Meal planning

I was recently asked about how I plan meals, but after thinking about it for a bit I realised that I don't have one set way of doing things.

How do you usually go about deciding what you will eat and when you will eat it?
Do you make lists of what's in the fridge and freezer?
Do you have a general idea of what you will make or do you decide as you are cooking?
Do you buy ingredients especially so you can make a certain dish?
Do you try to come up with recipes using what's in the fridge and cupboards?
Do you write out meal plans and then stick to them?

As for me, well I think I do everything that I just wrote.lol

I like writing lists, I like trying to be creative with using what stuff I have lying around, I like using new recipes, and while it might sound a bit contradictive, I also like having things planned out and being organised, especially on the days that I have something on. Like when I was going to the dentist I would get an order delivered that day and have my meals planned out so I didn't have to think or go shopping on the way home.

I do write out meal plans (usually for 3 days at a time, coinciding with when I have a delivery order), but I don't do it for meals every single day.

How do you go about deciding your meals?

Things I love Thursday

Things I am loving this week:

• Getting surprise e-mails from old friends
• Having dreams and actually remembering what they were about
• Phone calls from home
• A clean house
• Getting to know other bloggers
• Kids doing what they are told (apart from the road and conbini saga.lol)
• Being Australian (Happy Australia Day btw!)
• My numbers coming up 4 times in the 年賀状 lottery (with a prize of a stamp sheet).

What are you loving this week?

白菜のミルク煮

Just tried out this really simple recipe tonight and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd share.

白菜のミルク煮 (4人分)

Hakusai　(1/4)
Bacon (as much as you want! I used about 4 slices worth)
Milk (400ml)
Water (200ml)
Chicken stock (1 cube)

Roughly cut up the hakusai and bacon.
Mix the water, milk and chicken stock cube for the soup.

Cook the bacon in olive oil, add the hakusai then the soup.
Cook (I did it on 4 on the IH cooker) so medium heat I guess, for 10-15 minutes.
Add salt and pepper to taste, and maybe parsley if you have some.
Enjoy!　

It was so quick and simple I will be making it again soon I think.
Great for milk loving families like us!!lol

Coping with kids

Sometimes I wonder if I must be crazy wanting more kids.
How on earth am I going to be able to handle it?
I know there are people out there with it much harder than me, I don't know how they cope.

Take today for instance.
I needed to get to an ATM to deposit some money in an account by today at the latest. Normally I would just drive to the bank and be done with it but I wanted to get out in the sun for a bit and thought walking could be a good option. Had a think about what the best way to go about it would be, decided to strap A on my front and walk to the conbini and pay the extra fee and do it there.

Everything started out ok, B holding my hand and walking beside me, A weighing a tonne, B stopping to pick up leaves on the way, and we eventually made it to the conbini. Nice happy families. Got inside and things went just as they always do. Nothing unexpected there.

B deciding to get a basket and start shopping by himself as I was stuck standing at the ATM machine, ignoring my pleas for him to come over here with Mummy please. B insisting he had to shut and open the doors for every customer who came in. B suddenly holding his pants and yelling 'wee wee 行きたい'(luckily that was just as I was finishing up at the ATM). B insisting he would hold the basket, put everything in it, and lift it up onto the counter all by himself. B yelling 'だめ！自分でする！' to the shop assistant who tries to help. B taking the bag of shopping off the assistant when it was packed. B then proceeding to go to, open, and about to go out!! the door while I'm stuck at the cash register. He turned around before he went out though to see if I was watching (which I was of course!) and came back over to where I was though, so I will give him some credit for that. Ahh, the joys of going shopping with a 3 year old...I know he means well and is so proud of himself that he's a big boy now and can do things just like Mummy does, and he thinks he is helping me out so continually makes comments like 'B君強いね','B君重い！でも頑張るよ' which mean something like 'look how strong I am', and 'It's heavy, but I can do it'. And of course refuses all offers for me to help.

So that part was pretty much to be expected.
It's the bit that comes next that worries me.

