Two recent trips to Costco. Noah’s marathon coming up tomorrow. And it turns out...we’re going to see Rogue One on opening day after all...

Good morning! It's Monday here in the land of the rising sun! Hope you are all well! I didn't post over the weekend, so figured I better get my butt in gear and get one up! : ) I haven't shared a Costco cart pic post in a while. And I have been there a lot. Here are 2 trips to Costco Chiba New Town, in this post and a bit of misc mixed in for good measure! Let's see, this cart pic was snapped November 30th! Microwave popcorn for nights we feel like popcorn... yet not feeling like making it on the stove. Most of the time we make it on the stove, but sometimes it's good to have microwave popcorn on hand too. : )  Kirkland frozen cheese pizzas! These are perfect for a weekend lunch for the kids! Maple pecan danish and tortillas are underneath the danish. A milk 2-pack. Sausage patties (my kids disliked these sausage patties so much : ( ) So, I won't be buying these again. Noboru actually likes them, so he's eating 2 most mornings with some eggs that I make for him. I guess our family just prefers bacon? @_@ The bright side is...I now know and I won't be buying this again. : ) Hey they're human and not everything is going to work for everyone. : ) What else, shredded cheese for enchiladas or tostadas and perfect for gratin potatoes too. I like to buy the orange cheese for many things. And I also need mozzarella for many Italian things. So, I am always with a 2 pack of... some sort of variety of cheese in my cart most trips to Costco. : ) A pack of chicken breasts. And I do say...they keep raising their chicken breast prices! It started off at 38 yen a pound or whatever we call it in Japan... not pound, but you know what I mean. And now it's near 48 or 49 yen a pound or whatever! Stop raising the prices on your chicken breast Costco Japan!!! And a rotisserie chicken. Noboru got some absolutely devastating news the night before from Osaka. It was so devastating. That...I frankly told Noboru let's not go to Costco. However...he said...our house still needs food. It still needs to run and so we had this trip to Costco written down and we need to keep our schedule as planned, you'll understand why later. This shopping trip pictured here. Was horrible. So horrible that I even forgot my shopping list. And we just had to wing out our shopping trip. I don't want to talk about it in this post. But, I will talk a bit about it in another post. 

Not sure if you in Japan have seen them yet! But Americans love pot pie. And Marie Callender's makes the best ones. She even has restaurants in California. Anyway...they now sell her chicken pot pies here in Japan! I have not bought them yet! But, I will be buying some! : ) 

This was right near Thanksgiving. I think the day after wards. You can see the Thanksgiving place mats down. : ) Anyway, Noah informed me that his teacher wants all the kids to make...homemade musical instruments! Anything that makes music, the instrument...can't be store bought. I remember we had this when I was a child too in America and we also made instruments. And I taped 2 paper plates together and some uncooked macaroni that we had on hand. And taped up our thick paper plates with tape and made a make-shift tambourine. So, I had a definite idea. So, I thought about taping 2 plastic cups together and using some uncooked rice...because it sounds so soft and quite beautiful! So that's why I bought these little plastic cups made in Italy from the 100 yen shop called Seria! They have the nicest stuff there! : ) 

Also picked up 2 packs of Christmas napkins for the kids lunches Monday through Friday for December. And 2 extra packs for January, so I am not caught off guard without napkins. : ) 

This was taken last week. December 7th. 2 packs of pasta sauce from America, these were on sale, which is why I picked up 2 packs versus just 1 pack. 1 huge pack of ground beef. It was 2700 yen. For that huge amount... but considering I get 5 meals from 2700 yen for 5 people. That's actually cheap! 2 packs of chicken breast. 1 pack of bacon. I have 5 packs in my freezer at the moment of bacon. A 2 pack of mozzarella cheese and some of that delicious fresh pasta. Since last weekend, we have had spaghetti and meatballs and a few days later we had baked chicken parmesan and pasta. I have 1 pack of mozzarella still and I am thinking about making a pizza this coming Friday. 

All of this came from the Chiba New Town area. Besia. Pot roast happened Sunday/yesterday, pork green chili happening and ginger pork already happened. : ) Pork green chili and a pot of beans happening tonight in fact!

