spare ribs, some blue cheese, leftover Buffalo wings, half a tin of chocolate chip cookies, and three pieces of pineapple upside down cake. Plus frozen soup.

I'm not into starving a cold. So here's what we're eating this week.

Monday
Sushi pie with the leftover crab, cucumbers and avocado. My husband helped a family friend with his home wifi and in trade, we got oyster sauce shrimp for dinner. We also cleaned out the eggrolls and spare ribs.

Tuesday/Sick Day
Costco chicken, broccoli and rice. Love a meal that depends on pressing buttons on the rice cooker, microwave, and cel phone (to text the husband).

Wednesday
Buffalo chicken wraps. I'm shredding the rest of the Buffalo chicken wings, adding some very, very, very finely chopped celery (Kids and Husband, you did not see this), tossing the whole thing with buttermilk dip and shredded lettuce and then wrapping it up with a tortilla. All the dip and lettuce should cut the a-little-too-hot wings down to pleasantly edible.

Thursday
TBD tart with a frozen puff pastry, the leftover blue cheese, pears and maybe some sausage. It's based on a baked stuffed pears recipe I've been meaning to try.

Friday
I'm thinking tofu with black bean sauce and string beans. But if this head cold hangs on, it'll be miso soup with tofu and an egg dropped in.

Eat Well. Be Well. Get Well!

A quick pre-Superbowl post. 

It's all about Madonna and the commercials. It is also what happens our "Superbowl" party includes a family of Calgary Flames fans, a family who knows "football" can also mean soccer but are unsure if they're coming to watch soccer or football, our own fair-weather football family, and a real football-knowledgeable family who are still salty that the 49ers are not playing today but are kind enough to put up with the other laissez-faire football families in attendance.

We went for more 'traditional' football food this year. Here's what's cooking today. Plus whatever our friends bring--and it's always good.

Chili. Made last night. Add your choice of rice, grated sharp cheddar cheese or tortilla chips.
Fresh guacamole and salsa
Buffalo wings with a pickled onion/blue cheese/buttermilk dipping sauce. This is a new item being made as I type. The husband picked it because it looked looked good and could be made in the time between the end of church and the beginning of broadcast. Going into the oven right now.

Whatever your sports or non-sports leanings, enjoy the afternoon. Time for me to clean up my desk and get ready for a little football and a happy dose of ohana time. Eat Well. Be Well.

Arugula has not been a frequent consumable in our house. It's been called weeds when the household is feeling charitable but typically arugula is relegated to cud, as in what cows chew.

OK, so it does look a little weedy. It doesn't have the sweet crunchiness of what my children call 'normal' lettuce (romaine, butter, red leaf or Manoa). Even the then-candidate Barack Obama had an unfortunate arugula moment a few years back.

Arugula needed a makeover. This week, I'm happy to add 2 new recipes for the weedy but crunchy/peppery arugula. While both use happy doses of cheese and cream, they are plants-only dinners.

From last week, my arugula toss-together using Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper pasta, macadamia nuts, mushrooms, parmesan and arugula. Click here for the recipe. The entire household was very happy--tasty, fast and most importantly, no leftovers.

Arugula #2 is from my friend Kat, who made a cream sauce version using a few other veggies and leftover heavy cream from when she made scones. Click here for hers. 

Both recipes are featured in the Greenhouse. Either way, arugula deserves a fresh look. Eat Well. Be Well.

I'm purposely going without Four Legs this week. With the 49ers cruelly eliminated, our Superbowl potluck focuses squarely on eating and deconstructing the half-time show and the commercials. During that time, I'm quite sure we'll enjoy several of varieties of our four-legged friends. 

And in the interest of full disclosure, I didn't make avocado poke stacks last week--we went to Kikusushi instead. I'm hoping to fit it in somewhere, perhaps at our Superbowl party. With that, here's what's cooking this week.

Monday
Crock-Pot Miso Chicken Wraps. (Lefotvers Roulette + feathers) This recipe is in the Greenhouse because it is has potential, but needs some serious help. It turned out way too sweet. I'm hoping the Spicy Asian Coleslaw will balance it out and make a good leftovers meal. It could also cause a dinner riot, a 1-day hunger strike, or we could all have apple pie for dinner.

Tuesday
Chicken Adobo (Also feathers) and Japanese Potato Salad. The adobo is by request of my mother-in-law, who will be 'minding' the teenagers. What she says goes. Japanese Potato Salad at the request of the teenagers.

Wednesday
Lasagne (plants) A friend of ours made lasagne with Barilla no-boil with no-bake noodles, and it was awesome. Great taste and texture, in half the time. I'm using Spaghetti Sauce II as a base, but omitting Italian sausage. And since it is not zucchini season, I'm adding spinach and an eggplant.

Thursday
Garlic Cilantro Mahi (gills) and Tropical Rice Pilaf. I've not made this rice pilaf in quite awhile and I miss it. I'll have to see if I can scrounge up a mango this week at Marukai.

Friday
Techie Gnocchi (plants). Light meals leading up to the weekend.

As noted above, last week's Crock Pot Miso Chicken is now in the Greenhouse. Lemon Pasta with Macadamia Nuts will probably go directly to Plants as it has given the husband new-found, but grudging respect for arugula. 

Go New Yor-ngland Patri-ants. I shall look forward to the commercials and lively company. Maybe we'll watch a little football. 

Eat Well. Be Well.  

