MINI MACKEREL BUNS & TOM KHA GAI SOUP

I have to get better at cooking smaller portions if I don't want to be eating the same thing all week.

My Mackerel Cakes mix would make about 6 cakes from 1 can and I still had half of the mix left over looking at me which I needed to use up. Same with the Slaw which I had already had with the cakes and my Fish Tacos.

Don't get me wrong - it's good - and I don't want to waste it - but I don't like eating the same thing pretty much all week in some form just to use it up... Same with crockpot recipes...

Cooking for 1 presents a different range of challenges than cooking for a family. Once you open something you only have so long to use it before it goes bad and very little is sold in a way that single person eating is practical.

It's why I bought a second freezer... But you can't freeze everything and there are lots of things I just prefer to cook fresh and not reheat. Ahhhhh. First world issues huh?

I really need to find a local family to feed. I tried a couple of things but this is the rural South and my food is not typical Southern fare.

I was surprised at how many people either don't want to try something they've never had, don't like anything that is not fried or has too many veggies or just aren't interested. I'm trying to rethink this approach. I'd love to share food made from my weekly imperfects box with someone... I've reached out to my local seniors and WW community - but nope...

Anyway - back to my Mackerel - I had bought these little buns I thought were a Rye mix from Kroger (nope). I thought I would do a riff on a Tuna Melts.

While the idea was good - the buns were not Rye at all but some sweet molasses type of Multigrain roll. Ummmmm... Not quite what I was thinking. I ate one, thought "meh" and actually left the other two.

About 4hrs or so later, I thought I'd finish those but ended up picking out the filling and gave the doggos the bread. They liked it... Me... Not so much! 😂

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🔹 = 💯 Simply Filling
🔪 = meal prepped item
⚡ = pointed item
(Recipes in previous posts)
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MINI MACKEREL BUNS
🔪🔹 Mackerel Cakes Mix
🔪🔹 Red Cabbage Slaw
🔪⚡ Asian Slaw Dressing
[1tbsp = 1PP+]
⚡ Multigrain Molasses Bun
[1 bun = 2PP+]

ASIAN SOY & SESAME DRESSING
Based on this recipe:
https://www.feastingathome.com/asian-slaw/print/25058

I omitted the olive oil and salt, doubled the soy sauce and used less rice vinegar/agave in my version. It was VERY tasty 👅!

I will say I am not a fan of oil in my dressings/food - texturally or for flavor and this was no exception - next time I will cut the Sesame Oil down to 1tsp instead of 1tbsp.

🔹 2tbsp Light Soy Sauce
🔹 3tbsp Rice Vinegar
🔹 1x Garlic Clove
🔹 1tbsp Fresh Ginger, grated
🔹 1tbsp Everything Bagel Seasoning
⚡ 1tbsp Sesame Oil
⚡ 2tbsp Agave Nectar/Honey*

[*You could probably just use a sugar substitute of some sort in place of the agave/honey, but I can't have artificial or processed sweeteners so I just use the real stuff 🍯]

⚡ Fresh Foods Market TOM KHA GAI Soup
[1cup = 4PP+]
⚡ Baby Goldfish Crackers
[35x = 1PP+]

Kroger had some Tom Kha Gai (Thai Chicken Coconut Curry) soup on sale last week I thought I'd try. It is very nice. Not too much heat, a good level of acidity, nice cremini mushrooms - overall very nice.

Of course then I went looking for a recipe for making it myself and this looks to be the most similar to the ingredient label.

https://www.bonappetit.com/…/tom-kha-gai-chicken-coconut-so…

The Baby Goldfish aren't something I would normally have but Kroger was doing 32x pack cases of bottled water for $1.99 on their Buy 5, Save $5 item list. I didn't need 5 cases of water, didn't want the chips or most of the other items that qualified, so I settled on a few cases of water, the little Goldfish and some pasta sauce.

They were a nice cracker substitute with the soup for a chilly winter day.

This was both meals - a bun, bowl of soup and crackers for brunch and the inside of the buns + rest of the soup [no crackers] for dinner. No photo repeat needed - although this does lead to my next post about perceptions...

#simplyfilling #wholefoods #tomkhagai #leftovers