Category: Kale - feeding my ohana

What's Cooking This Week--Hello Oven

10/20/2014

It FINALLY rained! OK, so it wasn't the downpour, but in a drought, we'll take anything we can get. Instead of singin' in the rain, I went jogging in the drizzle.

The ever-so-slight return of rain and of cooler weather means that I can use the oven for dinners at long last and transition to 'cold' fall/winter cooking. (New England ohana--do not mock me!)

Here's what's cooking this week. And let's keep doing our rain jog/dance. We need even more!

Meatless, Oven-using Monday
Kale Chips and Quiche. First kale chips, then quiche. Optimizing the oven and using surplus eggs. Two dozen eggs expiring at about the same time is what happens when husband and wife go grocery shopping separately, and realize that the household needs eggs. Next time fewer eggs, more texting.

Leftovers Tuesday
My Daddy's Killer Fried Rice and leftover chili, loco moco style, topped with a happy sunnyside-up egg (because we still have eggs!). We had way more chili and rice than people over this weekend.

Furikake salmon and tea rice. Happy Friday!

Oven Wednesday
Huli Huli Chicken (in the oven). This needs to get back into circulation. A double batch of drumsticks for grab-n-go lunches too.

Meatless Thursday
From-scratch Falafel, but I will buy hummus and fresh pita from the Falafel Stop. Their fresh, warm, fluffy pitas are well worth the trip, but make sure you eat them on the same day. No preservatives.

Fast Fish on Friday
Furikake salmon with chazuke, kim chee. Perhaps I will toss together a spinach and pear salad too.

Have a good week all!

What's Cooking This Week--Birdie Favorites

6/3/2014

Kale for Birdies

This week is dedicated to birdie favorites, who are all back in the nest. Mama birdie is mighty pleased.

Meatless Monday
Co-worker Kale Salad. Birdie back from college likes this simple summer salad. No cooking whatsoever. And the best part, Birdies can drive and make this themselves!

Scalloped Tuesday
Scallops with butter, garlic and crushed Ritz crackers (Mahalo New England Ohana!) and roasted green beans.

Who doesn't love Spam Musubi?!

Wednesday
Spam Musubi. Birdie LOVES Spam musubi and it's not even a special occasion.

Thursday
My Mom's Chicken Katsu. Grandma made this especially for non-cow-eating birdie when said birdie was very young. It has been a well-loved favorite ever since.

Friday
Bacon Cauliflower Mac and Cheese. Happy comfort food.

Have a good week all!

What's Cooking This Week--The New Normal

8/28/2013

It has fruit therefore it has become breakfast.

One less person at the dinner table is the new normal. So far, Chili Cheese Fritos and a humongous piece of red velvet cake seem to help me to get used to this.

So the new normal better happen fast.

But the new normal is also one person at the dining commons making friends, chatting about where they are from, what classes they are taking and perhaps even engrossed in a Very Serious Discussion About Very Important Ideas.

This will happen fast too.

Practically speaking, who knew one fewer teenager would mean tons more leftovers. They last two days instead of one! I even got a bite of something before it was inhaled.

Meatless Monday
Tomatoes on garlic asiago cheese bread toast with fresh basil. Summer at its finest and no stove or oven.

Tuesday
Christine's Clam Chowder. We are not in New England, but we can pretend we are.

Wednesday
Crock Pot BBQ Pork Sliders. And freezing the leftovers, almost unheard of!

Thursday
Furikake Kale Chips, a Sriracha sauce riff on Mayonnaise Chicken, and rice. How can this not be good?

Friday
Birdie in the Nest's Favorite Takeout. Amici's Milano for Birdie and Boston (oh the irony!) for me.

Aloha to all and here's to the new normal, on both coasts.

What's Cooking this Week--Stretching Pork

5/27/2013

Pan-fried noodles

Weekly meal planning, the improved and more organized method, is entering its second week. I wonder how long it will last? We are not meatless this week, but I am stretching 1/2 pound of very thinly sliced pork over two meals. And successfully feeding two teenagers, one of whom I'm pretty sure has a hollow leg.

