a week in the life

i moved to here b/c it's muuuch easier to use and better 'cause i can link to stuff among other things. while still being free! there's no way in heck i'd ever pay for something that only i read, haha.

last week, i made this delish veggie stew. it's got lentils(double handful), carrots(2), turnips (2), garlic, onions (1), and tomatoes(1 can). it's in a tomato sauce(1)/chicken broth stock with some random herbs like savory and ginger. i'm not very good with spices. i just don't understand their subtlety. plus for the kind of food i'm used to eating and cooking.. they just don't come up very often. the stew is pretty hearty and thick. i've been eating away at it for a week now. time to throw it out.. because i'm sick of eating it!!!

er.. i made some egg noodles with oyster sauce and sesame oil. it probably would've been better with green onions.. but they don't have a very long refrigerator life. i also ate them before i could take a pic of them. so this is what was in it. prep/cook time after the water has reached boiling? 4 mins. repeat for multiple meals.

my roomate loves to fry things. she cut up some homegrown bananas, wrapped them in springroll wrappers, then fried them up. she says it's some filipino thing. i am no fan of bananas, but i'm sure it tasted good. in the corner you can see some of my frozen jung/zhongzi made circa lunar new year. i love to take these to school to eat b/c they're easy to lug around and then dispose of. and no, it's not THAT weird.

calabaza squash. or at least that's what i think they're called. a little water, garlic, salt, and butter.

no idea what they are called. the bao is filled with ground pork and hardboiled egg and the bread resembles pan de sal, but it's denser and yellower. will ask next time the checkout lady isn't so busy. these were from a filipino bakery called Christy's Bakery. it's on Mira Mesa and Blackforest b/w the 805 and the 15.

in the same plaza is the best pho place in SD. unassuming outside belies goodies within. seeing that made me hungry, so i stopped by this market on the way home and bought these goodies.

i was really excited to find this viet market (and a filipino seafood city down the street) b/c there's just no good cheap groceries at american markets like ralph's and vons. the albertsons 3 mins away has closed up and and turning into a bristol farms... a very posh market with impeccable quality for the upper class. clockwise from the jar... a jar of salty shrimp paste, a can of squid, fried shallots, a bunch of watercress, chinese eggplant, viet basil, viet meatloaf infused with pork skin and fish sauce (gio bi), and rice rolled noodles (banh cuon). to the left is this chasiu. inside the market is a cantonese siu lap and dimsum place! it looks pretty shabby, but i wanna try it out. the chasiu was v. good. they sold roast pork and duck just like here. thinking about pho cali, i prepared those noodles with cut up chasiu, shredded basil, shallots, and drizzled with a sauce made of fish sauce, sugar, water, and vinegar. needs some crushed peanuts, bean sprouts, lettuce. i don't know about authenticity, but it's damned tasty!


i like oatmeal. it's probably my favorite grain after rice. i'm not a big fan of the instant packet stuff 'cause they always turn gummy or are too watery and come it those itsy bitsy portions that don't fill you up. i like getting just regular rolled oats in bulk. it only takes 5 mins.. if the 1 minute version is just too time consuming for you. what is time consuming to make are steel cut oats. these are the grains cut into smaller chunks. bought 'em at Henry's in bulk. it took about 20-30 minutes to cook on a simmer with stirring every few minutes. they came out really creamy and have a nice chewy texture that doesn't make you feel like you're eating mush. i stirred in a little butter and added some dried cranberries as a nice lil mix-in. oh yeah, and with fried low sodium spam sans cranberries the next day... which doesn't sound nearly as pleasant.