Your Favorite Chef! I need your help, please!

So, I check my status on My Favorite Chef, and I climbed to 7th place. I am very excited! If I make it to the top 5 by the end of Thursday, I move to the next round! My hope is that I will be able to win, and not only get featured in Bon Appetite Magazine but also with the cash prize, to open my own food truck, as well. The winnings will be $50,000 - to be split - part for me to open my truck, and the rest to share. Because of my passion to feed people, I will be sharing with the Hospitality Center, the largest meal site in Wisconsin, feeding 40-65 M-F for breakfast, 80-120 M-F for lunch, and countless for dinner on M & T.

Below is my country-style pork ribs, slow roasted in craft beer, seasoned with onion, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and other herbs & spices, then grilled on a charcoal grill with my homemade whisky barbecue sauce. With it, steamed premium-grade Japanese rice with furikake (seasoned rice sprinkles, called pah-pah by children, because the way you shake it over the rice, kind of going pah, pah, pah) and fresh roasted green beans in butter, salt, pepper & a dash of garlic powder.

Cast your free vote here: https://favchef.com/2021/lika-m-phipps

I cannot do this without you! Thank you again! You are all very awesome! Supporters will get free samplings, including extra on opening, new developments, and more! Thank you so much for your continued support!

Just remember, if I get to open this food truck up, I will also be doing more to support the local economy such as Malicki's Piggly Wiggly, Matt's Produce, and more, because a food truck will need good stuff to put out! I'm so excited that I made it to the 4th round! Thousands entered. The 1st round came to the top 50 in each category, 2nd down to the top 15, 3rd to the top 10, and this round will decide the top 5! So many good people entered.

Alert! Not Your Ordinary Election!

Voting begins 02/16/2021 @ 10AM/PST, 11AM/MST, 12PM/CST, 1PM/EST - Don't forget to come vote for your Favorite Chef! It's an opportunity to win a kitchen gadget & be featured in Bon Appetit Magazine to win $20,000 toward my career!

https://favchef.com/2021/lika-m-phipps

Internship Luncheon

I finished up my internship at the Victim Witness Office, which is an extension of the District Attorney's Office, inside the Racine County Courthouse. It was an enjoyable experience, where all of the women who work there all had their own strengths to bring, to build a strong team as a collective. I admire them all. To beat that, I did get an awesome letter of recommendation from my immediate supervisor.

Because these are such awesome people, including those from the DA's main office, I brought in lunch for my last day, in hopes that giving them good food that starts with real ingredients and should be nutritious and delicious will show how much I appreciated them as well as my experience.

Bean/Veggie burgers (inspired by Robert Irvine, but adjusted to fit what I had): 2# pinto beans - soaked overnight, picked and cooked, then blended into a very thick paste. 1# brown Jasmine rice, cooked and cooled on a sheet pan. 1 yucca root - peeled, cut & boiled for 10 minutes, 2 medium carrots peeled and cut, 2 medium yellow onions peeled and cut, 1 bulb of garlic pealed: roast these veggies for 30 minutes, and mince in a food processor. Combine all of these in a large bowl, and add 1 TBS sea salt, 1 tsp freshly ground pepper corns, 1/2 cup medium-hot salsa, 3 TBS cilantro, 1 tsp cumin, juice of 2 limes. Mix well, and form into 1/8# patties. Bake on cookie sheet in a 350F for 8 minutes on each side (may be longer for larger patties). Serve on pretzel buns with hot mayo (mayo or salad dressing mixed with sriracha sauce - I do 2/3 dressing & 1/3 sriracha).

Sushi rolls: 5 cups of sushi grade Japanese rice, rinsed until water runs clear, let rest for an hour, w/o water. Add 6 cups of water to rice and a large piece or so of kombu kelp. Add 7 TBS rice vinegar, 6 TBS sugar, and 5 tsp sea salt. Mix well, cook until all liquid is absorbed, covered. Let rest for 10 minutes after cooking. Put into a large pan, and continuously cut, fold, & fluff the rice with a fan, until easy to work with. Roll with sushi seaweed, and feel free to be creative with what to put in the middle. This recipe, I did tofu, asparagus, takuan (Japanese pickled radish) and flavored shiitake mushrooms. I've also used shrimp, cucumber, carrot, egg omelet Japanese style, don't be shy to use what you like. Blanched asparagus, cauliflower, and other veggies are also good.

Anyway, now that I am done, with an awesome letter of recommendation in hand, I am looking for a full time office position where I am responsible for managing databases, give customer service, answering phones to give information and/or referrals, make copies and agendas for meetings, pass necessary information to those who need it, public speaking, taking meeting minutes, etc... I would love an attorney's office, corporations like Coka-Cola, State Departments such as DMV, and I am open to industry. I also have a medical background, also, so a personal injury type law firm would be benefited greatly with my employment. If you know anyplace which is hiring, please let me know! Thank you in advance.

In the mean time, please sign my petition, #LikasLaw4Wisconsin here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/367/880/690/likas-law-4-wisconsin-demand-stiffer-sentencing-4-child-sex-offenders/
 

Restaurant Inspired; Homemade Goodness

I ended up with a little over 9 pounds of fresh oranges. And, I went to the Asian store, Ahn Chau’s in Milwaukee. So, even though I’m looking at more Japanese foods, I ended up thinking about Chinese food on the way home from the store.

 

I start with all fresh ingredients, or, at least as much as I can. Everyone seems to love Beef with Broccoli, but I like the spicier Orange Beef, so, I kind of merged them. I’ll call it Orange Beef with Broccoli, inspired from the traditional Chinese restaurant dishes, but healthier in my home made dish.

 

 

Plated Orange Beef w/ Broccoli

 

 

2# beef roast. I cut it into 1” cubes, coat each piece in flour

1 large onion, cubed in 1/2’ squares

2 pounds of cut broccoli (fresh or frozen)

In a large wok, heat 3 TBS peanut oil, 1 tsp sesame oil

Put the floured beef into the wok, and let brown. When all sides are fairly brown, add the onion and broccoli, and let beef get nice and caramelized.

 

 

Nice dark brown, caramelized meat, with the nutty smell of the flour getting cooked.

Grate the zest of 1 orange, cut in half, and hand juice the orange in a bowl, and set aside.

The finer grate allows for easier eating, with a stronger orange flavor in the dish.

In a small mixing bowl, mix 1/3-1/2 cup of soy sauce, 2-3 TBS Sriracha sauce, 1-2 TBS raw honey, blend together, black pepper to taste, and thicken with 4 TBS cornstarch.

When the meat is nice and dark, add the orange zest & juice, then gradually pour the sauce all over, while stirring for even coating over the whole pan. Sprinkle black sesame seeds as a finisher, quickly stir, cut the heat, and sauce will thicken as it sets. Serve with steamed rice. Enjoy.

Final product, before you put it over a bed of freshly steaming rice.

Food & Life: What to Eat, What to Cut

I’d been thinking a lot about various things, and how a common theme with just about every culture, in every country, life revolves around food. Whether it’s celebrating a wedding, birthday, graduation, birth, holiday, or how about ‘just because’, and even mourning a loss, we use food to bring people together. And, lets face it... We all have our favorite “go to” food, that we look for at any gathering, and it differs depending on the cultural foods we’ve all grown up on. It’s fun to go to these, because we all have our special foods, and we like to try other people’s. Even if we bring what we love, we also like to have other cultural foods.

 

 

With rising obesity and Type 2 diabetes on the rise, so many of us are trying to be better about eating healthier, and, sometimes, we fall short, and could use the help of a Registered Dietician or a Nutritionist. I remember so many times, that, these people are so happy to give out good tips of what is better than others, but, my problem? It revolves too much around your standard Middle America type foods. Even when you go to these offices, it seems as if 99% of the people are Caucasian, middle class, and very plain in what they offer... From my own experiences, even the ones that are Hispanic or African American, they are usually the receptionist, not the nutritionist. Not much help.

So, this prompted me to write to these places, and I’ll be sending these letters off when the weather is good enough to make that trip, or, when I’m going out on errands, anyway. Here are the places I’m writing to:

 

This is an agency where dieticians and nutritionists go to become members of their profession, or might be registered through this place. So, sending here is targeting the very people who are taught how to educate us, as the general public about health and nutrition:

National Agricultural Library; Food and Nutrition Information Center; 10301 Baltimore Avenue; Beltsville, MD 20705-2351.

