Wow - I have to apologise to Kel: I had so assumed that my daily dinner blog was far too boring for anyone to read, let alone comment on, and had never even seen the comments you left until you pointed them out to me. Ooops.
So, thanks for the comments, and yep, えのき were the long white mushies I was thinking of but couldn't remember the name of. And I am glad to hear I am not the only one who fell for the bigger eel scam, lol.
As for the fridge and how we chose it, well, truthfully it all came down to one thing: price. Well, actually 2 things: price AND the fact that we have semi-spiral stairs that will only accommodate a 60cm wide fridge at the narrowest point, so we had to get the Yamada denki guys out to measure up the stairs to see if the fridge would fit in or not (in which case, we would have to bring it in over the 2nd floor balcony - at an extra 30,000yen). There are soooooooo many fridges out there, we really had no idea what to look for - all their fancy-schmancy features just got me so confused I sort of zoned out every time we went to Yamada. So when they said we need to measure up the stairs anyway, we thought we should chose the biggest one we thought might ぎりぎり fit、and we could always work backwards from that to find one that did fit. As it turns out, the Panasonic did fit, and it was an "outlet" item - it had a slight scratch (that you totally cannot see) on it as it was a 提示品, and also they were trying to get rid of it before the new models came in - so we got a bit of a discount. And that is why we bought that one. It is funny how quickly a big fridge starts to get smaller...it was 3/4 bare when I moved everything out of the old fridge. It is now filled to the brim, lol!
With all that food in the fridge at my dispoasl, you would think I could be more creative with my dinners......maybe next week!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
thursday and friday on review
J wrote an email to say that he had to go out with clients for dinner on Thursday night, so we just had the left-overs of the chicken soup, K also had some しらす with rice, her fav at the moment.
After a big day of Halloween party at playgroup, and a night before where I had about 2-3 hours sleep max, topped off with a massive headache, I was wasted and went to be wih K at 9pm before J even got home.
Felt a bit better today after taking it easy. Went to go buy bread for lunch, only to realise that the carseat was still out of the car, after a toilet accident a few days ago (it had been washed, but not put back) so we flagged the fresh bread and had spag on toast for lunch.
Dinner tonight was a success:
potato bake, with a delish white sauce touched up with some maggi stock cubes, oh,, the flavour!! and bacon, onion and carrot hidden in amongst the potato, you know, for nutritional value (and a frugal friday-ing type empty the fridge move)
steak
yellow and orange capsicum and eringi mushrooms, stir fried in butter and seasalt
salad - sunny lettuce, tomato and avocado
and the best part - J brought home a French stick!! so we devoured that with the French butter! yum.
After a big day of Halloween party at playgroup, and a night before where I had about 2-3 hours sleep max, topped off with a massive headache, I was wasted and went to be wih K at 9pm before J even got home.
Felt a bit better today after taking it easy. Went to go buy bread for lunch, only to realise that the carseat was still out of the car, after a toilet accident a few days ago (it had been washed, but not put back) so we flagged the fresh bread and had spag on toast for lunch.
Dinner tonight was a success:
and the best part - J brought home a French stick!! so we devoured that with the French butter! yum.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
bread and butter!!!!!
So, as it turns out, the biggest eel is not always the nicest. Actually, it is usual the toughest. Doh! So there goes my theory of bigger is better, lol. So last night's dinner was a bit of a fizzer.
But yesterday, I found a supermarket down at T-station that has the bestest chicken carcasses ever. At 190yen, the carcass had heaps of meat on it, and made a really nice stock - much better than the 130yen crap from Itoyokado. I threw in some carrot, long onions, zucchini (was a bit unsure about how this would go in the soup, but it did come out very nice), potato and quinoa and served it with a YUMMY batard from Kobeya. Unfortunately, there is no Kobeya bread shop close by, and I got it while out on a play date at a train station about 15mins away, but it has fulfilled the yummy french bread craving for the meantime, so all is good. I reckon we (I) ate half a...half a....half a what of French butter? Half a pound? Half a block? whatever it was, it is now half gone. And so is the batard, which is a shame, as I could go another piece of bread and butter about now.....
