Posting my menu plan for this week again- enjoyed reading some of the others. Great for inspiration!! I will hook up to OrgJunkie`s site once her linky is up!
Last weeks menu had some hits and misses- Namely the vinegar pork capsicum salad was a dud because I couldn`t find my MILs recipe and when I rang she had already gone to work (She works in the afternoons) So I winged it but it was a big fat flop. I have made it before but it has been ages- will have to get her to write down the recipe for me again next time as when I make it properly it is really good and Shun loves it. Apricot chicken in the slow cooker was a bit dry- but I think I just did it for too long- everything else was fine. The Vietnamese chicken salad will be great again over the summer and the pineapple upside down cake in the rice cooker for Shun`s birthday was a hit!
This week on the menu is:
Monday (Pasta day): Chicken and mushroom spaghetti
Tuesday (Japanese): Shougayaki (Broiled ginger pork), gomae beans, shredded cabbage and rice
Wednesday (Oven/slow cooker): Salt & pepper chicken, salad & potato wedges
Thursday (Asian/pan fry): Jinja rosu (Chinese beef and capsicum dish) and rice
Friday (Seafood): Grilled fish , cabbage and egg itame (panfry), beanspout and carrot salad and rice
Saturday (New recipe or old favourite): Chicken Korma with rice
Sunday (Easy tea): My mum`s apricot curry pork with asparagus/parmasen cheese side and rice (Super easy and one of Shun`s favourites)
I did our weekly shop yesterday and they only things I will have to pick up this week sometime are milk, maybe some more fruit and probably chocolate for myself (Hey, at least I am honest about it!). Our weekly food shop (for everything I bought yesterday) came to just under 15,000yen. Other friends in Japan seem to keep their bills so much lower but I am not sure if it is because of where they live/shop or if my meals are just too expensive. Shun will take leftover dinner for lunch everyday.
Baking for this week will be blueberry wholemeal muffins and some cookies- if I find the time! (All ingredients, except the blueberries will keep for the following week if I don`t get to it this week- Noah & I will eat the blueberries by themselves though if we don`t use them in muffins.
For lunches this week Noah & I will probably have sandwiches, quesadillas, fried rice (Will make a bit batch of rice tomorrow to make some fried rice later in the week- we have a ton of eggs and veggies)and leftover pasta with some fruit or yogurt. Usually Noah will have some chicken and cheese with his sandwiches or quesadillas. Getting him to eat raw veggies does not happen- I try, but he always throws them on the floor. He will eat any veggies cut up in quesadillas, on pizza or in his dinner so I try to do some lunches with veggies in them too. He will also eat avacado and cream cheese sandwiches so that is my go to sandwich filling for him!
ps:Tot School post for last week will be carried over til next week since I couldn`t log into my blog last night (but yay to the guys that host my blog on their server as they fixed my coding problem!)
pps: It took me an almost 2 hours to write this post as Shion has refused to cooperate and give me 10 minutes to myself- he has pretty much grizzled and cried the entire time. So much for some “me” time while big brother Noah napped!
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I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
Your last weeks menu sounds a lot like mine…
My vegetable rissoles were just gross… Although both Naoki and Leilah liked them so I am assuming it’s just because of my dislike of tofu… lol
The beef and broccoli stirfry was so salty it was nearly inedible…
When you get that recipe off your MIL please share it with me
Because it does sound really, really yummy!!
Where do you get your chicken soup for the pasta dish? Costco or somewhere like that? It sounds really good too and I thought if I could get my hands on some soup I might try it one day. I love pasta and am always looking for new recipes.
I hope Shion finally settled down for you and gave you a little time to yourself… if not, I hope both boys go to bed nice and early and you can sit down and have some ‘me’ time without being interrupted!
I just love reading about what other people cook for dinner! My husband’s mother is Italian so for him a meal is not complete without pasta – we eat it at least 3 times a week. You menu seems really varied in comparison.
So much has gone on with you since I last checked your blog… I won’t leave it so long next time! Nice to see that you’re doing well.
Our food bill would certainly be higher if Tak ate breakfast at home or took a packed lunch. Both, he gets on the way to work or goes with co-workers for meals – he enjoys the social aspect and mental break from his desk at lunch or… he prefers the cooking ;P
The asparagus and parmesan sound nice as a side as spinach is a firm fave around here and some variety (with a picky male veggie eater) makes it sometimes tricky to accommodate both our needs.
Nay- Do you mean cream of mushroom soupy? I got the ones I am using now at Costco- 12 for like 700yen or something so heaps cheap compared to the supermarket/kaldi and I use them a lot with slow cooking too. I can send you a can with the books because the pasta was yummy!!! They do have it at my regular supermarket though so you might want to look! The pasta was great- we ate it tonight. We all liked it and will be doing it again (I put spinach instead of broccoli tho as I am not fussed on broccoli- I did a side of broccoli for the boys though (just cut Noah`s up and chucked it in with his pasta)
Lucy- Thanks for stopping by again! I love reading what people eat for dinner too. I am trying to cook more Japanese/Asian fusion as it definitely would work out cheaper than making more Western food each night but I like to have a mix of both- We pretty much eat rice everynight though (except pasta night)- while I might not eat it I still cook it for my husband and also so there is enough to make rice balls for my son if I need to and for my husband`s breakfast as lately he will eat either nato with rice for breakfast (nato is fermented beans, totally gross!) or raw egg and soy sauce with rice. Each to their own I suppose.
Joey- So I guess it averages out because Tak buys “out”? For awhile Shun was working at Tokyo station and it was just too expensive (and busy he said) for him to eat lunch out. Some days he might tell me he doesn`t want bento because he is going to have lunch with a friend. It is rare though- I think my husband is a bit of a loner
I love a side of spinach as well! Also moyashi with goma abura/shoyu is so easy but yummy!
I love reading what everyone is cooking!!! I have been recording what we eat at the end of the week on my food blog (http://tj-eats.blogspot.com/), in an effort not to keep on repeating the same things week in week out. Not sure if it works or not though….
I don’t do menu planning, as I never seem to stick to it, but I do make a rough draft (lol) in my head after we have been shopping. I also try to do Frugal Fridays, and just use up stuff in the fridge/freezer/cupboards that are coming to the end of their shelf life.
Actually another reason I dont make a menu plan is that I like to look at what is on special and in season in the shops and buy that. Perhaps this helps to keep our grocery spending down a bit (I try to keep it about 40,000yen a month, although less would be better!!) and I also tend to do more Japanese style foods….I always used to think it was more work, but a lot of the dishes can be pre-made, when the kids are in good mood (watching TV
and then the last minute cooking is usually pretty quick right before serving.
BTW, I am borrowing your “jinja rosu” for dinner here tonight
I am making your Muligatawny (sp?) Chicken for dinner tonight – it sounds like something we will all like
I read this post from Karen Cheng about menu planning a while ago – you might like it too http://www.karencheng.com.au/2008/03/27/weekly-meal-plans/ – you might like this one about difficult days with toddlers too
http://www.karencheng.com.au/2010/12/02/the-relentless-rollercoaster/
Your site just said my comment was spam b/c it had links it it
Your food is just a little higher than ours but I don’t make obentou, hubby pays around 5000 yen a month for lunch in the caferteria. There is noone that i could make it that cheap.
I enjoy reading your menus to I think I’ll try the koma chicken next week, we love butter chicken so that will be a change.