Addicted to donuts

I recently discovered Krispy Kreme donuts here in Japan.  I had never eaten a Krispy Kreme until about 2 months ago.  And that first Krispy Kreme was like a little piece of heaven!  So, needless to say, we've been going and getting donuts quite often, maybe a little too often!  My expanding waste line might be contributed to my mass consumption on Krispy Kreme donuts!  Maybe.

Here is Jude making funny faces after eating 2 glazed Krispy Kreme donuts.  

Rice and Ramen

The other night we had rice and ramen for dinner.  We went to our favorite ramen shop and pigged out!  This is what we ate:

This is what the fried rice looked like before we cooked it at our table.

And this is what it looked like after it was cooked and before I shoved it down my face!

And here is Jude pigging out on ramen.  Yes, my kid can use chopsticks.

100 Yen Sushi

In Japan, there is a chain sushi restaurant that sells most types of sushi for 100 Yen (about a dollar a plate).  The food isn't the best, but when you get a hankering for some quick, cheap sushi, this is the place to go.  So, today on my way home from work, I was starving, and I felt like eating sushi and didn't want to spend a fortune, so I went to a 100 Yen sushi shop.  I took these pictures.

This place also has a conveyor belt that brings sushi to you.  I tried to get a decent picture of it with my iPhone, but this was the best I could do.

And to keep prices down, the sushi chefs are kept in the kitchen, and you can order food by using a handy-dandy touch screen.  Then, the food you ordered comes to you on a little train they send out on the first little shelf.  Jude loves to order things so he can watch the train zoom around to him with food on it.  It's way cool!

Today's adventure

Today I hung out with one of my favorite gal pals.  We went to a local resale shop and molested a bunch of kimonos, looking for the perfect one to cut up and make into a skirt.  The resale shop had a HUGE selection.  See for yourself.

After we shopped, we went to this amazing udon/tempura shop and pigged out on yummy  noodles and fried goodness.

Man, I'm really, really, really, really going to miss this place!

(Everyday I feel so lucky and blessed to be able to live in such an amazing and awesome country.)

Sunday Sushi

I love how the food comes to us on a conveyor belt!  Awesomeness!

Saturday Sushi

Yesterday Jude and I had lunch at our favorite sushi restaurant (Husband is out of town for work).  We couldn't help but take advantage of the photo op.

(Photos taken with my iPhone.)

Dinner at my place

Okay, so I live in Japan.  Duh!  So, you probably think I eat raw fish everyday along with miso soup and rice.  Well, you'd be wrong.  Even though I live in Japan, I still eat typical American food most days.  I try to give my kid all the comforts of home by creating delicious American staples.

Last night for dinner I made fresh artisan (no knead) bread and beef stew.

I started the bread around 1:30 PM.  I mixed the flours (2 cups unbleached white and 1 cup whole wheat), 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons rosemary infused olive oil,  1 1/2 cups warm water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of quick rising yeast, and I let everything rise.

This is what it looks like after you mix all the ingredients together.   It's a sticky, gooey mess!

After you mix up all the yummy goodness, you let it sit for about 2 hours.  After that, you remove it from the bowl and flour it, folding it on itself about 5 times.  Then, you let it rise another 2 hours.

This is what it will look like sitting on your counter rising.  

After is rises, prepare your cooking vessel.  I use my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker (DCB) for this particular recipe.  I coat the DCB with olive oil and place it in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Then, when the DCB is really hot, I dump in the dough.  I bake the dough for 30 minutes covered and then 10 minutes uncovered.

This is the final product.

When the bread is baking in the oven, your house will smell amazing!  It's like the bread is teasing you the entire time it's in the oven.  So once the bread is out, we usually devour the whole thing.  I usually pair the bread with a dipping oil, but last night I made beef stew.

Sorry the picture isn't that great, but I was too hungry to screw with the camera.  And please excuse the bowl.  I don't normally eat out of my kid's dishes, but I didn't want to eat too much beef stew, knowing I was about to eat half a loaf of bread. 

Here's a picture of my kid chowing down on his yummy, home cooked, American style dinner.  I tried to get him to smile at the camera, but he was too busy eating.  

Baking Bread

Sometimes I get a hair up my ass and decide to do things I might not normally do.  And, well, this weekend I thought I'd bake fresh bread and make a pumpkin pie.  Since we are living in Japan, I feel like I'm missing out on all the great things about fall.  I miss pumpkin patches, bails of hay, hay rides, flowering mums, fresh baked pies and so on.  So, I decided to bring a little bit of home, home.   Here is the result:

I will NEVER buy bread again!

