Round Up

I'd like to take this opportunity to use my parents as an excuse for the fact that I've lost my grip on at least half of the meals we ate for dinner over the last two weeks. I'd also like to say that it was utterly worth it. Having Mom and Dad here was not only super helpful, it was fun too, and we want them to come back ASAP!

Now, in an attempt to salvage my record keeping:

April 29th:
takikomi gohan by Kaori-san
*spinach and
*mackrel braised in a miso sauce by Chieko-san

April 30th:
*ham fried rice by me
*gyoza from the freezer
*pumpkin salad with cranberries and sun dried tomatoes and
*dried daikon and vinegar salad by Toko-san

May 1st: no picture, but Kazuyo-san and Aiko-san teamed up to make us some amazing
*meatballs
*spinach with mushrooms
*another vegetable that was delicious but alas, I can't remember exactly what...
*shrimp in chile sauce

May 2nd: we had a joint birthday party for the kids in honor of Koji turning SIX and Izumi turning THREE. We served dinner, which was
*Japanese style chicken curry with white rice
*DIY ham (thanks to Nadia for the ham!) and cheese sandwiches
*strawberries and of course,
*birthday cake, one white cake and one chocolate but both with jam filling

May 4th:
*chickpea curry by Becca...this curry was AMAZING and I proceeded to eat it for every meal the next day and a half, after which I noticed that Misaki didn't seem so laid back as she usually is...but I was unwilling to give up the curry so I froze it and fully intend to enjoy it again soon, after I give her little digestive system a short hiatus
*salad by Becca
*white rice

May 5th:
*beef stew with heavy cream
*homemade rolls; normally I don't eat much bread but these were DELICIOUS so I think I ate at least two and then remnants of what the kids didn't finish?! both of these wonderful items were prepared for us by Naoko-san
*steamed asparagus (Naoko-san gave us broccoli, but I panicked and got out the asparagus instead, knowing it was about to go bad)
*white rice

May 7th:
*quesadillas
*salad with too much ranch (I was overzealous on trying to finish the bottle)
*spiced pinto beans from a can
*the last of Aiko-san/Kazuyo-san's shrimp in chile sauce

This past weekend, I didn't cook anything of significance, as far as dinner goes. Instead I used all my energy making vanilla ice cream and chocolate covered potato chips. Fortunately, Emery made us some delicious chicken fajitas, and of course for lunch Sunday we went with our standard macaroni and cheese, this time from a Kraft box.

Tonight:
we had Jan and company here for the first time in quite awhile, and I was stressed because the house features large piles of detritus in each and every room. The time I spent trying to uncover the top of the table cut severely in to my dinner making time, so we ended up with
*dino chicken nuggets from Costco
*french bread, courtesy of Nadia
*green beans for the kids with
*chicken quesadilla filling (we couldn't be bothered with tortillas when the chicken was just as good mixed with
*salad from Becky
*vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce