Sep. 30

6:16am Breakfast : a glass of soy milk, orange, 2 cups of coffee

12:00pm Lunch : Bento Box ; pasta with J's vegetable tomato sauce

7:30pm Dinner : carrot sticks, bread, squid fritter, open spring roll, caipiroska at Casuale

Bento Box

Dinner : open spring roll

It is rare for us to eat out week day. We went to a restaurant near where we live. It was nice atmosphere and food was ok. We had only 2 plates and it's not enough to judge the restaurant. We think we will go to the restaurant again.

Sep. 28

6:10am Breakfast : chicken, miso-soup, orange, a glass of soy milk, a cup of coffee

9:00am cookies

12:00pm Lunch : Bento Box ; Konbu mame, shiso shoyu zuke, rice

6:30pm Dinner : sausage, bread, beer at bar

Breakfast (out of focus!)

Bento Box (out of focus again!)

Konbu Mame

To make gomoku mame(soy beans cooked with 5 ingredients), there are enough ingredients in the fridge. Then let's make a more simple one. Why didn't I make it before? Easy and healthy. I will make it more often from now.

Ingredients : serves 2 - 3

1 cup soy beans

1 piece konbu (dried kelp) - cut as small as soy bean by scissors

1 cup water

1 tbs sugar

1.5 tbs soy sauce

Preparation :

1. Put all ingredients in the pot

2. Boil down the juice

Sep. 27

6:00am Breakfast : egg in miso-soup, orange, a cup of coffee

12:00pm Lunch : Bento Box ; pasta with tomato sauce J made

6:00pm Dinner : konbu mame(soy beans with kelp), shiso & cabbage salad, miso-soup, rice


Breakfast

Bento Box

Dinner (out of focus!)

I got shiso which is a kind of herb. According to a dictionary, it is called a beefsteak plant in English. Have you heard of it? J hasn't. I made shiso & red cabbage salad and had ponzu as a dressing. It tasted like a dressing I used in Japan. J liked it too. Can I get it in the U.S.?

Sep. 26

7:30am Breakfast : vegetable soup, cracker

12:00pm Lunch : Yakisoba at a festival on business(of course!)

6:00pm Dinner : Dashimaki(japanese omlet), carrot & tuna salad, shiso & ume gohan(rice mixed with japanese harb? & pickled plum), miso-soup

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

I have had a sore throat since yesterday. Last night, it was so painful that I coudln't drink even water. I felt a little bit better this morning and had soup for breakfast. I kept a cough drop in my mouth in the morning. My lunch was Yakisoba. I had no choice because I was at work. I was exhausted when I got home but I still have some energy to make something I wanna eat. When I am sick, my body always wants japanese food. J also seemed that he got a cold. Is he hungry for a hamburger?

Sep. 25

6:30am Breakfast : boiled egg, one bite onigiri, orange, 2 cups of coffee

12:30pm Lunch : sushi, sashimi, tempura, spring roll, gyoza at a restaurant on business(yikes)

7:00pm Dinner : sushi

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Sep. 24

6:20am Breakfast : fried egg, orange. 2 cups of coffee

12:00pm Lunch : fried egg, kale stirfry, rice

1:00pm a cup of hot chocolate

7:30pm beer, a glass of red wine

8:30pm Dinner : cooked saint peter(white fish) & leek, isomushi tamanegi(cooked onion with sea weed), green onion Japanese omlet, one bite onigiri with kale stirfry

Breakfast

Bento Box

Dinner ;
Isomuushi tamanegi

one bite onigiri with kale stirfry

green onion Japanese omlet

cooked fish

J comes back from 5 days business trip. As I guessed that he must be sick of Brazilian food, I picked fish for a main dish and made some japanese food. He said he was going to be home around 6pm. I could leave my office earlier than usual but I was stuck in traffic and got home at 7pm. Fortunatelly, J was not home yet. I got a text from him and he was also stuck in traffic. It is 8:22pm now.

He came back at 8:30pm and he was exhausted. He enjoyed my cooking! Welcome back home J!

Sep. 23

6:30am Breakfast : vegetable spicy ginger miso-soup(leftovers), a cup of coffee

10:00am fresh orange juice

12:30pm Lunch : Bento Box ; fried rice(kale and miced soy beans)

7:30pm Dinner : beef sandwich at benditos

Breakfast

Lunch

Sep. 22

6:30am Breakfast : scrambled egg, orange, 2 cups of coffee

12:30pm Lunch : Bento Box ; kale stirfry, scrambled egg, rice

3:30pm ice cream!

8:15pm Dinner : vegetable spicy ginger miso-soup

Breakfast

Bento Box

Dinner

I made lunch and went a short run before leaving for a work this morning. You know everybody is busy in the morning. I am proud of myself. Beside, I had healthy menu. Thanks to that, I think I willl sleep very well tonight.

Sep. 20

5:10am Breakfast : 2 pieces sushi roll(leftovers), 3 cups of coffee(too much!)

1:00pm Lunch : