The Friday Five, 11/20/20: 5 things I've been up to this week

This week seemed really long for some reason, and I also didn't do much; I spent a lot of time at home, which is both good and bad I suppose (good because I'm staying safe from the virus, bad because I get really antsy and also overeat). 

Beef Banh Mi Bowl, from EveryPlate
Beef Banh Mi bowl, from EveryPlate

What I've been up to this week:

  1. Cooking. More so than going out. I had an EveryPlate box last week and I made the Beef Banh Mi bowl pictured above, and I had HelloFresh this week; so far I made turkey flautas with pico de gallo and lime crema, and chicken banh mi tacos. Yesterday my stomach was hating me (Crohn's) and I really just wanted something simple for dinner so I made pasta with some old (unopened) Meijer pasta sauce ... I had extra and I might try it with some pesto sauce from Kroger today for lunch. 
  2. Getting takeout. Since cases are up this week and also indoor dining is closed (not that I've dined indoor recently, but still ...), I've been laying low this week and only doing takeout. I haven't done as much as normal though. Last Saturday, my parents and I had an Uber Eats gift card to use so they did pickup at Papa John's, which was decent, although Cottage Inn has better thin crust pizza. And on Sunday, my boyfriend picked us up two banh mi sandwiches from Saigon Market, in Madison Heights, which has the BEST sandwiches—and only $4 too. They make the bread in-house. Their pork sandwiches are my favorite but they were sold out, so we had chicken instead; they also have "traditional" banh mi and fish banh mi sandwiches.
  3. Yelp Seattle virtual mochi-making event. I'm a big fan of mochi (a Japanese dessert made with rice flour), but in the U.S. I usually have had it stuffed with ice cream. Apparently the traditional stuffing for it is red bean, but we made it with marmalade; I ordered the kit from The Works Seattle, who was putting on the event, and it came with the mochi mix, potato starch (for your cutting board/top of the mochi), and marmalade. Although I wasn't a big fan of the orange marmalade that came with mine (kind of bitter), I bet it would be delicious with a strawberry jam or another fruit variety ... or even Nutella, as someone at the event suggested! Overall it was a good time though and pretty interesting to learn how to make mochi. 
  4. Birthday bonfire. My friend Nikki had a bonfire for her birthday last week, and it's probably one of the last times I'll get to see friends before it gets too cold. We had some cake and drinks but otherwise stayed masked up, even though we were outside, so it was a pretty safe event, IMO. The only downside is that I stayed for about 3-4 hours so I was a popsicle afterwards!
  5. Lots and lots of virtual meetings for work. Literally 1-2 every day this week ... today is the first day I don't have any. TGIF! 
My finished mochi, with potato starch
My finished mochi, with potato starch


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