Last Thursdays BBQ...

Last Thursday we had a backyard BBQ. Super simple. Just 7 char-grilled burgers, 4 all beef Oscar Meyer hot dogs and 1 grilled teriyaki chicken breast I sliced thinly in 3 pieces. I mainly just wanted a thin slice of chicken for a sandwich. And the other pieces were for whoever wanted to have a little taste. : ) 

It was drizzling earlier in the day but luckily for us by the time the kids got home from school there wasn't any rain at all. Gray skies of course, but the weather was nice and cool and comfortable. 

Dinner took absolutely no time at all. And we were all at the dinner table just eating and relaxing and talking. 

I also skillet fry the buns for flavor with a little butter. I also made some fried potato wedges too. 

Japanese hot dog buns seem longer than American Oscar Meyer hot dogs. Which is fine. I enjoyed myself a teriyaki chicken sandwich with provolone cheese and lettuce and a grilled hot dog and a small handful of fries. Nothing fancy shmancy about our dinner.... but superly delicious though. And an easy clean up too. : ) Anyway that's what we had last Thursday. We're BBQ-ing this weekend too. Yakiniku type this week. : )  I hope everyone's having a good week. We've been enjoying our week here. And most definitely looking forward to the weekend. It's already Wednesday. So it's hump day and all down hill after today, so the weekend is getting closer. 

Tonight, I am making chicken parmesan sandwiches. I went to the bakery first thing this morning and bought 5 crusty baguettes but super soft inside. I have 16 chicken tenderloins that I will be breading and frying up as soon as I post this. And then as soon as the kids get home, I will whack the 16 breaded chicken tenderloins in the oven on top of sauce and smothered with mozarella cheese and then place inside a baguette. You know what a generous size those baguettes are. We will be having fries (potato wedges) to go with the sandwiches. Also tomorrow is Chiba Day or something? Because Noah has no school tomorrow. However Branden does have school tomorrow, go figure! Which is why I bought 5 baguettes instead of 4. Because Branden will be taking a homemade chicken parmesan sandwich to school tomorrow with a pack of chips and some fruit. Noah and I....will have chicken parmesan sandwiches tomorrow too. But, I can zip to the bakery at 9:30am tomorrow morning. Branden needs to have his lunch and catch the train by 7am so he needs his baguette here now, which is why I just bought 5. Anyway...I have 16 chicken strips to dip in Italian bread crumbs right now, Noboru is home today, so he'll be eating chicken parmesan sandwich with us. So talk to you all later. Have a good night. : ) 

Carrot cake...

Today's Monday. We still have about another month of school left for us in Japan, actually more like 5 weeks left. So today was a school day. While the kids were at school. Around 7:45am, I baked my family a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and some chopped up walnuts sprinkled on top. Noah got off school today at 3pm and as soon as he walked inside the house, he had a slice of carrot cake. He loves it, so he was happy! Branden is on the train heading back home right now and I know he will have a slice as soon as he gets home too. He'll be home soon.

How was every one's weekend? Ours was awesome! Luckily we did find Noah his swimming trunks, that are required at his school in Japan. And a new pair of goggles. He starts swimming on June 19th or so. So he's ready and raring to go regarding that. Phew. Takes a load off knowing we have it now. : ) Also we did find Branden 2 pair of shorts at Uniqlo on Friday too. We wanted to buy Bran 3 pair. But they did not have his size in one of the colors, that he wanted. @_@ Doesn't that just figure! I mean really...LOL. No worries, you know me...and you know how I'm a little cruiser, when I am in Inzai later this week, I will make it a point of going to the Uniqlo there and looking for the pair he was looking for and hopefully they'll have the missing size that Narita was sold out of. So we'll see. : ) We did buy a ton of pizza on Friday after our shopping was done... 4 large pizzas from Domino's. But to be fair...you know... that those really are American size mediums. Plus we were lucky to have a ton of pizza for Saturdays lunch. So a definite plus! : ) Also Bran's parent teacher conference thing went super well. And so last Friday went really well. : ) I do have a few posts I want to get up. But will put those up tomorrow. Probably. : )

