Landon's Vegan Baked Spaghetti

Landon made this Baked Spaghetti roughly following a recipe that I posted previously here.  It came out really good.



He used these meatballs that I got from Times. 


He fried up the cut-up meatballs with some bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic and celery. He seasoned with fresh thyme and dried oregano.  


Finally, he added a jar of spaghetti sauce and poured the mixture onto spaghetti noodles, topped with some fake cheese and then baked at 350 degrees for about 1/2 hour. Or something like that, anyway.

Fartsy Family

Here's a bit of TMI. 

Me and Lan been eating a lot of bean-y foods lately, so farting has become pretty commonplace.  Mine are kinda toot-tooty, while Landon has a mixed bag of various types.

And then, the mouth/nose-piece that Wendell prefers to use with his sleep apnea machine forces air into his stomach as well as into his lungs. He has da-kine loud, looooooong drawn out farts. 

We could form a band. 

Global Warming Warning

This New Zealand newspaper article is from 1912!! You can learn more about it on Snopes here. 

Thanks for sharing, Kevin!

Vegan Diet - Day 7

Sorry, I was gonna skip blogging today 'cause I'm trying to train myself to not be so obsessive, but . . . 

Day 7 and I feel good, my BMs are great and I lost 4 pounds. Will find myself in social situations where food is involved soon, and I wonder how that'll turn out. 

This is what Landon got from Whole Foods at the start of this Vegan Thing. 



I liked this a lot . . . tastes like chicken. [Sarah, get this. You'll like it.]


Lan got this for me. At first it tasted like tofu in my coffee, but I've gotten used to it. The vegan Caesar dressing and the Vegenaise are also good. 

Peace Cafe

I picked up dinner from Peace Cafe yesterday. I first blogged about the place about 7 years ago when my cousin Roger told me about it. You can check out that post here. 



The chalkboard was different, but the interior looked pretty much the same as before.


Here's what I got:

Katsu Plate ($13.00)


BBQ Tempeh Plate ($13.00)


Poke Bowl ($12.25)


Tex Mex ($13.75)


I liked all four dishes, but I wouldn't mind going back and trying something else . . . maybe the BLT or the Ramen Bowl. 

Down to Earth

Here are pictures that I took while shopping at Down to Earth.

My Vegan Eggplant Balls

I can honestly say that of all the many horrible-tasting things that I've ever made in my life, this one is the worst.

Best iPhone Photos of 2017

Leslie shared this with me. Unbelievable shots taken with an iPhone. Because I'm the jealous type, I said, "So lucky shots. All of them."

You can check out more photos here. 

I DID NOT TAKE THIS PHOTO (see below). It was taken by Sergey Pesterev of Russia.


I feel like I have to clearly state whenever I post a photo that I didn't take because of what happened to Leslie recently.

Les was erroneously credited for taking a photo that was shown on some TV program. The lady who actually took the shot found out, got all hoo hoo, and called out Leslie on Facebook. Leslie proclaimed her innocence and said that she didn't know how her name got involved, but the lady apparently didn't believe her and said something like, "Well, we'll see about that. I WILL get to the bottom of this." 

Landon's Vegan Eggplant Casserole

Here's Landon's first vegan dish. Surprised me at how good it was. Landon just threw things together so there's no recipe.



Lan sautéed some onions, green bell peppers and slices of this "sausage" which I got from Down to Earth.


Then he layered it in a 9 x 13 inch pan with some eggplant, a couple patties of this chopped up veggie burger (Costco),


pasta sauce (Down to Earth) and


vegan fake cheese (Down to Earth). He also threw in some hash brown mix to thicken and seasoned with garlic salt and taco seasoning. He baked it at 325 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours.


We're slowly discovering different vegan options, so we don't feel as lost as when we first decided to do this. It feels like we might be able to pull this off . . . for now. 

What the Health

I do have something to share!

One of Landon's friends recommended that we watch What the Health on Netflix. 

It totally made me not want to eat meat anymore. The following is from Wikipedia and can be found here. 

What the Health is a 2017 documentary film which critiques the health impact of meat and dairy products consumption, and questions the practices of the leading health and pharmaceutical organizations. Its primary purpose is to advocate for a plant-based diet.

Advertised as "The Health Film That Health Organizations Don't Want You To See", the film follows Kip Andersen as he interviews physicians and other individuals, concluding that health problems are a consequence of consuming meat and dairy products. Andersen also attempts to contact representatives of the leading health organizations but dissatisfied with their response, he interviews other people and examines the connection between meat, dairy, pharmaceutical industry and various health organizations.

It's a biased film . . . some of the gross stuff that they show seem exaggerated. And I wonder how true the miraculous recoveries of some of the ailing people who stopped eating meat really are. 

But still . . . I like try go vegan. Crazy, yah. It's hard enough doing no meats . . . but no dairy and no eggs?  No buttery pastry? No cookies? No cheese in my salad or pizza? No cream in my coffee? Seems impossible, yah?!

Here was my lunch for the other day . . . leftovers from the previous night's dinner. I just stir-fried some broccoli and shiitake mushrooms in some minced garlic and olive oil. I sprinkled on some garlic salt, poured in a little bit of the shiitake water and then covered for a little while. It was okay.


Landon is very game (for now). Wendell is not so game. We'll see how it goes. 

Wendell's Pork Guisantes

Recipe thanks to Mary Pascua

Wendell made this ono Pork Guisantes last week. The recipe is from an old cook book published in 1974 called Hawaii Filipina's Favorite Recipes.

Gonna take a break from blogging. Ran out of stuff to post. Will be back when there's something for me to share. See ya!



