Yesterday's Salad = Today's Lunch

>Fried Egg
>Whole wheat crispy toasted tortilla
>Salad from dinner



so. good. so easy.

Fall's Bounty from the Farmer's Market

As I anticipate summer...I remember this photo of produce that I got during the beginning of the Fall season.

For $45 Cold Hard cash: a table full of organic produce. Wow! You can't beat that (even for non-organic). We try to catch a farmer's market to shop for produce for the week or next 2. Last year I discovered the Chinatown/Downtown Oakland Farmers Market and it's so far my favorite. There is this feeling that folks there are just there to shop, so it's down to business as opposed to the sceney 'look at me be cool' feel that some other farmer's markets have (which I appreciate too on certain days). Here's what we bought:

(2) 20-count trays brown Eggs (we were hosting a brunch so we bought A LOT)
Multi-colored Carrots
Spring Onions
Red Onions
Pumpkin
Kabocha Squash
Butternut Squash
Yellow,Purple, Red & Green Bell Peppers
Zucchini
Yellow Summer Squash
Persimmons
Jujubees
Pomegranates( Fuyu & Hachiya)
Collard
Kale
Chard
Strawberries
Blackberries
Raspberries
Yellow Green Beans
Cucumber
Corn

I just love what fall has to offer. This motivates me to keep going Farmer's markets for better/fresher foods.

Tofu & Squash Soup, Salad

>Roasted Tofu Squares
>Squash chunk soup
>Pomegranate & Arugula Salad

If there's anything having this blog has achieved is getting me to make more soups. Which is kind of the purpose, right? I really disliked soups and don't ever make them, but now I have somewhat of a new-found appreciation for them. Yay me!

And squash- The produce that keeps on giving. These babies keep for MONNTHSSS. We have squashes that we got in October still holding us down in March, April, May... Whoa!

Ikea Food Lol: Fish, Brown Rice, Veggies & a Gravy

>Oven-grilled Fish
>Brown Rice & Gravy
>Steamed Veggies

Okay so it's not really ikea food, but those were yellow carrots I bought from the farmer's market, and once I made my plate, it looked like the freakish bright colored perfect veggies they have at ikea.

Beef Empanada Filling, Brown Rice, Broccoli Salad

>Beef with raisins, broccoli, onions and all kinds of other things
>Brown rice with a dot of tomato sauce
>Broccoli salad

I don't really like beef but my husband does, so we eat it sometimes.

He also makes some bomb cabbage rolls with a similar filling, so it's kinda a cool thing to make a bunch of and save. It freezes well too. So you can make all kinds of beef patties, rolls and casseroles.
Actually the best way to eat this particular meal is probably to just mix all the pieces of it together and go at it. Yea!

Oven-Grilled Chicken, Rosemary Mashed Potatoes, Brussel Sprouts, Salad

>Oven-Grilled Paprika Chicken
>Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
>Brussel Sprouts
>Broccoli & Lettuce Salad

I have been posting a lot of beef/red-meat lately and some not quite up to par with the 'grub a plate philosophy' so...I had to appease it with this plate.

Here is a a recipe I found online for cooking Brussel Sprouts for those who are not quite believers. I haven't followed this yet, but my hubby is all about claiming his superpower recipe (no meat added) to make brussel sprouts not taste like butt juice (okay that probably shouldn't be on a blog about food, but there it is). 

Grub on the Farm!

I found this photo of some food we made at an outside kitchen on a family/friend's farm in Oregon.

I really really really like to cook.

just saying.

Salmon Patties, Rice & Beans, Collards & Chard Salad

>Salmon Patties
>Rice & Beans
>Collards
>Chard Salad

I got the idea for Salmon Patties from this blog, and because I am extremely horrible at following recipes and 'ain't nobody got time for that' I did not actually follow it, but it served it's purpose and we all loved it, and I think I wanna make this all the time!

Like Babies for Broccoli

My (then) 7 month-old daughter has been really into broccoli these past few days. It's so easy because I can just have her sit in her high chair and she can feed herself from her plate. She also eats super spicy food, which is weird (I think), and sour things. I guess at this age, every sensation is extreme & new anyway, so spicy and sour are just as well. I bought from the Oakland's White Elephant sale one of these heavy baby plates, so it helps reduce (not totally eliminate) the slam-my-plate-and-splatter-everything-everywhere incidents. If she's into the food and wants to eat, it takes her a while before she can slam it all down and pour her food out. But usually if she's into the food, she wont play with the plate too much.

Other things that work well that I don't have to feed her myself and don't make too much of a mess
Roasted Seasoned Potatoes with skin off
Roasted Curry Cauliflower
Bean cakes
Steamed Greens
Fried Eggs
Squash/Sweet Potatoes
Banana & Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes
Zucchini and Cheese (or no cheese Patties)
Really any patties of veggies you can cook, mush, season and combine and make, so it's soft but they can practice eating actual food by themselves.

Other things that make a mess...but oh well
Oatmeal cooked thick, so enough to pick up with fingers
Steamed Beets


It's cool to be exploring food with a new human!

Pan-Grilled Lamb, Corn on the Cob, Yellow Green Beans, Spring Mix

>Rosemary Lamb with sauteed Onions
>Corn on the Cob
>Steamed Yellow Green Beans
>Apple slices on mixed greens

I will never be the one responsible for cooking lamb, so don't even look this way. If I don't like beef, then I hate lamb. But the other half LOVES him some gamey heavy rare lamb meat stuff *shivers*

He did learn from a Family friend's Lebanese Cookbook about the good and bad fat. When you cut off the bad then it doesn't taste bad. Either way it's intense for me, and I can only eat small, and very well cooked in fact burnt pieces. And I need some plain veggies to help balance it all out.