 

 

The other agency I wrote to is the USDA, with their FNS office, since these are the people in charge of the farming practices and whatnot, in hopes that they will help coordinate the types of foods that are pushed for healthy eating.

United States Department of Agriculture; Food and Nutrition National Office; 3101 Park Center Drive; Alexandra, VA 22302

 

 

Here is my letter, and if you want to send one, just correct the spacing issues to make sure that it flows better. I really think that these agencies need to remember that we come from so many different cultures, that they need to incorporate ethnic foods. Those of you who know me know that I’m just as passionate about serving tasty food that is also good for your health, as I am about child advocacy. I hope that this helps, because aside from making my cause successful, I’d love to work with these people. In the mean time, please write them and let them know that you want them to incorporate healthier and authentic versions of ethnic foods, so we can enjoy our tacos, sesame chicken, and more, not just poached fish & chicken with mild flavorings. You may want to add soul food and Cajun food to your list of must haves, too, since those are popular foods, too, along with southern recipes.

 

January 9, 2017

My Full Name

My Full Address

My City, State Zip

My Phone Number

Agency Name

Specific Office

Full Sending Address

City, State Zip

Dear Food Information Manager;

I am writing in regard to my experiences and concerns with the various people I have seen over the course of years, regarding the advice and teaching that I have received from various Registered Dieticians and Nutritionists.  I’ve had several, not only for myself but for my son as well as accompanying others to their appointments as well.

With the growing concern with childhood obesity, the consumptions of highly processed “easy” food, and the lack of physical activity, it is good to push programs that help people find ways to eat healthier, to consume foods that are nutritious and delicious.  Nutrition rich food that tastes good starts with fresh ingredients.  I think we can all agree on that.  My son and I both have a chromosome animally called 16p11.2 micro deletion, which increases our appetites higher than the normal person, while slowing down our metabolism lower than the average “couch potato”.  This makes it very difficult to keep up with the average expectations of those who are actively losing weight under the supervision of our doctors, in conjunction with staff who guide us in our weight loss journey by helping to teach people how to make better decisions with their food choices, for better health in the long run.

While I find these to be helpful, here is my problem.  Every single nutritionist and dietician that I’ve been to, has been the typical Caucasian person, most likely from a middle America background, whose expertise is in the usual, run of the mill white picket house meals.  While this may be good for those who eat this way, it does not help those of us who come from a multicultural background.  The part that is a bit disturbing to me is that statistics show that the African American and Latino communities seem to have the most severe cases of obesity and the related consequences of their weight such as various cardio-vascular and respiratory issues.  Add in the Asian population from S.E. Asia, and all three cultural groups are at high risk of type 2 diabetes, many who come here as 1^st generation immigrants, may be unfamiliar to American foods, and because they are poor, may not be able to afford certain types of food.  This also affects the following generations, if they are also unable to learn “American cooking”.  So, in a nutshell, we are asking them to give up all of their home foods, which are also comfort foods, which rarely produce positive results.

We can see in various statistics, that, minorities, especially those who are the poorest and meekest, are usually the ones with the highest failure rates of being able to eat a healthier diet.  When we look at what the restaurants serve, it is true, that the meals can be carb/sugar heavy.  This is typically not the way these foods are home cooked.  I found this especially true with not only my own heritage of Japanese cooking, where what we see in Japanese restaurants is rarely what is consumed daily in people’s own homes, but, Chinese foods as well, as I’ve experienced at a friend’s, whose family came here to the U.S. back in 1983.  What you see at “traditional restaurants” in these Asian style meals is not the traditional meal at home, yet, this is what I hear dieticians and nutritionists caution against, with eating many different types of ethnic foods.  Comparing any ethnic meal, whether it’s Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, or other, is like saying that Perkin’s or Denny’s is the same as what is eaten in every middle class, Caucasian homes.  We know this is not true, when we consider foods such as homemade chicken noodle soup vs. what you get at these restaurants, and the fact that Denny’s adds bacon to about 60% of their foods.  It’s this same logic that applies to ethnic foods, as well.

Here is another frustration in dealing with dieticians and nutritionists; while they are happy to let you know how to cook healthier, they are absolutely clueless as to how to adapt authentic ethnic foods to make them a better healthy choice.  One told me to “just add a tablespoon of salsa”, when I asked how I could make Spanish rice be healthier.  When I inquired as to when to add it, she looked confused, and just suggested that I add it to plain steamed rice on the table, after the meal was dished out.  I tried explaining that this defeats the purpose of having hot, steaming rice, because if the salsa came from an open jar, it would have come out of the refrigerator, and this would make the rice on the plates, cold.  She then got quite snippy, and said, “Then just add it to the pot”.  So, I asked about how to adjust the recipe, since the amount of water to rice has an impact on the texture, and one tablespoon isn’t enough to make a pot of rice for everyone, and she got quite a bit more annoyed, in a demanding question, “How am I supposed to know”?  Well, I would expect that when dealing with a multicultural society, and you’re trained and registered to give advice about healthy eating, that answers like this are important to answer, rather than telling people to not to eat their own food, and to eat Middle American poached chicken for white families who have lived here for the last 10 generations or more.

This makes it look as if the medical authority is discriminatory against ethnic people, because often, other family members are not willing to stop eating their cultural foods, and expect that working mothers have time to make 2 separate meals while also taking care of a whole family, often while also caring for elderly relatives as well.  This, on top of the fact that discrimination is all over, from quality healthcare in general that is accessible, quality education, and how our black and Hispanic populations are arrested at higher rates and longer incarceration rates than our white population for similar/equivalent crimes, just comes across as if other people aren’t as important than the average white American.  We must remember that we all came from immigrants, and each of our ancestors brought over a part of their heritage, which includes the types of foods that are eaten.  As people, each culture shares that common theme of meals to celebrate family, mourn at funerals, time with friends, and more.

It is my hope to be able to work with different agencies to take authentic recipes and make them healthier, without compromising the integrity of the flavors.  It’s issues like these that I chose International Relations as a major, even though I did get into healthcare for a while.  My passion is food, and my dream is to feed the planet. 

Thank you for your time in reading this, and I hope to hear from someone soon, in hopes that we can make an impact on celebrating the cultural diversity in our fine country by making healthy eating for everyone, to which I’m sure that many people would enjoy, since so many of us love Italian, Mexican, Asian, and a wide diversity of foods.  So, let us embrace that, rather than generically water down ethnic foods to Betty Crocker or Hamburger Helper standards.

Sincerely,

Lika Saliscente-Phipps

Founder of Youth Voice Initiative

A Rant About Ethnic Food Recipe: Can We Keep the Flavor Yet Make It Healthier?

Hello, my loyal readers, I'm hoping to help everyone be able to enjoy good foods, especially if your doctor told you that you had to lose weight, and sends you to a dietician or nutritionist.  Mind you, I am all about trying to eat healthy, but at the same time, also to allow us to enjoy our favorite foods, especially our ethnic foods.  Don't forget, I do not have a kitchen, I have a science lab where I create tasty food that is also nutritiously balanced.

Granted, these days, you can get some really good tips and a list of stuff you try to still eat a healthier version of things, such as whole grain pasta and ultra grain tortillas.  But, my biggest complaint about all of these tips, is if you eat the "typical" middle American types of food, you're in luck, these lists, suggestions, tips, etc are like hitting the jackpot.  But....  What if you are from a different ethnic background, or a multi-ethnic background?  Here is what many "food experts" say, and I take this from a multitude of Certified Nutritionists, Registered Dieticians, Nurse Diabetic Educators, and online sources such as Mayo Clinic, is that the highest rate of obesity related diabetes occur in our Latino/Hispanic, Asian American, and African American ethnic groups...  Mostly because in many of these cuisines, they are either carb heavy and/or high in fat.

Why does this happen?  When talking Mexican food, the carbohydrates come from the tortillas (flour is a worse offender than the corn), Spanish rice, and the refried beans (legumes are a starchy protein) which are fried in bacon fat or some other form of lard or saturated fat.  In many Asian restaurants, there is a high amount of sugar in the sauces, and of course, there is always rice, some even breaded and deep fried...  Soul Food consists of BBQ'd ribs (fatty), fried chicken, collard greens cooked with pork hocks, and the barbecue sauces are often high in sugar or corn syrup as well.  All of these foods are delicious, but, in their usual format, not very healthy.

