It's a short week of cooking as we're heading out of town on Friday. But before we go, this is what's on the menu:

Sunday:

• Cheddar IPA Bratwurst
• Hoagie Buns
• Tater Tots
• Salad
• Braising Mix

Monday:

• Char Siu Bao
• Tokyo Turnips
• Salad

Tuesday:

• Sesame Chicken Meatballs
• Salad

Wednesday:

• Kimchi Fried Rice
• Salad

Thursday:

• Scrambled Tofu
• Breakfast Potatoes
• Salad

I'm also making some oatmeal cookies — "special" ones for Kin — and freezing the dough today. On Thursday, I'll whip up some pasta salad, white bean dip, and pita bread for the road, along with a week's worth of those cookies. They're "medicinal," let's just say.

The braising mix and Tokyo turnips are from the CSA. The recipe for the sesame chicken meatballs — from Ali Slagle's excellent I Dream of Dinner — calls for broccoli, but I'm using the Napa cabbage and the carrots from the CSA instead. The Kimchi fried rice will use up that can of Spam that's been in the pantry for a while, along with a couple of the CSA eggs. I made a batch of pita bread a couple of weeks ago, and I froze half the dough — so that'll thaw for use on Thursday. The white bean dip will ideally use up some of the Rancho Beans varieties that I've got — I have half a cup each of cassoulet and mayocoba beans, I think. The Char Siu Bao is also from the freezer - or the meat is. I followed Kristina Cho's recipe from Mooncakes and Milk Bread for the meat and the bao; the pork part of the recipe made enough for three meals, so that's thawing, and tomorrow I'll make a fresh batch of bao dough. I'm hopeful that I can do a better job with folding them this time around.

I'm not looking forward to eating while on the road. Our diet is pretty dialed in, and traveling always upsets that. But I've bought a bunch of snacks for hiking, and I'm hoping that with the pasta salad and the bean dip, we can make due until we can't. Honestly, I'd rather eat sandwiches and a roast chicken from the grocery store than go into a restaurant. It's still a pandemic, y'all.