Tuesday! : )

So Monday, I cleaned up the upstairs. Tuesday was my day I had planned to do my outside work in the backyard, however with all the rain we got, it sorta threw a wrench in that plan, ha ha ha. No worries, there's always something to be done around my house, sigh, grumble, sigh. He, he. So, today was my big/long kitchen deep cleaning day instead. I do that every week like clock work. Yup, I do clean my kitchen everyday, obviously. Like generic stuff, like sweeping or vacuuming my kitchen floor daily (I do both depending on my mood), washing down my stove, loading and unloading the dishwasher, the typical crap.: ) So this morning after I got B sent off to school, I started with a good wiping of my kitchen table, No biggie, I do that every morning too after we eat breakfast and at night after dinner, same as most of you. But, after I swept, I moved the chairs into the living room and started filling my kitchen sink with hot soapy Mr. Clean and water and got down to mopping straight away. Music of the day? Today it was yet another mixed CD made by me, and it contained, The Smith's and Human League, just old stuff today. Also, one good thing about living in Japan, we don't wear our shoes in the house, and because of that the floors stay pretty clean. But a once a week, good thorough cleaning/mopping is needed with my 2 crazy sons around. Those crumb droppers that they are! Ha ha ha! Needless to say I have to sweep or vacuum the floors downstairs twice a day, yikes. is that not crazy or what! Yup, I seriously do that, sigh. Once in the mornings and once in the evenings. With my 2 boys around I just gotta keep on top of my floors, sigh! He he he! : )

An awful lot of mopping went on that morning. And rinsing and rinsing to infinity it seemed. Ha ha ha. And then, I wiped off the counter tops. And rearranged my food pantry. Went through the fridge to toss out anything old, same stuff all us moms do (the usual : ). And wiped down the shelves in the fridge. Put in a new bowl of Arm and hammer in there as well. Cleaned up the living room and the toilet downstairs. And then Noah and I had lunch. And then before I know it, I was picking up Branden. Making sure he unpacked his obento. Yes, I make him do it himself (I want him to be able to do stuff for himself). And make sure, he put it into the dish washer. And made sure he changed his clothes into his play clothes. And then the boys went out in the backyard to play for an hour or so. Coming into the house only to get a quick drink and then they ran back outside again. I folded my last load of laundry for the day. And then it was time to get dinner started.


I had 2 cheap pork roasts in my freezer and today was my plan to make some BBQ roasted pork sandwiches.

Very basic and simple taste. Just salt and pepper and I fried the outside of the roasts in a skillet to brown and flavor the outside with a little olive oil.

Nicely brown and ready to throw into the oven.

Meanwhile, I was thinking today would be a great time to make some lime jello with some pineapple. Yumm, and I was halfway expecting Bill Cosby to come knocking on my door. Ha ha ha. Remember those old jello and pudding commercials, he used to do for the Jell-o company? God, those were great commercials. : )

I also was set to make a really basic no frills pasta dish as well too. Just really basic and quite cheap. With Noboru missing dinner at home this evening, since he has a wonky shift tonight. It's just the boys and I for dinner. So basic meals were in order.

Lightly browning the pasta really gives it a heartier flavor. I saw this on a cooking program a bazillion years ago. And the flavor really improves this way.

A lot of flavors had to go into this. But man, this pictures looks like blech! Ha ha ha. It's preboil obviously. Salt, pepper, garlic salt, red crushed pepper. Just a really basic run of the mill stuff here. Boiling it up a bit.

Meanwhile the pork has been cooked, it looks good, no fat hunks, looks tender and smelled amazing for being such a simple meal. Hmm.

Noodles are a bit firm still. Not all gross and mushed out. A slice of mozzarella cheese.

Meanwhile a coleslaw was needed, but with the little time, that I wanted to spend cooking today. And with only me eating the cabbage part of the meal. The kids don't like coleslaw. So, I just kept it really simple.

I just put some miracle whip in there for the tangy taste of it, and a bit of black pepper and a pinch of salt.

A quick stir and the cheese can't really be seen, but yup, it's in there.

Really cheap, really basic. No frills dinner. But it was really perfect for just the boys and I. Each of the boys had a pork sandwich, Noah only had a half. And each had a full bowl of pasta. It was nice and warm for their tummys. On this chilly willy looking night outside. Good thing our house is freaking air tight, we were warm and toasty inside. : )

And here is what mine looked like. And if you have ever been down south in the US, they do make their pulled BBQ pork sandwiches with coleslaw on top. And remember the Hard Rock when B had his undokai, last month? How I wanted to order that BBQ sandwich but didn't and then I regretted it? Well, Jun's had coleslaw on top of his sandwich there too. And that was at the Narita Hard Rock Cafe. So, no it's not too unusual to have coleslaw on top of your BBQ pork sandwich, really. : ) I wish I woulda had hamburger buns, but my store was out of them and since they are hard to find in Japan anyways, although it can be done. He he. I just found an alternative and used hot dog buns instead. The taste was the same and they were great! : )

And for dessert, the boys and I had jello. Boy that lime jello was great. We all got squeaky clean afterwards and then Noah went to sleep pretty much right afterwards. And Branden fell asleep an hour after that. I meanwhile cozied up on the couch, with my blankie and hot caramel machiatto. And watched TV until my hubby got home. He came home exhausted and tired. And happy to be home. He showered, got his sweatpants on and then he joined me on the couch with his own big serving of lime jello. : )