Unfortunately, when we ask our "experts", they are usually of the American country cooking types, who have NO idea how to do these ethnic foods correctly, nor how to honestly use better swaps to make it better.  For example, I had one nutritionist, who just thought she was all that and a cute bag of chips, too, tell me that to make Spanish rice, to just use a tablespoon of salsa with the rice.  So I asked her how she would prepare that...  I think she said something like making rice on the stove top, with plain water, and when you put it on your plate, to put the salsa on...  So I mentioned that I don't want to use cold salsa or room temp either, because it takes away from having hot rice, and getting a good blend of flavor to make it still feel authentic when doing it that way.  She asks me how the salsa can be cold.  Um.  I buy a jar of salsa...  Use it with tacos...  The remainder of the salsa goes into the fridge because it's opened...  So, a few days later, I want Spanish rice, and so I take the open one out of the fridge...  Because it's been in there, it's refrigerated, so the salsa is cold, and you said to use 1 TBS on the rice...  So she says to just put it into the sauce pot...  I tell her I use a rice cooker, and I want the measurements, because 1 TBS is not going to be enough for the amount of rice, she says just to put as much as I want...  *sigh*  so I ask her, if she has any suggestions, and she snaps at me about how she just gave me one, and I'm being difficult...  

Okay, but, for those of us whose cultural foods which utilize rice or cous cous, knows that having these whole grains means that it has to be the right texture...  As in, if you use 1.5 cups of water to 1 cup of rice, you don't want to use the whole 1.5 cups of water AND a 1/2 jar of salsa to cook that rice, unless we want soggy food...  No, we do NOT want soggy rice, it is the medium as to which the rest of the meal revolves around, especially for someone like me, who was born and raised in Tokyo for 8 years, and the word "gohan" (Think the vowels of Gold Bond - go like the go in gold, han rhymes with bon in bond) means rice, but it also is used to mean "meal".  Imperfect rice is just NOT acceptable.  At all.  I also think that it is completely silly of these people that they think everyone should make the foods so, well, WHITE!  When you want Mexican food, you want Mexican food.  You don't want Taco Bell.  You don't necessarily even want Tex-Mex.  You want bonafied, authentic, real deal Mexican food that slaps your taste buds the only way these flavorful foods can.  But, if you need to lose weight, or need to lower cholesterol, you know you need to make these adjustments for your own sake, so you can keep taking care of family members.

What I am attempting to do, is to try to take at least a couple of these recipes, and keep the honest to goodness flavors in there, while making it better for your health, so you can feel good about serving your favorite people the foods they love while making the move toward being a stronger people.  I say this, because, if you have to use exercise to offset your eating habits, there is something wrong with your eating habits.  It's a good balance of eating well, loving what you eat, and exercising to take you that extra mile toward a holistic healthy of mind, body and soul.

So, here it is...  These are not perfected, but, these are at least a slight improvement of family favorites to serve.

Sesame Chicken:
     Marinade:
2 TBS Soy Sauce
1 TBS Sake - dry
2 tsp Sesame Oil
3/4 tsp Mrs. Dash
1 tsp fresh ginger juice
     Mix well.

1 lb  boneless/skinless chicken breast, in 1" cubes
     Marinade at least 1/2 hour (longer is okay)

10 minutes before you're going to cook, add the white of an uncooked egg

5 - 6 TBS of Arrow Root flour or Water Chestnut starch

Deep fry in hot peanut oil.  Drip dry 1st on cooling rack, then paper towel lined baking sheets. 

Serve with steamed rice and a spinach salad

Tacos:
1 lb 90% lean ground beef
1 -  15oz can of vegetarian refried beans
1 medium onion, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, minced
1 TBS cumin (to taste)
3 TBS cilantro (to taste)
Lime juice - varies, to taste/cookware
Red pepper flakes to taste

Brown ground beef with the onion 
Add the peppers/spices
When meat is almost all done, add refried beans*
As the mixture becomes tacky and difficult to handle, use lime juice to de-glaze pan to add & blend flavors together

I do not use salt, because the can of beans has enough sodium, plus using other spices lessens the need for salt.

*I do not drain the 90%, because SOME fat need to be able to absorb into the beans, and because the grease will be minimal, it is better for you than rendered bacon fat.

Don't forget to top it with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and your favorite garden salsa.

