SCENES FROM A WEEK, WEEK 7

We've now been semi-quarantined for 50 days. I've been listening to the podcast Staying in with Emily and Kumail and they talked about how we're in a place in society right now that is a little numb to everything. How when people were first being quarantined they were setting up routines that helped them through the work week and to feel their healthiest, but those routines aren't working quite as well right now. That makes a lot of sense to me. I was really trying to keep a daily photo journal but at some point I kind of stopped? Because it just all feels the same? I don't know guys. I think I need a nap and a new book and maybe a cookie.

The girls came to see what we were cooking for dinner. Not chicken, thankfully. 

Ava made matcha chocolate scones the other evening. SUPER simple and so delicious. Recipe is from Tokyo Kitchen. 

I was reading the latest Lady Darby book and Ava finished up the Harry Potter series this week.

BABY BUNNY SWEETNESS.

I did a home Lego coding virtual lesson for students this week. 

Ava's art teacher sent postcards out to all her students to send on smiles to others! Such a fun project.

Another virtual Scout Camp out this weekend. Dylan was able to participate with a couple other boys and still practice social distancing.

My current project. Stay tuned for the finished project.

SCENES FROM A WEEK

We've been at home now for six weeks. We're lucky: everyone is healthy, our neighborhood is nice for walking, both Neal and I are still working, we have internet access for the kids to do their work, we live in a state where our governor made quick, educated choices. We like each other, and the military has us prepared for things like missed vacations, not being there for someones birthday, endlessly changing orders and plans, being aware that you are indeed living through history.

But still. We're restless.We missed family visits and a long planned for trip. We miss our friends. And the library. I miss my students and co-workers and the kids miss their teachers.  It's an odd time. A slow time.

I have always loved being home. And I still do; even through the restlessness, the boredom, the worry.

Scenes from our week: 

I'm reading The Land of Stories series out loud to Ava. We are absolutely loving it.

Dylan is working on his Cooking Merit Badge for scouts, so he has been making dinners about once a week and using different techniques. This week he wanted to work on frying, so we made tonkatsu (Japanese fried pork chops). He used this video tutorial from Tokyo Kitchen. 

 YUM.

Working from home. I've been making a lot of anchor charts, which now won't be used until next year. 😢 We're out until the end of the year. I knew it was coming, but it was still very upsetting.

We did a backyard campout. It was fun, but cold!

 Campout dinner was chicken pot pie with biscuits. I found the recipe on this list; I'm working through all of them.

Ava is working on learning to braid her own hair. We've been looking at lots of braiding tutorials. Turns out I don't know how to do a traditional braid? Evidently, I always do "dutch braids" instead of traditional braids.

Ava's Earth Day art.

POWER BREAKFAST: GROUND BEEF, SNAP PEAS & EGGS (IRI IRI PAN PAN)

Earlier this summer, I read the book Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Toyko Kitchen by Naomi Moriyama, which, despite the ridiculous title, was a very interesting look at the day to day cooking in a Japanese home kitchen. The diet "secrets" are the usual-eat smaller portions, walk more, eat at home- but I found this book to be a very good introduction to Japanese home cooking, and it included several recipes plus lists of ingredients and cookware essentials for a Tokyo kitchen.

The Japanese diet in this book focuses on small portions, light cooking, beautiful presentation, "power breakfasts" and is based around eating fish, vegetables, soy, noodles, rice, tea, and fruit. I can get behind fish, veggies, tea and fruit-those are staples in my kitchen-but soy, rice, and noodles are not often in my pantry, since I try to maintain a mostly Whole 30ish way of eating. So I thought I'd try to convert some of the recipes in this book to Whole 30 complaint versions. 

This Japanese power breakfast is a combination of ground beef, snap peas and scrambled eggs called Iri Iri Pan Pan. By making just a couple changes (no soy sauce, no rice, no sugar) I made a version that is Whole 30 compliant AND delicious! Guys, Japanese food for breakfast is a thing and you should try it.

Iri Iri Pan Pan Power Breakfast

recipe adapted from Japanese Woman Don't Get Old or Fat

A (very) generous single serving or two small servings  

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp seasme oil, divided

1/2 lb. of ground beef (see note below)

1/2 an onion, diced

2 Tbsp coconut aminos (or tamari or soy sauce if you eat soy)

12 snap peas, string removed and split (if desired)

1 Tbsp ghee (or butter)

2 eggs

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a bowl, whisk eggs with salt and pepper, set aside

Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a large skillet pan over medium heat. Add the ground beef, season with salt and pepper and cook until brown. Add the onion and the coconut aminos. Cook until onion is soft, about 3 minutes. Remove meat and onions from pan. Wipe out pan and return to burner.

Add the rest of the sesame oil to pan. When the oil is hot, add the snap peas to the pan and flash cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove the peas from the pan. Return pan to the stove, add the ghee and reduce the heat to low. Add the eggs to the pan. Let eggs sit for 30 seconds, then gently stir. Repeat this process until eggs are fully cooked, about 2-3 minutes. The eggs should look like small curds. 

Place the beef, snap peas, and eggs on a plate to serve. Enjoy!

Note: I make a big batch (like, 2 lbs) of this ground beef on my meal prep Sundays and then just reheat it in the pan for this meal. A pre-made hamburger patty would also work well for a single serving of this meal.

CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM RAMEN

This recipe 100% involves Top Ramen and I am not ashamed.
(Fun Fact: During kindergarten, I routinely ate chicken flavored Top Ramen for breakfast. My alternative breakfast meal was Campbell's Vegetable Beef Soup. This is a true story.)

Now that summer vacation is here and I'm off work, I'm trying new recipes and I'm particularly focusing on teaching myself some basic Japanese cooking. Although I'm half Japanese, I lack knowledge on my Japanese heritage. I feel like cooking, something I love, is a good starting point to connect more with this. And sharing those meals with my children, who share this heritage, is somehow important. I recently found the Japanese Cooking 101 website and have been reading over recipes. Next up is cookbooks! Ramen seemed like a good place to start because 1). it's having a moment and is super easy, 2.) I was sure everyone would like it (they did), and 3.) see above where I mention how I used to eat ramen for breakfast and you can tell my love for it is real.

This looks like a million ingredients, but stay with me! They all go into just one pot. Okay, two pots because of the eggs. But they're optional! You can do this!

Chicken and Mushroom Ramen

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. of sesame or vegetable oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp of fresh ginger, grated

1 tbsp. of fish sauce

3 tablespoons soy or tamari sauce

2 cups of chicken stock

4 cups of water

1 package of instant miso (optional but adds a really nice touch. Instant miso can be found in most grocery stores in the Asian section.)

2 packages of ramen noodles (any flavor, you aren't going to be using the flavor packet)

2 cups sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas, but any kind will work just fine)

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I used left over chicken from the night before. A precooked rotisserie chicken would also work great!)

2-4 green onion, chopped

4 soft boiled eggs (optional)

1. Heat sesame oil in a large pot over medium high heat. When the oil is hot and shimmering, add the ginger and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the fish sauce (fact: fish sauce smells disgusting when it first starts cooking. WORK THROUGH IT. Do not listen to your children as they say things like "What is that smell?! What are you cooking?!" in disgust because that smell goes away quickly and they will eat this food and be so happy because fish sauce is delicious) and the soy or tamari sauce. Cook 1 minute. Add the stock and water. Bring to a boil, add the instant miso, if using. Add the chicken and the mushrooms, cook at low boil for 10 minutes. Add the ramen and cook until done, 7-10 minutes. Add the green onions, cook for 3-5 minutes. Ladle into bowls.

To make the soft boiled eggs: In a small pot, bring enough water to cover the eggs to a boil. Add the eggs directly from the fridge, you want them to be cold when they go into the boiling water. Cook at a boil, uncovered, for 7-9 minutes. Remove the eggs from the boiling water and place in a bowl of ice water. Let them sit in the ice water bath for 5 minutes. Peel and slice in half, and add to each bowl of ramen.

Enjoy!