Almost Meatless Monday
Pan-fried noodles. To feed a family of 4, I'm using 1/4 pound of thinly sliced pork, 6 bunches of baby bok choy, a large red pepper, 3 portabella mushrooms and a large zucchini. Family is happy.

Tuesday
Simple Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs. Awhile back, I made a humongous batch of meatballs and I'm cashing in that production this week. I'm also trying out San Marzano tomatoes. Is it worth all the fuss and higher price?

Eggplant with hot garlic sauce

Wednesday
Misoyaki Butterfish or salmon with Edamame Rice. It's been way too long since we had this.

Almost Meatless Thursday
Eggplant with Hot Garlic Sauce, with 1/4 pound of pork and lots of eggplant, plus the convenience of ready-made sticky rice from Ranch 99.

Friday
Salt and pepper shrimp, but using chicken, sauteed gai lan, and rice.
I really prefer the sweetness of shrimp, but that pesky crustacean food allergy means it's chicken.

Furikake kale chips. Family fave.

Extras
Furikake kale chips. This is a really easy side/snack that never, ever leaves leftovers.

Peach (apricot) Blueberry Cobbler. 'Cots and blueberries went into the first cobbler of the season! Another one will be made this week while apricots are coming in.

Pickle mango. I BOUGHT green mangoes. I PAID MONEY for them. My Hawaii ohana is shaking their heads and ex-pat Hawaii people--feel my angst! It will be worth it for the first sweet/salty bite of fresh pickle mango.

Reflecting on all of those whose sacrifices allow us to be here. Have a good week all!

What's Cooking--I say Char Siu, You Say Chashu

5/8/2013

This week's menu is thanks to my cousin's wife. On her recommendation, I bought a chunk of Marukai char siu, which is really chashu, and it has yielded several meals this week.

At-home ramen bar. Using chashu.

Huh?! A point of clarification with a dose of confusion. Char siu and chashu are both pork, but not quite the same. Char siu is usually the red-colored pork that hangs in Chinese markets. I have a recipe for this, but I don't make it red. Chashu is the Japanese version made from the fatty, marbled pork. It is never red-colored, typically much richer than char siu, and I have no idea how to make this.

At saimin places in Hawaii, you are more likely to find the red char siu with your noodles. However, at ramen places, it will likely be chashu. To make it even more confusing, Marukai labels both kinds of pork as char siu.

Got it now? Here's what was and is cooking this week. Thanks for hanging with me on the late menu.

Lamb Stir Fry

Meatless Monday
Greek Pasta Salad. The household has adjusted nicely to veg-out Mondays.

Sweep Canucks Tuesday
Love Vancouver. Canucks, not so much. Homemade Chashu Banh Mi Sandwiches. Thinly sliced chashu, Vietnamese-style pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, on a crusty French bread with Sriracha mayonnaise. I can't even begin to figure out what "kind" of food this is, other than ono. Posting instructions later this week.

Chashu Wednesday
Make Your Own Ramen. In addition to chashu, I bought tonkotsu and spicy pork flavors of fresh ramen. Eating with kamaboko, kim chee and blanched pea shoots. The photo at the top shows exactly what I had for dinner.

Thursday
Mediterranean Lamb Stir Fry. Using the rest of the shredded carrots and daikon for the lemon rice.

Meatless & De-tox Friday
Co-worker Kale Salad. Chashu is a luxurious indulgence even when very thinly sliced, so we will need a break by Friday. Kale salad is filling and sturdy enough to work as a dinner salad.

Have a great week. Hockey and basketball playoffs!

What's Cooking from Mom and the Husband

2/28/2013

Where has Feeding My Ohana been?! I spent last week back home in good ole' Leeward O'ahu. Offline.

Although my friends gave me grief for not having a smart phone, and I did have to seek out a Starbuck's for WiFi to my iPad for directions to get together with the above-noted friends, it was very relaxing not to be online-all-the-time. Everyone should do this once in awhile.

Here is a quick summary on what we've been eating--here and at Mom's house. While we had plenty of vegetables, there was no meatless any day. We were on vacation, after all.