I was in Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Officially, it's where the largest CE manufacturers showcase their latest and greatest gizmos. If you want to see 3,000 flavors of TVs, 4,000 variations on a cel phone, and more earbuds than there are people in Los Angeles, go to Vegas during the 2nd week in January. 

I'm convinced that a huge chunk of the Silicon Valley workforce goes there just to gnarl up their traffic, meet with people they could actually have met locally, and let's face it, where the grown-up "Big Bang Theory" types go to be seen.  Quite simply, it's nuts.

I was there for my client, but a girl has to eat (and drink). Like last year, I stayed at Paris Las Vegas. Great location and the room service continental breakfast and French press coffee is still excellent. For my client, it was also a good deal because it easily fed me for 2 meals and a snack in the afternoon. This was essential because I've had better food at the concession stand of the Honolulu Zoo than on the show floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Las Vegas, I know you can do better than this!

I ate at the The Sugar Factory twice. It not subtle or small and makes no apologies for itself. After all, it's the SUGAR Factory. However, you can easily get a table, no mean feat when Vegas is over-run with 150,000 frugal techies. 

Desserts and drinks definitely live up the the hype. Hot chocolates (Coconut or Raspberry) are pricey at $9, but fab-u-lous. Split it with a friend, or take the leftovers in a to-go cup. Mix it with a little coffee for that last midnight drink. 

I also LOVED the Red Velvet Sundae, so much so that I had it twice. But make sure you bring several or even a half-dozen of your friends to share it with you.

The Sugar Factory is great for dessert or snacks. The food is fine but not fantastic. Ahi sliders were OK, but a ratatouille crepe I had was pretty good. Be forewarned that they tend to add sugar to everything, including plain ole' cappuccinos or lattes. Best to ask them to hold the sugar on the coffee drinks.

If you want to Dine/Eat, 1) make advance reservations, easily a month ahead, especially during CES and 2) try Yellowtail at the Bellagio at the high end, 3) mid-range Mon Ami Gabi in Paris or 3) Noodle Asia at the Venetian for a more casual meal. And you can always take a quick bite at Nathan's Hot Dogs on the way to the Monorail.

After eating like this for four days straight, I felt a little like Morgan Spurlock. Las Vegas itself is Super-sized, and a person should not eat like this all the time. However, if you have to travel for work, it's great place to go.

Eat Well. Be Well.

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.

Monday
PDQ 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.

Tuesday
Crock 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.

Thursday
Alan 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.

Friday
Pannini 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.

This was supposed to be Friday's meal, but it sounded too easy not to do on carpool Wednesday.

The original recipe is called "Shawarma Lamb with Couscous Salad" from the November, 2011 Sunset Magazine. I already knew I wanted to add more vegetables and garlic, but I had to go even more off-recipe. The couscous I had expired in December.

Of 2005. I hate it when that happens.

While it looked and smelled perfectly fine, it went into the compost heap. I went with short-grain brown rice in the rice cooker. Quinoa would also work well.

This is quick, ono, and not so meat-intensive. Adding green beans and red peppers lightens it up visually and flavor-wise. Another great vegetable combo would be green, red and yellow peppers. This will be a most welcome new addition to Four Legs. Click here for the recipe as I made it last night.

Eat Well. Be Well.

2012 brings a new normal to the house. Conscripting the kids last week proved wildly successful (from my perspective), and therefore, will continue. Every kid should know how to cut with a good knife and make rice and a simple stir fry. 

I'm also trying harder for better distribution in our weekly meals. When we took cow out of our everyday dinner rotation, we ended up leaning on this little piggy just a bit too much--pork, spam, bacon and char siu. All of it supremely ono, but better moderation is key here, especially for Spam-I-Am. 

Thus, I'm aiming for better balance among four legs/feathers/gills/plants for Monday through Friday eating. With that, here's what's cooking this week. 

Monday
Now-Completely-Chicken-less Enchiladas. Instead of chicken, I'm using Spanish Rice as filling. This is the Plants meal. Livestock production generates 18% of the world's greenhouse gases, more than the transportation sector. While we're not ready to be weekday vegetarians, this is a start.

Tuesday
Pollo Nonna. Feathers Meal #1. Yes, it uses bacon, but only 4 strips as a flavoring element. We are going for a happy medium and not utter food austerity.

Wednesday
Teriyaki Chicken. Feathers #2. This is one of my go-to comfort meals. One pan, one rice cooker, one bowl of salad and everyone is happy.

Thursday
Misoyaki Butterfish or Salmon and Edamame Rice. Gills. If butterfish is fresh and doesn't break the bank, I'll get some. Otherwise, it's flash frozen salmon. My mother-in-law is visiting, and this is one of her favorites.

Food Lab Friday
Shawarma Lamb and Couscous. Baa-baa-black sheep, aka, Four Legs, will be used to flavor, rather than as a centerpiece. The start of this meal is a recipe from Sunset Magazine. I'll be reducing the amount of lamb, and adding red peppers, probably green beans or maybe cucumbers. It looks like a stir-fry with Mediterranean ingredients and couscous instead of rice.

Eat Well. Be Well. 

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.

Monday
Leftovers 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.

Wednesday
Crock Pot BBQ Pork Sliders and salad. The children get a break today.

Thursday
Chicken, Rice and Cheese. According to my husband, this is going to be some sort of tortilla-less enchilada.

Friday
MaPo 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.