But yesterday, I found a supermarket down at T-station that has the bestest chicken carcasses ever. At 190yen, the carcass had heaps of meat on it, and made a really nice stock - much better than the 130yen crap from Itoyokado. I threw in some carrot, long onions, zucchini (was a bit unsure about how this would go in the soup, but it did come out very nice), potato and quinoa and served it with a YUMMY batard from Kobeya. Unfortunately, there is no Kobeya bread shop close by, and I got it while out on a play date at a train station about 15mins away, but it has fulfilled the yummy french bread craving for the meantime, so all is good. I reckon we (I) ate half a...half a....half a what of French butter? Half a pound? Half a block? whatever it was, it is now half gone. And so is the batard, which is a shame, as I could go another piece of bread and butter about now.....
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
unagi
J will be late home from work, so K and I were going to eat first...until for some reason the よやくswitch on the rice cooker didn't work, so the rice is still not cooked. As in, I just flicked the switch now (oops.)
May have to pre-eat last night nabe and noodle left overs before the main event which will be:
unagi-don
niku-jaga
probably some pickles
I think that is all. Boring, only 2 dishes, but it will be enough. And when it is late, I am not that worried about making something spesh, as I can't judge what time J will be home, so figure it is better to have simple and hot and freshly cooked as opposed to been sitting there for the last hour waiting.
May have to pre-eat last night nabe and noodle left overs before the main event which will be:
probably some pickles
I think that is all. Boring, only 2 dishes, but it will be enough. And when it is late, I am not that worried about making something spesh, as I can't judge what time J will be home, so figure it is better to have simple and hot and freshly cooked as opposed to been sitting there for the last hour waiting.
Monday, October 26, 2009
first nabe of the season
So tonight, nabe it was.
Kimchee nabe with
pork
tofu
chinese cabbage
eringi mushrooms
those long white mushrooms that I can't remember the name of at the moment
carrots
long onions
and
udon noodles to finish off.
It was yummy, and I even got a bowl left over for my lunch tomorrow.
It was almost a non-event though, as J was late coming home from work - didn't get in until after 8pm, omg!! So K had some rice, sausages and eda-mame earlier, followed by a プリン which I also had too.
I was gonna make J just a single serve of nabe, but decided to humour him, and ate most of it myself anyway, lol! (K even got in on the act, and ate some non-kimchee special 煮込みうどん I made just for her). I am looking forward to more nabe this winter.
Kimchee nabe with
and
It was yummy, and I even got a bowl left over for my lunch tomorrow.
It was almost a non-event though, as J was late coming home from work - didn't get in until after 8pm, omg!! So K had some rice, sausages and eda-mame earlier, followed by a プリン which I also had too.
I was gonna make J just a single serve of nabe, but decided to humour him, and ate most of it myself anyway, lol! (K even got in on the act, and ate some non-kimchee special 煮込みうどん I made just for her). I am looking forward to more nabe this winter.
The start of a new week
Now that my husband is back (yay) I guess we have to eat some proper meals, which I guess means I have to properaly prepare said meals (not so yay, lol).
So I decided to start this week with a bit of menu-brainstorming, based on stuff we have in the house:
うな重 (don't have this in the house, but after 2 weeks of 出張, I figure J could do with a stamina boost.
pad thai
french bread, potato bake
肉じゃが
kimchee なべ
Not the most inspiring list of dinner ideas, but it will do for a start.
So now I just have to fluff it out and see what I come back from the supermarket with this morning.
So I decided to start this week with a bit of menu-brainstorming, based on stuff we have in the house:
Not the most inspiring list of dinner ideas, but it will do for a start.
So now I just have to fluff it out and see what I come back from the supermarket with this morning.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
the last supper
before J comes home (yay!)
Lunch was peanut butter sandwiches.