Bay Area Monday
Yakisoba. I cam home with yet another head cold, so this was made by the husband. This is my son's favorite meal, and soon we'll have to start making three packages.

Crispy wonton and roast pork.

Great Aloha Run Day
Crispy wonton, roast pork, and pork with sweet and sour cabbage. I also introduced the family to Co-worker Kale Salad. Mom approves.

Bay Area Tuesday
Carbonara Hironaka. We've not eaten this in a really long time and it was nice to come home to this.

Day at the Beach
Sanny's Hamburgers and Gravy. Homemade plate lunch.

Back in the Bay Area Takeout Wednesday
Yiassoo Greek Food, Tapioca Express and Whole Foods Chocolate Cake. Procured by my fabulous husband.

Thursday
Unfried Baked Chicken from People Magazine. It was very peppery and a little too salty. This is a good idea that needs some re-tooling. Stay tuned.

Weird Rainy and Windy Hawaii Day
For the last two days of our vacation, it poured. Buckets. So it was Mom's Watercress Soup, but made with kale, and just as good. Watercress can be tricky to get in the Bay Area, so this was good advice from Mom.

Leeward Drive Inn, very retouched

Glorious Hawaii Beach Day
Leeward Drive Inn Fried Noodles. Just a satisfying lunch after a morning at the beach. Please note they don't make mandoo anymore, but the Pork Cutlet and Gravy is still fab. And remember, it has and will always be cash only.

Back to the Mainland, but definitely keeping the Hawaii vibe going as long as we can.

Aloha Friday All!

What's Cooking This Week--Leftovers & Favorites

11/26/2012

It's Monday and none of this is left

I thought I would not be cooking much this week when I looked over the fully stocked fridge on Black Friday.

Silly me. The teenagers were in the house all weekend. It's more like Mother Hubbard Monday in the fridge now. A half-bowl of cranberry sauce, a bit of turkey and mostly skin, roasted vegetables, three mouthfuls of stuffing and a bit of CoolWhip and apple pie are all that's left.

Monday and Tuesday should finish off the rest of the leftovers, and off to the grocery store I go tomorrow. Here's what's cooking this week.

Meatless Monday
Japanese Curry with leftover vegetables. I used the last shallots and half-onion, plus all the leftover parsnips, carrots and even Brussels sprouts for this curry. With the last of the Okinawan sweet potatoes and kabocha on the side. Curry makes everything taste good.

Chinese "Turkey" Salad

Tuesday
Chinese Chicken (Turkey) Salad. This is the perfect use for the "kuzu" (i.e., leftover small bits) of turkey are always at the end of turkey leftovers.

Wednesday
Spaghetti and Meatballs, with Simple Spaghetti Sauce, as requested by the husband. And a simple salad with romaine hearts. A good break from all the heaviness of Thanksgiving food.

Thursday
My Mom's Chicken Katsu, Co-Worker Kale Salad and rice. November is now too cold for my Mom to make the trip for Thanksgiving, so we'll make Mom-food this week instead.

Possibly-Meatless-Friday
Yakisoba. Meatless, or perhaps with just a little bit of pork. This is one of my son's favorite meals.

Eat Well. Be Well.

What's Cooking This Week--Stay Dry and Safe!

10/29/2012

Be safe. The ocean always wins.

What a crazy natural disaster few days. The tsunami alert for my Feeding My Ohana-ohana in Hawaii has passed. To our Feeding My Ohana-ohana on the Northeast, stay safe and dry.

Sandy looks like a bad one, so please take care!

Make sure you have lots of water, canned goods like tomato sauce, black beans and tuna, bread, peanut butter, batteries, band aids and gas for your cars and grill.　Out west, here's what's cooking.

Monday
Korean Egg Meat, using fish. I LOVE egg meat, but since my son doesn't eat cow, I'm using Dover sole. Fish jun is standard for Korean restaurants in Hawaii, so I think it should work, and cooking will be much faster than beef.

A proper Monday meal with musubi, kim chee, kale chips and a new kochojang dipping sauce.

Liking the sound of this already!

Meatless Tuesday
Sweet potato curry. This seems like a very fall kind of dish.

