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Two Non-Sequitur Recipes

6/28/2015

I've been traveling quite a bit lately--to New England, Washington DC, and LA. Thus, a lot of eating has been going on, but not necessarily a lot of programmatic cooking. These two have been well-used lately.

Breakfast of Champions (at some point!)

ALL PURPOSE SMOOTHIES
I have settled on an all-purpose smoothie as my consistent work-day breakfast. Two cups go to work Monday through Friday. One with hot milk for making coffee at the office.

The other is the "Who needs to spend $5 on JambaJuice" smoothie that I manage to make in the morning, and still get to work on time. And then the "second shift" of either husband or birdie has the other half.

One important caveat on the aesthetic of a slightly less than freshly-made smoothie. If you store the second serving in the fridge, it will separate and look really quite gross after a couple of hours. IT IS STILL TASTY! Simply give it a good stir. Close your eyes if you must, but trust me, as long as you have it within the same day, it will be yum. Click here for recipe.

Aloha Rhode Island

JANE'S BAKED SCALLOPS
My New England (Mass and RI) ohana is simply awesome. As much as I would love to, I cannot eat lob-stuh, due to food allergies, Jane's Baked Scallops give me that seafood fix in a simple, comfort-food fashion.

Nothing fancy, just good fresh food that is easy to make. Click here to make it this week.

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A Virtual Care Package for a College Kid

9/24/2012

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Brown University, Providence, RI

This post is dedicated to all college kids (and a few in particular) who are now living the dream of off-campus apartment living.

Ah, yes. The freedom of selecting exactly what you want to eat. No more mass-produced, pre-selected dorm food to be eaten at specified times.

The reality of which quickly becomes, "Oh (appropriate college-level profanity here)!? I have to cook! And wash dishes!? And buy food?! Hello, Mom!?"

A friend of mine has a child is in just such a predicament, with two vegetarian roomies thrown in, just for some added fun.

Do not despair, or worse yet, whine. Armed with a salad spinner, rice cooker, a non stick pan, a non-stick spatula and a baking sheet, you will neither starve nor burn through your parents' money eating out.

Feeding Your Ohana 101: Staples you should always try to have in-house

Spices & Seasoners
Garlic. This makes everything better
Coarse sea salt. Say no to refined salt
Black pepper. The kind you can grind on your own
Olive oil. For general-purpose cooking
Canola oil. For when you decide to fry something, and you will
Shoyu (soy sauce). Low-sodium, green label Kikkoman is my favorite
Roasted sesame seed oil. Dynasty or Kadoya brand
Oyster sauce
Sriracha sauce. Look for the rooster on the label. He is your friend.
White vinegar. Buy a gallon and you can also use it to clean your floors. When you clean them.
Balsamic vinegar. Impress your friends
Brown sugar. For homemade teriyaki sauce
White sugar. If you bake. A mom can dream!

Optional
Cooking sherry and ginger

Generally non-perishable items
Onions. Technically perishable, but they last a long time and you will use them a lot
Rice. White or brown short grain, Koda Farms if you can
Quinoa.That you can cook in your rice cooker
"Noodley" type pasta like linguine
"Shaped" pasta like penne, farfalle, or elbows
Nuts. Pine nuts, walnuts and cashews
Dried cranberries. Good to toss into salads
Bread. Add cheese and it's a sandwich

Perishable Items--stored in the fridge
Eggs
Real butter
Cheese. Parmesan and your favorite for sandwiches
Yogurt
Firm tofu. If you and your roomies can make peace with it
A bottle each of lime and lemon juice. Fresh are always preferable, but these are good to have on standby

What you can make with the above supplies plus a trip to the grocery store for fresh produce.