Dinner was penne pasta with 市販 cream pasta sauce which apparently had mushrooms and chicken in it. I counted three thin slices of champignon mushrooms and half a sliver of chicken. So I beefed it up with some carrots and broccoli and a chicken breast straight out of the freezer, and grilled under the IH grill - it came out lovely, too!
It hit the spot.
Have also been working our way through the most delicious cake that E brought over yesterday - a Jewish apple cake. The BLTs went well, but the 市販 pumpkin soup was average at the best - I really should make the effort next time to always make my own soup... it was just the thought of pulling out the blender that stopped me. Next time I won' be s lazy.
Anyway, as for the apple cake, man it is good! She gave me the recipe too, so I guess I should post it here before I lose it:
Jewish Apple Cake
INGREDIENTS
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 10 inch tube pan.
Sprinkle sliced apples with 5 tablespoons white sugar and the ground cinnamon. Toss to coat and set aside.
Mix the flour, eggs, 2 1/2 cups sugar, baking powder, salt, vegetable oil, orange juice and vanilla until well blended. Batter will be fairly stiff.
Pour 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan. Place the apple mixture over the batter then pour the remaining batter over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 to 80 minutes. Let cake cool in pan.
Friend's note: "The only difference I made is I put in 6 apples instead of 3, and mixed them up with a LOT of cinnamon and sugar and a bit of lemon juice, then let them soak for about an hour. Then I made the cake with 3 layers--batter, apples, batter, apples, batter, apples, and dumped all the leftover apple-cinnamon-y juice on top. Also, I think it says cook for 70 min., but 90 minutes at 170 worked better."
Lunch was peanut butter sandwiches.
Dinner was penne pasta with 市販 cream pasta sauce which apparently had mushrooms and chicken in it. I counted three thin slices of champignon mushrooms and half a sliver of chicken. So I beefed it up with some carrots and broccoli and a chicken breast straight out of the freezer, and grilled under the IH grill - it came out lovely, too!
It hit the spot.
Have also been working our way through the most delicious cake that E brought over yesterday - a Jewish apple cake. The BLTs went well, but the 市販 pumpkin soup was average at the best - I really should make the effort next time to always make my own soup... it was just the thought of pulling out the blender that stopped me. Next time I won' be s lazy.
Anyway, as for the apple cake, man it is good! She gave me the recipe too, so I guess I should post it here before I lose it:
Jewish Apple Cake
INGREDIENTS
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 10 inch tube pan.
Sprinkle sliced apples with 5 tablespoons white sugar and the ground cinnamon. Toss to coat and set aside.
Mix the flour, eggs, 2 1/2 cups sugar, baking powder, salt, vegetable oil, orange juice and vanilla until well blended. Batter will be fairly stiff.
Pour 1/2 of the batter into the prepared pan. Place the apple mixture over the batter then pour the remaining batter over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 to 80 minutes. Let cake cool in pan.
Friend's note: "The only difference I made is I put in 6 apples instead of 3, and mixed them up with a LOT of cinnamon and sugar and a bit of lemon juice, then let them soak for about an hour. Then I made the cake with 3 layers--batter, apples, batter, apples, batter, apples, and dumped all the leftover apple-cinnamon-y juice on top. Also, I think it says cook for 70 min., but 90 minutes at 170 worked better."
Thursday, October 22, 2009
too tired to bother
Wednesday and Thursday have been write-offs:
heating up leftovers of all sorts (curry/chicken soup), lots of toast and bread, onigiri lunch today on the way home from playgroup etc. May have used up some of the leftovers to give me some room in the fridge. Although, as from Saturday, I am not going to have to be worried about room in the fridge as the new 475L monster arrives YAY YAY and YAY!
Tomorrow is another day of ぷちentertaining, but as I have no umph to do anything except sit on the sofa drowning in my sorrows (feeling a bit icky the last couple of days - rediculously fatigued/headachy/crampy/easily wound up by all the things K is doing) we are keeping it very simple.
