🍱 This Week — Cook Fast

Jacob & Madina · built around Madina's menu + what's on hand · tap a step ↓

🥕 Market
🔪 Prep
🔥 Cook
🍽️ Eat

✅ Live checklist · synced — either of you checks, both see it

Tap the boxes as you go, on any tab. Saves for both phones within a few seconds. 🔁

DinnerProtein
🍗 Chicken + potatoes, OJ (Madina's) covers a night~45g
🍛 Ground-beef Japanese curry + rice + edamame covers 2 nights~40g
🥦 Fried cauliflower cutlets + edamame + guac~20g
🥩 Beef short ribs + polenta weekend~45g
🥫 Tuna sandwich / bowl no cook~35g
🥑 Guac—

🥕 On hand — no shopping needed for these

ground beef ✓canned tuna ✓ eggs ✓S&B curry roux ×3 ✓rice + quinoa ✓ polenta ×2 ✓broccoli ✓edamame ✓ onion · carrot · potato ✓avocado · jalapeño · cilantro ✓cucumber ✓

🛒 Only-if-missing (a few dishes need these)

cauliflowerpanko / breadcrumbs beef short ribssandwich bread

Curry, tuna-bowl & guac run on what you have. The cauliflower cutlets need cauliflower + panko; short ribs + bread for the sandwich are the only real grabs — flag Madina if not already home.

📋 Shopping list page: jacob-market-list.pages.dev

🔪 Mise en place — do it once (~20 min)

Cut everything up front, then cooking is fast. Board + knife, top to bottom.

1
Thaw: ground beef to the fridge. Short ribs too if doing them this week.
2
Onion: dice 2 — for the curry, guac, tuna, and the short-rib braise.
3
Curry veg: chunk 1 carrot + 1 potato (bite-size) for the beef curry.
4
Cauliflower: cut into ½-inch slabs/steaks (they hold the breading better than florets).
5
Breading station: 3 bowls — flour+salt · beaten egg · panko. Ready for the cutlets.
6
Jalapeño + cilantro: fine-dice jalapeño (seeds out), chop cilantro → guac + tuna + garnish.
7
Cucumber: slice — for the tuna sandwich / bowl. (Optional green side: broccoli florets on an oiled tray — no dish needs it.)
8
Hold avocado — mash only the night you eat it.

Store cut onion/jalapeño/cilantro in the fridge — good 3–4 days. That's why weeknights are fast.

⚡ Fastest way to cook everything

  1. One 35-min session → rice + boiled eggs + edamame + all the chopping, and make the beef curry (it covers 2 nights).
  2. Short ribs = start when you've got a ~3-hr window (weekend) — 15 min hands-on, the rest is the oven doing the work.
  3. Cutlets (25 min) & tuna (5 min, no-cook) = quick à-la-minute nights, nothing to pre-do.

That's the whole week from basically one real session + one braise.

🔥 The 35-min batch (do it once)

Passive things first, everything overlaps:

0:00
Rice on (~20 min, hands-off) — feeds the curry + tuna bowl.
0:02
6 eggs to boil (12 min) — for the cutlet breading, a topper, + snacks.
0:05
Start the beef curry (recipe below) — simmers while everything else goes.
0:12
Eggs → ice bath. Edamame → 5-min boil, salt.
0:15
Chop the Prep-tab veg now if you haven't (curry veg, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, cauliflower slabs).
0:35
Done. Rice + eggs + edamame ready, curry thickened + packed. Cutlets / short ribs cook fresh their night.

Want a green side? Roast a broccoli tray at 425°F alongside — optional, no dish needs it.

🍛 Ground-beef Japanese curry (30 min)

Need: 1 lb ground beef · 1 onion · 1 carrot · 1 potato · 3 cups water · 3–4 S&B roux cubes · rice + edamame to serve

  1. Brown 1 lb ground beef in a pot; spoon off excess fat.
  2. Add diced onion, carrot, potato — cook 3 min.
  3. Add 3 cups water, simmer 15 min until veg tender.
  4. Off heat, melt in 3–4 S&B roux cubes; low 5 min to thicken.
  5. Over rice + salted edamame. Freezes great — make extra.

🥦 Fried cauliflower cutlets (25 min)

Need: 1 head cauliflower (½-inch slabs) · ½ cup flour · 2 eggs · 1 cup panko · ½-inch oil to fry · salt

  1. Steam/microwave cauliflower slabs 4 min so they cook through when fried.
  2. Dredge: flour → egg → panko (press panko on).
  3. Shallow-fry in ½-inch oil, medium-high, 2–3 min/side to deep golden. Drain, salt.
  4. Serve with edamame + a scoop of guac. Squeeze of citrus cuts the richness.

🥩 Beef short ribs + polenta (weekend braise)

Need: 2–3 lbs bone-in short ribs · 1 onion · 2 Tbsp tomato paste · 1 cup stock/water · salt · polenta (1 cup : 4 cups water) · butter

  1. Sear salted short ribs on all sides in a heavy pot; remove.
  2. Soften onion, add a splash of water/stock + tomato, return ribs.
  3. Cover, 325°F 2.5–3 hrs until fall-apart tender.
  4. Polenta: whisk into simmering salted water ~5:1, stir 15–20 min till creamy; finish with a knob of butter. Ribs on top.

🥫 Tuna sandwich / bowl (no cook, 5 min)

  1. Mix drained tuna + a little mayo/olive oil, diced onion, salt, squeeze citrus.
  2. Sandwich: on bread with cucumber. Bowl: over rice with avocado + cilantro.

🥑 Guac (5 min, day-of)

  1. Mash 2 avocados.
  2. Fold in diced onion, jalapeño, cilantro, salt, squeeze citrus. Taste + adjust.

🍽️ Build each plate (10 min a night)

NightBuild it
🍛 Beef curryreheat curry over rice + salted edamame
🥦 Cauliflower cutletsfry fresh → edamame + a scoop of guac + citrus
🥩 Short ribscreamy polenta → ribs on top → sauce spooned over
🥫 Tunasandwich w/ cucumber, or bowl over rice + avocado (no cook)

Order: beef curry first (covers 2 nights), cutlets + tuna on quick nights, short ribs on the weekend. Boiled eggs + guac stretch across all of them.

🍳 Fast breakfasts (hit your protein)

  • Greek yogurt + banana/clementine + a spoon of dates
  • 2–3 eggs + leftover veg
  • Boiled egg + fruit on the run

Built around Madina's menu · highprotein-plan.pages.dev
📚 Full system & everything else — the complete plan (breakfasts, freezer, rotation, tips) in case anything here's missing.

🩺 Doctor Sign-ups

💛 For Madina — thank you 🙏

Here's the doctors to get me signed up / booked with. Tap a box as each is done — it syncs to Jacob's phone too. All my info you'll need is at the bottom. The one rule: everything must be Cigna in-network so it's $0.

⏰ All 3 free & in-network only through July 31 — book them this month

⚠️ #1 rule — check Cigna covers it FIRST

Before booking any of these, confirm the provider is in-network with Cigna — check Cigna's directory and ask the office (directories are often wrong). In-network = $0; out-of-network = we pay. This is the whole game.

  • Any bloodwork / biopsy / labs → have them send it to Quest or LabCorp (in-network) — no surprise bills.

✅ The list — book / sign up for these 4

Each one: ☎️ confirm Cigna in-network $0 → then book.

Who & how to book
🔬 Dermatologist — full-body skin check
1st choice Mandel Dermatology (UES) · 116 E 68th St #1C · (212) 570-9595 · books on Zocdoc/Fresha. ⚠️ confirm Cigna OAP for the NY office. In-network fallback: Schweiger Dermatology (Zocdoc → filter Cigna).
🩺 Gastroenterologist (GI) — lactose/stomach consult
Weill Cornell GI, 1305 York Ave (UES). Book via online request form weillcornell.org/request-an-appointment or 646-962-4000. Ask for soonest new-patient GI in Cigna OAP.
👨‍⚕️ Urologist — men's-health consult
Weill Cornell Urology, 525 E 68th St (Dr. James Kashanian) · 646-962-4000 · or NYU Langone Urology. Confirm in-network $0 first.
🥗 Dietitian / nutritionist — for the lactose / sensitive-stomach stuff (pairs with the GI visit)
Ask Cigna's provider-finder (1-800-244-6224) for an in-network RD, or the GI office may refer one. Usually covered as nutrition counseling.

🔒 Jacob's info for the forms

Jacob's insurance + personal details are texted, not on this page — just message him when a form needs them. 💛

🧹 Cleaning

Apartment cleanup — just see & do

Tap each spot as you clear it — syncs to both phones. Nothing fancy, just work through the areas below. 💛

✅ Areas to clear

Spot
🗄️ Under the front desk — the bags
🧺 Above-closet stuff — both, at the front
👕 Clothes closet — 2 suitcases to consolidate
💻 Computer area — all around + the table with the writing stuff
🚪 Top of the top-left / top-right closet (at the front)
🛏️ Under the bed

📄 Old cleanup notes (in case)

  • Toiletries: top closet + below sink — just essentials + backups under the sink; above closet for random other stuff as needed.
  • Under bed — when done: Madina's suitcases → front-right closet · Oreo's excess litter pellets → under the bed.
  • Clothes closet: 2 suitcases to consolidate.

🐱 Litter: top up the main box when it's low — the extra is covered/stored now.

🪴 Plants

Plant check-in

Mainly a health pass on the collection. Tap as you go — syncs to both phones.

✅ To do

Task
📸 Photo every plant first (top-down) — before touching anything, so we have a dated record.
🌱 Check all soil, roots & overall health across the collection.
🪴 Check-in on the Haworthia rot-recovery — figure out next steps (see notes below).

🩹 Haworthia rot recovery — the rules (started 6/4)

  • Hold ALL water until they're firm and rooting again — the fix for rot is drying out, not more water.
  • Weekly wobble test: resists = rooting (wait); lifts clean = no roots yet (still wait, still no water).
  • Soft leaves = normal sulk (re-plumps in 2–4 wks). Soft/mushy base = rot → pull, recut to firm tissue, re-callus. Don't unpot healthy ones to "check."
  • Keep them in dry gritty soil; retire Ocean Forest for succulents (holds water = the rot suspect).

Full detail lives in the Plants backlog + haworthia memory.