Coconut Soup: When I meal plan for the week, I like to make sure that ingredients overlap, so I’m not being wasteful. We love coconut soup. I usually use crab or shrimp, but since Lynn is actually home for dinner these days and doesn’t eat seafood, I used chicken and mushrooms. I chopped garlic and ginger and sauteed in fat from cooking the chicken. Then added a little stock to deglaze (scrape the tasty caramelized bits) and added 1 can of coconut milk and a carton of chicken stock. From there it was incrementally adding (1 tbl spoon at a time) brown sugar, lime juice, chili paste until I got the flavor everyone would eat.
Beef and Broccoli: Family favorite, beef and broccoli. I prefer doing it at home bc less chemicals than bottle sauce. I roast broccoli separately, which isn’t traditional, at 425 w/oil and salt. Then cook beef, but could easily be chicken or firm tofu. Then remove and add 
a few tbl spoons of chopped garlic and ginger, then about 1/4c of brown sugar and let thicken and some soy sauce for taste. If the sauce it too salty, add brown sugar or honey, if it’s too sweet, add soy sauce, if it’s too thin, mix 1 tsp corn starch and water then add to sauce and if it’s too thick, add broth.