Have a good night everyone. Ohhhhh I almost forgot...the weather has been amazing!!! Not too hot at all. It's been peaking at 78-79 degrees F. And the nights are nice cool and breezy. Like low to mid 60's. Last year at this time...it was melting hot. But this year has been so mellow...weather wise. I love it. My neighbors and friends near me have also been enjoying this amazing comfortable weather. You watch...just now that I said that...I probably jinxed it for us all in Japan now! Hahaha. *wink wink* The chili have flowers on them so....hopefully we will be seeing some baby chili sprouting soon.

Anything else? We are spending all of our attention right now on our once a year big summer vacation. We have been hotel and condo review reading and deciding has been going on for the past 3 days solid. No hotel decision has been made 100% yet. But we do have 1 place booked just in case. But are still reading Trip Advisor on the daily though. : )

We're having ginger pork for supper tonight, a side of rice, a really nice salad, fresh corn on the cob with butter, salt and black pepper. Pork has been marinating in the fridge all day long. It smells amazing and I squeezed a whole tube of that ginger puree in the tube in there for an added ginger kick. I will be going to pick up Bran any second. And as soon as he runs upstairs and showers I can start frying up the pork and boiling the corn. Have a good night. : )

Country Ma'am Choco Mint Cookies...

Every week when I do my great big weekly grocery shopping haul. Besides buying regular food, you know...stuff like beef, chicken, shrimp, pork, lunch meat, cheese, pasta, bread, tons of fresh veggies from the farmer's market. Sauces, flour, milk, yogurt. Etc to infinity... you know what I mean, regular food. I also buy snack stuff too, because we're not living lives... of torture here and as long as you keep things in balance, so what...it's okay. So keeping snacks in the house is essential for our family. I usually keep salty snacks on hand (like chips, nuts or pretzels, popcorn, ykwim) and also something sweet too. We have been enjoying these onion jalapeno Pringles. What do they taste like?...I'd say...they taste exactly like sour cream and onion chips plus jalapeno flavor too. You definitely taste the jalapeno flavor. And I was worried the chili flavor wouldn't be so strong... because this is Japan afterall. But the flavor is totally super good, you definitely can taste the jalapeno flavor. These are so good and again just a less strong flavor of sour cream and onion Pringles with a good flavor of jalapeno too. Also...these are not so hot that you couldn't eat them or enjoy them. But definitely delicious and flavorful and can definitely taste the jalapeno flavor, yum. Also as soon as these Choco Mint Country Ma'am came out this season, I was all over these! And have been buying these for the kids since they first came out! And then the Choco Chip regular cookies are just 78 yen a box. And the Country Ma'am Choco Mint cookies are just 120 yen and the Pringles are 120 yen or 130 yen for the pack. I buy these at the cheap snack and drink store in the smallest city nearest my town. Country Ma'am are also selling 2 more new flavor cookies too. One is cheesecake and the other is caramel something or other. I'll take pics of them next week, when I go back to restock our choco mint cookies. And the Country Ma'am cookies are so nice and soft. Because the choco mint ones are a special flavor they come in a pack of 10, where as the regular pack contains 12? Something like that... but these choco mint ones are less cookies than the regular pack though, just something to keep in mind. : ) 

These are really good chips. This week, I bought a pack for Bran, Noah and Noboru and myself. I bought the kids a pack each the week beforehand. And Noboru and I each tried a chip of theirs and these were truly stellar! So good. That this week, even Noboru requested...when I asked him...what sort of snacks do you want me to pick up for you? He said...The jalapeno Pringles. Hahaha. I said I want that too. : ) 

 There is also a choco mint frappe being sold at Family Mart. My one friend straight up *loves* these!!! I haven't tried the choco mint frap yet. Also, I have seen the choco mint Kit Kats being sold again this year too. So anyways...if you are in Japan...and you love choco mint, just be on the look out. So many delicious things available for us, choco mint lovers in Japan right now! : )

Throwback Thursday...

