Random Food Night Spaghetti and Meatballs

I'm going to share a little secret with you.  Lean in a bit closer, it's a big one.  I don't always share my dinners with you in sequential order.  There.  It's out.  I feel better.  So much more honest.  It's been weighing on me.

Ok, it hasn't been weighing on me.  I came clean because I was being questioned about where my post for the most recent Random Food Night was.  Random Food Night was this past Saturday night.  On Sunday I posted about my little dinner celebration with sushi and cupcakes.  Not Random Food Night.  I got caught up in launching my new business Career Dragon and forgot all about it.  And the sushi distracted me.

So here it is.  Random Food Night with spaghetti and meatballs.  And more people.  We're developing a following.  That's right.  We're just that cool.

It's probably more that it's just really entertaining to watch the three of us cook while we empty one wine bottle after another.

I really don't have a recipe for this today.  I made the sauce and the salad dressing, Ken made the meatballs and Grace made the salad.  It was a group effort and all I can say about the ingredients with any certainty is that it was all fueled with good wine.

And there were tomatoes in the sauce and a lot (A LOT!) of garlic in the meatballs.  I know about the garlic because I peeled all the cloves for Ken.  He wouldn't do it himself.  He was whining about having raw meat on his hands.  Whatever.  Diva.

But the meatballs were really good.  Seriously.  They made the whole dish.  The man has a way with balls.

Wait.  I'll be nice and tell you one recipe.   The dressing was the lemon and olive oil concoction I've given directions for in a past post.  So there you go.  You get one recipe, the dressing.  But you have to look it up.  I'm not going to do it for you.  Be happy I did it once and quit complaining.

A Little Celebration

 So tonight I wanted to celebrate a little.  See, a while back about a year ago I decided I wanted to have my own business.  The idea of creating something from nothing that could help other people by creating jobs was really appealing.  It still is.  So I've been working at a full time job then coming home to work for myself in getting everything set up.  

And today was the day.  I launched my business, Career Dragon.  The doors are open.  You can take a look at it here:
Career Dragon 

It's not quite as exciting opening virtual doors as opposed to actual ones but I'm still pretty happy.
I'm also exhausted.  And a little cranky.  And I'm excited, obsessed, hopeful and scared to death.  So I had sushi for dinner.  And a cupcake for dessert.  Nothing calms the nerves like albacore sushi.  And chocolate.  But not together.  That's just gross.

I made the cupcakes myself but I'm not quite confident (arrogant?) enough to try sushi.  Besides, I've been working all weekend.  It was time for someone else to cook tonight and since the dog refuses every time I ask I had to order out.  She's lazy, the dog.  I ask her to help out around here and she mumbles something about not having thumbs and wanders off to nap on my bed.

There really isn't a recipe for the cupcakes.  It's just Devil's Food cake mix and pre-made frosting.  The only thing I did differently was added butter to the mix rather than the oil the directions call for.  It gives the cake a finer crumb and dryer texture.  I don't like super moist, oily chocolate cake so I usually won't eat it.

But it sounded good tonight.  I wanted to celebrate my little accomplishment.  It had to be chocolate.  You don't celebrate with vanilla.  Everyone knows that.

Riot of Color

Today while looking at my dinner I understood the meaning of the phrase "riot of color".  Ok.  Maybe I already had a pretty good hold on the phrase before dinner but I was really hungry and a bit faint so it felt more dramatic when I saw it done.

All day I was craving fresh vegetables and shrimp.  It's one of my favorite things to make when I get the organic box delivered on Monday.  This week one of the items was Chinese broccoli.  That's the beautiful green in the dish.  There were red bell peppers and yellow and green summer squash.

I only had a small handful of shrimp so I added some imitation crab.  The kind I get at the Korean market is especially good.  I had to add more protein because I knew once my son saw this he'd want some.  It was really that pretty.  Not too pretty to eat, though.  I was starving.  Seriously.

