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What's Cooking This Week--On Time!

7/30/2017

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PictureKorean Mushroom Tofu Scramble!
Started Sunday off with a good leftovers roulette omelet with Friday's
 Korean Mushroom Tofu, plus a squeeze of Sriracha for brunch.

And now a quick post for what's cooking this week. We are finally settling into a semblance of planning with grocery shopping and a good Sunday meal with Birdie. I've never been a slave to routine, but it is nice, finally, to have some consistency.

Proper Sunday Dinner with the Birdie

Bulgogi, rice, salad, since non-beef-eating birdie picked dinner last week. I do love the smell of meat and caramelizing shoyu on a Sunday afternoon.

PictureSee recipe at left. Thank you Birdie!
Bonus Sunday Baking by Birdie
We also had haupia brownies and peanut butter maple cookies.
Birdie says Haupia Brownies are Very Simple to Make.

Box of Chewy Brownie Mix (Duncan Hines)
One package of Haupia mix
Make the Haupia according to the directions and set aside. Make the brownie mix according to what the package says, and then swirl some haupia into the mix before baking. That Is All.

The cookies started off vegan, but since the only coconut oil in the house is used as a skincare product, we switched to the un-vegan butter. Look for a recipe and what we substituted next week.

 
#MeatlessMonday aka "Teeny Tiny Friday"
Sabih, with purchased pita and hummus from the Falafel Stop. Still worth the drive “all the way over” to Sunnyvale.
 
Stir Fry Tuesday
General Tso’s Chicken. A quick stir-fry with a recipe from awhile ago. Getting re-acquainted with some throwback favorites.
 
#LeftoversRoulette on Wednesday
Bulgogi Wraps with bean sprouts, but with the leftover short ribs. My Fitness Pal says I need more protein, so I'm heeding its advice! :)
 
Thursday
Quiche—spinach, artichoke hearts, red peppers, zucchini with Colby Jack this time. One for the empty nesters and one straight to the freezer. Not going to any of the birdies.
 
Aloha Friday—or it could be date night!
And with that, have a good week all!


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What's Cooking This Week--Empty Nest Cadence

7/24/2017

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PictureCan you see the pickle mango?
It feels good to get back into a rhythm of cooking again, but boy, is it an adjustment. Two middle-aged adults eat significantly less than a family of four with two metabolism-busting children. But the upside is that foraging works much better and with zero parent guilt! Here's what's cooking this week.

Foraging in the Fridge Monday
The last of Mediterranean Lamb Stir Fry, tomatoes, bread and some cheese.

Grilling on Tuesday
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken and Yaki Corn. Short commute and Daylight savings means weekday grilling is in play!

Fish on Wednesday
Cornmeal Fish and My Daddy's Tartar Sauce. Note to self--tartar sauce, or some kind of condiment is a requirement. Plus salad.

Thursday Night with the 'Rents
La Paloma, a nice, homey, non-chain Mexican restaurant in Santa Clara. Another note to self--exercise extreme self-restraint on free AND unlimited chips and salsa.

PicturePie and new dishes. So fancy!
Friday is #MeatlessOneDay
​Korean Mushroom Tofu, with bean sprouts and watercress from the Korean grocery, plus some kim chee and rice.

Bonus
A peach/raspberry pie and a boysenberry crumble pie from Avila Valley Barn Bakery. A convenient stop on the way back from Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo. Their sandwiches are also quite good.

Can you believe August is next week?! Have a great week all.

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Eating Santa Barbara

7/23/2017

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PicturePerfect weather
When birdies leave the nest, Mamma birdie flies the coop!

We took a quick weekend in Santa Barbara. If you think Bay Area weather is great, Santa Barbara takes that to a whole 'nother circle of paradise (See left).

Visiting a nearly-grown child is different.

We had a preview with the elder birdie in Boston. THEY fit YOU into THEIR schedule and therefore, you don't see them a whole lot.

We do get to meet and feed some of their friends, and their friends seem to like us. On the plus side, they arrange spectacular ohana eating sessions, actually cook for you, and seem genuinely happy to see the old 'rents.

Picture#MeatlessOneDay
So here's what happens--Birdie knows where to go!

Number One--Dinner and Dessert
We enjoyed a fantastic Mediterranean 'grown-up' dinner at Zaytoon in downtown Santa Barbara with birdie and assorted friends. Ate al fresco and that Santa Barbara weather--perfect temperature, very little humdity, no bugs, and evening sunshine. Food is ono and the raspberry lime soda is puckery perfection.

​Post dinner, strolled around downtown Santa Barbara. I have concluded that people look so fancy here because there is a) great shopping, b) a bajillion restaurants, c) perfect weather, and d) McConnell's Ice Cream of Santa Barbara. No pictures because well, it was so good. Tried Earl Gray with shortbread cookies, Pistachio Amaretto, Eureka Lemon with Boysenberry, Peach, and Apricot and Cream. Recommend 'em all.

