Welcome!
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I’ve not heard of that Goan dish ! Will look it up. I have an oyster mushroom producer close by so go through 500g per week and always looking for ideas !
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Greetings, People.
Enjoying our first long stretch of nice weather in a long while – typically 70-and-sunny every day. The nights remain cool. It’s time of year when the PNW is at its best, when everything is fresh and green and growing, and the mountains in the distance still are tinged with snow.
In the garden, flowers are blooming, fruits (now fully thinned) and berries are setting, herbs and veggies (carrots, peas, leafy greens, scallions) are making their way into the kitchen. Payoff time for a gardener’s work early in the season, and my favorite time of year.
Cooking for two adults in paradise.
FRI: Round 2 of a spinach and lamb gozleme. Green salad.
SAT: Round 2 of peri-peri tacos with all the usual suspects.
SUN: Pan-fried halibut. Sauteed spinach. Potatoes.
MON: Southern fried chicken thighs. Caesar salad.
TUE: Pork, veg, and noodle stir-fry.
WED: Japanese-style steak-and-shroom kebabs on the grill. Steamed rice.
THUR: Chicken kofta (with zucchini). Chopped Mediterranean salad. Raita. Pita.
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Hello everyone and happy summer! It has been warm for nearly a whole week in a row! I think it’s safe to say summer is here ! 
However the sky in Ottawa has been getting progressively hazy all week and today is getting progressively worse. Our skies are now covered in smoke from the fires in the prairie provinces. I had two errands to run earlier and I’m not sure that was a good idea but my errands are over so time to tuck in for the rest of the day. What I do this weekend depends on how thick the smoke is. If it’s this bad on Saturday and Sunday I may have to stay at home. I waited all year for this warm weather and I’d hate to be locked up but I don’t want to end up with watery eyes and a burning throat either. Onto my menu for this week:
Today: After running errands, I popped into Farm Boy (grocery store chain) and picked up a nigiri combo and a wakame salad. Even with my xray vision, I still can’t read the label on the sushi container so from my fish eating experience, the sushi includes two salmon sushis, two shrimp sushis and one tuna sushi. Everything was very good. I will have a salad for supper.
Tomorrow: This morning I will roast a pepper for salads this weekend and make some pesto sauce. I am hoping to take in Doors Open Ottawa this afternoon, visiting buildings near my apartment depending on how smokey it is outside. Otherwise I will hunker down at home for the day. I will make channa masala for dinner.
Sunday: Off to the market this morning in search of yogurt and also to take another look at what they have available. I plan on doing the bulk of my shopping at the farmers markets in the future. I paid my first visit there a couple of weeks ago and bought chicken breasts and bacon which I am still working on. I am making mental note of what I like to eat and see if they have what I like there. If not I will find new favourites! I hope to visit another couple of buildings this afternoon, weather permitting. Dinner will be a coconut poached fish with bok choy. (This is a NYT recipe behind a paywall - sorry!)
Monday: Last sketching class. I will have a stuffed pepper from the freezer (last pre-made dinner). I really enjoyed my sketching class so I will look at the courses offered this summer and see if there are any other courses I would like to take.
Tuesday: Spaghettini with sesame bok choy.
Wednesday: Basa fillet with asparagus and cherry tomatoes.
Thursday: Pasta arrabiata, spring mix on the side.
I hope everyone has a nice smoke free week.
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Hi, everyone. Cooking for three in the Boston burbs, where we had a torrential rainstorm this afternoon (of course, while I was out grocery shopping) that led to some roads near our house being flooded - the police closed off the main road and detoured traffic through our neighborhood. So the plan for takeout tonight had to be nixed, for everyone’s safety.
Sat (I can’t tell you the last time I cooked dinner on a Saturday): stuffed peppers, which were supposed to be tomorrow’s dinner. Thanks to @ottawaoperadiva for the inspiration
Sun/Mon: one night will be takeout pizza, and one will be baked ziti. I’d rather get pizza on Sun but DS has a soccer game about an hour away, so I’m not sure I will want to come home and then go back out. We shall see!
