Category: Plants - feeding my ohana

What's Cooking This Week--Food as Comfort

10/10/2017

Guess who learned how to Bitmoji?

It's an understatement to say there's been a lot of bad stuff happening.

So this week, even though it's 84 degrees in California, we're going for Fall Comfort Food Mode. Casseroles. Stuffing. Potatoes. Rice. Nachos. Cooking these things makes me immensely happy.

Let's get through the week and try to make some good in the world, starting with dinner.

Besides making all manner of Bitmojis, here's what's cooking this week.

Good enough to cockroach!

Sunday Oven Day
Chicken Divan was for dinner, but practicing stuffing for Thanksgiving gave the fam and me joy.

Still tweaking an Italian sausage and chestnut stuffing from Bon Appetit. Two jalapeno peppers plus the hot Italian sausage was probably overkill, but everyone in the ohana loves stuffing.

Monday aka #TeenyTinyFriday
Stuffing, of course!

Tuesday
Orange Salsa Pork Chops. Remember the humongous bottle of salsa from last week? This is where we use it. With sauteed spinach and some red quinoa that the husband bought awhile back.

#sharksforlife and #sjsharks

Wednesday
Nachos and Guacamole. Remember the humongous bag of chips? Yeah, it's still here, and it's pretty darn-near impossible to be unhappy eating nachos.

Thursday is #LeftoversRoulette
Okinawan sweet potatoes and the rest of the orange salsa pork chops, with a side of pear cider as we see if the San Jose Sharks get their first win?! We hope so. Our Bay Area sports teams need a little lifeline as well.

Friday is Date Night!

Have a good week all!

What's Cooking This Week--Favorites!

9/5/2017

Go-to somen salad

It's been awhile for these old favorites. This week's menu is dedicated to people and places that hold fond memories for the ohana.

Not Meatless Tuesday
My Grandma's Meat and Macaroni. Takes me, and by extension, my kids, back to 'small kid time'. My grandma called this "Creole Macaroni" and my kids call "Meat and Macaroni" My Issei Grandma made all manner of Japanese food, and worked wonders on the side with American catsup and a can of tomato sauce.

Weekday Grilling Wednesday
Chicken Satay. This is from a Draeger's cooking class team-building session many moons ago. This was one of the best teams I have 'played' on. To this day, I still keep in touch, even though we all have long since left the original company!

Thursday
15-minute Fish and Anna's Broccoli Salad. When I was driving the piano/soccer carpool, 15-minute fish was always a good meal to get on the table after unloading various children and equipment. We've grown out of that rhythm, but it's still nice to have a proper meal on the table fast.

Aloha Friday
Nakayoshi Somen Salad is just the thing to end the week. My kids spent summers getting in touch with their inner Yonsei, and the husband and I both served on the board of this fine summer program. Good memories for all.

Looking at this week's menu reminds me of how broad and wide and open and welcoming our ohana is.

May yours be the same!

What's Cooking This Week--More Experiments

8/21/2017

Hooray for Libraries!

New 'hood means a new library. New library means new cookbooks, and this means it's guinea pig time. Here's what's cooking this week.

Teeny Tiny Friday aka Monday is #LeftoversRoulette
So I made it to the library but not Safeway. We've all been here, or maybe it's just me. On principle, we did not resort to take-out.

In-home foraging yielded the following: Cheese and tomato quesadillas, two pieces of Na-omi-take Tofu Recipe, a green onion pancake, the last of the teriyaki chicken, three fingers of milk, half a bottle of magenta vitamin water, and three fingers of pineapple cider.

New Recipe Tuesday
Lamb chops with apricot salsa from a Williams Sonoma main dishes cookbook that is pleasingly organized by color. See red book at left.

Wednesday
More from Damn Delicious (middle cookbook above). Salmon with a Lemon Cream Sauce.

Thursday is Pizza Day
A friend's homegrown crop has become Roasted Tomatoes Recipe , so we'll have Boboli Margherita-style pizza. Just add some garlic, fresh basil and some fresh mozz!

Aloha Friday with a Dr. Shintani Recipe (Top cookbook, above)
Roasted Teriyaki Potatoes. I'll have to think of a protein, but how can this not be good?!

Have a good week all!

What's Cooking This Week--New Stuff Old Favorites

8/13/2017

Clearly I need better lighting!

In our new 'hood, I found 1) the local library and therefore, 2) stumbled onto a great cookbook, Damn Delicious, and borrowed for the umpteenth time, the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. Real books made from paper. Armed with that, here's what's cooking this week.

