 If you have lots of tomatoes and a free afternoon, homemade tomato sauce is a great cooking/football watching project.
I've done this twice and I now have three batches of fresh tomato sauce in the freezer, plus pasta sauce from round 2. A good Sunday indeed. Click here for the complete recipe.
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 Tomatoes and Basil. Christmas in August. Oh how we love our summer tomatoes. Meaty heirlooms, juicy grapes, sweet 1-millions and the always-reliable Early Girls. They make us forget those mealy, tasteless hothouse weaklings of December. This week is all about tomatoes. Meatless and Stove-less Monday Summer tomatoes with balsamic vinegar and basil, fresh mozzarella, and toasted asiago bread. Eaten outside, this is pretty much a perfect summer dinner. Breakfast Tuesday Portuguese sausage, hash browns and eggs. With a side of sliced tomatoes topped with Hawaiian salt and pepper.Tastes like home.  Lettuce and tomatoes in the same season! Wednesday
Tofu Tuna Salad, using the grape tomatoes and fresh lettuce from Grandma and Grandpa's garden. How they can grow both tomatoes (a hot summer crop) and lettuce (a winter garden veggie) in the same Very Small Space is a mystery to me. Thursday Fattaneh's Persian Eggplant Thing, with fresh eggplants, trying it meatless with the rest of the asiago bread, and Lemon Chicken with some fresh lemons we have too. It's a weird combination, but I'm thinking this will work out well. Friday Gyros with, wait for it, fresh tomatoes. For all of us with kids going back to school--good luck with the supplies/bills/carpools/soccer practice/piano lessons/meal planning!  Panini for Meatless Monday Bonus Sunday Meatball sandwiches. Originally slated planned for spaghetti and meatballs, as I made a big batch of of meatballs. The only noodles we had were chow-fun noodles. Not Going to Work. At All. Thankfully, we had mozzarella cheese and ciabatta. Meatless Monday Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Panini. Roast tomatoes and eggplant at the same time and then quick work for panini. Tuesday Spaghetti and Meatballs. After a trip to the grocery for pasta, with the leftover sauce and meatballs. With green salad and leftover bread from Sunday. Meatless Wednesday Falafel Stop. A happy discovery. It has been approved by my Israeli friends, who proclaim that it is similar to Tel Aviv street food. Feed two adults and a ravenous teenager for a little more than $20. It's meatless and yet everyone is happy. We even have leftovers for lunch. Soon they will also start serving meat (shawarma).  Almost Meatless Thursday
Eggplant with Hot Garlic Sauce. Quick stir fry over rice. With just a smidge of pork. Friday Costco Chicken. It will be a long week. We need paper towels, TP and dinner. Have a good week all!  Send us some snow! Last week was a blur with sending kids back to school both locally and not-so-locally. Note to parents of college and high school-aged children It Does Not Get Easier to see your bouncing baby (at least in your eyes) go solo through security and off and away. And the corollary-- It's rather painful for the child at home because Teenage Boys Do Not Appreciate Being Smothered. At All. So this mother is cooking and then sending a food care package, of course! Here's what's cooking this week. Meatless Monday Bought mushroom/artichoke pasta with pesto sauce. If it didn't come in a takeout container, it still counts as cooking. Tuesday in the Oven
Mayonnaise Chicken, roasted tomatoes and roasted asparagus. Maximize the oven. Plus, the radiant heat carries over into where we watch TV. With store-bought jalapeno cheddar bread, pickled lemons from Israel and homemade pickled green beans. Wednesday Orange salsa pork chops, chard and jasmine rice. Another 1-pan dinner, plus rice cooker. Thursday Spicy turkey burgers and roasted sweet potatoes. Mollusca Friday Clam and canellini bean soup. And bread for sopping things up. There may be some change-ups as I just noticed that this week is a little rice-light. Also trying to make homemade granola. It uses flaked coconut, so I hope not to set the oven on fire. Again. What, Wednesday already?! As most of you know, I've taken on a Full-Time Professional Job. For which I commute to an office, five days a week. While I had been working full-time as a consultant, working as a full-time employee is Not The Same Thing. Thankfully, the family has proven to be resilient and supportive of this opportunity, even though we are eating much later, and sometimes planning retroactively.  Leftovers transformed Meatless Monday
Stuffed tomatoes, playing leftovers roulette. We had a bunch of tomatoes and a few basil leaves. We always have rice, so we cored out the tomatoes, cooked the rice with the tomato guts and basil, then mixed it with Parmesan cheese. Stuffed it back into the tomatoes and baked it til the rice got browned and a little crunchy. This needs a little work, but it is definitely on the right track. Tuesday Crispy roast pork from the Marina Market, rice and green beans. Easy and not quite takeout. Wednesday Japanese Chicken Curry. Won't taste like Japan, but won't be an 8 hour plane ride that requires ordering in a foreign language either. Leftovers Thursday My Daddy's Killer Fried Rice using the leftover roast pork, leftover green beans from Tuesday and any leftover onions or carrots from Wednesday. Everything about fried rice makes me happy. TGI Friday I fully appreciate this phrase again. Panini with apricot jam, brie, turkey, strawberries and arugula. It sounds weird and almost hideous. It's going to be good. Happy Wednesday everyone!  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!  The cure for winter tomatoes Go Niners! I can't even claim to be a hanger-on because this will be the first full NFL game that I have watched this season. And even then, I'm in it for the food and commercials. What to name that Budweiser horse?!
So instead, I made some long overdue additions to the site before the Superbowl starts. Both vegetarian too. Tomato Tart We had this a in early January, and I've been tardy getting the recipe up. Greek Pasta Salad From the same week as Tomato Tart. Pasta, cukes, red peppers, tomatoes and feta and olives. It was supposed to include tuna, but I nixed it at my daughter's suggestion. Smart girl. Li-hing Kettle Korn--homemade version We received this as a Christmas gift and I found out just how easy it is to make at home. The kids and I ate the whole bag and so we'll have plenty for Superbowl Sunday. 30 seconds to do. Get the following: 1) Trader Joe's Kettle Korn 2) Li-hing powder Pour kettle korn into a large bowl that has a lid, or a very large plastic bag. Sprinkle li-hing powder in. You can be a little more generous with the powder in this case. Shake it up. Eat. It will turn your fingers li-hing red, but you'll be happy. Enjoy the game!  Cleaned out the recipe/market research drawer Most of us have been eating pretty heavy over the holidays. So I've made dinners for the first full week of back to work/school purposefully lighter and included new recipes from the New Year's magazine purge. Here's what we are eating this week. As a bonus, we are meatless TWICE. Not a lot of links yet, but will be posting the new recipes later this week. Meatless Monday Tofu Stir Fry. I tried it awhile ago with mixed results (see link and ugly photo). The original recipe is a beef stir-fry. However, over our recent vacation, we drove through Coalinga, CA, location of the endless field of Definitely-NOT-Free-Range-and-Not-Very-Likely-Grass-Fed cows. Thus, we are eating tofu. Almost Meatless Tuesday
Corn Chowder, Take 3. This time using the combination of my mother-in-law's, Tyler Florence and the Barefoot Contessa, all people with serious cooking chops. Wednesday Chicken with onions, red peppers and maybe the rest of the snap peas from Monday. With a guava-lime glaze, from a Bon Appetit magazine, circa 2000. The original recipe is for kebabs, but it's winter, so it'll be baked. Complemented by My Very Own Namasu and rice. Thursday Greek Tuna Pasta Salad. Pasta tossed with cukes, red peppers, red onions, feta cheese, tuna, kalamata olives, and a little red wine vinegar. Genius! I should have thought of this years ago. Definitely Meatless Friday Tomato Tart, using puff pastry and fresh tomatoes. Blah-blah winter tomatoes go rah-rah when roasted with their friends garlic, onions and parmesan cheese. This should be good. Happy New Year. Looking forward a great year. Any good resolutions for 2013? Eat Well. Be Well.  Google "vote" to find your polling place Even if it means crock-pot, freezer or takeout, make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday. I have already exercised my privilege as an American and voted and you should too. Whatever your politics, we live in an amazing and diverse country. Thank you also to those who have already donated $980 to the Feeding My Ohana Virtual Food Drive on behalf of Second Harvest Food Bank. The hardworking people at Second Harvest tell me they update results manually, so matching funds and weekend donations post slightly more slowly. Thank you to all who have donated thus far! With that, here's what's cooking this week.  Mmm, BBQ sliders. Monday
Ground chicken with Chinese long beans stir-fried with black bean sauce and sriracha sauce. Bok choy with oyster sauce and rice. College kids: you don't need a recipe for this, just wing it. Tuesday--Get out and Vote! Crock pot BBQ sliders. Sandwiches to watch the election results. And Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey, Phish Phood, and Imagine Whirled Peace, which is on sale this week. A low-maintenance dinner so we can de-construct election results whilst eating ice cream from the carton. Wednesday Somen salad. As you enjoy 80 degrees in November in California, please keep our 'back East' ohana in your thoughts. Thursday Thai Chicken Curry and rice. Cauliflower is coming into season! Friday Weekday Lasagne. A nice way to end the week. Extras Yoplait coconut yogurt, which I have for lunch with Home-assembled trail mix: sesame sticks, cashews and dried raspberries Perfectly hard-boiled eggs Roasted tomatoes, with some late-season heirloom German Stripes I got at the Farmers' Market yesterday. Eat Well. Be Well.  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
What you can make with the above supplies plus a trip to the grocery store for fresh produce.
 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! |
aboutI 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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