Tues: hot honey chicken (NYT, using crushed corn Chex instead of cornflakes) and a red rice “risotto” since I impulse bought red rice a few weeks ago.
Weds: chicken/bacon/cheddar sandwiches
Thurs: baked ziti again, probably a late dinner after the final soccer game of the season.
There will be vegetables with these meals, I promise!
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Hello to everyone from the Twin Cities of MN where I am waiting out a pop up thunderstorm to see if I will go with plan A for dinner or punt. I’m working on seriously going through the freezer for proteins now. Mr Autumm mowed half the yard before it started but it should settle the road dust. The city is redoing the pavement in our neighborhood so the top layer is ground off and it is super dusty and noisy. A friend with a preschool boy is loving the equipment parade so here’s to that. Actuals and plans for 2 adults and 2 growing girls- I am not ready to be the owner/operator of a high schooler.
Sat 31: Big kiddo cooked. I coached. https://smittenkitchen.com/2025/05/one-pan-ditalini-and-peas/ Mixed bag on the review. Made a TON and the girls didn’t light the flavor from the salami. Adults were happy. Added extra lemon juice and will try again subbing bacon for salami. Cause Bacon
Sun 1: Grown up date night, chipotle for the kids
Mon 2: Old school ground turkey tacos (turkey in freezer) with the usual fixings
Tues 3: Breakfast for dinner. Buttermilk pancakes with rhubarb sauce, assorted fruit
Weds 4: Both kiddos skated! Homemade pizzas with dough found in the freezer (margarita and hulapenio) Salads
Thurs 5: Grilled harissa pork chops, grilled asparagus and baked potatoes started on the grill (finished in the microwave)
Fri 6: Leftover tacos with the standard fixings. Harvested 2 dozen rhubarb stalks that are staring at me now in the fridge. My 3rd haul of the year and it doesn’t look like I"ve made a dent
Sat 7: Tonight! Plan was grilled shrimp, grilled asparagus with Ina’s lemon orzo and I think I have feta.
Sun 8: I agreed to go into work for a few hours to get some evals done (I need a few days off later so. . .) Grilled Brats (freezer find!) with more grilled asparagus, salads
Mon 9: Big kiddo skates! Pulled pork (freezer find!) with flavoring TBD, salads and veggies TBD
Tues 10: Last day of School! Big kiddo has all day field trip to Valleyfair (amusement park) so Little One’s Choice
Weds 11: Both kiddos skate. See what the freezer delivers. . .
It’s still raining so I better start figuring out plan B but I was looking forward to grilled shrimp tonight (and I don’t grill in the rain unless I’m camping. . .) Silly beneficial rain! Take care everyone and happy cooking
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How did the butter chicken go over?
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Hi everyone, I hope you’re enjoying your weekend. LLD is back, and Lulu will be back on Tuesday. I am very impressed- she set up storage for her dorm stuff by herself, and packed it all herself, and is flying home solo. I knew she could do it, but I wasn’t sure that SHE knew she could do it. It has been raining so much for the past 4 weeks, it’s like a jungle outside. Getting a little sick of it. Here is what we ate:
Mon: last night on my own. Sardine and avocado toasts with pickled sweet onion.
Tues: baked blueberry cheesecake bars to welcome LLD home. I knew he’d have spent the traveling day eating, so went with a light dinner - panzanella. Delicious.
Wed: chicken biryani, cabbage salad with lime, garlic, chilies
Thurs: carry out pizza
Fri: sausage, pepper, onion heroes
Sat: back to my new favorite bakery for late breakfast, then LLD suggested going out for dinner. Soft shell crabs!
Sun: LLD will be cooking. Salmon, mashers, salad??
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
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I am so happy to read this, because I have wondering why all my friends are driving or flying here and there to move kids out of their dorms, when I moved in & out myself every year (as did my roommates and friends).
Yum!
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Not well. The chicken was overcooked, but more importantly, the garam masala was deemed “weird” and they said they couldn’t taste the butter. Both made valiant efforts, though. I do think the recipe was probably not very good, though. 
