Korean Market Has Sprouts

One of the advantages in living in S. CA is there are a lot of ethnic markets here. Today we went to a Korean market up on Beach Bl. and they had an amazing collection of sprouts.  The ones I can remember are radish, beans,  and alfalfa. I like sprouts on sandwiches and in salads but I have the seeds at home to grow my own.

I'll have to remember to take my camera next time to show you the shop sign, but it's called Han Nam Chain Super 1 Mart. It's our favorite place to go to get kimchee, fish oil, and things like red pepper paste. They also have food samples, and freshly cooked food ready to go.  And there is also a food court but we haven't had a chance to eat there yet.

Back to Baking

Recently we picked up some used cookbooks.  One of the bread books has me thinking about baking bread again soon. My main problem with bread is my boyfriend barely eats it and I don't need to get any fatter than I already am.  So if I'm going to bake some, I need more friends in real life to share it with. I need to get in the habit of baking for pot lucks or to take to SCA events or to take to friends and relatives.  Then the group of us can have a muffin or two and I don't end up eating a whole loaf of bread or 2 dozen cupcakes. The most bizarre recipe in one book is Bacon and Peanut Butter Muffins. I may make that just out of curiosity. But I am willing to try to make a new sourdough starter or some tofu bread or sopaipillas or onion crescent rolls. I'll keep you posted.

Making Chile Verde

A few days ago I was involved with a cooking project making Chile Verde. Since my boyfriend already made an excellent post on his blog, I'll just send you to Greenman Cooking.

Lost My Kitchen

It seems that as time goes on, some of our favorite recipes fall through the cracks.  When I got into this relationship a decade ago, I never realized I'd practically be giving up cooking because my boyfriend buys the groceries, and chooses things for recipes he's making, which means I'm not making the food decisions. And we have a really small kitchen which makes it difficult to cook together in a safe and effective way.  But I've lost a part of myself I think and need to find it again and start putting my foot down in the kitchen.

Cabbage Rolls

Like many of us, I'm needing to eat more vegetables. So when I find a list of good recipes I have to share it. All kinds of cabbage roll recipes and facts: http://www.squidoo.com/stuffed-cabbage I'm trying to get more greens into my life and this is one way to do it.

Strawberry Pie

I haven't been in the kitchen much. Now that my boyfriend works at home, he does most of the cooking.  Yesterday he made strawberry pie with fresh whipped cream. Yummo!

Vegetable Drawer Soup

My friend Marikan left a post on Facebook that she was making Vegetable Drawer Soup. It was such a funny name and yet I knew exactly what she meant.  Since I heard Richard Simmons saying he lost weight by adding 2 more servings of vegetables to his diet each day, I was looking for a way to do the same. So I had to try this soup thing. I was a bit discouraged when my boyfriend said he just wasn't into vegetable soup so I'd be on my own. But I plowed ahead anyway.  He has some powdered chicken stock he let me use.  So I used 4 tbsp. of that in 12 cups of water of boiling water. Then I added chopped carrots and 2 handfuls of lentils first to get a head start while I chopped everything else. Next I added chopped cilantro, zucchini, celery, a yellow bell pepper, button mushrooms, brocolli and snow peas. I added some ground tomatillo, onion salt, parsley flakes and season salt. I let the whole thing simmer for about two hours. Once the carrots were tender, I served it up. I put some fresh ground black pepper on top and a bit of fresh cilantro.


It was so delicious! And I felt good because the veggies went into my tummy instead of into the trash can like they usually do. I never saw my boyfriend try any, but he said he liked it.  In fact it was his idea to add it to my food blog.