Happy New Year!

One can still use this greeting if it's still January, right?  

So far, when it comes to new beginnings and blah blah etc this year is a dud for me.  I'm not saying it's beyond hope; there are still 11 months left.  Just trying to admit that for most of this month, I've felt in a funk.  

The funk has extended to my cooking, or lack thereof.  I tell myself to just get over my old life, where I had this pot or that kitchen appliance.  Where I could buy the ingredients for my favorite recipes easily, and read labels without a studying-for-an-exam feeling.  

My mother-in-law has been telling me for months about going to the supermarket late at night to snatch up marked down items.  Great idea, in principle.  In actual practice, Aogu's not home anyway and going out sounds unappetizing.  

She didn't tell me--or maybe didn't know?-- that first thing in the morning, some items marked down the evening before might still be waiting around in the store for me!!

Great discovery!  Upside: save money! (I think; I cannot actually back this claim). Downside:  I'm very much at the mercy of fate--well, actually, God since I don't believe in fate.  One day there will be oodles of foods necessary to me, and the next I'll sidle up to the half off meat at the same moment as another equally determined lady.  Means I got two packs and she got two.  Better than nothing?

Without further ado (I must like ado, feels like I say that on every occasion): sesame spinach from Yamazaki and "Mexcican" chicken soup, courtesy of a recipe I found on Comfy Belly. Com

Piano Lesson

We can't do the girls' piano lesson tomorrow afternoon at their usual time.  So we asked K & A to come tonight for the lesson and dinner.  

We need to do the same again next week.  Next Sunday night, we can have anything in the world for dinner except for chili, salad and banana bread.  Anything else at all is fine.  

Okazu

Means side dish in Japanese, and it's all the conversation is about when talking meal planning.  Because everyone just knows that the main dish is white, short grain rice.  

Well, I'm a super lazy student so after all these years, I still don't have the rules down as far as the number of dishes that's proper, the different colors they should be etc.  

But I do know that rice and one side is mostly not OK, unless that side is some kind of curry or stew.  I am mostly not up for manufacturing one side, so I run with the curry/stew/rice bowl (donburi) option quite often.  

This is all said to offer context for our menu tonight: 

Rice

Norwegian Salmon, pan fried with Himalayan pink salt

Hijiki and Carrot Braise

Miso Soup with Seaweed and Tofu

Feeling a little victorious about the meal and a little sad about the dishes.  Wait, I feel the latter every day... 

Lately

I'm still making dinner.  SOO wish I could remember to consistently record it here.  Anyway, none of this looks very appetizing, but for posterity....

It's meatloaf--Mark Bittman's recipe from the How to Cook Everything app, the curry version.  Made with garam masala that really came from India and cilantro, I think it's delicious but it was too spicy for god kids.  

Also chikuzen ni, which will eternally remind me of my great friend Junko G.  Looking funky here cause I mixed in some rice.  This time I tried it with sato imo instead of gobo (burdock root) and that was just OK.  It caused me to give my entire remaining stock of sato imo to my sister in law.  

Finally, not pictured here but posted on the other blog: whole wheat persimmon bread, recipe from Pinch My Salt.  I put chocolate in and left nuts out.  An excellent use of my new to me oven!

Palak Tofu

Don't ask me how, when or why this happened but I LOVE palak paneer, which is an Indian curry.  It's made of puréed spinach and cubes of Indian cheese in a tomato and onion base.  

Recently, a mom friend of mine said that her husband who had been working in India for five years was moving back home.  Right away, I asked if she had requested him to buy lots of Indian spices for her.  Should have known better--that led to him buying some Indian spices for me and me feeling I'd better make some Indian food for them.  

So here's my first attempt.  The only trouble I foresee is this:  I won't see her for another 36 hours and I don't know if there will be any left by then.  

I found this recipe on a site called sonisfood.com and the only thing I changed was: substituted tofu for paneer since I have no idea where to get that.  

You say Potato and I say Po-tah-to

Aogu's mom got a box of big potatoes sent from a friend.  So today I made some of them into a potato salad, and I know they must have been extra delicious potatoes.  All that was in the salad besides the forementioned was hard boiled eggs, chives, mustard, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.  But it was really tasty!  

We also had hayashi rice for dinner but I cheated and made it with pork instead of beef.  It all got eaten so I guess I got away with it!

Same Old

Last night chicken soup for feverish Koji.  

Tonight, "taco slice," made slightly exciting by the unusual addition of salsa. Vegetable were left to be desired though.  

Friday Night is Unmotivated

Leftover Teriyaki Chicken 

Broccoli

Rice

Koji also ate two mikans, a banana and three kiwis

Misaki was asleep when Koji and Izumi were eating.  I wasn't hungry because I had a gigantic lunch at Mayumi S' house.  

So later we ate some impromptu beef and broccoli

A few days ago I was so excited about the oven but alas, the feeling has drained....