Ostrich Egg Omlette

My kids are pretty adventurous eaters. They have tried and liked things that even most adults will have hard time trying. Every year in Chandler Arizona there is an Ostrich Festival. I don't know how it originated but we have had Ostrich burgers at the festival before. Also quiet often we take a trip to Tucson, Arizona, about 90 minutes south of us, and on the way there we usually stop at an Ostrich farm. Kids get to feed the deer, Ostrich, birds and goats at the farm.

During one of those trips back from Tucson, we decided to stop at the Ostrich farm. They also sell Ostrich Eggs ($20 I think), that I always wanted to get but they always ran out when I wanted to buy one. But this time they had some available, and with consultation from the kids, we decided to buy an Ostrich egg, bring it home and make omlettes out of it for dinner.

Keep in mind that one Ostrich egg is equivalent to about 22 regular size eggs. Also you can't just crack the egg like a regular egg because the shell is very hard. So what the farm does is when they sell each egg, they make a round crack on the shell, which after bringing home you can use a hammer and a screw driver to crack the small round part. This way you can also wash and dry the shell afterwards and keep it as a decoration.

After you empty the eggs in a large bowl, it's similar to making any regular omlettes. The flavor of Ostrich egg is much stronger than a regular egg but the texture is very similar. We had some cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos and green onions in the omlette, served with a side of turkey bacons. Here are some pictures.

Taco Salad

This menu has a lot of ingredients but many of them are optional and you can pick and choose which toppings you want to put on your taco salad. It is a very simple dish to make and everyone loves to pick their own toppings to make their own taco salad.

The main ingredients are basically taco shell (available in any mexican store or even in any major grocery store), lettuce (replace with spring salad if you'd like), refried beans, ground beef or chicken cooked with taco spices, packaged spanish rice, mexican cheese and toppings. I will write them in order below:

Main Ingredients:
Taco Shell
Refried Beans
Lettuce
Spanish Rice
Ground beef
Mexican Cheese

Toppings:
Green Onions
Black Olives
Cilantro
Lime
Salsa
Jalapenos
Hot Sauce
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Chopped Tomatoes

Directions:
Cook 1 lb of ground beef with taco seasoning from the store. Just follow the directions on the taco seasoning packet. Same way make spanish rice following directions on the package. Refried beans are available in cans and is very conveneint.

Chop lettuce and rest of the toppings and ingredients. Set them on the table in seperate bowls.

Take one taco shell and put some lettuce in it. And them choose your main ingredients and put your own toppings and enjoy :)

Aloo Bhazi (Pan Fried Potatoes)

Aloo Bhazi is something that I grew up with and is a very popular breakfast food in Bangladesh. Today often times I find myself in the kitchen early in the morning, making my first batch of coffee and Aloo Bhazi at the same time. This is probably one of my kids' most favorite breakfast meals. It's very similar to hash browns.

Ingredients:
3 medium russet potatoes
1 tsp turmeric (Any indian grocery will have it, most major supermarkets also carry it. It's the same spice that makes yellow mastard yellow. Recent studies have shown that turmeric may prevent cancer). 
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of black pepper and cayenne pepper
4 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil

First grate the potatoes and wash them thoroughly in cold water. Sometime I even use a kitchen knife to cut them into small pieces. Let it drain for few minutes. On the stove heat up the oil in a non-stick frying pan, use medium high heat. While the oil is heating up add rest of the ingredients to the potatoes and mix well. Pan fry for 12-15 minutes, on medium high heat, ocassionally turning over, until golden brown.

Once in a while I will make scrambled eggs in the same frying pan after the potatoes are done, and serve it on the side. My kids are not big fans of scrambled eggs (they say mommy makes better scrambled eggs - yeah right). Serve with a glass of cold orange juice and you have a wonderful breakfast :)

Caution: Turmeric stains...

Monday Morning Dad Chapter 1

Me blogging? Where is the world is coming to? Well, I guess as I am getting old and people change over time. So far I have only made fun of bloggers (especially my wife) but here I am. We'll see how long I keep up with this blogging business.

Sometime last year I started writing a book named Monday Morning Dad. As the title says, I am a dad and on mondays I play the quarterback role in the family. I am an engineer by profession and my wife is a teacher. We have 3 children, ages 10, 8 and 5. My regular work schedule is Tues-Fri 10 hour days. So  years ago when my wife and I had children she decided to quit her teaching job and become a stay home mom to raise the children. Considering how poorly teachers are paid in the state of Arizona I had no problem with her decision (her salary would have barely paid for the childcare if she went back to work.)

Then one bright morning 10 years ago my wife had a brilliant (?) idea, "Hey hun, you are home on mondays. Why don't I substitute teach on Mondays and you can watch our daughter? This will also give me a break from taking care of our daughter 24-7."

My first reaction was - I can't even take care of myself, how the hell I am gonna take care of an infant (and me)?

So the learning process began. For some of you dads it might be easy because you may have grown up watching your dad take care of you guys. But I come from a culture where men don't take care of the children, men don't cook or clean or wash laundry. We had 2 servants when I was growing up. To give you an idea when I moved to the United States to go to college I had never been to the kitchen, couldn't pour myself a cup of tea or coffee, I didn't even know how to break an egg!! My wife on the other hand (born and raised in Ohio) was not going to put up with my ancestoral legacy (I made that word up - ancestoral).

So anywho, 10 years later I am 41 years old, I have many stories. Some are good, some are bad, some are hugging/crying type emotional and some are, to be honest, plain scary. I wanted to write a book to encourage new dads who are deep in water just like I was 10 years ago. The book idea evaporated quickly since I find myself interested in so many things especially sports. An easy solution I think is blogging. Through this if I can inspire 1 single dad anywhere in the world, I will consider this a success.

I claim proudly now that I can cook, clean, do laundry, take children to school, take them to soccer practice, swim lessons, tennis lessons, i even started coaching soccer for my 5 year old daughter's team. I do want to tell you that monday morning dad is not a perfect dad. Learning never ends. Most I learned was actually from my kids. As long as you realize that you can always be a better dad, you are going to be alright. You will hear your kids say, "that's not how mommy does it..." but that's ok. You have your own style and kids will eventually understand that mom and dad are 2 seperate individuals. Trust me - you can also do it and at the end of the day it's tiring but extremely rewording.

Just a quick preview of what I cook lately - more to come in the future :)