I met up with an old friend of mine who is now working in Kabul. We saw each other after almost 8 months. Considering the fact that at least tw0 to three times a month we would end up chatting while he was in Dhaka, it was lovely to see him after a long gap. Since I know he loves Koreana (one of my fave Korean Place), that is where we decided to meet up.
In Kabul it seems while you might come across packets of sun dried tomatoes in the specialty store, getting fresh fish and shell fish is a whole different story. So our meal at Koreana consisted mostly of you guessed it seafood (eel and Cuttle fish to be more precise). Of course while at this eatery, you just can't ignore the yummy beef brisket BBQ which you enjoy slathered in the lovely red thick Korean Sauce, and wrapped in crunchy fresh lettuce leaves. The best part of the evening was when my dear friend introduced me to this wonderful application of Google's called the "Google reader".
This nifty little thing is amazing because it lets me check out websites, blogs etc. I am interested in, through the most time saving organized manner. Now my time on the web does not have to be all consuming for me to keep in touch with the websites and bloggers who either tickle my taste buds or my brain or my aesthetic senses!!! If you are someone who has a set of websites and blogs that you checkout often and want to be in the loop of newest updates in terms of articles added etc. Google reader will be a God Sent!
I have promptly added a few blogs that I thoroughly enjoy reading into the reader along with my more favored news sites such as BBC, AlJazeera and our very own the Daily Star. Now in the morning I get all my news in one single frame and whichever headline I want to know more about, I get to go into the details of it as and when it suites me. As they say in the McDonald's Ad . . "I'm Lovin It!"
And if such a great discovery was not enough, while going through one of my favored food blogs CityMama I got hooked into the idea of making meal plans for the week at the beginning of the week. Duh!!! Now why didn't I think of that before! It was as if a light bulb just lit up on top of my head. Of course, I could just spend 30 minutes a week to draw up a meal plan, add the recipes (or references of the recipes) and make sure I do the weekend shopping according to the plan and BAM! I have zero worries throughout the week about what to cook when I get back home!!! Not only that, I will then get enough time and scope to try out the various recipes that the WWW dishes out to me in the form of blogs, newsletters, websites etc.
Thank you thank you thank you CityMama!!!
Since I have to think of basically two meals that I need to cook, the day's dinner and the next day's lunch (which me and hubby carry to work), I tried to make it as easy for me as possible. So there is a lot of repetition in terms of the menu but I have an understanding husband. (Thank God for THAT!). Of course there are stuff in a number of these recipes that you can't get here (either not in season or not in this part of the globe!) but that leaves so much opportunity to improvise and do my own thing.
So what was my first big shot at the meal plan?? This is what I am hoping to come up with next week. I will keep you posted on how successful I have been in sticking to this plan, but at least I have a plan :P
Sunday Lunch : Asian Rotisserie Chicken Salad (from Martha Stewart)
Sunday Dinner + Monday Lunch: Kung Pao Chicken + Vegetable Fried Rice + Sichuan Cucumber Salad (from one of my fave blog An Appetite for China)
Monday Dinner + Tuesday Lunch: Dan Dan Mian (from An Appetite for China) + Sichuan Stir Fry Vegetable (from Tarla Dalal). I always wanted to eat Dan Dan Mian when I was in Hong Kong but except maybe one or two places everywhere else it was always made with Pork and so could not eat it. Now I can make up for lost times.
Tuesday Dinner: Bok Choi with Braised Shitake Mushroom + Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry + Plain Rice ( All my own concoctions)
Wednesday Lunch: Cashew Chicken + Stir Fry Vegetable + Plain Rice (Both done My way)
Wednesday Dinner: Peanut Sesame Noodles (from An Appetite for China) + Shrimp and Ginger Stir Fry (from Martha Stewart)
Thursday Lunch: Peanut Sesame Noodles + Cashew and Chicken Stir Fry (from Martha Stewart)
Only time will tell if I am being overly ambitious. But for now I am all optimistic and looking forward to next week!!!!
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