Vegetarian
Bri's Butternut Squash
Easy Roasted Asparagus
Greek Salad
Onzo Salad
Quick Pasta Salad
Quinoa Salad
Roasted Tomatoes, so that you can make Panini
Spaghetti Sauce II--Jars
Spaghetti Sauce Pizza
Simple Spaghetti
Tofu Steaks

Not Vegetarian
Banish the Bottle Teriyaki Chicken
From Scratch Pork Loin
Get a Costco Chicken (or two!)
Laurie's Chicken Salad Sandwiches

These can be vegetarian by leaving out the animals:
Leftover Mauna Lani Chicken Pasta Salad
My Daddy's Killer Fried Rice
Any Kine Quiche

So whether you are Lions, Tigers or any-type-except-Golden-Bears,

Cardinal, Crimson or Big Red--enjoy college.

Remember that if you have aluminum foil and an iron, you can make grilled cheese, and that snow banks are excellent temporary coolers.

Eat Well. Be Well.

Study Hard. Play hard, but not too hard. After all, I'm still a mom!

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Eating Rhode Island--Providence Re-visited

7/22/2012

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Downtown Providence, looking toward College Hill

Providence is a beautiful, vibrant city. Let's get that clear right off the bat. Thanks to massive urban renewal as well as the steady presence of Brown, RISD and the Johnson & Wales culinary school, the capital city of one of the original 13 colonies is revitalized and safe making it a great place to visit all on its own.

More than 1 score and 7 years ago, this was not the case. Downtown was a run-down, past-tense pit that peaked in the 19th century. As college students, we would seldom venture "down the hill." When we did, it was strictly to make a beeline to the train station to New York or the Bonanza bus to Boston, the 'real' East Coast cities.

Then, the river was uncovered, un-re-routed and made a centerpiece of the city. They started WaterFire. Shops and restaurants moved back in. There is even a Quickly in downtown Providence! Alas, like the other Quicklys', it is not so quick, but the mere presence of bubble tea in Providence completely blew my mind.

Eating in Providence is simply lovely. Traditional Portuguese and Italian influences are still very strong. Thayer Street, the college avenue that bisects the Brown campus offers a host of reasonable eats, bakeries, and coffee. As a bonus, you can also catch the Brown guest wifi on most parts of Thayer.

And then there is Mama Kim's, an AWESOME Korean food truck that usually parks itself on Thayer Street, near the Hegeman and Caswell dorms. Here is authentic Korean food made by longtime Rhode Island residents. I like that it is of Providence. Founded by a Brown graduate and his mom, all food is local, right down to the Portuguese bakery that makes the sweet bread and the Johnson & Wales cooks who prep the food, under Mama Kim's direction, of course.

Who could imagine good and reasonable Korean food in Providence?! But there is. And they are nice too.

A mere $3 will get you a generous serving of bulgogi, kimchi pork, gochujang chicken or portabella mushroom. You can choose to have it in a wrap or slider style with fresh Portuguese sweet bread. I highly recommend the slider option. Order 2 for a a really full meal, but you can easily have 1 as lunch, or share three with a friend.

One of their Yelp reviews best encapsulates Mama Kim's: "Find this truck. Eat this food. Thank me later."

Divine Providence indeed. Well worth a visit.

Eat Well. Be Well.

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Eating Rhode Island--Lobstuh

7/9/2012

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Quintessential New England

I was lucky to spend some time with my New England ohana this past weekend. And even though it's been much too long since our last time together, it was still like being welcomed home.

And when you are in Narragansett, RI, local means 'lobstuh.' Live caught in the morning. 7-minute boil for dinner.

Simply head to the docks or a dockside market, and pick out your lobsters, or clams, or fresh codfish. Note that lobsters are a lively blu-ish brown as they clank against the scale, and clams are still wet, tightly closed and smell like a good clean ocean.

Note the barnacle on one of the claws

5-toe clarity on the Atlantic!

We on the West and Pacific side tend to think of the Atlantic as cold and gray.

I'd forgotten how undeserved this perception is.

The Atlantic water in Rhode Island is clearer, warmer and simply feels cleaner than Santa Cruz. It may not be Molokini blue, but it is sparkly clear and no wetsuit required. And you can most definitely surf there too.

Thank you to my New England ohana for welcoming me after such a long absence.

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Two Non-Sequitur Recipes

A Virtual Care Package for a College Kid

Eating Rhode Island--Providence Re-visited

Eating Rhode Island--Lobstuh

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