Walked back most of the way home (with B carrying the bag of shopping, of course!) and then he decided he wasn't going to hold my hand anymore. There was only about 10m before we were home so I gave in and said ok, but be careful and whatever you do DO NOT GO ON THE ROAD! It's not a busy road by any means and I was right beside him and the footpath is really wide so I thought it would be ok. The next second he runs on to the road. (No cars at this point) Run after him, grab him, take him back to the footpath where he chucks a willy and is lying down going psycho. Try to talk sense into him (is that even possible at 3??), and after a minute or so he settles down enough for him to stand up (I was still crouching down with A on my front trying to get up). Then he runs onto the road again to the exact same spot where I dragged him from a couple of minutes earlier. Only this time cars were coming!!! I don't know how but I somehow managed to get up, run after him, grab him in a bear hug (squashing A in the process, she was on my front, remember)and get him out of the way just in time (the car had seen us and was swerving out of the way), but OH MY GOD!!!!!

I bearhugged him the rest of the way home (kicking and screaming of course), carried him, A, my bag and the shopping up the stairs home, that's probably about 25kg btw (who needs to do weightlifting when you've got kids, hey), unlocked the door, got in and chained it before putting him down, then he screamed and carried on for another half hour after that. I knew that if I didn't chain the door he would be trying to go back and do it all again. It's like he has an obsession with things having to be done in a particular way and once he's got his mind set on something then he just completely turns off and will not listen to anything I say. He has never run out like that onto the road before, but there's no way I'm trusting him from now on.

How do people cope with more than 2 kids?
Seriously.
When does it get better? Or doesn't it?

Comments

Just trying to reply to some recent comments here, cause I'm not sure if people are reading the replies to comments I have written on older posts.

What is the protocol for replying to comments btw? Personally, do you come back and check previous posts or are follow-up comments e-mailed to you if you commented? Is there even that choice on this blog? Sorry I can't tell. Like the word verification thing, that never came up for me when I commented here, but it was on for other people.

So anyway, here are some recent thoughts on comments people have made.
You'll know who you are so I'm not bothering with names here!lol

Carrying shopping while holding kids is a huge challenge and the main reason I started getting shopping delivered. It was ok when there was just B, but got really hard towards the end of pregnancy number 2 so that's when I started looking around for this type of service. I joined up when my Mum went home when A was just over a month old, and get stuff delivered at least once a week, usually twice.

Along with normal groceries, they also have kits for cooking. Everything you need (and a recipe) for a certain dish is included, and all the veges are cut up for you. It works out more to buy things this way, but it has been a saviour in this household, especially after A was born and I had NO time for preparing. That's the main reason I wrote that my budget would be 8,000 yen while pregnant and after giving birth, because I plan on buying some of the sets each week. You still have to cook everything, just no mucking around with cutting things up and going shopping for a bit of this and a bit of that.

Milk consumption.
And buying shares in a cow.lol

We go through at least a litre of milk a day, more if I use it in cooking, so that's a minimum of 7 litres a week, usually 8. Plus I buy banana milk as a treat for the kids once or twice a week so there's another litre or too just for that. Cosmos sell milk for 168 yen a litre, that's the cheapest I've found anywhere. The delivery people sell it for 198 yen so I normally buy 2 or 3 litres from them if I have an order, and all the rest I buy at Cosmos.

Bread.
Bakeries are dangerous places for me, so I try to avoid going if I can.lol
The whole breadmaker versus buying thing is a hot topic at the moment.
We go through a lot of 食パン, but maybe the breadmaker wouldn't benefit us so much. Well not budget wise, although it probably would taste wise.lol

Rice.
How much rice does everyone go through? And what do you pay for it?
I buy 10kg for 2,980 yen (That's when it's on sale. It's pretty much 3,600 yen wherever you go most of the time, and it's a brand of rice we like). It usually lasts just over 2 weeks. We would be stretching it to the max for it to last for 3 weeks.

And angel card readings.
This is something I have only recently discovered and am a beginner with a capital B. Actually, probably need a capital E, G, I, and N in there as well.lol
I guess it's about getting in touch with yourself. And listening to your inner voice. And trusting instincts. Something I need to do more of. As a very well informed source has told me, angel cards are also called oracle cards, and they are positive cards which you shuffle and place down for a reading and then you try to make out what it is you're being told. Just think オーラの泉.lol Correct me if I'm wrong, Kelly!