I haven't posted a recipe in a while.  You probably haven't noticed.  I thought I'd be nice and post this one.  Really more to amuse myself but if you want to cook this, knock yourself out.  Don't really knock yourself out.  It would hurt.  And I don't want the responsibility for that.

Recipe:
Minced garlic cloves - how many depends on you.  You may have a lot of vampire friends, I don't know.  If that's the case you might want to skip this part.

Grated Ginger - however much you like or whatever you find in the bottom of the vegetable drawer that isn't moldy yet.

Mix of vegetables - I used red bell pepper, yellow and green summer squash, and Chinese broccoli.  You might like something different.  Whatever.  Go crazy.  This is also a great opportunity to clean out that vegetable drawer.

Shrimp and/or Imitation Crab - How much you use depends on how many teenage boys will be dining with you.

Thai Fish Sauce, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce and a Lime.  Just a regular little, green lime.  The amount you use of these three depends on you.  I know how much I use because I know what I like it to taste like.  I don't know what you want it to taste like so I can't tell you how much to use.  You'll have to figure it out yourself.  I'm sorry.  I know it makes you have to think.  I'm not sorry, really.  It's good for you.  Builds character.

Stir the garlic and ginger briefly in the hot wok and then stir in the squash before the garlic and ginger burn. Squash takes the longest to cook. Next add the bell pepper.  Once that's a bit cooked add the Chinese broccoli.  Or whatever vegetables you chose.  Just add the longer cooking ones first with the fastest cooking one added last.

Then add the  shrimp/imitation crab.  Only cook it long enough for the shrimp to turn pink and the crab to heat up.  Add the different sauces.  Add a little of each and taste it.  You'll be able to tell which ones to add more of.  The fish sauce is salty, the chili sauce is sweet and the lime is tangy.  Go easy on the fish sauce at first.  It's pretty fishy.  Seriously.  I'm not kidding, go easy.

So enjoy it if you make it.  If you don't you're missing out.  But you won't know.  So don't worry about it.

A Busy Week

Bob's Big Boy Burgers

 So I've actually had a couple of people ask where my little blog has been.  I was so surprised.  Really.  I didn't figure anyone would notice I played hooky for a few days.

So to answer a couple of questions...No, I haven't developed an eating disorder.  Yes, I'm still eating dinner.  I just haven't been sharing it with you.

It's been a busy week.  By the time I eat dinner I'm so hungry and rushed that I keep forgetting to take pictures.  Then I remembered to take pictures but forgot to write my post.

That happens when you're building a brand new business on your own.  I only stop working at night when my eyes just refuse to focus anymore.  They revolt and force me to go to bed.  Traitors.  Imagine how much more I could get done if I didn't have to sleep.  Dare to dream...Or don't.  Because then I'd have to sleep and I'm right back where I started.

Thai Takeout

So tonight is just a re-cap of the last few nights.  On Monday night my son and I went to Ikea to pick up a desk for me to work on.  Bob's Big Boy happens to be near there.

Shockingly, my son had never been there.  Maybe you wouldn't be shocked.  I was shocked.  Ok, maybe not shocked.  Mildly surprised, maybe.  A Bob's Big Boy burger with a shake is an essential part of childhood that I seem to have shorted my son on.  I had to make good.  I remembered to take the picture after we were done eating.  Clearly.  They don't serve it to you like that.

Last night was Thai takeout.  I don't remember what was Tuesday.  Cereal maybe.  My eyes wouldn't focus.  I don't know.  It's a blur.

Tonight was...wait for it...Tacos! Surprise!  I know.  It's my go to easy dinner.  I eat tacos entirely too often.  Without Mexican cuisine I'd probably eat a lot more cereal.  But at least I ate.  And I took a picture.  And I remembered to share it with you.  So don't complain.  Embrace the tacos.

