Mom Dinners Galore

Hi everyone! How was your week? I hope life has been great for you this summer. Like I mentioned in my last post, summer’s on here in BC! Well… that’s in terms of school. We were burdened with heavy rain ALL DAY today, and just before dinner, we had thunder and lightning! :O Hopefully the upcoming week will have beautiful weather, because we are planning another trip to the Sandbar (seafood restaurant) in Granville Island.

Below you’ll see a chart of my recent meals and a short analysis. I have no idea why I did this – obviously I am REALLY bored this summer – but I wanted to share it anyways. Pictures of these meals are coming!

I wanted to share a lot of old Mom Meals in this post. Our schedules have been jumbled up recently with other activities, so I actually haven’t had a Mom Meal for a while. Looking at old photos of home-cooked meals makes me so happy. 🙂

This is quinoa topped with tomato scrambled eggs (and sesame), and steamed cauliflower sauteed with ground pork and scallions. I LOVE both of these dishes. Chicken drumstick on the side… yum. I like drumsticks and thighs so much better than chicken breasts, which I find a little too dry. Dark meat is so juicy – I love it!

This is rouzao rice, a traditional Taiwanese dish made with ground pork, soy sauce, and lots of aromatic spices like star anise and cinnamon. Mom also adds some hard-boiled tea eggs. I had a big scoop of this on top of white jasmine rice, next to some buttered corn on the cob, Chinese chicken salad with sesame dressing, and shrimp + vegetable stir-fry. This was actually a party dinner, much like this party brunch, where we have lots of food options.

Fried rice! Again, I am in love with my mom’s fried rice. This was made with cubed trout, mixed vegetables, scallions and onions, and fluffy jasmine rice. Have you ever tried trout or salmon in fried rice?! It’s amazing. Some simple steamed broccoli on the side.

Italian food is definitely one of my top three favourite cuisines, and I think Mom does a great job cooking it. Here we have shells topped with vegetable bolognese sauce and parmesan cheese, plus a super tasty side of roasted broccoli with garlic. The garlic gets really crispy – like garlic chips. I love ’em!

 

Look at how the spinach peeks out of the side. I like to stir a little spinach or kale into the tomato sauce. The flavour mellows out and is covered by the sweet-ish and tangy tomato sauce. I have the same meal (almost) here, with noodles instead… and no broccoli. 😥

 

Lots of protein in this dinner: beef and asparagus stir-fry with onions and mushrooms, pork ribs with braised carrots and daikon, and steamed edamame on rice.

 

This here is Thai fried rice with shrimp and egg, garnished with peanuts. Thai fried rice, in the Wei family, is essentially the same as regular fried rice… but we add lots of minced garlic and ginger, cubed pineapple, extra onions and scallions, plus a splash of coconut milk. Oh! And we cook it in coconut oil instead of olive oil. I don’t think I will ever go back to regular fried rice! The peas are really sweet and yummy. The sweet caramelized pineapple is the best part. Love how a splash of soy sauce and a drizzle of lime take fried rice to the next level, too. Thai fried rice is so, so fragrant and ultra-flavourful. The creamy eggs, slightly coconutty rice, and crunchy chopped peanuts are to die for!

 

Served with sauteed vegetables on the side. Black cloud ear fungus, bok choy, mushrooms, and carrots, stir-fried with a little soy sauce and garlic, then topped with sesame. Really tasty with the special fried rice.

 

More ribs here: this time braised with carrots, firm tofu (dougan), baby shiitake mushrooms, and daikon. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these baby shiitakes. They are so juicy and… brothy? I love the rich, savoury mushroom flavour. They are great when braised in soy sauce and spices.

 

We also have some broccoli sauteed with onions and scallops. These little scallops are so buttery and soft. Lastly, we’ve got a fried egg and a big scoop of jasmine rice. Of course, everything is sprinkled with sesame. I really like these photos!

  

For now, that’s all I have to show you! I hope you enjoyed these healthy home-cooked meals by my mom.

Recently I’ve been looking at good restaurants in Montreal, and I am so excited to go… only 12 more days until the flight. Woopeee! See you in my next post, and I hope you have a not-so-manic Monday. 😉