Passing go

Just a reminder that today is Monday!
Which means, if you're doing the Monday-Sunday budget like me, it's the 'pass go and collect 200 dollars' day.
Or in simpler terms, the 'forget about what happened to your budget last week and start afresh day'.

It's interesting to hear what other people do (or don't do) and I'm having a lot of fun writing about the topic so I think a Being thrifty (Part 2) post will be coming soon! Some points probably deserve a post of their own so might do that too. Wow, for someone who was having writers block the other day I seem to be on fire and posting like crazy!!lol

Being thrifty (Part 1)

Lily, if you're out there reading I would really love to hear your opinion on all this!!

Let me just start off by saying here that it has taken a lot of time (years!) and effort to get the food budget to where it is now. If you told me what we spend now way back when we first got married I would have laughed and said it was impossible. I mean we used to spend over 10,000 yen a week on groceries when it was just the two of us!

That was only until I found out about 家計簿, which I have posted about before here and here, and read the stories in the magazine that came with it. I realised that we were spending way too much and that there were LOTS of 主婦 out there with 2 or 3 kids spending less and eating a lot better (and bigger size!) meals than we were doing at the time. Anyone interested should check out magazines like おはよう奥さん or サンキュ. You can see that they do articles on this kind of thing every month, and the people spend a lot less than what I do!!! 50 yen or 100 yen おかず, how to freeze properly, how to feed 4 people dinner with just 500 yen, and other mind boggling figures!lol

So obviously I can't compete with them, and I just do my own thing, but occasionally I get out some of the menu books and freezing techniques and 使い切り ideas that have come with magazines in the past, and put them to use!

Due to popular demand, our meals are usually Japanese style, a bit like a 定食 I guess. There is usually a main dish (some type of meat or fish with veges), and usually (but not always!) 2 subs (more vege dishes and other things like tofu), rice, pickles (たくあん, 梅干し and 高菜 are popular with B at the moment), and some kind of soup (usually miso). B and S nearly always finish off with 納豆 (nattou) or たまごかけごはん which I don't class as a sub (only cause I don't eat it!). Noone ever goes hungry, and that's the most important thing!! Most things are made from scratch, although I do cheat sometimes!lol I try to eat a little of a lot, and I also like using lots of different ingredients at the one meal.

Most of the things I'm going to list here are pretty much second nature for me now, but I guess they could seem a bit overwhelming if you've never tried to reduce spending before. Please keep in mind that generally speaking fruit and veges are dirt cheap where we live, and are no comparison for the price I was paying for them when we lived in Shizuoka.

So things I try to do, a lot of them just common sense:

• Don't overbuy. Usually I check the fridge and cupboards before going shopping and write a list of what I need.



• Before setting foot out the door I check the net for チラシ details, and decide which supermarket best suits my needs for that day. There is a great site here where you just put in your post code and heaps of pamphlets come up for your area.



• Buy frozen things on half price day (I use the site above to check out when the sales are on). Generally speaking I don't buy too much frozen stuff, but I do buy 和風野菜ミックス and 餃子(for the times I can't be bothered making them from scratch).



• Use point cards. I also find things to be a lot cheaper on the days that they have triple point days. So pay less, and get more points than usual. Win win situation!lol



• Use private brand things. Curry roux and juice I buy from 7-11 (the curries they sell are made by House and S&B by the way, and taste better than the 'real' stuff if you ask me!), tomato sauce or canned tomatoes I use supermarket own brands.



• I have a general idea in my head of what I buy, and where.



• I buy milk, bread, cheese, yoghurt and nappies at Cosmos (a drugstore but they sell food too, ice cream is always 30% off, frozen stuff is always at least 40% off), a 5 minute walk away.



• I buy fresh veges mainly from a 直売 place also 5 minutes walk away, a bit like a 道の駅 I guess. Just to give you an idea, you can buy a HUGE thing of spinach for between 80-100 yen. The supermarket which is next door (while not that expensive) would be at least double for the same size. Or 大根 for about 100 yen. I got half a 白菜 the other day for 70 yen, about 12 small mikans for 220 yen, and things like ネギ are usually between 90-120 yen, but the sizes seem to be more generous than other stores.