Turkey Sandwich

All day today I've been wanting a sandwich.  I don't think I can ever remember craving a sandwich.  Ever.  But today it just sounded so good.  A sandwich on Bavarian Rye bread with a cold glass of milk.

Since I don't have to cook for my son again tonight, that's exactly what I had.  I'm also headed to Tae Kwon Do class for sparring later.  You definitely want to eat lighter on those days.  Or maybe you don't.  Maybe you like getting sick during your workout.  Maybe it's how you measure how hard you're working.  I don't know.  I don't work out with you.

Unless you're one of the people in sparring class tonight.  In which case, please eat light before class!  Seriously.

So the recipe here is simple, it's just a sandwich.  Pretty basic.  If you can't work out a sandwich on your own call for a pizza.  Although, if you can't make a sandwich you're likely to have issues with the phone use.  Maybe just stand on your front porch and yell real loud until someone comes to feed you.  It's probably your best bet.

Arugula Caprese Salad

I'll admit I got lazy tonight.  My son is with his dad at Disneyland, I had to get groceries after work and I didn't sleep well last night.  Stupid heat.  The air conditioner is too cold, too.  I sound like a little old man.  Later I'm going to find some kids to yell at to stay off my lawn.

On my way home from work I stopped by Trader Joe's to stock up on some essentials.  Like milk.  I have a child who apparently believes he's a baby cow.  I know this because he drinks as much milk as one.

Since I figured I was doing my second good deed of the day I shouldn't have to cook, too.  The first good deed being that I went work.  This provides money to buy the food.  Buying the food  qualifies as my second good deed.

I was so tempted to swing by McDonald's and get a Big Mac.  I was tired.  And hungry.  Really hungry.  I think being tired amplifies the hungry feeling.  I'm just guessing.  I don't really know.  Either way, that's what I'm going to blame it on.

I picked up a pre-made Arugula Caprese Salad.  I do love me some arugula and the little tomatoes looked so good.  I was really hungry, remember?  Then I wandered around working very hard to not make poor food choices.  Why does Trader Joe's have to have hand made whoopie pies?  I don't think I've ever had one but good gods those things look amazing!  When you're starving.  And tired.  And in the poor choice mindset.  The whoopie pies did not come home with me.  But a French style flatbread with caramelized onions, did.

I get this flatbread for my son for a quick lunch, as a treat.  As a result, I never get more than to smell it on the air when I get home from work after he's made one.  Once I got home and got my salad ready I realized, hey!  Yes I say hey to myself, it's the only way to get my attention.  Hey! I said...the boy's not home.  You could totally get some of that flatbread to go with your salad.  So I did.  And it was as good as it smells.  And I don't even feel bad for not sharing with him.  You know, mostly.  Fine.  I'll buy him another one.

Although I couldn't eat the whole thing.  I don't know where he puts it.  But I do know he washes it down with milk.  A lot of milk.

Veggies and Crab

Mmmm Veggies!

Today I planned to make a chicken and vegetable stir fry for dinner.  I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer.  So I text my son.  The newly minted 16 year old.
Me: Good Morning! Could you take some chicken out to defrost.  I forgot and I want to cook it for dinner.
Him: k
Me: Thanks!
Him: .

So I went about my day figuring on chicken to cook for dinner.  I get home, get all the vegetables out.  Found some fresh ginger I forgot I had.  Discovered I still had garlic cloves.  And they were still edible!  Cut it all up and felt very organized and accomplished.  Then I looked around for the star ingredient.  There was not a defrosted piece of chicken to be found in my kitchen.  And no, it wasn't hiding.  I looked.

Text my son again:
Me: Did you put the chicken somewhere?
Him: chicken?
Me: Never mind.

But, as luck and my compulsive planning would have it, I found imitation crab in the freezer.  I bought it at the Korean market last time I was there.  Just in case I needed a quick dinner.  Always prepared, that's me.


Ok, not always.  But mostly.  And I'm good at surrounding myself with people who are better prepared than I am.  Don't tell them.  They'll just get cocky.

