TulipGirl

Probably most of you are like me. . . we get into the same ruts of shopping, cooking, and meal planning. We know our family favorites so well that we rarely pull out a recipe. I enjoy cooking — I don’t enjoy having to cook. In other words, I’ve defaulted to the quick and easy (and cheap) dinners that I can cook without much thinking.

Hubby used to tell me he couldn’t cook anything beyond coffee and microwave pizza. Over the past couple of years he’s done a bit more cooking, and well, he’s discovered he can cook and actually enjoys it! Cooking has evolved into shopping and menu planning as well. Suffice to say, Hubby is a bit more adventurous than I am in the kitchen and so the recipes on the fridge for this week include:

Tempura
Osaka Okonomiyaki
Yakitori – Skewered grilled chicken
Wakame Seaweed and Okra Sunomono
Japanese Sweet Potato Casserole
Japanese Pounded Cucumber Salad – Shojin Ryori
See a Japanese theme this week?
Asian Green Beans
Moroccan Lentil Soup
Shredded Potato Salmon Cakes
A Jerky Chicken
Pork Tofu with Watercress and Bean Sprouts
Ethiopian Vegetable Bowl
Mabo Nasu (spicy fried eggplant)

Thankfully the kids are willing to try anything foodwise and the most unusual dishes don’t contain any weird meats, which would make me squeamish. I made the Mabo Nasu tonight, and think I’m going to enjoy Hubby’s meal planning and shopping. Hubby has a wok (a Father’s Day gift a few years ago) that is being put to good use, and found an import grocery store on his drive home where they offer great specialty items. The boys are already great at cleaning the kitchen, making pancakes and oatmeal — and I bet with Hubby cooking more, they’ll expand their repertoire along with him.