• I buy carrots (and usually onions and potatoes too) in bulk from a different supermarket about 10 minutes away by car, and then peel all the carrots, cut them in different shapes and sizes, half cook them in the microwave and then freeze them all. I pay 19 yen per 100g for the carrots, so if you do the math 190yen for 1 kg, as opposed to say 150 yen for 3 carrots which is how they're sold everywhere else.



• Think about and write out meal plans (not all the time though)



• Use the delivery shopping people which although a little more expensive in general, stops me from just buying stuff on a whim like I might do if I was at the supermarket, and also makes me plan meals better.



• I have a price in my head of what I think something should cost, and if it's more than that I think twice about whether or not I really need to buy it that day, or whether I can wait another day or two, and then be flexible about it. Maybe it's not such a good example, but just say I want to buy tofu for a nabe. I know I can buy a 3 pack of 豆腐 more often than not for around 100 yen (from a local maker that I like), but sometimes it might have gone up to 140-150 yen, so I'd skip the 豆腐 that day and check out the prices of 厚揚げ (atsuage) or something instead. It's still 豆腐, just a different kind. Either can be used in the nabe.



• I haven't really found anywhere that sells meat cheaper if you buy in bulk, but if it's on sale I usually buy 1kg or so of whatever it is and freeze it when I get home. If meat is marked down and looks ok, I would buy it and freeze it as soon as I got home too.



• Also I check the marked down sections for fruit, veges and dairy at the supermarket and if there's something there I was planning on using that night then I would buy it. It really depends on the supermarket though, sometimes I wouldn't poke what's in there with a stick!lol That said, there's one supermarket who has their dairy marked down, and ham and things too, even when there's still a long time before the use-by date. It's a 24 hour store, so I guess they just have a lot of stock. But I never buy marked down veges there. I have a different supermarket up my sleeve for that!lol



• I use a discount store to buy dry groceries. Things like packs of udon, furikake, nori, sauces, sugar, tea and lots of other things. There is a MaxValu supermarket next to the store I go to, but the discount store sells the exact same products a LOT cheaper. Like the furikake is 220 yen at the supermarket but 170 yen at the discount store. That's 50 yen on something that is only a little over 200 yen in the first place! So it all adds up. Seriously, it does.



• I also buy things made locally. I always buy hotcake mix, flour, tofu, nattou, udon, and pickles from Kumamoto makers (mainly because I like the taste, but also because that's what is mainly sold at the supermarket).



• To be honest though, I try not to buy things for the sole reason that it's the cheapest. Or because it's on sale. It's only any good to me if it's on sale and it's something I need.



• And lastly, some things I won't budge on, no matter what the price is. I buy what I consider to be relatively good eggs, I check labels, try to pick things which don't use preservatives, and just try to be sensible about things.

Wow that turned into an epic post!
Maybe I don't need a Part 2 afterall!lol

The most challenging item

Just kind of thinking out loud (?) here.

I guess the biggest challenge will be getting the food budget down to 6,000 yen every week. No surprises there!lol This figure doesn't include rice or S's lunch btw. Well it includes 弁当 but that's not something he takes every day.

What with wanting 4 kids and everything this is something I HAVE to do!!! Especially since I'm not working and S's salary is up and down like a yo-yo.

I just checked my 家計簿 from last year and it seems we averaged about 6,800 yen per week, so I'm thinking maybe 6,000 yen is doable. Despite there being 2 kids who eat like horses and milk and bread consumption increasing daily, that average is actually the lowest out of all the years I've had my 家計簿. Go figure. So I guess I'm up for the challenge.lol Might take a while for me to get there but I'll see how I go.

So how should I go about lowering it?

Thinking, thinking.....