This pic was taken June 21st, 2011. Grandpa was in Japan visiting us. And has always enjoyed walking the kids into school or going with me to pick them both up from school. We had dropped off Bran at school already earlier that morning in town. Now we were both dropping off Noah at yochien in the small city nearest our town. Grandpa kindly walked Noah into school and handed Noah off to his most favorite teacher in the whole wide world... the Yayoi-sensei. Noah wearing his summer uniform. In Japan the kids have a summer uniform and a winter uniform. Bran's high school, even has a summer and winter uniform too. Hahaha. : )

Anyway today is Thursday. It's raining here, ever to lightly and only off and on at times. But we're still going to BBQ as soon as Noah gets home from elementary school today. Bran is home already. You know...this week is all half days for Bran. It's just going to be chargrilled burgers, hot dogs. Fries. Super simple tonight. Tomorrow we will be far from town. We'll be at Bran's school for our parent teacher conference thing. I can't wait for the weekend to be here. Can't wait! I'm not cooking tomorrow night, as I said yesterday. We're 80% leaning towards Domino's. And 20% leaning towards a sit down restaurant. Who knows. We'll decide tomorrow. And gee whiz... I hope we can find Noah's plain navy pair of swim trunks for shogakko/elementary school tomorrow evening, plus Bran some shorts for summer!

About 10 days ago, I ordered my dad the cutest t-shirt from Esty. An extremely witty couple sentences on the shirt are what made me know this was perfect for my dad. Picked the color, and everything. Showed the kids and Noboru, they all loved it and thought it was perfect for my dad too. So I ordered it. The very next day. It was made and shipped. It arrived in Guam this past Monday. My dad loves it and had a laugh about what it said. It's what my dad received this year for Father's Day. I know he got the shirt a little too early. But when you order things from overseas and it's actually hand made... you have to order early because sometimes things can take longer to get made or shipped. I totally understand that. But this seller was fantastic and sent it at lightning speeds! So am super happy my dad received it and loves it. A little too early for Father's Day. Yes...maybe. But that's okay. : )

Bits and Pieces...

Time for one of my fun little bits and pieces posts! I love doing these, because it's like a fun mix of different stuff, different topics, and can be about different people in my family. So fun short snippets. : ) What have I been making/cooking lately? This was about to become cream stew. I made this... the same day Noah had his Observation Day and emergency drill at the local elementary school. 

Another evening, I made a ton of sweet and sour chicken. We're talking a huge bag of bell peppers and other veggies from the local farmer's market and 6 chicken breasts! This was most definitely a perfect amount for a hungry family of 4!!!

I know this was on a Sunday. I don't remember the exact date. But, Noboru had a fun reunion/"get together" dinner that night with the other Japanese guys who lived in Hawaii (about 15 showed up, but 2 couldn't make it), the guys who were all sent there by the airline and this group of guys, is still close to this day. And it was so important for Noboru to go and have a good time. So that night I knew it would just be the kids and myself. So, I threw us a fun little "party" here at home. I made pizza dough from scratch that morning. I sliced up all the veggies for my pizza. And in the afternoon we went and bought ice cream and any other snacks the kids wanted for movie night. 

If you're in Japan and you make your pizza at home... try this sauce as your pizza sauce. It's the best for pizzas if you live in Japan. I have tried every jar/and bottle of pizza sauce and pasta sauce under the sun and hated every pizza sauce there is and believe me I have tried them all. But this one which is technically a pasta sauce...however it's the best for pizza sauce. It tastes 100% homemade and delicious as a pizza base. It's tomato and basil. The basil does this one right. There are other flavors. 2 or 3 others and I tried them too and they simply don't work for pizza. This one does though. So...just trying to help but yeah...if you do make pizzas at home...try this one. It's truly the best sauce for pizza if you live in Japan. : ) And don't try Ragu on pizzas, it's good with pasta... but it tastes like sh*t on pizzas. It's horrible! This one though...truly the best for pizza. 

