Yesterday was the first day of Spring, and we the Southern Californians were greeted with a very chilly, windy RAIN.

What was the best dish to have in this weather? Shabu-shabu 😀

I got this Groupon for Ka Shabu months back and trust me we’ve been attempting to go there twice and failed.

First time was back in December and they were closed.

Second time was couple weeks ago, and the timing wasn’t right.

Third time is the charm, huh?

Funny how the restaurant described themselves as Asian fondue instead of Shabu-shabu.

By the time we got there, it was already 2pm so it passed lunch time. We were the only customers there. It could be because of the rain people were reluctant to go out. Anyway, we enjoyed the lunch.

I ordered Angus beef entree – no rice/noodles with extra veggies

They had 2 different dipping sauce – ponzu, peanut but since I swore to stick on my Primal, I told the waitress that I am on gluten free.

**okay I confessed, I am not gluten sensitive – in fact I had this sourdough red bean filled bun for breakfast in the morning**

So she gave me tamari soy sauce.

K ordered 3 item combination of shrimp, salmon and scallops with rice, noodles and veggies.

We had to grind our own sesame seeds with this wooden stick. Instead of pounding the seeds, we just grind them in circular motion in this bowl.

I also brought my coconut aminos, so I mixed it into the grounded sesame seed, some grated daikon and shichimi togarashi (red pepper flakes)

Shabu-shabu is simple: dip the meat/veggie in the boiling soup base, (30 sec), dip in the sauce, eat!

Overall, this place has a nice atmosphere but it’s a little bit overpriced. Seriously, I wouldn’t recommend coming here super hungry because, even when you ordered the biggest meal, you won’t feel stuffed (unless you loaded yourself with lots of rice and noodles). Luckily I wasn’t too starving so it was ok. Besides with Groupon our bill only ended up being $11.00 (+$6 tips – Groupon suggested to tip from on the original price (around $40.00+). I paid $12 for Groupon (worth $25 meal for Friday and Saturday, and $30 if used between Sunday-Thursday). Hell yea I make sure to use it on Sunday to get the most out of it! 😀

Got back home, I had to start prepping the food for the week, so I made 7 spice beef stew and Asian style Cauliflower “fried rice”.

I cut butternut squash in fries styles and roasted them with avocado oil, hoping it’ll be crispy..only turned out they were kinda soggy.

Any tips to make roasted squash crispy like fries? Or there is no such thing?

I’ve seen many Primal/Paleo blogs been raving on sauteing kale with bacon so I knew I gotta give it a try when I spotted a bunch of kale at Farmer’s market on Saturday.

For some reason, the local TJ didn’t have Niman Ranch bacon, so I picked TJ brand beef bacon..it’s cheaper btw ($2.99 vs $3.99)

I gotta say, kale saute with bacon = DELICIOUS! Even hubby who was skeptical of kale being bitter also LOVED IT!

I think I’m gonna make more next time 😀

Those ended up as my today’s lunch

Tonight’s dinner was pretty random. Some beef stew, a bit of guacamole, left over kelp noodles that I made on Saturday and upictured steamed Chinese veggies.

So now you got all my weekend recap, then for this upcoming week meal should be pretty predictable huh? – beef stew plus whatever veggies I have in hand 😛

Yep, you’re half right. But I am not that boring tho. I had 2 more Bosch pears and made another batch of Baked Stuffed Pears.
Only this time, I decided to be more generous with the guacamole.

Here’s a peek of my packed lunch for tomorrow.

Have a great week. **sigh…..weekend is still a loooooooooooong way**

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