Ok, buying a breadmaker could be a good option here.
And a cow!lol

And maybe weighing up if it's cheaper to buy something readymade than to make it myself. I haven't looked into this too much yet, but I have noticed this to be true for some things that I buy from the supermarket delivery people. Like they sell readymade ハンバーグ, 4 in a pack (400g) for 398 yen. This price hasn't changed in the year I've been using the service, it's kind of like their 目玉商品. The mince is good mince (how do I know? It's 70% Aussie beef, so of course it's good!lol and 30% pork) but the thing is they sell the same mince for between 140-170 yen per 100g, and the cheapest it ever gets is 100 yen per 100g, but it's not that price very often. So it works out cheaper to just buy the ハンバーグ readymade. And they taste good!

The same can be said for some of the 和風 salads they sell too. By the time you bought everything and actually made it it's quite possibly not worth the trouble!

On the other hand, a lot of other things work out way cheaper to make yourself.
Dressings and sauces especially. Maybe I should try looking for more sauce recipes. Anyone know how to make 焼き肉のたれ?

And making enough at dinner time so I have leftovers for lunch for the kids and I as well as S's 弁当. I do this occasionally but could do it a lot more often if I put my mind to it I guess. When there are leftovers there's usually enough for a 弁当 and that's it. Or when there's more leftover I skip the 弁当 and the kids and I eat whatever it is for lunch.

What else?

Buy things that are in season.
Freeze some meals for when I can't be bothered cooking.

Ok, I've run out of ideas!!
Any suggestions?

Comment verification

It seems there's been some trouble with people posting comments so I've turned off the verification thing. Hope that fixes the problem!!

101 things in 1001 days

Thanks to Lulu and others for this idea.
Anyone else want to give it a go too?

I'm going to start from the beginning of February, and I'm not 100% sure if this will be the final line-up but it will be something pretty close.

Start date February 1st, 2010. Finish date October 28th, 2012
The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year’s resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Blue means completed, italics means in progress.
Items are in no particular order.


KIDS AND FAMILY

1. Make a baby scrapbook for B for the first 2 years of his life.
2. Make a baby scrapbook for A for the first 2 years of her life.
3. Backup (with the help of S) all photos once a month. (0/32)
4. Get pregnant with Baby Number 3.
5. Have baby Number 3.
6. Breastfeed Baby Number 3 for at least a year or until they wish to stop (whichever comes first).
7. Get pregnant with Baby Number 4 (this will of course depend on the timing of Number 3 though).
8. Take the kids home to Australia at least once.
9. Find a pre-school for B from April 2011.
10. Read one book a day to the kids. If I can't do it get S to. (30/1001)
11. Get a passport for Baby Number 3.
12. Tell S and the kids I love them every single day (30/1001)
13. Send at least one pic of each of the kids to my parents once a month. (1/32)
14. Take the kids to the park at least once a week (without S) for 50 weeks (0/50)
15. Make a photo album for both kids (different from the baby books) (0/2)
16. Take the kids to the zoo at least 4 times.(0/4)
17. Take the kids to an aquarium at least once.
18. Do something for every anniversary (1/3)
19. Go somewhere overnight with S without the kids (this has NEVER happened btw!)lol
20. Go on a date with S once every 6 months without the kids (this has never happened either).

COOKING

21. Make a recipe book.
22. Write 30 posts on my blog to do with food. (3/30)
23. Make a meal with my husband once a month. (0/32)
24. Learn how to make something with pastry.
25. Try to make 梅干し.
26. Make a 弁当 for the family and go on a picnic 3 times, complete with plastic sheet and drink bottles (0/3)
27. Make a 弁当 for S at least 8 times a month (except when I'm pregnant). (1/32)
28. Find a recipe that everyone agrees will become our family 唐揚げ (karaage) recipe.
29. Enjoy a cup of herbal or flavoured tea at least once a week for 6 months. (1/6months 4/24 weeks)
30. Try 80 new recipes. (6/80)
31. Learn how to use some of the other functions that are on my oven.
32. Make a Western type meal at least once a month. (1/32)
33. Find a good recipe for chocolate fudge brownies.
34. Learn more about at least 5 different types of tea, how to brew it, and of course taste test them all. (0/5)
35. Make tempura (which surprisingly enough I have never bothered to make myself)

