Category: Fish - feeding my ohana

What's Cooking This Week--May Day

4/27/2014

This was a good weekend as long as we do not speak of hockey. Instead, I highlight

Well-organized Sunday
Tomato and melons planted. Broad swaths of front yard weeds pulled. Stove and counters cleaned from the weekend sticky-sugary chemistry experiment. 4 boys making rock candy. Need I say more?!

Another batch of homemade Granola Mola. We have relied on store-bought granola only once in the past two months (purchased by the husband in a moment of weakness). And here's what's cooking this week.

The first outside dinner of the season

Meatless Monday
Summer Soba Salad. How I've missed this. We could have eaten this during the extremely mild winter, but it just didn't seem right.

Crock Pot Tuesday
Crock Pot BBQ Port Sliders with sweet bread rolls and salad. We will use the extra for leftovers roulette.

Fish on Wednesday
Omi's Shoyu Fish, rice and some kind of TBD green vegetable, probably broccoli. Another dinner I've been missing.

Thursday
Mango Chicken. Again, because it's been too long and this recipe needs a photo.

Leftovers Roulette Friday
A variation on BBQ Chicken Pizza. Using a flatbread, pulled pork, tomatoes, red onions and mozzarella cheese (instead of the usual Gouda). Definitely has potential.

Happy May Day to all this week!

What's Cooking This Week--Finding My Inner Ohm

4/8/2014

From the terra cotta army

Yes, I'm working for a technology company, but my inner Ohm has nothing to do with v = i*r (voltage = current * resistance). It has do to with trying to be purposeful in a chaotic, everything-is-important-and-urgent-and-business-critical. This 2,000+ year old set of mindful hands reminds me to pause and Ohm.

Meatless Monday
Business lunch leftovers from Dish Dash, specifically the Sambusak Vegetarian, which is a mix of spinach, mushrooms, almonds and feta baked into filo dough with a spicy tahini sauce.

A good value at $11.95 for 3 big tart-like things. Hummus and babghanouge (their spelling) are also quite good.

Hot Tuesday
Even though it is supposed to be 90 degrees out, My Own Chili will be nice to come home to. We've had vegetarian and faux-Zippy's for the past few times, but I'm in the mood for this one.

Wednesday
Chicken Salad Sandwiches using Costco Chicken. Because there are days when you have six meetings in one day. Ohm boy.

Thursday
Chicken Divan, with the leftover chicken from the day before.

Fish on Aloha Friday
Ex-pat ahi poke. A few of my friends are vacationing in Maui this week. This is as close as we can get for now.

Have a good week all. We'll see how far my inner Ohm can go.

What's Cooking This Week--Birdie Food

3/16/2014

Blue skies and temperate Bay Area spring weather bring birdies back for the spring. At least this time. We are enjoying all birdies back in the nest this week.

And we are eating their favorites.

Bonus Sunday
Curry House, which is having a promotion and one of entire household's go-to places. Our favorites include 1) Super Hot Katsu Curry 2) Deluxe Katsu Curry 3) Kinoko and Kaiware pasta, which has no curry 4) Also-curry-less Chili Shrimp and Spinach 5) Keema Curry with a soft-boiled egg and 6) Chicken and Ginger curry. Yes, there are fewer than six people in our family. But we like this place. A Lot.

Meatless Monday
Nakayoshi Gakko Somen Salad. No char siu, no kamaboko, but yes on the scrambled eggs

Oyako donburi. Simple. Homemade.

Tuesday
Oyako Donburi. There is nothing fancy about this meal. It's just happy comfort food.

Wednesday
Zippy's Chili, for when you are far away. One of the birdies did not get to go to Hawaii this time, so we bring Hawaii here.

Thursday
Ramen with Japanese char siu, green onions, kamaboko and kim chee. For this, I just buy the refrigerated noodles and then doctor the shiru base. Or Orenchi if we can get there early enough.

This is not dorm food. But it should be!

Fish on Friday
Fish Jun with Kochojang Sauce. University Food Services, please take note: tilapia is not really a fish.

We will enjoy this week because it will go fast.

Aloha all!

What's Cooking This Week--Home Sweet Home

3/9/2014

California fresh, I have missed you

After travelmania, I'm very happy to be back home.

And so for Lent, I'm giving up eating like I'm traveling, and hopefully traveling too. This is not a sustainable pattern unless I'm planning on gaining a lot of weight or training to be some kind of Olympic athlete in a sport where middle-aged women can excel.

So here's what's cooking this week.

Meatless Monday
On the Fly Orzo Salad. With 70-degree weather and daylight savings kicking in, we may even eat outdoors.

Tuesday
Chicken apple sausage with red peppers, onions and zukes. I've noticed that Spaniards and Bostonians do not believe chicken sausages. No recipe required.

Leftover curry + tonkatsu = Katsu curry!!

Wednesday
Katsu curry (Leftover Japanese curry stored from the freezer + Tonkatsu), namasu and salad.

Nearly Meatless Thursday
Okonomiyaki with kamaboko and a bit of char siu. Easy comfort food and minimal meat.

Fish on Friday
Simple Salmon baked with rock salt and fresh cracked pepper (no dill this time), rice, and roasted asparagus and tomatoes. I may add some tea rice at the end.

We had the fancy version of this at the Pineapple Room a couple of weeks ago, but it will be nice to have the home cooked simplicity.

Thank you all for keeping me honest with the weekly menu schedule. Your support is much appreciated!

Aloha to all.

What's Cooking This Week--Happy New Year

1/6/2014

Foo-foo Falafel

Happy New Year of the Horse!
Christmas and New Year's leftovers have been eaten, so it's time to, well, get back on the horse and start cooking for a temporarily full house again.

Comfort food is cooking this week.

Meatless Monday
From-scratch falafel, that we make into patties, with dollop of yogurt/cucumber/dill sauce and a few squeezes of Sriracha sauce.

Tuesday
Zippy's Chili When You Are Far Away. Chili and rice always makes us happy.

Wednesday
Mayonnaise chicken, with a little Parmesan cheese thrown in.

Thursday
Bacon cauliflower macaroni and cheese. By request of college kid who makes her mother happy by faithfully reading this blog. I guess we'll pay her tuition for next semester.

Fish on Friday
Salt and Pepper Shrimp. I can only eat a few, but man are they good!

Have a good week all! To my many pals who will be in Las Vegas at CES this week, take care of your tootsies and enjoy at hot chocolate at the Sugar Factory.

What Really Is Cooking This Week

10/22/2013

This week, we aim for homey-food, even with one eating out day, and this is only because no one in the household can resist discount days at Curry House.

Here's what is cooking at home this week. No fancy-shmancy restaurants this week.

Meatless Monday
Almost Alfredo Pasta with arugula and sun-dried tomatoes. This was a bit leftovers roulette using leftover packets of Parmesan and Gruyere cheese from quiche last week.

Kaiware spaghetti from Curry House

Discount Tuesday
Taking advantage of 20% off coupon from Curry House, and one of us extended to meatless Tuesday. Our local Curry House is also next door to Kee Wah Bakery so I had to get some sponge cake and taro buns.

Wednesday
From Scratch Pork Loin made into sandwiches. With the rest of the arugula from Monday.

Thursday
Mediterranean Lamb Stir Fry, while string beans and red peppers are still in season.

Fish on Friday
Furikake Salmon, My Very Own Namasu and Rice. All-purpose Japanese dinner. Or breakfast.

I'm looking forward to some creativity cooking and extras this weekend too, including
Furikake Chex Mix so I can lay off the potato chips and bring some snacks into work.
Sticky Rice with Mangoes, just because
I also saw a 'recipe' for sweet potato chips that I may try with Okinawan sweet potatoes.

There's no place like home! Especially the kitchen.

What's Cooking This Week--Better Than It Looks

10/1/2013

Not so pretty, but a good balanced taste

Like the pond scum drink from awhile back, green curry is one of those things tastes so much better than it looks. And this is how we start October.

Meatless Monday
Green Curry with Tofu. Let's just say green curry doesn't photograph very well, even with A Lot of Filtering (see left). And tofu does it no favors. However, this was a Very Tasty Dinner. Green curry paste, a squinch of fish paste and a can of coconut milk. Plus nuts and dried cranberries. Yum.

Tuesday
Tonkatsu, namasu, shredded cabbage and rice. Everything about this makes for a happy weekday dinner.

Ad-Hoc Wednesday
No recipe needed for dinner. A sturdy meal of pasta with turkey sausage and arugula. Seasoned with white wine, chicken stock, pepper flakes and parmesan cheese.

Thursday
Sloppy Joes from Scratch, with ground chicken instead of hamburger.

Fish on Friday
Misoyaki Butterfish and Edamame Rice. A lovely way to end the week. This seems to be an Ohana favorite and photographs much, much better.

Happy October!

What's Cooking This Week--Punctuality

9/9/2013

The Working Parent.

Face it.

The week after Labor Day is what we all internalize as the first full go-to-work/school week. And lo and behold, a weekly menu on Monday.

Meatless Monday
Greek Pasta Salad. Cukes, red peppers and tomatoes are all in season. Feta cheese and kalamata olives are available all year round. Perfect for outdoor dining for the full week after a holiday.

Tuesday
Bulgogi Chicken sandwiches. Apparently Korean food has become the new 'it' food. We've wrapped bulgogi a few times, but this time, we'll make sandwiches with kochjang mayo, summer tomatoes and green onion bread.

Wednesday
Japanese potato salad for birdie #2. Another favorite that will get rotated in more frequently as now-in-college-Birdie #1 did not care for hard boiled eggs, corn or ham, which are all essential for this. Everyone is happy.

Thursday
Tonkatsu, shredded cabbage and rice. We had this in Japan and I cannot stress how good this was in Japan. Mountains of shredded cabbage are everywhere there. We'll aim for reasonable facsimile.

End the week with this!

Fish on Friday
Fish jun with kochojang sauce. Not too long to make and never any leftovers. The latter is very important for anyone who has taken leftovers to work for lunch and experienced "Post-Fish-in-the-Community-Microwave" Syndrome. Blech. Ranks up there with "Burnt Microwave Popcorn" disorder and chronic condition of "Burnt Bottom of the Pot Coffee"

Have a good week all. September beginnings for all!

What's Cooking This Week--Back to School

9/4/2013

Everybody is officially back to school today. I love the cadence of the academic year, so here's to new beginnings with meals we haven't had in the rotation in quite awhile.

Tart-style with fresh veggies!

Meatless Monday
Rat-pa-tooty. We haven't had this in such a long time. Long overdue with all the summer veggies in season.

Cured Meat Tuesday
Sanny's Spam and String beans. Another long-lost favorite. We're trying to save Spam for 'special' occasions. Like the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Wednesday
Chicken Shawarma. Birdie #2 really likes this, and it's not easy being the newly only child.

Love me some Shoyu Fish!

Meatless Thursday
Summer Soba Salad. It's supposed to be 90 degrees out, so we shall not use the stove or oven.

Fish on Friday
Omi's Shoyu Fish. Finally nice fresh fish. Halibut, cubed and dunked. I'm also trying to make mounds of cabbage and the dressing we had at the tonkatsu restaurants in Japan. This will make Birdie #2 happy as well.

Is it September already?! Have a good week all and to those celebrating the new year.

What's Cooking This Week--Summer Tomatoes

8/4/2013

Celebrating Summer!

Finally, the summer tomatoes are in! Sweet 100s and the Early Girls are the most reliable, but in the Bay Area, all manner of warm, sweet tomatoes abound. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday
Sometimes, we like the comforts of "little kid" pasta. A simple meal of wagon wheels pasta with store-bought pesto, Parmesan cheese and roasted homegrown Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes.

To be eaten outside. Aaah summer, even on a Monday.

Tuesday
Vietnamese grilled pork, sliced tomatoes with a shot of balsamic vinegar, edamame and rice. Finally a new recipe from that fancy place known as the Inn Ternet.

Wednesday
Tacos with no mix. Fresh tomatoes, or fresh tomato salsa if we get our act together.

Definitely Not Kosher Thursday
BLTs and BLC&T panini sandwiches. Because there are those days when you just need bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. With sharp Cheddar cheese. At the same time.

Fish on Friday
Sick and Wrong Fish. We will miss Hawaii this summer, so Hawaii food needs to come to us.

Feels like summer. Tastes like summer. Have a great week!