Rice Pilaf:
18 oz risotto or Jasmine rice
26 oz low sodium/99% fat free chicken broth 
1 small onion, minced
parsley flakes to taste

Mix well, steam in rice cooker

In a skillet, heat olive oil, saute to get that fried/crusty flavor

(Yes, I do it in reverse order)

If you have any requests for your favorite foods, let me know, I'll see if I can find a way to polish it up, and then give it back to you for you to try it out, and let me know if it passes your test.

Japanese Egg-Roll “Lasagna”

I am a mad scientist. It isn’t so much that I am good at usual types of science. I did not fare very well in high school biology. I couldn’t even dissect a fish properly to show the brain well. It could have been used as a commercial about a fish brain on drugs. Chemistry wasn’t much better, and after 2 lab station fires and a threat to be kicked out, I switched to my sister’s class. The crazy thing? She was a freshman. I was a senior. And I needed her as a lab partner to get my grade in chemistry. 

 

 

Sorry... I digress... But yes. My kitchen isn’t a kitchen. It isn’t even a test kitchen. No. My kitchen is a science lab, and I am the mad scientist. I am no doctor. I just love to cook, and come up with some crazy stuff.

 

 

 

A while back, I made Italian Egg-rolls. I made the usual meatball mixture, and wrapped it in egg-roll wraps, deep fried them, and put my awesome spaghetti sauce on it. Those were delicious. So, anyway, I went to make my egg-rolls. I didn’t have wraps, and the store was out. So, I decided to make lasagna noodles with some more of the semolina flour, and this time? Perfecto! So here is the deal....

 

 

Eggroll ingredients: 1# ground pork; 6 cups shredded cabbage (I like Napa, but it’s your choice); 1/4 cup shredded carrot; 3/4 cup minced dry shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted; 1/2 bag of fresh bean sprouts, minced; 3 tsp sesame oil; 2 tsp soy sauce; 1 tsp fresh squeezed ginger juice; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp Accent; a drizzle of chili oil. Blend, let rest.

 

 

Roll out your fresh dough, after chilling for 30 minutes. Make them thin, and layer them in. between each layer of dough, place your egg-roll mixture. Make a sauce with soy sauce, the water from the mushrooms, shredded pickled ginger, some Dashi, and a splash of teriyaki sauce. Bring to a boil, simmer 10 minutes. Pour into baking pan with lasagna, bake 45 minutes. Serve with a side of soy sauce to dip each biteful in, and rice with pickles.

 

 

It wasn’t bad. It actually worked, in a weird sort of way, even though the egg-roll taste was spot on, the flavor is different from when we deep fry it. Next time, I will make the pasta to use as the wrap to fry. With what is left, I will use with other flour to bake a loaf of bread. I even used a little hemp seeds in with the flour. I come up with weird things, but, they are interesting. You can never be bored with the food here. It’s always a game, and a scientific experiment, and I have 3 willing guinea pigs willing to be my taste testers. Welcome aboard to the place where people are encouraged to play with their food.

Life, Love, and Eat - A Celebration and Mourning

Life can be strange.  But, as social beings, there is a certain level of need to love and be loved, to be accepted by someone, hopefully more than just one person, and how we seem to use food, you know, that glorious stuff that has our taste buds wanting to taste, that mouth watering, honest to goodness food, the way it was meant to be eaten...




Anyway, though.  I went and picked up my friend Nancy, who is right about my mom's age, and is a really neat woman.  She is legally blind, and has end stage renal failure (her kidneys are on the fritz).  She is always so appreciative of anything I do for or with her, that she considers herself blessed that we are friends.

Now, mind you.  Nancy is one of these people who has a sense of humor, and she is gritty, witty, and definitely can keep you on your toes.  I love the fact that she is a bit grainy, and has broken social rules of other women who are of her peers.  So, of course being me, I actually enjoy her company, and I really think that honestly, I am the one who is blessed to have her, as opposed to the other way around.  I know, I know...  It means a lot for those who otherwise can't get out.  But, of course, I am good at loving other people.  I'm not always good at accepting it from others.