JAPAN/TRAVEL

36. Visit 10 new places in Kyushu. (1/10)
37. Visit 3 prefectures I haven't been to before. (0/3)
38. Visit 10 shrines or temples I haven't been to before. (0/10)
39. Travel to a new country at least once.
40. Take a small trip overseas (somewhere I've been before but S hasn't been) at least once, thinking Taiwan at the moment.
41. Take a trip to Okinawa.
42. Go to a private onsen with S and the kids at least once every 2 months (excluding months which should be avoided when pregnant) (1/16)
43. Research and drive (by myself) the kids to a park they've never been to before at least 3 times. (0/3)
44. Go and stay at a ryokan at least twice. (0/2)
45. Go and stay with S's cousin and her kids for a couple of days.
46. Get S's cousin and her kids to stay with us for a couple of days.

HEALTH/FITNESS/HOBBIES

47. Get back into yoga. Do a 45 minute session at least once a month for 6 months. (0/6)
48. Read a book about aromatherapy (something online is also ok).
49. Learn how to sew something simple.
50. Sew most things B will need for kindy when he starts going.
51. Start a herb garden.
52. Write in my blog every day for a month
53. Get a professional massage at least once.
54. Become better at giving myself angel card readings.
55. Go to the movies at least twice a year (0/3)
56. Listen to music for at least 30 minutes 4 times a month (1/32 months 5/128 times)
57. Read or reread 4 books in English (0/4)

DURING PREGNANCY

58. Do not insist on doing all household chores.
59. Leave dirty dishes in the sink for S to wash up if I feel it's a strain.
60. Do not feel guilty when I can't cook, and use delivery services.
61. Drink at least 1.5L of water every day while pregnant (no more kidney stones while pregnant for me thanks!lol)
62. Accept all help that is offered during this time.
63. Ask for help even if I think I don't need it.

PURCHASES

64. Buy a breadmaker.
65. Buy a new fridge.
66. Buy double bunks (or possibly double bunks with a trundle bed).
67. Buy a sewing machine.
68. Buy another! car seat.
69. Buy a new tv before 地デジ starts(our tv now is smaller than the computer screen!).

MONEY AND SAVINGS

70. Do and send off our tax returns before the end of February every year. (1/3)
71. Continue with my 家計簿 every month. (1/32)
72. Make a bank book in each child's name.
73. Use this bank book to make an education fund, depositing at least 10,000 yen per child per month.
74. Find out about kiddy insurance and join up B and A.
75. Pay back N the key money for our apartment through English lessons.
76. Get our weekly shopping (groceries only) down to 6000 yen. Adjust to 8000 yen while pregnant and for the first couple of months after giving birth.
77. Update the weekly shopping budget for groceries when baby number 3 starts on solids.
78. Completely pay off the car loan.
79. Put at least 5000 yen away per month for a travel fund. (1/32)

EVENTS

80. Have a proper ひな祭り meal for A every March. (0/3)
81. Do 七五三 for both B and A in November, 2011.
82. Get a professional family photo done for 七五三.
83. Take a family Christmas photo (0/2)
84. Go and do お宮参り and professional photos for Baby Number 3.

AROUND THE HOUSE

85. Make a scratching post for the cat (with S).
86. Organise the balcony so it's exactly how I want it.
87. Organise the kids room so it's easy to clean and keep (relatively!) tidy.
88. Do something about the 押し入れ in our bedroom.
89. Get rid of anything we don't use and is still unpacked after 6 months.
90. Go through all clothes and donate to charity or recycle anything we don't need.

OTHER

91. Start making 年賀状 at the beginning of December every year.
92. File all received 年賀状 by the end of January every year (February for 2010)(0/3)
93. Update how the list is going on my blog at least 6 times (1/6)
94. Change the address on my drivers license.
95. Change the address on the remainder of the bank books.
96. Change the printed address on A's ひまわりカード (the computer record has already been changed)
97. Talk to a complete stranger.
98. Wear a dress or skirt out somewhere at least once.
99. Get regular dental checks, thinking once every 6 months (0/5)
100. Continue to lend money on Kiva whenever the credit balance is enough to do so. Note: Started with 6 loans as at January, 2010.
101. Donate 500 yen to Kiva for every unfinished task at the end of this challenge.

Getting to thinking

Still trying to come up with things for the 1001 days challenge.
Have about 20 left to go so should be posting about that soon.