Proper Sunday Dinner
From Damn Delicious--Balsamic salmon with strawberry/mango salsa. OK, so I used a peach because they are in season and smell so good. And because the Safeway mangoes were icky, and I miss Hawaii mangoes, and am still a little resentful that I actually have to Pay Money for mango. This worked out just fine, and Sunday Dinner Birdie remarked that one should really be able to eat fruit salsa with a spoon because it's basically seasoned fruit cocktail. You go Birdie!

#Meatless Monday aka "Teeny Tiny Friday"
Quinoa Salad. We went through a period where we made this all the time. Then, as my children say, it got "OP'd" and we forgot about it. It's time to bring it back--a good full-meal salad and will work as a side or leftover. Along with the strawberry-peach-that-was-supposed-to-be-mango salsa.

Fridge to mouth in 20 minutes, tops

Tuesday is Grill Day
Banh-mi chicken sandwiches. While said Safeway had icky mangoes, they did have 'right-sized' daikon. Not too humongous, not limp and mushy, just right. We can make the pickled carrot/daikon slaw ahead of time, marinate the chicken in the morning, and short commute means weekday grilling.

Wednesday is Another #MeatlessOneDay
Mondays and Tuesdays at work tend to be very meeting heavy, so by the time Wednesday PM rolls around, that "blah-lahs" kick in. Na-omi-take Tofu requires no cooking and packs a ton of protein, plus uses the rest of that right-sized daikon. Mid-week winner.

Thursday
Another attempt at Pad Thai, this time with guidance from Damn Delicious, who recommends using regular pasta. Will probably add the leftover Banh Mi chicken for a little more protein.

Aloha Friday is #LeftoversRoulette
Leftovers and Game of Thrones. I've joined the rest of popular culture and have started watching Game of Thrones. Empty nest means lots of leftovers because we've not figured out the cooking for fewer thing yet.

It feels great to be cooking creatively again! Have a good week all.

What's Cooking This Week--On Time!

7/30/2017

Korean 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.

See 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!

What's Cooking This Week--Empty Nest Cadence

7/24/2017

Can 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.

Pie 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.

The Weekly Menu Returns!

7/16/2017

Eating 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.

Also 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!

Another Proper Sunday Meal...with Faux Meat!

7/16/2017

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.

Very 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.

Where Did the Time Go?

7/9/2017

Sunday 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!

What's Cooking This Week--Diversions from Real Life

11/7/2016

Godzilla sculpture in Tokyo--such a clever diversion from real life!

Middle age is definitely not the chaotic fall-of-the-Roman-Empire-Black-Death-Dragons-and-Crusades upheaval of the real Middle Ages.

Middle age is full of adjustments--empty nest, aging relatives, and serious work commitments/travel. But it has also included learning how to SnapChat, a milestone anniversary, a really lovely wedding, and the down-in-your-soul-quiet-happiness that your birdies have wings. And can fly!

Add to that an election cycle that has also consumed my psyche. Those of you who are connected with me personally on Facebook--thank you for your support of my post. I purposely kept the Feeding My Ohana voice away from the body politic, and this week, I definitely needed cooking as both diversion and solace.

Thanks to the election, here's what's cooking this week as I keep trying to figure out how to cook for two. The freezer is chock-full of stuff, so I'm still learning!

Meatless Monday
We have been making a full-ohana portion of sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and keeping it in an airtight container. Sometimes it's Greek Salad. Sometimes it's just this with with mozzarella and bread. The rest of the days, we use the rest as a side salad, sometimes by itself and sometimes adding leafy greens.

Election Tuesday--Go VOTE!
Jambalaya with toasted green onion bread to watch returns. I'll use the last batches of homemade tomato sauce from earlier this summer. About half of the jambalaya will go into the freezer.

Recovery Wednesday
Whatever happens on Tuesday, we will need a respite. Gyros sounds about right. Another way to use the tomatoes and cucumbers.

Thursday
Myles Last Resort Meatloaf sandwiches. Have not made this in awhile. Will use some of the green onion bread as part of the ingredients for meatloaf and then the rest for sandwiches that include, you guessed it, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Friday
Leftovers. Or maybe date night?!

Bonus Stuff
Homemade Granola--sometimes we ship this to Birdie #1, but not this time!

Maple Pumpkin cookies--this is a new recipe I will post this week. I guinea-pigged it at work today and the not-secret-at-all voting was unanimous as a repeater. I might make a batch for Thanksgiving too.

This election has tested everyone. Vote tomorrow and be kind to each other.