Anyway, we went to this place called Honey Bees II for lunch, and she treated.  The food there is good.  Mostly it's American comfort food.  But it's GOOD comfort food.  It's one of the spots we like to go to, since it's affordable as well.  We went to Goodwill to shop afterwards, and we both found a few things, so that was good.  We had fun, and will be making plans again soon.  Life is precious, so it's important to spend it with the people who mean something to you.  I recently lost another friend, who was only 34, and has a young son who is fatherless.  Aaron was the type of guy who truly loved people.  I hurt for his little boy.  The fact that someone who is healthy can be taken away from you suddenly is reason to make sure you stay connected.

Ever wonder how it seems as if we celebrate life with food, and we mourn life with food, also?  Meal time is the time that we can get people sitting around the table together.  No matter who the other people are, when you're sitting around the table together with a meal or a snack or even just tea time, you are family during that time.  So, we should serve good food, right?  Absolutely.  And the fact that weight issues are affecting health conditions, we need to make it healthy, as well.

So, of course, I came home, to do my lasagna...  It came out good.  But, I definitely do not have the skills needed to do pasta dough correctly.  The flavor was good, the color was right, but the texture?  Oh, no.  but no worries.  I used it anyway, figuring that the semolina flour wasn't exactly cheap.  So it was more like pasta dumplings that got layered in between the layers of meat and cheese.  Good cheese.  The cheese filling consisted of fresh and made at the store, feta cheese (yes, I realize it's Greek, not Italian), and also provolone cheese, and a little each of Asiago and Romano cheeses, which were grated together, with an egg, garlic and parsley mixed in.  The 93% lean ground meat had Asiago and Romano cheeses as well as oregano, basil, parsley, pepper, and an egg to keep it together.

So, while the texture was all off, I used it anyway, and made kind of like a pasta dumpling crust along the sides, and the lasagna is perfect, don't you think?  It's delicious!  I think this is by far, the best lasagna that I have ever made, and this could be served, as is, as long as there is a statement saying that the pasta is a little doughy like dumplings.

Of course, because I had all of these different ingredients, I also made sarma, a Serbian style stuffed cabbage rolls.  Because the cabbage leaves have to be fermented, like sauerkraut, but not shredded, I make my own.  In the past, I was simmering a whole head of cabbage in the pickling kettle, then removing the leaves.  I found that the outer leaves, which are used to line the bottom of the pan for the rolls to go on were more like kraut, and the leaves near the center was still mostly like cabbage.  So, I removed the leaves first, and pickled in batches to get it all in.  It was a 2 day process, because you have to salt them, first.  

Sarma is ground pork, and the seasonings include mild paprika, garlic powder, salt, seasonings, and other spices such as tumeric if you wish, and I usually just use the seasoning packets, that I will keep a secret...  ;)  You also need to put rice in there, to help the mixture stick together and hold up.  I also put a little extra of the pickling juices at the bottom, so the steam can cook the rice.  Here they are, and serve with rice pilaf or corn, for a full meal.

Don't forget to put a layer of the leaves across the top, so it keeps the moisture in, and doesn't get the rolls dark or crispy.  This is something that is better the next day.  Feel free to use some sour cream to go with this.  We will be having this tomorrow for dinner, and probably Friday's lunch.  Of course, visitors will be offered food, because feeding people is the same as showing them the love.

Because not all leaves are meant for rolling, since I was on a roll (sorry, bad pun), I also pickled the rest as Korean kimchee, which uses the sriracha to spice up the fermented cabbage.  Just remember, fermented foods can help your digestive tract.  It's good for you.  So, here is my end result...  My very home made kimchee, where the cabbage heads were turned into sauerkraut leaves first, after sitting in salt overnight, and then cooked, and rolled around the sarma, and then the kimchee...

Isn't that beautiful?  Yes, I did all of this today.  Well, the suku (Italian for spaghetti sauce) was made yesterday, but the rest, including the pasta dumpling noodles, were done today.  Then the pickling of the cabbage, making the mix, and cooking the cabbage rolls, and the Korean pickled cabbage...  

I know, I am strange, because my cooking is from 3 different parts of the world, sort of, with Western Europe being represented with Italian, Eastern Europe with Serbian, and the Far East with Korea...  but, it's all good.  I was having an okay back day, though I hope I didn't over do it, in which case, I may be paying dearly for this the next day or three...  I hope not, but, glad I got this done.

So, if you are at my house, or I invite you, this means I want to love you by feeding you...  No need for anything back, just let me love you by cooking for you, and you can love me back by eating what I made for you.