So the recipe....pretty easy and fast.
Ingredients:
Imitation Crab (or chicken if your kid listens well enough to have defrosted it for you)
Broccoli
Summer Squash
Bok Choy/Napa Cabbage
Fresh Ginger
Fresh Garlic
Ponzu Sauce - a citrusy soy sauce
Sweet Chili Sauce - Thai chili sauce, it's thick and sweet and reddish

Grate the ginger and mince the garlic.  Use however much you like.  I use 2 garlic cloves and about a tablespoon of grated ginger.  But that's to my taste.  I don't know how that works for you.  As my grandmother always told me when I asked for advice "You have to know".  Meaning, figure it out.

Chop up the veggies and imitation crab into bite size pieces.  Heat oil in your wok or frying pan.  Again, how much you want to use is up to you.  Maybe you want to use a spray oil.  Give it a whirl.  Go nuts.

Once the oil is heated add the ginger and garlic.  Stir until fragrant or the cooking ginger makes you cough.  Add in the veggies.  Once they get heated up a bit add in some Ponzu sauce.  Once the veggies are about cooked add the imitation crab.  Cook the crab until heated, about a minute or so.  Add in some sweet chili sauce and a little more Ponzu.  Stir it up and taste it.  If it tastes good to you, congratulations!  You're done.  If not, add more of one of the sauces.  Or both.  Whatever.

This should only take about 20min from start to eating.  If it takes much longer than that you may want to review your time management skills.

Now I have to text my son again.  I'm going to tell him I'm raising his allowance.  I'm not really.  But I bet he remembers that when he gets home.

Just Not Hungry

This is my dinner tonight.  A small cup of soup.  It comes in its own little plastic cuppy bowl thing and needs more seasoning to make it taste ok.  Not good. Just ok.  It's also low in fat, sodium, sugar and anything else that might be bad for me.  The only redeeming quality is that it was quick and took away the little bit of appetite I had.

It looks kind of sad and pathetic.  Lame little cup of soup.  You might be wondering why I would eat something like this for dinner.  It's because I just wasn't that hungry today.  And I'm really tired but mostly because I just wasn't hungry.

See, yesterday was my son's birthday.  And not just any birthday.  He turned sixteen.  So it had to be special.  I really felt it was necessary to acknowledge my accomplishment of keeping another human being alive for sixteen years.  I didn't even lose or misplace him once!

And so in celebration of his miraculous survival we went to Little Tokyo in downtown LA for Korean BBQ.  That's why I'm not hungry today.  Because this is what I ate yesterday.  Korean BBQ that tastes like you're in Korea.  Yes, I do know what food tastes like in Korea.  You think I didn't eat the whole time I was there?  I did.  A lot.  But I walked a lot, too so it was ok.

So Happy Birthday to my fantastic son, thank you  for choosing this for your birthday dinner and you're welcome for keeping you alive.  So far.  Two years to go.

Connor Gets Creative

4th of July Cocktails

Connor's Creation

Happy late 4th of July!  I spent the holiday at my sister's house.  She really got into it.  She even made themed cocktails.  Which is also the reason I didn't post yesterday.  Stupid cocktails. But they're pretty.

Today I texted my son while I was at work.  He's hanging around the house on summer vacation.  I figured he'd appreciate something to do.  So I asked him to make dinner.  Be creative, I said.  Go nuts.

Given that I just gave him full latitude in the kitchen I was curious to see what he'd come up with.  And a little scared.

But when I got home I found the smoke alarm silent and the whole place smelling great.  In order to be healthy he cooked ground turkey and put it on a bed of quinoa.  Which he proudly pronounced as "that stuff you like".  He sliced up tomatoes and placed a fried egg on top ready to spill out the yolky goodness over everything.

So I guess that was the recipe just then.  It was good, too.  The kid's got some skill.  He didn't even burn the house down.