Friday lunch entertaining will be:
B.L.T.s on baguettes
french fries on the side and
pumpkin soup
and that is it. I had wanted to try some new ideas for lunch that don't invlove quiche or lasagna, but it will have to wait until I am feeling more energetic.
heating up leftovers of all sorts (curry/chicken soup), lots of toast and bread, onigiri lunch today on the way home from playgroup etc. May have used up some of the leftovers to give me some room in the fridge. Although, as from Saturday, I am not going to have to be worried about room in the fridge as the new 475L monster arrives YAY YAY and YAY!
Tomorrow is another day of ぷちentertaining, but as I have no umph to do anything except sit on the sofa drowning in my sorrows (feeling a bit icky the last couple of days - rediculously fatigued/headachy/crampy/easily wound up by all the things K is doing) we are keeping it very simple.
Friday lunch entertaining will be:
and that is it. I had wanted to try some new ideas for lunch that don't invlove quiche or lasagna, but it will have to wait until I am feeling more energetic.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
"doing" lunch
Had a friend over for lunch, and since
1) the oven is still in the lounge room
and
2) I don't even know how to use it
I decided to branch out, be brave, expand my repartee and step away from my standard quiche or lasagna and try a new kind of entertaining. I am not sure if it succeded or not, though!?? I was sort of aiming for something else (better) but this is what happened:
chicken and vegetable noodle soup (carrot, long onion, chinese cabbage, celery)
croissants and cheese and sesame seed bread rolls (toasted under the grill)
salad (baby leaf lettuce, yellow and red capsicum, three beans mix, cucumber)
tomatoes in sea salt and virgin olive oil
and yakitori
And for dessert, cuppa tea/coffee with matcha castella, to remind us of our time in Nagasaki together on exchange.
I wanted to have foccacia with the soup, but trying to find some nice bread in this area just about did my head in yesterday - one bread shop I wanted to try was closed (I can never catch them open!!), the bread shop at Daiei was crap, as was the one in Sotetsu Rosen. Ended up buying at Itoyakado (yes - three supermarkets and a bread shop later I finally bought bread, although it was still not what I was after). I really hope I can find a better bakery around here soon. Of course, once I get my little bread maker, it will be so much fun making our own BROWN bread - ahhhh, drooling at the thought of it.
1) the oven is still in the lounge room
and
2) I don't even know how to use it
I decided to branch out, be brave, expand my repartee and step away from my standard quiche or lasagna and try a new kind of entertaining. I am not sure if it succeded or not, though!?? I was sort of aiming for something else (better) but this is what happened:
And for dessert, cuppa tea/coffee with matcha castella, to remind us of our time in Nagasaki together on exchange.
I wanted to have foccacia with the soup, but trying to find some nice bread in this area just about did my head in yesterday - one bread shop I wanted to try was closed (I can never catch them open!!), the bread shop at Daiei was crap, as was the one in Sotetsu Rosen. Ended up buying at Itoyakado (yes - three supermarkets and a bread shop later I finally bought bread, although it was still not what I was after). I really hope I can find a better bakery around here soon. Of course, once I get my little bread maker, it will be so much fun making our own BROWN bread - ahhhh, drooling at the thought of it.
Monday, October 19, 2009
beanz meanz heinz
We were out and about today, so ate out for lunch. I feel a bit jibbed though - ended up lured by the square shaped hamburgers of Wendy's for lunch. But it was.....average. K had udon noodles, and about 3 cups of ice.
Dinner tonight is about to be baked beans on toast. I am not sure how K will go with it, so it might be natto rice for her. Sort of similar meals in the end, really!
Btw, I use SPC baked beans (♪for hungry little human beings♪) but do like the ol' heinz catch phrase too!
....an hour later: Yes! K loved the baked beans. I knew she would!
Dinner tonight is about to be baked beans on toast. I am not sure how K will go with it, so it might be natto rice for her. Sort of similar meals in the end, really!