I know, I'm the brown Betty Crocker, biatches!

Girls Night Out

On Thursday, I went out with a great group of ladies.  We had a nice dinner, had a few drinks and sang a little karaoke.  Since I was recovering from gastrointestinal distress, I didn't drink.  Okay, I did have a few sips of beer, but that was it.

Lunch

Even though I've been  living in Japan for over 3 years, I still get excited when I get to eat my favorite Japanese meal:  Japanese hot pot.  Basically, it's a giant bowl of  yummy goodness that cooks at your table, courtesy of a small, portable, propane cooker.  And, everything in the bowl tastes like kimchee.  Delish!

Yummers

Even if you don't like salmon, you'll L-O-V-E, LOVE Morey's Marinated Wild Alaskan Salmon.  I found this super-duper delicious salmon one day when I was meandering through the freezer section at Costco.

This lovely little box comes with 6 individual wrapped pieces of marinated salmon.  It is by far one of my most favorite foods ever.  So, if you shop at Costco, you should definitely get some.  And if you are a pathetic soul that doesn't have a Costco card or a Costco near you, check your grocer's freezer section.  You might be lucky and find it there. 

***By the way, I was not paid for this product endorsement.  However, if Mr. Morey, the marinated salmon maker, feels the need to give me free fish, I'll take it kindly. 

A taste of home

(Photo via Dallas News)

The worst part about living overseas is missing my favorite hometown and homemade foods, especially Mexican food.   And in Japan, you really can't find good Mexican food.  In Tokyo, there are a few places that serve okay Mexican food, but it costs a million dollars and your first born.  And seeing how I ain't about to give up Jude for a taste of home, I decided to make caldo de pollo (Mexican chicken soup) today. 

As I cooked, the smell of the soup tantalized my nostrils, taking me back to my childhood.

I can clearly remember my mom (YaYa) making caldo de pollo in our modest home on the east side of Houston.  I can remember our small kitchen getting warm because of the simmering pot of caldo my mom was cooking.  Then, YaYa would always open the kitchen window and let the cool November air in, letting the delicious smell of the soup escape through the screen. 

Today when I was cooking, I didn't open any windows.  Instead, I inhaled the fragrance of the soup deeply, never wanting it to dissipate, hoping it would penetrate the walls of my apartment and always remain. 

Scared Skinny

I come from a good family. The kind that sits around telling stories and jokes while eating mass quantities of delicious, homemade tamales. The kind that would help you out in any situation, if you asked. The kind that pays taxes, works hard and never complains. The American kind!

I also come from a long line of over eaters. I know this. It is evident when you attend a quinceanera, a wedding, or a funeral which involves my family members. My family loves food. I love food.

But, unfortunately, a love for food can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, strokes and so on. I know this, and I know what I can become if I make unhealthy choices.

And, I don't want to become that.

And recently, I've been eating way too much crap food. I've also stopped exercising regularly. But all of that is about to change.

I'm going to try to be a better example for my son. I'm going to exercise 5 days a week and make healthier choices when it comes to food. I'm going to get back on that wagon and stay on it.

After all, I know what I can become.

Happiness is a deli drawer

As you know, everything in Japan is different. Homes are the size of match boxes, most people don't have ovens, and sometimes you have to crap in a hole in the ground. So, when we moved to Japan and into our Western style apartment, I was quite pleased with the space and with our American appliances. (We have an American washer, dryer, oven, stove, dishwasher, and refrigerator. We are very lucky to have these items. Most Japanese appliances are itty-bitty, so they can fit in a teeny tiny apartment. Our appliances seem monster-sized compared to Japanese ones.)



So, last week our old, American refrigerator started to have issues. It was dripping water from the inside of the fridge. So, I called the Japanese repair guy, and he came to fix it. Unfortunately, the next day it started dripping water from the back, creating a mess in my kitchen. So, I called the Japanese repair guy, and two new guys showed up. They took one look at the fridge and said in broken English, "Fridge old, we bring better one."



When they returned with the new fridge, I nearly had an orgasm. Husband said my face lit up like it was Christmas. The new fridge was big and beautiful and clean and working properly and bigger than the other one and beautiful and wonderful and white and big and had CLEAR storage drawers. But the absolute best part was ......drum roll..........................the clear deli drawer! Yes, a deli drawer! You would think that a lactose intolerant person wouldn't care much about keeping cheeses and meats organized in a drawer, but this lactose intolerant person is also OCD! That's right, nothing makes me happier than an organized fridge filled with yummy goodies. And, the deli drawer, Oh, the deli drawer! It's absolute perfection!