Oh yeah shout out to Katy of Creekside Ranch in Esparto, CA. We went in with some friends and bought this lamb directly from them.

Shrimp & Bean Stew, Cous Cous & Salad

Remember that meal I made for friends who just had a new baby?

Here's how we ate it:
>Shrimp & Bean Stew
>Cassava Cous Cous
>Mushroom and Almond Salad.

Cumin Chicken, Cauliflower Mac & Cheese, Kale Salad

>Cumin Pan-Grilled Chicken w/sauteed bell peppers & onions
>Cauliflower Mac & Cheese
>Kale Salad


So this was one of those collaboration meals with my neighbors... which help good eating come easy, because you make one or two items and then someone else makes one or two and voila! Plate. to. grub.
Sarah (who's an amazing cook) made the Cauliflower mac and cheese and I asked her "what's in this?" she said it's with Cauliflower mac and cheese gluten-free pasta & italian sausage and white wine

Shrimp & Bean Stew, Spaghetti Squash & Salad with Homemade Dressing

>Shrimp and Bean in stewed tomato sauteed with onions & veggie oil
>Oven-Roasted Spaghetti Squash
>Side Salad...with oranges & homemade dressing.
(make it vegan, by leaving out the shrimp).

I can't believe it's March already. I made this meal for friends who just had a baby in January, and I asked for a photo, and they sent me one! Yay!

Friend making us food soon after we had our baby, combined with my mom making me anything I requested, was such a lifesaver. So I'm all about it.

Now that our baby is in the solid-eating phase of her life, woohoo! I'm hoping to post some more Kid-friendly & Nigerian inspired meals (not necessarily in that order or that combination). Although really we're kinda feeding her off our plate/pot so maybe not.  Breast-milk yogurt anyone? haha.

Okay. That's all I have to say about this. Until next time.

Pan-Grilled Pork, 3-bean Porridge, Sauteed Cabbage & Steamed Broccoli

> Lean Pork Loins topped with sauteed Bell peppers and caramelized Onions and seasoned with fresh Rosemary
>Garbanzo, Lentil & Red Kidney Bean Porridge
>Steamed Broccoli heads
>Sauteed Cabbage with Balsamic Vinegar

Notes:
This was two-person-effort meal (I made the beans and my husband made everything else).
The pork loins were a bit dry, probably because they're lean, so they could have done with some sort of sauce on top, but it was still good: the flavor of the fresh rosemary herbs with the pork was a force to reckon. I really liked it.

For the beans I started out wanting to make a Daal but it kind of ended up as porridge that got a little burnt at the bottom of the pot which then gave it a yummy smoked flavor. It reminded me of the way some bean dishes are cooked in Nigeria. This Bean dishes I had made a day before, I think it is a great idea to cook a large amount to eat multiple times because they store well in the fridge and freezer. Also there is something about dishe like this that make them taste better the next day, after all the flavors have had more time coming together.

The cabbage was super yummy with the tangy taste of the balsamic vinegar, such a simple and fast concept. I bet would be even better with purple cabbages.

And broccoli. All you need is some steam and YUM!

Make it vegan, by preparing it with your favorite meat substitute.

Orange-glazed Pork Loin Kebabs, Broccoli Salad & Cassava Corn Bread

>Pork Loins on skewers with Carrots, Pears & Bell Peppers, glazed with fresh orange sauce
> Cast-iron Yucca/Cassava Cornbread
>Broccoli salad
 I knew I wanted to make Kebabs.

I had just made like a bazillion beef ones for a friend's bbq party, and I had it in my head. So combined with memories of the best kebabs ever at this restaurant Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica when I went for Annie's wedding, and left over skewers I knew I had to make some.

It was time for some lean pork loins on the 'protein rotation'. I searched around for some pork recipes because I don't really eat pork and this was my second time cooking it. I knew I wanted to find a different taste or way to cook it (because otherwise I would default to something I do all the time). So I found a site dedicated to pork recipes! Wow. Fancy that. And you can search by themes, cut, and preparation time. Since I had some cut loin I knew it wouldn't take me that long to make something anyway (and I wanted this meal to happen quickly), and so yeah I searched by cut. I picked this recipe well, kinda. Haha. I pretty much didn't actually do any of what it says here except for the concept of a glaze. I squeezed some fresh oranges, and reduced it with maple syrup, and thickened with a tiny bit of flour.

I didn't roast over an open flame. I put the pork into a cast iron pan, and threw some black pepper, herb de provence & sea salt on it and threw it into the oven 375. After about 15-20mins? When it was part-way cooked, I brought it out and cut into chunks for skewering. I seasoned some veggies (bell pepper & carrots) and pears chunked and skewered them with the pork. Okay DON'T BE LIKE ME AND TRY TO SKEWER RAW CARROTS. Which I know not to do but did anyway because I don't know I just did.  And then threw it back into the oven at 500 degrees to grill.

For the Cassava (Yucca) & Corn Bread: Okay I get recipe requests from friends a lot and I really never know what I do, and I can't remember. I just do stuff and then it's done. So when I saw we had some leftover Yucca from a previous meal, and some corn on the cob from another meal, I decided they could all get together and party with cornmeal, egg, oil & milk in the oven. And that's what they did and it was GOOD. (And I didn't just say so myself)

Broccoli Salad, Emilie my upstairs neighbor made this and it was delicious.

This was an awesome meal!