Btw, I use SPC baked beans (♪for hungry little human beings♪) but do like the ol' heinz catch phrase too!
....an hour later: Yes! K loved the baked beans. I knew she would!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
another weekend
Saturday was busy, shopping for sofas and fridges, so we ate accordingly: Ikea hot dogs for lunch, and Kura-Zushi sushi train for dinner (located right beside Yamada Denki).
We haven't been to くら寿司 for a while (actually had only been to it once before where it didn't leave much of an impression) but this time we were quite impressed by the 100yen standard and range of sushi - it beats 100yen Kappa-Zushi, or even non-100yen Bikkuri-Zushi where we went last weekend and never got half the things we ordered, as the old guy keps on saying "yep" but never making my sushi. I enjoyed the ゆばsushi this time. Oh, and the caramel cake (he-he-he). The system at Kura-zushi is pretty cool: there is a little slit at the end of the table where you put your empty plates and it counts them up automatically for you. For each 5 plates that you eat, you get a "spin of the wheel", and if you win, you get one of those toys in plastic egg cases. There is a mini touch panel screen at your table that you can order food from, and when your order is getting close to you on the conveyor belt, the touch panel starts beeping at you to let you know to take your order off! Very cool.
Sunday night was back to just K and me, so we had left-over curry and rice. I don't mind doing left-overs when there is at least a day of something else in between.
We haven't been to くら寿司 for a while (actually had only been to it once before where it didn't leave much of an impression) but this time we were quite impressed by the 100yen standard and range of sushi - it beats 100yen Kappa-Zushi, or even non-100yen Bikkuri-Zushi where we went last weekend and never got half the things we ordered, as the old guy keps on saying "yep" but never making my sushi. I enjoyed the ゆばsushi this time. Oh, and the caramel cake (he-he-he). The system at Kura-zushi is pretty cool: there is a little slit at the end of the table where you put your empty plates and it counts them up automatically for you. For each 5 plates that you eat, you get a "spin of the wheel", and if you win, you get one of those toys in plastic egg cases. There is a mini touch panel screen at your table that you can order food from, and when your order is getting close to you on the conveyor belt, the touch panel starts beeping at you to let you know to take your order off! Very cool.
Sunday night was back to just K and me, so we had left-over curry and rice. I don't mind doing left-overs when there is at least a day of something else in between.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Family meal
Tonight night J is back (for 2 nights at least, before heading off again)) so a bit more of a real meal happening - if you can call curry a real meal. Hey, pre-prepared this morning to let the flavour sink in, and also because my house was taken over by repairmen most of the day, and J gets in about 6:30pm so I thought all ready done was the way to go. And a curry now and then always goes down well.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
last night of just the girls for this week
A big lunch at TGIF after playgroup (their "world famous hamburger" ) meant that I wasn't that hungry for dinner anyway:
* corn soup (once I get a taste for something these days, there is no stopping me!)
* yakitori
* and rice for K.
sounds so boring written down, but hit the spot anyway (for me at least, don't know about poor K! lol)
* corn soup (once I get a taste for something these days, there is no stopping me!)
* yakitori
* and rice for K.
sounds so boring written down, but hit the spot anyway (for me at least, don't know about poor K! lol)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
mr potato head
lunch: corn soup with potato wedges
dinner: mashed potato, pumpkin and japanese weiner sausages (with tomato sauce)
I am kinda loving the simple life!
dinner: mashed potato, pumpkin and japanese weiner sausages (with tomato sauce)
I am kinda loving the simple life!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
freezer foods
no motivation to cook for just K and me, so it is leftovers (actually not-used-overs?!?) from stuff I bought for friend's visit on Sunday night but never used:
* fried rice
* yakitori
* soy beans
all about to be heated up in a flash.
doesn't hurt once in a while to have a tv-dinner(or the japanese version of that, lol), surely!? and it is a freezer-clean out to boot!
いただきま～す
* fried rice
* yakitori
* soy beans
all about to be heated up in a flash.
doesn't hurt once in a while to have a tv-dinner(or the japanese version of that, lol), surely!? and it is a freezer-clean out to boot!