PictureCaught by Pokemom
Number Two--Pokemon Abound
Awhile back, my children taught me two important millenial phenomena--SnapChat and Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go is a much improved experience where there are lots of college kids. See the cute Pikachu with Ash Ketchum hat, caught a block away from Birdie's nest. It is a bonus that Birdie patiently still puts up with you, even though Pokemon Go is no longer 'a thing'  and has been replaced by Magikarp Jump. Yes, I downloaded Magikarp, but my fishies keep getting retired.

Number Three--Birdie Knows How to Cook!
​My favorite and beloved husband subsisted on Hamburger Helper in college, and I had to learn to cook so my birdies wouldn't starve.

​Birdie made us My Mom's Chicken Katsu, and has arugula, beets, and berries in his fridge, plus lots of eggs.
​

PictureFed by Birdie
 Mamma birdie breathes a sigh of relief.

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The Weekly Menu Returns!

7/16/2017

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PictureEating on the new dishes is so fun!
Having a lot of fun getting acquainted with the new kitchen. A 10-minute commute means I get home, shed the work clothes, get a drink and snack, and can start cooking in about 20 minutes. Full disclosure, this week, the husband has taken over cooking, but with joint planning.

Easy stuff to get back into it.

Wednesday
Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs.
As you can see, husband likes bambucha meatballs. Where I can get about 35 little ping-pong sized ones, we had about 20 total this time. More efficient he says.


Tuesday
Fish Jun with Kochojang Sauce. 
​
Plus rice and some leftover Orzo Salad from the proper Sunday meal. It sounds like a very weird combo, but worked out well.




PictureAlso on the new plates
Thursday
Mediterranean Lamb Stir-fry. We learned that the Safeway in the new 'hood does not stock lamb as an everyday item, but Sprouts does.

Aloha Friday
No Meat chili that we froze from last week. With cheddar cheese, tortilla chips and pineapple cider. A good pau hana dinner!

Bonus Breakfast
The husband's Ridiculously Good Scones with the leftover heavy cream we had from making lilikoi ice cream.

​Already looking forward to the weekend!

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Another Proper Sunday Meal...with Faux Meat!

7/16/2017

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Picture
We enjoyed another proper Sunday family meal with our birdie. It's a funny transition--birdie comes to visit, and we send her back with leftovers for the week. You know how everyone says you become your parents over time?

Happens pretty damn fast.

You can see on Insta and FB that we've been eating out with grown-ups more often now that the nest is empty. While fun, social, and convenient, I got the reality check with BioIQ screening at work this week. Cholesterol has inched up, and somehow, the weight of a newborn baby has decided to join me.

Hence this week's proper vegetarian Sunday meal was Orzo salad, "Better Burgers", and lower cholesterol.

Better Burger is promoted as "Non-Soy, Non-GMO, gluten-free veggie burgers that taste/feel like hamburgers" Meat-eating husband picked them up at Safeway to try them.

PictureVery much meat-like
​Verdict
Pretty good grilled, but we'll probably stick to the real thing. Or make-your-own-veggie burgers. Beyond Meat definitely has the 'feel' of a good burger, tastes pretty good.

However, when we delved into the details of ingredients, newly minted Bachelor of Sciences in Biology birdie declared, "Still a lot of starch and fat, and and a lot of super-processed ingredients."

We then compared it to the Italian sausages sitting in the fridge as part of the Weekly Menu (yes, it's back!) Each serving had a comparable amount of saturated fat and protein, and sausage had more ingredients that we could identify.

We'd probably have them again when non-beef-eating Birdie comes home for Sunday dinner, but more likely, we'll stick with real-food items, exercise and moderation.

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Where Did the Time Go?

7/9/2017

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PictureSunday dinner when the birdie(s) come home
11/13/16 thru' 7/10/17.

What the heck happened?!


We certainly didn't starve, especially if you have watching Feeding My Ohana on FB or Insta, but I am still figuring out empty nest cadence.

And while the election results rocked our entire household's world, close-to-home events like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's work travel, family-related travel, graduations, aging relatives, downsizing the house, various corporate restructuring, the occasional head cold, and moving birdies out, in and out again, all happened.

Without going down a political minefield, I'm navigating how I can be a positive difference in my corner of the world, particularly now that children I have watched grow up are graduating from high school and college, and entering the workforce. It should be a more equal playing field for them than it was for me.


What I am happy to continue to share is our proper Sunday meal, and finally, getting back to a weekly meal cycle.

Here is our proper Sunday meal, all the tastier on our non-chippy dishes. If anyone is looking for new dishes, let me know. I looked around. A LOT.

​Misoyaki salmon--an old favorite for the new house
Grilled asparagus
Musubi and family
A simple salad with a box of greens, beets that I cooked earlier in the week, a handful of nuts and raspberries, drizzled with blueberry balsamic vinegar.

Thank you all for hanging with me through the radio silence. There was much to share along the way, and I'm looking forward to getting back to the blog and cooking in the new place!

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    I love to eat, so I had to learn to cook. This is my personal reference and I use it daily. Looking forward, when I turn a profit, 95% of net profit will go to programs to feed the hungry.

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