Crab Salad

So last night I went out for Mexican food at Yolanda's in Simi Valley.  I have a cousin visiting from Germany and in all the excitement I ate without taking a picture.  My chicken enchilada with green sauce was very tasty.  I know there's no picture.  You just have to trust me.

Because last night's dinner was not the paragon of health food I could have hoped for I decided to go healthy tonight.  Mexican food last night = Salad tonight.

Actually this salad is one of my favorite quick meals. I use a bag of organic mixed greens, some imitation crab and my own lemon and olive oil dressing.  And a tomato.  A small one.  You could use a bigger one. You know better than I do how much you want to eat.

The recipe today is just for the dressing.  The rest is pretty self explanatory.  If you can't manage the salad on your own go ask your 10 year old big sister to make it for you.  And don't worry about it.  You're too short to be in the kitchen, anyway.  Go back to the cartoons.

Recipe:
One lemon
Extra Virgin Olive oil - good quality olive oil really makes a difference.
Salt
Pepper

Squeeze the lemon out into a bowl.  Or you could use a tupperware type of bowl with a lid, then you could just shake all the ingredients together.  Genius!  Add some salt and pepper and mix it around.  The salt will dissolve in the lemon juice but not the oil so make sure the salt is dissolved before you add the oil.  The pepper isn't going to dissolve.  It really isn't.  I'm a chemist.  I know these things.

Add some oil.  The amount you add depends on how much juice you got out of your lemon.  Lemons all have different amounts of juice.  The skill of the lemon juicer will come into play here, too.  So look at how much lemon juice you have and add about half that amount of oil.  Use a whisk (or put the lid on that tupperware and shake it) to mix it well.  Taste it and add more salt, pepper or oil.  It depends on what you like.  I know what I like and how much to add for me.  But not for you.  You have to figure it out on your own.  Give it a shot.  Be brave.

Random Food Night

Random Food Night is a creation of my friends Grace and Ken.  Pictured here with Grace's daughter who only authorized use of the photo if I promised to mention that she is making a duck face ironically. Ok, Cat?  Happy?

So Random Food Night has rules.  And lots of wine.  Or beer.  Once it was Saki.  Anyway, you go into Grace's kitchen, dig around in the fridge and pantry and make a dinner with whatever you find.  Given that Ken is a great cook this has resulted in some pretty unusual but really tasty meals.  He's a big fan of bacon.  Seriously, big fan.  He once made egg rolls with bacon.  They may have been good.  I wouldn't know.  I wasn't invited that night.  Or maybe I just couldn't make it.  I don't remember.

It's evolved now to include a quick trip to the grocery store and figure out the menu based on what looks good there.  Since Grace already had giant chicken breasts ready at home it was decided to make stuffed chicken breasts.  Then came the debate on what to stuff them with.  Sun dried tomatoes and cranberries were mentioned in the same sentence.  Thankfully the cranberries didn't make the cut.  They did find their way into the salad, though.

The final decision was a stuffing of spinach, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and garlic.  I might be leaving something out.  I'd had a glass of wine already at this point.  Each breast was dipped in egg and milk and rolled in crushed cornflakes.  Wrapping them in bacon and then re-rolling them in more cornflakes was discussed.  Briefly.  We were getting hungry and wanted to get things moving.  

Each breast was cooked quickly in a frying pan with a bit of oil, sprinkled with a bit of mozarella and then put in the oven.  They baked for the amount of time it took for me to drink a beer out of a Buddha shaped bottle.  Ken poked the stuffed breasts with a thermometer to make sure they were done.  He didn't want to.  Grace made him.

We also had a fantastic dish of sauteed squash with mushrooms (courtesy of another dinner guest), a salad so Ken could have dried cranberries and some quinoa just to round it out.  

There is no recipe today because I don't reliably remember everything that went into it.  I reliably remember the beer was good.  So was the wine.  And of course, the food.