I break my ground beef up like this. Being extremely organized with meals and menus helps! This ground beef will last all December long. For cheeseburgers, I actually made 6 patties and placed them in the cheeseburger night ziplock. That way I know, the amount of beef put away... will be enough. And the amount for nachos, I gathered enough for Noboru, Bran and Noah. Because I know, I like chicken on my nachos. So, I just packed enough for them. I size adjust each ziplock of beef depending on what I am making. 

All separated and now super easy to pull out of the freezer.

And the night before all the homemade instruments were due. Noah and I quickly made his instrument. I put a cute Noah name sticker on his instrument. And he took it to school. All December the 5th grade class has been jamming and rocking out! And I am sure making all the other grade kids and teachers near deaf...in the process! Sorry rest of the school! Gomen ne~ Sorry! :)  I asked Noah during dinner. What were some of the instruments your classmates made? He said, 1 of the twin boys (I word it like that... because there are 2 sets of twins in Noah's class the twin identical boys and then we have the fraternal boy and girl twin set) Anyways Noah said 1 of the identical twin boys brought 2 chopsticks and has been clanking them together like 2 drumsticks and whacking them against the desk and everything! : ) Noah also said.. some one brought and old pot and a metal spoon and has been clanking on that. Basically the kids all brought funny and cute things and...Christmas break is almost upon us. Next week in fact...so the school year is winding down. And now it's just time for the 5th graders to have a little fun. : )

Anything new to add? Tomorrow is Noah's marathon. Cross country for the entire school.

Also...guess what? We're going to Star Wars on opening day! How did that happen? Well we usually buy our movie tickets in person. However this time Noboru wanted to buy them online. He picked the date and whatnot and called me over to his lap top when he was about to pick our seats. Now last year, December when we went to see Star Wars Episode One in Narita, did we go for opening day or the day after? I don't remember... but it was either of those days and in Narita City. We picked the late show. Hoping for a dead movie theater. Because we also picked the one in English. However it was 100% full. Like people sat right next to us. A man dressed in full leather to my left, like a Japanese biker. I am talking leather pants leather jacket. It smelled like I was sitting next to a cow the whole movie. Full on leather smell! And his leather squeaked whenever he bent or reached for his popcorn. @_@ Hahaha that is sort of funny if you think about it. So anyways...this year...we're lucky in that...our closest movie theater in Ibaraki is having it in English! Last year they didn't! So hopefully because we are in rural Japan there will be less people. And we will also be going to the late show. So anyways...we picked the seats. This time we picked a side seat versus middle center area. The side area only has 5 seats. Center row has like 20 seats or something and then 5 on the left side. Anyways...this time, I am sitting on the aisle seat so I know nobody will be sitting smack dab next to me on my left and on my right will be one of my kiddos. And the kids we keep inside between us adults....we book end them... and Noboru is sitting on the side where 2 empty seats will be. We are hoping...actually crossing our fingers nobody picks those seats! So anyways...we wanted December 17th Saturday. Noboru was hoping to not go the 16th because he works that day...morning and gets home at 2:30pm and will be tired so, I agreed and thought for his sake we should go when he is...better rested. So since he picked the date by himself. He mistakenly picked the 16th. : ( He went online and tried to switch the days and he read it and it says...no refunds, no exchanges. So..the kids and I are fine. But...I do feel sorry for my sweetie pie. He says...he'll be okay, he says it was his mistake and he will just come home eat supper and nap for an hour before we go and catch our 7:30pm-8pm movie. So...yep...we're going on opening day. @_@ Wasn't exactly the plan. But...it can't be changed... so we'll just roll with it. : )

Throwback Thursday, Christmas cookies and family game night 2007...

A glimpse of 2 of our 3 Christmas trees inside our home at Christmas. : ) We have 1 regular standard size one in the living room. 1 super small one in the genkan/entrance area/front door area with clear bulbs and 1 super small one with colorful lights that is out on display on the 2nd floor during the Christmas season. I love Christmas and find it to be such a fantastic time of the year, People seem kinder. Happier. More merry! Full of good cheer! Festive! And I want my kids to know what a fun time of year this is! : ) 

The Japanese have their Christmas cake! We Americans, have our Christmas cookies! And since we are a household with an American mommy and a Japanese daddy. We get to enjoy both! Why choose? Why not get the best of both worlds! So, we ordered our Christmas cake (icecream cake from Nagano already this year) and we will be making Christmas cookies this year same as every year too! : ) Back to the pic! I bake Christmas cookies with the boys every single year! When they were itty bitty in age, it seems sometimes we got more of the sprinkles on our kitchen floor, than on our actual cookies! Hahaha. : ) However, doesn't matter! I cleaned up afterwards and I wanted to make sure the kids had fun! #1...wanted them to enjoy it...and smile and have fun! Just making some memories! : ) I love those great big innocent wide eyes! Sure do love you kid! 