It's really getting me to think though, and focus a bit more on myself which I can safely say has not been done since I was pregnant with B. I think the list would have been a LOT longer a lot quicker if I'd tried this before having kids. Just being honest here.

Trying to be realistic is quite challenging. Especially for things to do with travel and hobbies. I know the challenges are for me and me only, but I mean seriously, can going to the movies twice a year be counted as a challenge? A long time ago a challenge would have been to go once a week!! Or read at least 4 books (before the end of the challenge), as opposed to read a book a week. Btw I don't think I have even read a book since B was born!!! How sad is that? Especially coming from a bookworm with the bad eyes to prove it! And the only movies I've been to see are Anpanman and Pokemon!! (that's 2 movies in 3 years 3 months). So as you can imagine I've been having lots of did I just write that? moments.lol

Of course there are many new challenges too, lots of them kid-related, and it's been interesting comparing the pre-kids me and the me that I am now.

And on a totally unrelated note, I woke up this morning thinking it was Saturday. Last night I remember thinking "oh that's good no ゴミ needs to be sorted tonight because there's no collection tomorrow". Didn't even realise today was Friday til I saw my post from yesterday. Oops. Which means all the smelly ゴミ can't be thrown out for a few more days. Bugger.

Things I love Thursday

Things I am loving this week:

• A's はい turning into a はい、どうぞ　which sounds like hai, doujo!lol
• B's アンパンチ、アンキック、バイキンパンチ、バイバイキーン　(things Anpanman and Baikinman say in the anime) which he says without fail before going to bed every night
• Writing here on my blog
• Computer time for me when the kids are watching Anpanman
• チキン南蛮 which I made the other day and would have to be my favourite dish ever
• A day at the zoo last Sunday
• No kiddie escapes or lockouts this week

Not so Wordless Wednesday

Thanks for the blogging advice.
I think I might try out some of the days of the week themes, and also do the 101 things in 1000 days that went around a while ago. If anyone has any other meme things they enjoyed reading or doing, I'd love to hear what they were.

I don't really want to make a habit of putting my kid's pics up here (just for privacy reasons mainly), but I'm going to make an exception for today. I think these photos sum up my kids really well, and it's not often I get a good shot of either of them so bear with my 親バカness here please!!lol

A being her usual happy self.



B all dressed up in S's old clothes that were about to be thrown in the recyclable ゴミ.

Blogging

I think I'm going through a stage of writers block.
Don't know why.
Just don't know what I want to say.
Or if I want to say anything at all.
I write a sentence, then delete, write another, then delete.
Kind of defeats the purpose of having a blog.

Any topic suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Monkeying around

Today S and I took the kids to the zoo, and it was the most fun I've had in I can't remember how long. With S only ever having a one day weekend (can that even be classed as a weekend???) we are always busy with things needing to be done around the apartment, or shopping or other mundane things. So it was SO nice to do something enjoyable for a change.

And I'm even feeling brave enough to try posting a pic!!

Cooking adventures

So after saying I wasn't in the mood for cooking last night I actually did quite a good job if I do say so myself!lol

The other night we had キムチ鍋, kimuchi nabe, and it was the first time I'd made it from scratch. I had no idea that miso could be used as the base, and it makes it quite mild. I'm not a big fan of kimuchi (or really spicy food) but ever since this little discovery I've been hooked. I used the leftover soup to make 煮込みうどん for lunch one day too, which was a hit with me AND the kids!

So last night was a wannabe キムチ鍋/豚汁 kind of arrangement which was very very yummy. But very 'tekitou', so I'll be pushed to make it exactly the same ever again!!lol This time it was only a sub, so there weren't as many veges in there as there could have been. To be honest it started out going to be daikon miso soup, but then I had a brainwave and decided I should do a remake of the キムチ鍋. So it only had daikon, enoki mushrooms, sliced pork and the hakusai from the kimuchi and some negi in there for greenness.

I also did a ほうれん草の胡麻和え (hourensou no gomaae), and cooked up some ready made emergency 餃子(gyouza) to go with the rice. A bit of a mismatch but what the heck, it all gets mixed in together when you eat anyway!!lol And everyone was full, so as they say, 大成功 (daiseikou)!!