いただきま～す
Monday, October 12, 2009
start of a week of hubby away
J is away on a business trip - so simple meals for us.
Kicked off with (tinned) spaghetti on toast. Noice!
Last night we had friends over dinner/sleep-over, and I made a simple lasagna with salad. I grated some pumpkin into it, as last time I did that it made it so nice and creamy. And it didn't dissapoint this time either. I was a bit apprehensive, because it has been so long since I made a lasagna, I was not sure how it would turn out, but everyone had seconds, so it couldn't have been too bad! After dinnner we (I) overdosed on heaps of snacky stuff - cheese, olives, crackers... it was great!!
Kicked off with (tinned) spaghetti on toast. Noice!
Last night we had friends over dinner/sleep-over, and I made a simple lasagna with salad. I grated some pumpkin into it, as last time I did that it made it so nice and creamy. And it didn't dissapoint this time either. I was a bit apprehensive, because it has been so long since I made a lasagna, I was not sure how it would turn out, but everyone had seconds, so it couldn't have been too bad! After dinnner we (I) overdosed on heaps of snacky stuff - cheese, olives, crackers... it was great!!
Friday, October 9, 2009
cleaning out the fridge before the weekend
And that is what our dinner amounts to - frugal friday I guess:
* Salmon
* spinach egg roll - I am gonna try this one out, see how we go!
* tofu - still haven't actually put it out once this week, as keep on forgetting at the last minute! Tonight is definately 冷奴
* asparagus spears sauted in butter
* some inari-zushi I bought for lunch but didn't eat
* noodle soup (just from a packet)
* salad, of course
* left over eggplant and mince stuffing, probably gonna give this to K with rice
* pickles
* eda-mame
I think that is about it, hope I remember to put it all out. Nothing exciting, but hopefully the number of different foods will make up for the lack of volume in each. And of course, we need to leave room for MR. Donuts for dessert anyway!!
* Salmon
* spinach egg roll - I am gonna try this one out, see how we go!
* tofu - still haven't actually put it out once this week, as keep on forgetting at the last minute! Tonight is definately 冷奴
* asparagus spears sauted in butter
* some inari-zushi I bought for lunch but didn't eat
* noodle soup (just from a packet)
* salad, of course
* left over eggplant and mince stuffing, probably gonna give this to K with rice
* pickles
* eda-mame
I think that is about it, hope I remember to put it all out. Nothing exciting, but hopefully the number of different foods will make up for the lack of volume in each. And of course, we need to leave room for MR. Donuts for dessert anyway!!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
early menu planning
wow, not even 10am and I have tonight's dinner on my mind!
* Eggplant with mince and cheese a.k.a. "stuffed eggplant"
* Potato something (bought a 2.5kg box from Itoyokado last night for 398yen....instead of the 6 for 158yen. So plenty of potato cooking coming up!)
* Chicken soup (made from chicken carcass) with carrots, onions, celery, what else can I put in it?? oh yeah, some quinoa, and probably potatoes, haha
* Salad - still miles of lettuce and tomato around.
* Eggplant with mince and cheese a.k.a. "stuffed eggplant"
* Potato something (bought a 2.5kg box from Itoyokado last night for 398yen....instead of the 6 for 158yen. So plenty of potato cooking coming up!)
* Chicken soup (made from chicken carcass) with carrots, onions, celery, what else can I put in it?? oh yeah, some quinoa, and probably potatoes, haha
* Salad - still miles of lettuce and tomato around.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
just the girls
J has a work dinner with clients, so just K and me. And since K has come down with a cold, and has only eaten natto and rice (and only snippets of it at that) since dinner last night, I am not getting too excited over making anything. Gonna pull out the tin of spaghetti I brough home from Aus and slather it over a slice of toast.
Actually, come to think of it, that *does* sound pretty exciting!