Branden you looks so brave and so sweet and kind. Should we pop this batch in the oven? Let's go for it!

Wow, those look delicious! I think this particular year we made 3 batches of these Christmas cookies (each batch makes a couple dozen). Why so many? Because we give some as gifts to neighbors and our close friends and always to the kids teachers! Though Noah was too little for school at this age, but Bran had a teacher! : ) Well done my sweethearts!

Family Jenga night. What's your favorite family game? We have a bunch of games here. I would bring a game back every trip to America...I would bring one back to Japan every chance I got when the kids were kindergarten or toddler aged. We have...Chutes and ladders, Candyland (we don't play these 2 anymore obviously.) : ) But, I'm keeping them around just in case. We have Operation and we play it about once a year, because it's fun when the buzzer/nose goes off! Cracks us up! : ) Monopoly we love... but it takes forever and ever to finish one game. We have had games that lasted 2 days straight. As in, we left the game where it was... went to sleep and the next day when we were ready we started again. So...I like Monopoly but...it takes so long. Too long! We love Sorry! And Jenga still. And we play Sorry! And Jenga still to this day. We also have the Wii and play games on there too. When our family of 4 plays, we play the Wii Bowling. : ) That's right...I can't forget Uno either! We play Uno about once a month at home. All 4 of us are pretty strong Uno players so our matches are quite a challenge. But lots of fun! : ) Hahaha.

Anyway, Happy Thursday everyone. I hope you all are enjoying December and this Christmas and holiday season!

Anything new to add? We bought our movie tickets online today for the new Star Wars movie that comes out worldwide next week. Is it December 16th? I am pretty sure it comes out the same day in the USA, as Japan. We however can't go December 16th! Well, Noboru can't go. The kids and I can go. However...I'd really like Noboru to go with us, because I know how much he wants to go. So...he said he is free and available December 17th! Just 1 day later than opening day! And that's totally fine with me! So, we went online today and we purchased our tickets for Star Wars Rogue One. December 17th! The 4 of us already have our seats picked out and everything! We can NOT wait! I will be collecting a few chocolate bars or treats this weekend to prepare us for the movies. We will of course buy popcorn and drinks at the concession stands though. But I can barely wait to see this movie! Squeal! Branden and Noah have been watching so many YouTube videos regarding Rogue One and I'm so glad they have because I feel a lot more in the "know" now. Who do you think the main character is? Of course this is all just speculation. But they say on YouTube. No way can the girl from the movie last year, on The Force Awakens "Rey" be the mom of the girl in Rogue One. Because given the timeline she'd be old and gray by then. So they say Rey is not the mother to the girl in Rogue One...she must be someone else, according to the folks on YouTube. And then there was speculation that the Rogue One 5 or however many of them...were going to be captured and end up being Kylo Rens army! @_@ OMG. That shocked the heck out of me, when we watched that YouTube speculation video. I was like...say what???? That floored me completely! @_@ And honestly it made tons of sense. Again...it hasn't been released. I have not seen this. But there is so much...speculation on this. By hard core Star Wars fans. And I am a total fan. But I'm not like super hard core... where I have read all the comic books and stuff on them. So...anyway. We are totally full of anticipation. And can't wait until December 17th! : ) 

Recent good eats...

As you all know, I make dinner at home 99% of the time. We rarely eat dinner outside of the house. Because well, there aren't any restaurants in our town unless you count 7-11 and the Mini Stop (convenience stores hahaha) and we could go to a restaurant but they're far. And by the time night or dinner rolls around... we're all tired and just want to relax and eat at home. Plus, I like cooking. Cooking and baking relax me. I really enjoy cooking. So, why in the heck not. : ) So not in any particular order at all. Just some random pics of our meals....that our family here has been enjoying lately. : )  This night we had mashed potatoes and chicken strips.  