One Costco sized large pepperoni for the kids. And one personal sized hand tossed for me with pepperoni, mushrooms, onion, bell peppers and jalapenos for flavor and kick! After supper we watched Fools Rush In. : ) 

Noboru's drone. 

This haircut is awesome. And Ingrid was kind enough to leave a thumbnail pic... so that others could take this pic to their own hair stylist if they wanted. And I am grateful because I did take this pic to my hair salon. And I got exactly this. An asymmetrical lob. Shorter in the back and gradually longer towards the front. It's modern, it's classy, it's stylish and chic. And I love my hair. I got mine cut exactly like this, last week. And it's super easy to take care of. And if you're cooking or cleaning the house... you can just clip it back in a clip or tiny pony tail. So practical and easy to take care of too. : ) And looks a bit more modern than a classic bob. : )

What else...I made homemade from scratch peanut butter cookies last week too. I made enough dough for 3 dozen cookies. 

These are what I am growing now. The Million Bell. I am hoping they grow quickly. And so these red ones will be hanging in my hanging baskets on my front porch. 

Last weeks Costco cart pic(s). 2 packs of chicken and 1 pack of lean ground beef. 

Same cart... but on top of the raw meat in the basket part of my cart was a rotisserie chicken (for taquitos) and mozzarella cheese for Italian and buns for burgers. And a new hose from Costco for the plants and grass.

Our lunch date last week. Noboru and I went to the Ohsho before hitting Costco. 

Mid shop when we were in Inzai last week. My drink of choice to keep me hydrated is the clear tea. It's delicious btw. And Boss Coffee is always in a can... but now some are in bottles. And Noboru likes this one. : ) After lunch we went to a few stores and then went back to our tiny town. 

Baked ravioli happened. Along with salad and garlic bread.

I make a good breakfast every weekend. Saturday we had blueberry pancakes and crispy American bacon. Sunday I made omelets, skillet fried potatoes and toast. I decided to take pics on Saturday. About to throw the blueberries into the pancake batter. 

Choice was either syrup or whipped cream and blueberry topping.

Yep, leisurely big breakfasts on the weekend rock!!!! 

My lunch yesterday. I have been eating salads for lunch like 3-4 times a week. Just a quick pre-made salad from the store and a half of this amount of Mini Stop crunky chicken. Some shredded cheese, some black pepper for taste and some salad dressing. And I'm full until supper. The kids always come home and find the chicken in the fridge and finish it. : )  Which is totally fine. 

Last nights dinner. Baked chicken parmesan on top of pasta.

Anyway, today I have an early lunch date with my husband.

Also...this whole week is parent teacher conference week at Bran's high school. So all kids at the high school get out at 11am-ish. Every day this week. Because the teachers have conferences after lunch non-stop until the evening with parents. Our parent teacher conference is this Friday. So after our meeting Branden will be getting a ride home with us. But every other day this week Bran has been getting home around lunch time. Which is so nice to have one of my son's home early. The only down side and I don't see it as a down side really but...I won't be going to Costco this week. Because Bran gets off so early...I swing and pick him up at the train station and we have lunch together. However....I usually do a huge shop in Inzai city... once a week. And this week with B getting home so early. I simply won't make it back to my town. Which is more than fine. I will just do my weekly shopping in the small city nearest me... for this week instead. It's totally fine. And Noboru and I will go to lunch much closer to home today... which is good. So...today is my big once a week shop. And after wards we will go for a quicker than usual lunch. Because I need to pick up B. And I did make 1 extra chicken parmesan last night and have pasta in a Ziploc in the fridge. So Bran's lunch today will be chicken paremsan on top of pasta. He will be so full this afternoon! Hahaha. : )