Productivity

After a lazy day yesterday today ended up being quite productive.
Still cold, but no snow or wind.

So after doing a couple of loads of washing, taking the kids for a walk to get bread and milk, making lunch and washing up, I did take 2 of our shopping trip and made the trek out to the new Nitori. It was a bit of a nuisance to get there as it's a bit out of the way but when I walked inside I was actually pleasantly surprised!
It's a new store and very spacious. Even the parking spaces were generous which is always a plus! Especially with my parking skills.lol

After lots of searching I found something very similar to what I was looking for, so I'm sure my kitchen is thanking me for that bit of shopping! Also got some fake flowers for the genkan which will brighten things up a bit. Just hope the cat doesn't try eating them like he eats the plastic Christmas tree!

Next job is dinner. The cycle is never ending isn't it?
Prepare, cook, eat, feed, clean, cook, eat, feed, clean....
Usually it doesn't bother me so much because I like cooking (and eating!lol) but not today I'm afraid. Oh well. Something simple it will have to be. Better go get the rice on for starters!

Chilly chilly chilly

It's freezing today.
Literally.
Minus 2 degrees and snowing.
Snow that is actually snow, a rare sight in this neck of the woods.

Exciting as it is though I think today is going to be an indoors kind of day.
After all, I have to be here when the shopping gets delivered, right??

Better luck next time

It seems today is not my lucky day.

I've been meaning to go to Nitori for a while now to get some containers the same as some I bought a while back. So anyway this morning I finally got my butt into gear, made it to the car (B fell over on the way and was screaming to high heaven, but didn't let that phase me), drove to the shopping centre, strapped A onto my front, got a very reluctant B into an Anpanman cart thing, did a little bit of shopping, then set out to go to the ATMs to deposit some money, the toilet (this is quite a task in itself!!lol), and then Nitori.

Get to the ATMs and the lines are a mile long, can't be bothered waiting with a restless B who wants out of the cart, and A who is wriggling nonstop. Ditch the ATMs and head for the toilets.

It was impossible to use the normal toilets with the kids cart and our shopping, so we waited outside the disabled toilet for about 10 minutes before finally going in. Ok, maybe that's not so unlucky but by this stage my back was killing me, and 10 minutes is a LONG time to wait with a 10kg weight strapped to you, especially when you're with a 3 year old wanting to escape from the shopping cart!lol

Next we went up to Nitori, only to find there is no Nitori any more.
Found an announcement thing on a wall saying they closed down on the 6th.
Bugger. Bugger. Bugger.

Left the shopping centre and stopped at a different supermarket so I could use the bank ATM they have outside.

Get there to find a notice on the door saying sorry for the inconvenience but the ATM machine has broken down. Okey dokey then....
First time ever to see that btw!!

Get back in the car, think about going to the bank and post office, decide against it and bring the kids home so we could have some lunch.

End of today's outing!!!

Well actually might have to do a round 2 later this afternoon cause I really do need to get to the bank and it's meant to snow later tonight and tomorrow, but for the moment I'm staying put!!

Hope everyone else is having a luckier day than mine has been!!!

EDIT
Just found out that Nitori has just relocated, not closed down. Phew!!!!! Now why they didn't write that on the notice is beyond me.

Maybe I'm not having such an unlucky day after all!lol

Escapade

Just curious here, but is it only my kids that try to escape out the front door?

Tonight when I was in the middle of making dinner I heard what sounded like the front door closing. Strange considering the door was locked.

Ran to the door (with cooking chopsticks in hand, lucky B didn't see me or I'd never be able to convince him what a naughty naughty naughty thing that is!!lol), and sure enough they were both standing outside the door. Laughing away. In the freezing cold. Probably about 2 degrees max. B had no pants on (obviously fresh out of the loo) and was vacuuming!! the outside of the door with the top part of my vacuum cleaner. A was doing a jig with a packet of spaghetti in one hand and soup mix in the other. Please tell me this is not going to be something that will happen every day from now on.

Needless to say, the door has now been chained.
Heaven help me!!!!