Wednesday--Happy Halloween!
Kamaboko Sandwiches. A childhood favorite of mine that I'm foisting upon my children. They can decide if it's a trick or treat. Not nearly as strange as the kimchee/peanut butter or sardine/onion sandwiches I've also liked and eaten as a kid.

Thursday
Christine's Clam Chowder. Feeding My Ohana's Virtual Food Drive kick-off day. We will be matching donations again this year.

Friday
Seared Furikake Ahi Salad. Something new and light to go with Halloween candy.

Extras from the bakery
Butterscotch pumpkin bread
Banana-Nutella bread, from last month's issue of Cooking Light

Eat Well. Be Well. Stay Safe!!

What's Cooking This Week--Detox

8/20/2012

After the fun and games of Kalua Pig week, we are all ready for a lighter fare.

Monday
Simple Salmon, My Mom's Japanese Coleslaw, "Nekkid" kale chips with teriyaki dipping sauce and rice. Back to school means "brain food" so salmon seems like a good choice. This time, I seasoned kale chips with only with olive oil, sesame seeds and fresh cracked pepper. To make the dipping sauce, I used the basic teriyaki sauce recipe and heated it just to a bare boil.

Tuesday
Orzo salad (on the fly). Peppers, basil, tomatoes and cukes are all in season. I'll probably toss is a little arugula as well.

Wednesday
Falafel, Greek Salad and pita bread. Either from scratch or more likely, from Five Star Falafel. 12 fresh falafel for $5.99 that I can pick up on my way from work is looking mighty appealing for a mid-week meal.

Thursday
Tuna melts using my friend the panini pan. Recipe posting this week.

Friday
Tofu/Soba Salad revisited and My Mom's Kabocha, which is just now coming into season. The coconut/curry pasta didn't work out. It was too sour, too salty and just too much to tinker with, so I'm trying a completely new and lighter-flavored recipe.

Good luck to all who are going back to school, as well as all of those who make sure they get there.

Eat Well. Be Well.

What's Cooking This Week--Proper Homecooked Meals

7/30/2012

This is "staycation" week, full of Olympics watching and a lot of plain ole' nothing going on. It's essential for our summer vacation to go beyond relaxed and well into good and bored so that when the school schedule comes bustling in, we are all prepared and looking forward to it.

I've already stocked up on kim chee, sesame oil and a few other staples from the Korean grocery store and made the weekly Safeway run. Just don't expect to find me in the kitchen all day. It still all about manageable cooking and in the case of wonton, conscripting the children.

Korean Mushroom Tofu

Meatless Monday
Korean Mushroom Tofu, bean sprouts and purple rice. I finally used the Korean cookbook from the library that was renewed TWICE before I even opened it. The tofu is a winner and the recipe will post later this week.

Tuesday
"Fixed" Lemon Chicken, Japanese Potato Salad and Cherry Salad. I have LOTS of lemons, cherries and fresh corn.

Wednesday
Wonton, using half of a freshly ground pork butt, and My Daddy's Killer Fried Rice, with kim chee.

Thursday
Co-worker Kale Salad, My Mom's Chicken Katsu and Yaki Musubi

Fish on Friday
Baked Baby Scallops, theoretically the way I had them in Rhode Island, Greek Salad, and fresh corn on the cob.

Homemade Pork Sausage. The all-day food.

Extras for the children and their compadres
Spinach veggie dip using a Knorr's pack and lots of cut carrots, peppers and green beans
Steve's Hummus
Loads of yogurt, nuts and berries, aka Squirrel Food.
Crackers, bagels, cheese, turkey and salami
Pints Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream: Phish Food, Chunky Monkey, Creme Brulee and Fresh Peach seem to be the preferred flavors, and they are on sale too. They're teenagers, they can eat like this!

Pickle Mango. This for me, and it wouldn't be summer without a batch of it.
Homemade Pork Sausage, using the other half of the pork butt. Teenagers sometimes like to have a hearty breakfast. At 11:00 am on a Wednesday. Just because they can.

We are all looking forward to a stretch of homecooked meals together instead of the pseudo-foraging and travel of the last few weeks.

Eat Well. Be Well.