I am making tacos tonight. Lean ground beef ones for the family and chicken ones for me. Tomorrow we are BBQ-ing in the backyard. Just char-grilled cheeseburgers, hot dogs. So super simple tomorrow. And then Friday...we have Bran's conference at like 9:30am. We 3 will have to grab lunch someplace afterwards. And then rush back to our town to make sure we're here for when Noah gets out of school. After Noah gets out of school Friday.. the family plan is...Noah needs that school swim outfit. So Noah needs plain navy school swim trunks. He starts swimming soon-ish and we need it. And meanwhile Bran will be getting a few pair of shorts at Uniqlo. So Friday looks busy-ish but not stressful type busy. Iykwim. More like...enjoyable. Getting out and about. Type busy. : ) I'm also thinking we might either have Dominoes for supper. Friday night or we'll eat out someplace. But...since I'll be gone from home all day and evening this Friday...I can't cook. I usually do. But, I don't think it's practical Friday night. So we'll have to think of something. : )

Noboru is taking the boys for a hair cut this evening. And that's about it really. Talk with you all later. : )  Have a fantastic day. I will be having Indian food for lunch today. Yum. I can't wait. : )

Gap and Old Navy clothes shopping. Still trying to get ready for summer...

You know, Old Navy left Japan. However I am lucky in that I can have the stuff shipped to my dad's condo and I actually brought this stuff back from Guam when we were there a few weeks ago. I love the maroon/wine colored tee on this top and I thought the message on this, was super cute and positive too. So, I was glad to have ordered this. 

This has famous American landmarks from the east coast all the way to the west coast. 

This is probably my favorite thing I ordered for myself this season. It's a very thin summer lightweight sweatshirt. It will be perfect n early spring and Fall too. And the flamingo is so cute and summery and it's just as cute in person... if not cuter! I love this so much! 

Olive green/army green cargo shorts for Noah. He loves these and we brought these back with us from the package that was waiting for us at my dad's. 

This you saw already. A rashguard and swim trunks combo from Gap. 

We are beach and water people, so my kids need swimwear every year. 

They came out with even cuter rashguards and trunks too. So of course, I had to. And these I ordered and got them 50% off. So I felt good about making a wise purchase getting it 50% off like that. So this rash guard was waiting for us a few weeks back too. This is from the Gap. 

And Noah also received these super cool green and navy pineapple swim trunks too to go with the rashguard above. So Noah has two swim sets and he can just wear whichever one he wants. 

This is a basic tee... black with white striping... I also liked the feminine curved edging at the bottom. And I have since worn this tee with jean shorts and my black low top converse. 

And yep, the tops were waiting. And I'm so happy and I'm ready for Summer now! 

This is even cuter in person. I love this much! 

Noah's 2 pair of army/olive green cargo shorts. Just making sure my little guy gets summer ready too. 

This swimsuit looks so cool! Will be perfect when we take our big... once a year summer vacation! 

I also went to Gap in Inzai, a few weeks back during the day while the kids were at school.. after stopping at Costco. All those Gap employees know me and they also know/recognize my kids at Gap in Inzai too. LOL. We are always super polite and shop there often.... so that's why. Anyways..Bran has new sweatshorts/house shorts from the Gap that we bought in Denver last summer in a size bigger. And he loves them! They fit perfectly. But Noah had no house shorts/comfy sweatpants shorts. So...I went to Gap in Inzai and found 2 pair. And they were 40% off. Wise and smart shopping at 40% off.

Noah basically is all set summer clothes wise, except I will be buying him a new swimsuit for school (they have to be plain navy blue or black, I always pick navy blue.) And maybe some summer shoes. But other than that, he's done. Bran has everything too, except he needs more summer shorts. But the clothes shopping is winding down and that makes me happy that we're almost done. Phew. That way I won't have to think of clothes shopping... until we start thinking about stocking up for Fall. : )