We’ve got a LOT of leftover cooked pasta to use up this week. YaYu and a teammate made w-a-y too much last Friday evening for the number of people who came to the XC team dinner here at our house, which left us with all the leftovers to use up. YaYu will be taking pasta for her lunch a couple of days this week (there was also lots of leftover marinara sauce), and it will be used in a couple of dinners as well. I’m going to make chicken soup in the slow cooker next Monday, but instead of adding noodles or rice I’ll slip in some pasta at the end for Brett and YaYu. Brett has been doing his part as well, and has already had a couple of pasta lunches.
I’m very excited about buying a kabocha pumpkin this week at the farmers’ market. I’ve seen them for sale the past couple of weeks, and have been dying to make kabocha no nimono, or Japanese-style simmered pumpkin. Our daughter-in-law has fixed this for us in the past and we loved it, so this will be my chance to try it on my own. A great thing about kabocha is that you don’t have to peel it – as it simmers the peel softens and can be easily chewed.
Lots of Asian-y dishes are on the menu this week, so YaYu is thrilled. She’ll be making the egg drop soup next Sunday, one of her favorite things to make and eat, but the rest will be up to me.
- Tuesday (this evening): Mabo nasu; steamed rice; cucumber salad (I’m skipping the rice)
- Wednesday: Grilled Italian sausages; sauteed peppers and onions; pasta (just sausage and peppers for me)
- Thursday: Lumpia; steamed rice; Asian-y coleslaw (no rice for me)
- Friday: Leftovers (spaghetti dinner for YaYu)
- Saturday: Grilled teriyaki chicken; Japanese simmered pumpkin (kabocha); zaru soba (I’m going to have zoodles instead of soba for dipping(
- Sunday: Egg foo yung (with chicken instead of shrimp); egg drop soup; steamed rice; cucumbers (no rice for me)
- Monday: Slow cooker chicken-vegetable soup with pasta (I’ll serve mine before the pasta is added)
Besides the kabocha, we’ll also be picking up some more cucumbers, zucchini, bananas, papaya, and mung bean sprouts. Everything else we need for the week we already have on hand.
The Occasional Nomads 
Love your menus as it gives me new ideas for dinner. I found a spicy mabo nasu recipe I want to try now. I think my child will like it.
Tip on the kabocha for making it easy to slice: slit the skin and pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Makes slicing 100x easier!
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Thanks for the tip about the kabocha!
I “cheat” when I make mabo nasu or mabo dofu – I use Cook Do sauces that I get at Walmart. I first learned about and used Cook Do (a line of Chinese sauces) in Japan, and I love the convenience (especially in the heat here) and the taste.
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