Just an average basic American meal for one night. Mashed potatoes, and gravy and chicken strips and some broccoli and a delicious dinner roll. These rolls taste a lot like those Hawaiian dinner rolls, with a slight sweetness to them (King's Hawaiian). These are really good dinner rolls, the bakery in the small city nearest me, make these. : ) 

This night I made curry nabe. Well technically curry soup. But it's absolutely delicious. Udon noodles, some veggies. Cabbage and mushrooms.

Chopped up potato and chicken breast about to go into the curry soup first. We eat this meal all in 1 pot in the middle of the kitchen/dining table. 

Curry soup/nabe packets. I just dissolve these first and then add the chicken and potatoes first since they take longest to cook, then add the other veggies and udon and whatnot. : ) 

Fully loaded nachos. These are so good. And we're having these again tomorrow night. : ) Because I just went to Costco today and picked up a new bag of corn tortilla chips. 

These come from Hanamasa and are super cheap there. 100 yen a bag. They sell this same brand at Kaldi for like 450-500 yen a bag. I enjoy buying the rigatoni sized pasta, because I make a delicious baked ziti about once a month in Fall and Winter. My family loves baked ziti, with a side salad and a fresh crusty loaf of bread from the bakery..

I also bought these. These are for my homemade from scratch minestrone soup. 

Stocking up the pantry for some Fall and Winter staple meals in our house. Baked ziti and some homemade minestrone soup essentials. I make minestrone soup about twice a month. In Fall and Winter. A nice hot bowl of soup when it's cold outside. Yum! : )

A slightly unattractive meal, because it's all bland one color on the plate. But it was honestly pretty good. Rice a roni, American style fried pork chops and some corn. Some bright green broccoli would have really... made this pop...but the kids requested corn...so corn it was! : )

Kabocha. Japanese pumpkin. I think it is no big secret but...I love kabocha! It is so delicious. About once a month, I make a pot of kabocha soup. A nice creamy hearty soup. So filling and so delicious. I also like to make another dish out of kabocha too.We definitely enjoy kabocha at our house in Fall and Winter. I also make a fantastic from scratch... potato soup too. We eat lots of homemade soups in winter time and with a crusty loaf of bread on the side...yum! : ) 

Baked ravioli one night with a side salad, 1 person wanted no salad that day and that's fine and I also made garlic bread. This was a very good meal that night. Again very filling. I don't want anyone to starve around here. : ) 

Rice Crispy treats. Rice Crispy treats are so good! So perfect in Fall and Winter. So super easy to make. There's definitely nothing wrong with some dessert once in a while. 

Taquito night. Refried beans are homemade from scratch, Spanish rice is homemade and the taquitos are homemade too. I buy the rotisserie chicken and use the chicken breast meat from that. This is Noah's favorite meal at the moment. Whenever I make this, he's so excited. : )

Miso. I buy the generic store brand Besia one. Miso is very YMMV (your mileage may vary) type of thing, meaning everyone here in Japan has their own personal favorite. They sell different colors of miso. And some miso are just plain and some have added ingredients like fish or dashi in them. As you know, I really hate fish and fish dashi. I just can't handle the flavor. So, I buy plain miso with zero fish. And I personally like the deep red colored one. Again it just boils down to personal preference...what everyone likes. And that's my personal favorite. : )  I use this to make homemade miso chicken and miso pork at home.  

I have the very best recipe for miso pork and miso chicken. It's so basic and easy... but it tastes totally legit! As in...you'd never in a million years guess a western woman made it. LOL. It's so good. : ) I like to marinate my miso pork or chicken first thing in the morning, because I find that if it has marinated longer it has a better flavor. : )

A simple meal, some rice, some miso chicken and some broccoli. I made enough miso chicken for the boys to take in their packed lunch the next day for school. : )

Homemade from scratch gratin potatoes. Or cheesy scalloped potatoes if you prefer. These are so bomb! We had fried American pork chops with these and a side salad. I will be making these potatoes for Christmas dinner. Just twice the amount. Branden *loves* these cheesy gratin potatoes.