Actually, come to think of it, that *does* sound pretty exciting!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
buri
MIL brought some rice over on the weekend - it had been sent down from someone in Miyagi. I was going to keep it, but J made a comment last night that the rice we are using is starting to taste あまり美味しくなくなった - when we ordered it 10months ago in the big 10kg bags, they sent a second bag out free, so we have had it for a while. Anyway, thought I would be nice and cook up the 新米 tonight for him.
* 新米
* ブリ大根 （without the daikon) 煮る the buri in 100ml dashi, 50ml sake, 25ml soy, 25ml mirin (if I had any) and some ginger....hope it turns out ok.
* tofu that I forgot to put out last night
* snake gourd in へちまの味噌炒め using dried scallops reconstituted in boiling water
* salad - still some lettuce, cucumber, avo, tom, red cabbage left to use up
* also still have eggplant, so will just fry it up and serve dressed with 昆布つゆ
dessert should be the plethora of fruit we have including nashi, apples, red seedless grapes, あけび and guava!
Akebia is also known as chocolate vine, or so the dictionary said.
* 新米
* ブリ大根 （without the daikon) 煮る the buri in 100ml dashi, 50ml sake, 25ml soy, 25ml mirin (if I had any) and some ginger....hope it turns out ok.
* tofu that I forgot to put out last night
* snake gourd in へちまの味噌炒め using dried scallops reconstituted in boiling water
* salad - still some lettuce, cucumber, avo, tom, red cabbage left to use up
* also still have eggplant, so will just fry it up and serve dressed with 昆布つゆ
dessert should be the plethora of fruit we have including nashi, apples, red seedless grapes, あけび and guava!
Akebia is also known as chocolate vine, or so the dictionary said.
luffa gourd ヘチマ
how interesting.
MIL brought around a zucchini-looking-goya-looking vege yesterday. I thought she said it was called へじば but googling came up with nothing but references to じじばば so some serious detective googling and I realised that it is in the gourd family, and it is actually called ヘチマ or luffa....yep, just like loufers you use to scrub dpwn dead skin cells! ha! how cool is that. Is also used alot in okinawan cooking, apparently.
Anyway, am going to find a recipe for it to use tomorrow night, as tonight is:
* salad - lettuce, red cabbage, avocado, tomato, cucumber.
* bbq meat （市販タレ付き焼肉）that J had in the freezer.
* pumpkin soup (gotta make that now)
* rice
and perhaps some natto too.
oh and some tofu - 冷奴.
and the soup has turned our just fantastic (added a maggi stock cube to it), if I do say so myself. Gotta love pumpkin soup! Just gotta add some cream to it before serving.
MIL brought around a zucchini-looking-goya-looking vege yesterday. I thought she said it was called へじば but googling came up with nothing but references to じじばば so some serious detective googling and I realised that it is in the gourd family, and it is actually called ヘチマ or luffa....yep, just like loufers you use to scrub dpwn dead skin cells! ha! how cool is that. Is also used alot in okinawan cooking, apparently.Anyway, am going to find a recipe for it to use tomorrow night, as tonight is:
* salad - lettuce, red cabbage, avocado, tomato, cucumber.
* bbq meat （市販タレ付き焼肉）that J had in the freezer.
* pumpkin soup (gotta make that now)
* rice
and perhaps some natto too.
oh and some tofu - 冷奴.
and the soup has turned our just fantastic (added a maggi stock cube to it), if I do say so myself. Gotta love pumpkin soup! Just gotta add some cream to it before serving.
Monday, October 5, 2009
busy weeekend
Saturday- trip to costcos followed by house warming for N and S, so lots of junky food, and all-day eating!
Lunch
* hot dog with soft drink
The rest of the day (everyone brought along a dish to the housewarming)
* pizza
* green olives
* french bread with pate
* okinawan soba
* kfc (thanks Y!)
* salmon carpaciao
* scallop rice with salmon roe (K gobbled this one down, haha)
Sunday
Ramen for lunch as PIL were over to help with doing up the back yard
Dinner-
A trip to Ikea for furniture meant Ikea meal for dinner. How cheap is it (ok, not the most amazing meals, but still)!
