Category: - 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.

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!

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.

What’s Cooking This Week—Stocking the Freezer (Again)

4/10/2016

Enchi-lasagna

A very dear friend of mine recently asked, “Do you ever call it a night and have PB&Js for dinner?” The answer is actually no. Our Survivor dinners are cereal and milk, or takeout.

But not this week, as baby birdie has taken to cooking! Here's what's cooking this week, and not all by me.

Sunday
Nearly Meatless Enchiladas. I went lazy and instead of rolling enchiladas, my baby birdie and I stacked ‘em up like lasagna. The results were tasty, but not so pretty. Half to the freezer to try to avoid Cheerios and takeout.

#MeatlessMonday
Sabih and Greek Salad. We had a fantastic Israeli dinner at a friend’s house last week, and this is the Asian girl’s reasonable facsimile.

Tuesday is Dinner by Baby Birdie
My Mom’s Chicken Katsu, Weird Watermelon Salad and rice. Baby birdie even had a list for us to go shopping for. I love that kid.

Wednesday
Zippy’s Chili When You Are Far Away. I made on Sunday, so we’ll heat it up mid-week and then freeze the rest.

Takeout Thursday—Let the NHL Playoffs Begin!
Game 1 of the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings. Candidates for Takeout include Ike’s Sandwiches, Nick the Greek, or Nijiya Market.

Friday
Misoyaki butterfish or salmon and sekihan.

One mid-week dinner already made and two dinners for the freezer bank. Hockey playoffs starting. It’s going to be a good week.

What's Cooking This Week--Birdies Gotta Fly

3/29/2016

Just add eggs.

We had a full house this week, and all was well. But one of the most "oooh, my heart is full and heavy" moments was realizing that the birdies gotta fly--it's college notification week; they have learned how to cook and drive very, very far; and they are bigger than me. OK, that last one is not the least bit impressive. But it was a great week, and here's what's cooking.

Family Dinner by Birdie
Pillsbury Manapua and Weird Watermelon Salad. Shopped. Prepped and made by my baby birdie, with assistance from college birdie. Best comment from the dinner table after making ONE meal, “Wow, Mom, it’s pretty amazing that you did this for us every night for all the times we were little.” Parenthood FTW.

Traditional #Meatless Monday
Going with Shakshuka from Ottolenghi and Samimi. Made the sauce last night and it's doing its thing in the fridge today.

Tuesday
Romescu Chicken Sandwiches. We haven’t had this in quite awhile and it’s time to bring it back. Plus, we have a cilantro plant that’s exploding out in the front.

#LeftoversRoulette Wednesday
Guacamole with the aforementioned cilantro, plus the leftover red onion from Weird Watermelon Salad. Tropical Fruit Salsa and Carnitas (by crock pot).

Thursday
Seared Furikake Ahi, but with fresh ahi. We ended up making Omi’s Shoyu fish with the flash frozen ahi, which was fine, despite the very serious disconnect between photo and product.

Soup-er Friday
Corn Chowder. It is getting warmer, a good hearty chowder is always good comfort food after a full week.

They are not babies any more, yet they will always be my babies!

Not so sashimi. :P

What’s Cooking This Week—Home Sweet Home

2/28/2016

Lavender and statice from the less messy yard!

After a lot of travel, I’m happy to stay close to home for the next few months! This gives us a chance to clean up our yard/garden. We were starting to look like the abandoned house where the crazy cat lady lives. No longer! Now it's only the messy house that should hire a gardener.

And as bonus, I found some flowers!

And instead of weekend binge-cooking, we're going with meals that make me happy to be at the table and in the kitchen.

Sit-down Dinner Sunday
Roast chicken and bacon/Asiago bread stuffing (swapped bacon for Portuguese sausage) and a green salad. I originally wanted to make the bacon sourdough stuffing (original link here, but I made some serious modifications) from Thanksgiving, but forgot that it needs and apple and kuri. However, stuffing, like fried rice, is very forgiving. Hard to go awry with a little cured meat, a little onion, spices, and a starch.

Hockey Night Monday
We have been big fans of Nick the Greek in downtown San Jose. Now one is closer to us!! We stood in line for free food for their soft opening last Thursday, where they get the kinks worked out on their food lines. I’m happy to pay it for real this week. Just remember that if you are lucky enough to go to an opening where there is free food, it is good manners to at least leave a tip. The entire household is happy that Nick is in the neighborhood!

Happy Meal

#Leftovers Roulette Tuesday
Leftover Kalua pig and cabbage over hot rice, and yes, there will be another egg too.

Wednesday
Dinner by oven. Mayonnaise chicken, roasted cauliflower, and a green salad.

Thursday
Oyako donburi. Full disclosure is that the husband makes this 99.9% of the time, and it is one of the few things he will make without measuring. I LOVE the simplicity of this and it tastes like happiness and home in a bowl—eggs, onions, chicken, shoyu and hot rice.

Friday is #MeatlessOneDay
Black bean burger (from Cooking Light), in pitas with Sriracha sauce, mayo and salad greens. It 'feels' burger-ey and the panko makes it crunchy without adding too much filler. Also works as a cheeseburger.

Have a good week all!

What's Cooking This Week--Dinner by Bookmobile

11/15/2015

Simple is sometimes best.

Every two weeks, the bookmobile comes to my workplace. This means new cookbooks and the occasional brain candy. This week, the ohana is guinea pig for a crock pot book of soups and an apple/pear cookbook. Perfect for the early nights and cooler weather.

Sunday
Pork Loin from Scratch, Bri's Butternut Squash with a sprinkling of Za'atar. A bonus of Apple/Parsnip/Onion Soup as a side soup, and Pear/Almond Clafoutis for dessert, both as experiments.

Monday is #MeatlessOneDay
French Onion Soup, crock pot version. It started on Sunday afternoon, and can be re-heated quickly after yoga class in evening. Experiment #2 is an Apple/Beet/Watercress Salad and some bread.

Tuesday
Salmon in a Bag. It's like a school lunch bag, only for dinner.

Wednesday is #DinnerByFreezer
A few of the Chicken Gyoza I made awhile ago. If it's cold they will be wonton soup. Otherwise, it will be crunchy gyoza and ponzu sauce with the fancy yuzu a friend got me from Japan.

Thursday
General Tso's Chicken and rice. A quick stir-fry for volleyball night.

Friday
Bacon Sweet Potato Galettes, another experiment. If it works out, it could be a Thanksgiving side.

Starting to think of old favorites and new ideas for Thanksgiving. Have a good week all!