Baked chicken parmesan. Ya'll know this is a family favorite that I make year round. And I love that home-style pasta from Costco too. 

Chocolate chip cookies happened too. : ) 

Holy goodness, I nearly forgot to take a pic this night. We had homemade from scratch pizza night on a Friday night and a family movie night at home followed. Best funnest way to kick off a Friday. : ) 

Sunday night pot roast happened. And funny...that I happened to buy 2 big lean hunks of beef for pot roast again. Probably this coming Sunday is when I will make that. : ) So Bran and Noah can take pot roast sandwiches in their obento next Monday. Back to the pic...pot roast, mashed potatoes and brown gravy and some green beans. 

When we're in Inzai/Chiba New Town there are so many restaurants there. We will usually have lunch there. Noboru and I had lunch at the Ohsho. This was my lunch. Fried rice, gyoza, 2 pieces of karaage (all white meat) and egg drop soup.

Sweet and sour chicken. I love sweet and sour chicken. I love it. And that Cook Do packet it is so delicious. I love using that. : )

Pizza Hut and Dominoes is in Narita City. We prefer Pizza Hut. We don't go there often, but when we do... we go to Pizza Hut and take it home. : ) This night we picked up 3 large pan pizzas, this was also on another Friday. 

Random lunch pic. I make Branden and Noah lunch every day Monday through Friday. And these Oscar Meyer 100% beef hot dogs are what I grew up with and same for my kids too. : ) And I skillet fry them and a little ketchup and mustard under the hot dog. And a container of seedless grapes from America. And another container of some macaroni salad. And lunch was ready! Noah takes 1 hot dog, while Bran takes 2, he's older and needs more fuel. And they both took the same sides, grapes and macaroni salad this day. : ) 

Enjoying Noah's observation day at the local elementary school...

November 10th was a Parent Observation Day at our local elementary school. You could go and visit any time of the day. Any class and observe. Observe a regular typical day. Noboru and I both went and we observed 2 classes. 1 class inside the classroom (math) and gym class, which they have outside if the weather is good, otherwise it is held in their gymnasium. On this day we observed them doing gymnastics. In this case they were practicing cart wheels and doing them over again and again. 

Before they started with their hour long cart wheel fun! They warmed up by running 1 lap around our huge field. This school has enormous school grounds, which is awesome and the rural greenery and trees and hills are so amazing and beautiful. We love living in a true rural/country area! It's gorgeous. Lucky country kids! : )

And the class also did some stretching before too! And lol! Noah has the whitest legs EVER! Complete with a pink tint to them! Hahaha! Alright so....stretching done and 1 last thing...some yoga!

I love that the kids at our elementary school practice yoga at school. They do 5 minutes of it every day Monday through Friday to warm up with.. whatever activity they are doing for that day gym-wise. It's so fantastic for flexibility. Noah is really great at this! Noah likes doing a lot of the poses at home. He shows me the crow pose. And all sorts of his favorite ones, he can do. Our elementary school is amazing! Flat out amazing! They learn and do the coolest things here! : )

Okay class pep talk! There is only 1 fifth grade class and this is it. : )  See all the mats down. Yep, some cart wheeling fun is about to happen soon! : )

They broke up into groups of 4. Noah and Lily-chan. She is not pictured, I think she was talking to the teacher at this time. And S-chan, the little girl standing behind Noah. She is my friends daughter. : ) And the little boy standing behind S-chan, he is an identical twin and his twin was in another cart wheel group/team. : ) 

There was a break for lunch. Which Noboru and I ran home to eat our lunch at home. And then we went back to the school and watched a play. This play was put on by 4 elderly grandparent aged people. Three pictured here. They were so good! Super talented! Much respect! : )

See the fox mask on this "wall" well this play was about a fox who out smarts these 2 on the left! In Japan, foxes are not to be trusted. And they say they are crafty and cunning. We say that too, in the United States. "Crafty like a fox", I think is the saying we use. : ) Anyway this fox was just too naughty and bad for words! However, these 2 outsmarted the fox in the end! The "fox" was the lady in yellow pictured here. I really *really* enjoyed this play a whole lot. It was fun for me. The kids and the other parents seemed to enjoy it too. : ) Anyway, that's Noah's observation day in a nutshell! : )