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Too bad. But at least they tried.
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Hi everyone
Weather has been whipsawing here in NYC, which makes appetite and meal planning all over the place. Still a lot of eating out going on, and therefore simplifying home meals to balance it out.
I picked up a bag of little avocados on sale that I now need to use up, and found some nice center-cut pieces of salmon to make a few batches of gravlax for friends and for myself.
Ideas for the week:
– Capellini with raw tomato sauce + some protein (shrimp?) + roasted zucchini
– Quick chicken tagine with vegetables + quinoa (can’t get this out of my mind ever since I ate it at a bazaar at the UN last week)
– Homemade gravlax with toast or crepes (inspired by @MunchkinRedux) + tomato and avocado salad
– Capellini with lemon pesto + roasted salmon + roasted zucchini
– Pan con tomate + avocado salad + tbd protein (chorizo? Spanish pork or chicken / pinchos morunos?)
– Sushi bowl with seared tuna, snow peas, and avocado – Nobu miso black cod (freezer) + rice/quinoa + snow pea salad and avocado salad
– Oyako-don / Japanese chicken and egg over rice + tbd veg
Wish you all a peaceful and tasty week.
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Mom and dad always helped me and brother to move in-and-out of dorms (college and boarding school). I will do the same for Spring Onion because that’s just me and B. I never asked for their help when I schlepped from one post-grad gross place to another.
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Here’s my plan for two adults and a kid in Asheville, NC. The kiddo is home from school for the summer so we are working on our activity bucket list. Still going with the healthier eating. I know a few of these meals will never fly with the little one, so he will be having low-lift alternatives. Really trying to minimize eating out as it is so expensive lately.
And the recipe links:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/08/16/ground-beef-bulgogi-recipe/
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I like the cheater Spice Tailor kits myself. LOL. I don’t think I’ve made butter chicken from scratch. I like the Spice Tailor kits more than most restaurant versions.
The Spice Tailor Korma and Tikka Masala kits are good, too, if they’re open to let you attempt to broaden their horizons in the future with less effort on your part. Haha.
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What a delicious sounding week!
The idea of an activity bucket list sounds great – I think I need one of those myself!
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For two adults in San Diego:
Breakfasts: Starting off with pastries from a local bakery. Finishing with granola and berries.
S: Dinner out at a Mexican restaurant.
Su: (tonight) Leftover asparagus flatbread - vegetarian
M: Italian chopped salad with garlic bread - salad
T: Pasta (fettuccini) with spinach, Boursin, peas, shrimp - seafood
W: Whatever my husband feels up to after a medical appointment.
Th: Chicken quesadillas with guacamole and salad
F: Chicken and rice soup
Take care of yourselves!
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Cooking for 3 in southwestern Ontario
Sunday: lemon olive oil chicken thighs, spaghettini, store-bought Sicilian-style tomato sauce, apricot coconut curry beans
Monday: salmon cakes
Parsnip potato colcannon
Tuesday: roast chicken, perogies
Wednesday: baked ziti, mixed lettuce salad
Thursday: oven-roasted pork ribs, maybe Saskatchewan Greek dry rib-style.
Friday: pickerel or trout, prep to be determined
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Highly unlikely, lol! I think anything with garam masala isn’t going to go over well - so I won’t waste it on them.
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Greetings, People.
Harvesting peas and strawberries, and cooking for two adults in the PNW.
FRI: Butternut lasagna. Squash is out of season (will use garden frozen), but fresh basil is in. The combination is very good. Salad greens.
SAT: Food-cart style chicken. Greek salad.
SUN: Dinner out with my sister – her call as to where.
MON: Leftover butternut lasagna. Salad greens.
TUE: Grilled steak and chimichurri. Will use a locally bottled sauce we picked up on our trip to Salt Spring Island. Roasted potatoes.
WED: Blackened salmon. Will use one of many fancy SSI salt purchases for the rub. Green salad. Strawberry shortcake for dessert?
THUR: Deep dish pizza. Greek-ish salad.
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