1 lb. pork butt, sliced (separate fatty and lean pieces)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
3 bay leaves, crumbled
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 cup water
8 oz. tomato sauce
2 tsp. chopped pimento
1 cup frozen peas, cook using package direction

Saute pork fat and garlic until brown; eliminate any excess oil. Mix together salt, bay leaves, pepper, onion and lean pork, then add to pork fat and continue cooking for 5 minutes or until lean pork is cooked. Add water and simmer until water evaporates. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt if necessary. Add tomato sauce and pimento and simmer for 1 minute. Add peas.

Bumble Bee Umbrella

A few weeks ago while at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, we saw a couple buying this cute umbrella for their daughter. You can't see it too good in this photo, but it has antennae that stick straight out. 

The vendor is on the outer aisle, and the umbrella sells for $10.

Dalai Insight

I thought this was interesting. I haven't been able to use either method yet, but I've always had vivid dreams anyway and don't really have trouble sleeping.

Screen Cleaner

Geri turned me on to this screen cleaner. She said that she got it from City Mill.



You can use it from inside of your house without even having to remove the screen. 


It has pokey things that dig out the dirt.


She gave me a demonstration.


Wow, yah!

Wendell's Panang Chicken Curry

Thank you Gordon Lum .  .  . for the recipe of DA BEST curry that I've ever eaten.

I normally don't care for curry. You know da-kine chicken-katsu-curry . . . or da-kine curry you might get at some local drive-inn with the potatoes and carrots . . . or da-kine Japanese curry rice? Not for me.

But this one . . . holy cow . . . I just loooooooved it. You can find the recipe here. I must say that of all the dishes that Wendell has made, this is one of my most favorite. 

If you're a non-cook and don't normally try recipes like this one because it looks too hard or you're too lazy (me), just this once, TRY DO THIS ONE. You . . . will . . . impress. 

Wendell did use the Mae Ploy brand curry paste and the Mae Ploy brand coconut milk (from Asian Market on Beretania) and he did put in the macadamia nuts (kicked it up a notch). Wendell said that he got the raw sugar (photo way below) from either Foodland or Safeway (he couldn't remember).  He didn't use a Dutch oven (whatever that is) but used a pan on the stove instead. The inedible bits of finely diced Kaffir lime leaves (also from Asian Market) were annoying to me . . . had to spit them out. Not sure if putting them in whole so that they can be easily taken out afterwards would work, but it's just a suggestion.



2 lbs. boned chicken thighs
2.5 tablespoons panang curry paste (2 oz Mae Ploy brand)
19 ounces coconut milk (or 1 can Mae Ploy brand)
3 tablespoons roughly ground Island Princess Hawaii macadamia nuts (unsalted)
2 tablespoons turbinado or raw sugar
3 finely diced Kaffir Lime leaves
2 teaspoons fish sauce to taste
1 sliced bell pepper (any color)
1 sliced onion
1 cup flour (for dredging)
4 tablespoons oil
Hawaiian salt to taste
pepper to taste
4-5 Thai Basil leaves (optional)

Rinse, then dry the boned chicken thighs. Lightly salt and pepper the thighs on both sides and then dredge in flour, shaking off the excess flour. Heat the Dutch oven and add oil. Sear both sides of thighs until it becomes a light golden brown (about 70% cooked). Set thighs aside. While they are cooling, slice the bell pepper/onion; finely dice the Kaffir Lime leaves, and roughly grind/chop the macadamia nuts. After the chicken thighs cool, cut into chunks.

Heat (about 1/4 cup) the oil and add the curry paste, searing the paste for a minute. Add the chicken chunks and stir until the chunks are coated with the paste. Add the peppers and onion and stir until they are also coated. Add the coconut milk, Kaffir lime leaves, turbinado sugar, macadamia nut, and fish sauce to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Garnish with basil leaves.

This is the sugar that Wendell used.  DO IT!

Wenger Swiss Army Knife

For real . . . this Swiss Army Knife is being sold on Amazon. It's selling for $4,000. You can check it out here.  Thanks for the scoop, Kevin!




Here are some of the funny reviews:

I forgot the knife in the front pocket of my Swiss Army shorts and when my wife washed them it completely disassembled our washing machine.

I accidentally left this knife in the glovebox of my wore out 67 Chevy truck overnight. miraculously the knife fully restored the truck and drove it to the store then returned with two hookers and a cooler full of beer.

The tire iron and floor jack proved handy, I was particularly impressed that I could use both at the same time.

I tried to file my nails, but in the process I accidentally fixed a small engine that was nearby. Which was nice.

When I forgot to take it out of my backpack before trying to board my flight the helpful TSA agent at the security area pointed out that by deploying the two larger blades and the jet engine on the back side I really didn't need a commercial flight, just a runway and some goggles. Boy, did I feel dumb, but I saved $605 on airfare!

After reading the 497 page Quick Start Guide, I was finally able to find the tweezers and remove that darn splinter.

OMG Kahai Street Kitchen OMG

We had this yesterday. The Pork Chop was killah. The Chili Burrito was owsum. The Pork Belly Banh Mi was to die for.


Pork Chops  Two pork chops sautéed or charbroiled and served with homemade mushroom onion gravy ($12.95)

Chili Burrito  Two deep fried burritos topped with house-made chili garnished with cheese and diced onions, choice of white or brown rice, tossed or potato macaroni salad ($9.25)

Roasted Crispy Pork Belly Banh Mi Sandwich Roasted crispy pork belly seasoned, sliced and charbroiled with hoisin barbeque sauce, served with tomatoes and pickled carrots, daikon and cucumbers, topped with a Sriracha aioli, choice of fries or tossed salad ($9.95)