Why do you care so much about a stupid clear, deli drawer, you ask? Well, I'm OCD (as mentioned above), and the old refrigerator didn't have a deli drawer, so I was forced to keep my deli meats and cheeses in a big Tupperware on the top shelf. But the Tupperware would always get pushed to the back of the fridge, and the cheese would always be forgotten about, until it had gone green, moldy, grew legs, and started walking around the fridge like little, green Oompa Loompas, stinking up the joint.



So, with the new, clear, deli drawer, I will never have green, cheese Oompa Loompas. No! Now I will have fresh cheese and deli meats in an organized, easily accessible drawer. (I bet Heaven is full of clear deli drawers!)



Yes, that's exactly what a lactose intolerant family needs. Fresh cheese!



Ah, happiness!

Driving home

This is what I see on my drive home from work.
Yes, in Japan you can find Baskin Robbins, KFC, and McDonald's. (That's probably why Japanese young people are getting fat! They've learned from us!)

Warning!

Handle with care. Wear gloves, eye protection, a gas mask, a bio hazard suit, chemical gear, whatever it takes. Don't get this shit in your eyes! It will burn like hell! Take it from me, I KNOW!

I made dinner at 5:30 PM, accidentally touched my eye at 6 PM, and I'm still suffering (it's almost 7:30 PM now). Even after I removed my contacts, (that's right, I got the stuff in my eye UNDER my contact lenses) my eyes are still stinging. The pain. The burning. The stinging. The burning. The stinging. The stinging. THE STINGING! (I can barely see as I write this post! I think I might go blind!)

Damn peppers!

Anthony Bourdain

I have a very unnatural fascination with this man and his work. To me, Anthony Bourdain is the only real chef-traveler out there in the land of the Foodies.

He has the perfect job. He gets to travel and eat his way through some of the most spectacular places in the world. What a lucky bastard!

In some weird, strange way he reminds me of myself. He lacks that internal filter that most people have. He says exactly what comes to mind. His honesty is fabulous! By the way, honesty is something that is lacking in most travel/food shows.

And, I find his hatred for other commercial cooks, like Rachel Ray and Emeril, very amusing. (By the way, I refuse to call Rachael Ray or Emeril chefs. In my book, they aren't worthy of the title!)

He is the only chef-traveler I believe. He is the only chef-traveler I enjoy.

Thanks Mr. Bourdain for your honesty. It's appreciated!

Jude's 1st Crawfish Boil

At Princess' 1st birthday party, BJ fed the guests crawfish. We sat on the back porch of her aunt's house peeling and eating delicious, boiled crawfish. It was heaven! Jude had never eaten boiled crawfish before. And, he had never seen them crawling around. He was quite fascinated with the creepy, crawling, critters!

A shit load of crawfish about to be boiled and eaten.

Our lunch!

2 AM at the Taqueria

After a night of dancing, when the club closed, we headed over to the all night Taqueria for dinner #2. I ate a huge, delicious, lengua (tongue) Torta or Mexican sandwich. That's right, I just said TONGUE! I was de-li-cious! I was in hog heaven!
Yummy!

My lengua torta!

BJ eating free corn chips! (In Tokyo, Japan, these chips cost about 500 Yen ($5.00) a basket at a Mexican restaurant!)

Dre chillin' and waiting for her food to arrive.

Me driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road. Wait, that didn't sound right! Here I'm driving on the American side of the car going in the right direction (for America). Keep in mind, I drive on the other side of the car here in Japan. I also drive on the other side of the road!

I know, I'm a dork!

Pappadeaux's Seafood Kitchen

On the 15th day of our Great American Adventure, YaYa and PoPo came to Houston for a doctor's visit. As you may recall, YaYa had a hip replacement back in March. So, she came to Houston to visit her doctor about her healing hip. Since YaYa and PoPo were in town for the afternoon, we decided to meet them for lunch at Pappadeaux's.

Princess with her daddy. Can you see the resemblance?!

Jude, Husband, YaYa, Me, Princess, PoPo, BJ and J (BJ's husband). As you can see, neither one of our kiddos was paying attention. So typical!

PoPo, Husband, Me, YaYa and Jude (staring off into space!).

YaYa, Princess and PoPo.

Mmmmmm, my food! I had crawfish etoufee (pronounced ay-too-fay), dirty rice and fried crawfish! Yuuuuuuummy!