J - vege curry for 498yen
T and K - shared a 295yen pasta
T - almond cake for dessert - yummy!!
Lunch
* hot dog with soft drink
The rest of the day (everyone brought along a dish to the housewarming)
* pizza
* green olives
* french bread with pate
* okinawan soba
* kfc (thanks Y!)
* salmon carpaciao
* scallop rice with salmon roe (K gobbled this one down, haha)
Sunday
Ramen for lunch as PIL were over to help with doing up the back yard
Dinner-
A trip to Ikea for furniture meant Ikea meal for dinner. How cheap is it (ok, not the most amazing meals, but still)!
J - vege curry for 498yen
T and K - shared a 295yen pasta
T - almond cake for dessert - yummy!!
Friday, October 2, 2009
chinese on IH
After dinner last night we went out to the supermarket to get some supplies and came back with pork, eggplant, pumpkin, milk, bread, roast beef, ham, cheese, mitsuya cider and iced green tea (for some reason I was dying to drink it!!)
So today's lunch was:
Roast beef and cheese sandwich for K (using the last of the bread after we both had 2 slices of toast for breakky, with vegemite on it no less!) and a roast beef, tomato, sunny lettuce salad for me. How good am I! Well, I had it with mitsuya cider so not *that* good, lol.
Dinner:
Pork stir fry (substituted veges in recipe for: eggplant, carrot and long onions and it came out delish! also, have no cooking sake in house so used sherry kept for trifles instead and, yay, it worked!!)Nice and tasty recipe.
fried rice (with left over rice from last night, when I cooked up 3 cups - usually we eat 2 cups, but I overestimated that last night I would be so into my rice that I would have refills, which I didn't)
Again I had issues with the IH hotplates. Using the IH-designated stainless steel fry pan to cook the pork (even in half a bottle of oil) ended up in the bottom of the pot being burnt to smithereens, so I had to change to the teflon fry pan anyway. I hope this IH cooking gets easier.
Also hope I can find my way around the kitchen better fast - spend half the time searching for when I put things away, over a month ago, hehe.
So today's lunch was:
Roast beef and cheese sandwich for K (using the last of the bread after we both had 2 slices of toast for breakky, with vegemite on it no less!) and a roast beef, tomato, sunny lettuce salad for me. How good am I! Well, I had it with mitsuya cider so not *that* good, lol.
Dinner:
Again I had issues with the IH hotplates. Using the IH-designated stainless steel fry pan to cook the pork (even in half a bottle of oil) ended up in the bottom of the pot being burnt to smithereens, so I had to change to the teflon fry pan anyway. I hope this IH cooking gets easier.
Also hope I can find my way around the kitchen better fast - spend half the time searching for when I put things away, over a month ago, hehe.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
first wa in a month
First dinner back home on Thursday night:
salmon
rice
egg roll
wakame miso soup
How Japanese can you get? I also know realised that I have to learn to cook everything again.....our new house has an IH hot plate, so things like the egg roll turned out pretty average, since I am used to making it over a gas burner. Also couldn't work out the griller menu, so it was taking forever to cook the salmon, until J came home and showed me how to work it (set it to "cook fish"). *sigh*
I am gonna sound all Japanese here, but I was kinda looking forward to a meal with rice, after a month away. how sad is that. K shoved it into her too, hehe.
salmon
rice
egg roll
wakame miso soup
How Japanese can you get? I also know realised that I have to learn to cook everything again.....our new house has an IH hot plate, so things like the egg roll turned out pretty average, since I am used to making it over a gas burner. Also couldn't work out the griller menu, so it was taking forever to cook the salmon, until J came home and showed me how to work it (set it to "cook fish"). *sigh*
I am gonna sound all Japanese here, but I was kinda looking forward to a meal with rice, after a month away. how sad is that. K shoved it into her too, hehe.
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