When I woke up this morning it was raining hard and the wind was howling – love it! I know most people prefer sunny weather but gloomy, stormy weather makes me smile. On the weeks when I’m working the graveyard shift, it lulls me to sleep in the middle of the day. On my days off, I love being “trapped” inside and just chilling out with the family. Thing get complicated when we have places to go. Like today. Then the rain can be a bitch.

For breakfast, I made myself a red cabbage slaw topped with leftover sous vide flank steak.

This was a big-ass mofo salad and it kept me full until lunchtime.

After breakfast, the family took a trip to Whole Paycheck where we stocked up on essentials for the week. My kids LOVE pushing the mini shopping carts around the store. I HATE herding them around the store and apologizing to all the patrons getting clipped in the Achilles tendon.

For lunch, we stopped by Anantolian Kitchen again. I really dig this spot for kebabs. It can get busy during weekday lunches, but on a rainy Sunday, it was easy to get a table at noon. I guess most people wanna gobble French toast and waffles for brunch instead of tasty meat sticks. Lucky for us.

Hubs and I split the combo grill plate (chicken, lamb, doner kebab, and salad)…

…and the Adana kebab (marinated ground lamb & beef with a salad). Both dishes were ordered sans rice.

This spot may be my new favorite Paleo-friendly spot in Palo Alto…

While Little-O took a nap, I took Big-O to a birthday party at a bounce house. It was a pandemonium, but at least he burned off a lot of energy!

When we got home at 5:30 p.m., I started prepping dinner. I was tired and didn’t want to make anything too complicated so I heated up some pre-cooked duck confit legs (I bought ‘em at the farmers’ market) in the toaster oven (15 minutes at 375 F).

To finish the duck, I charred them with my kitchen torch to get the skin all crispity-crunchity.

I tossed some asparagus spears in the rendered duck fat with some salt and pepper…

…and broiled them in the toaster oven until tender.

I finished off the dish with a spritz of lemon juice. Trust me: Always keep some lemons in the fridge.

I also nuked a packet of winter squash puree that I mixed with butter, salt, and pepper…

…and sautéed a pan full of spinach in butter with sliced shallots, dried chilis, and lemon juice.

I’m happy to report that dinner was on the table in about 35 minutes.

And as a special treat, I ate half a bar of dark chocolate:

About Michelle Tam

Hello! My name is Michelle Tam, and I love to eat. I think about food all the time. It borders on obsession. I’ve always loved the sights and smells of the kitchen. My mother was (and is) an excellent cook, and as a kid, I was her little shadow as she prepared supper each night. From her, I gained a deep, abiding love for magically transforming pantry items into mouth-watering family meals.

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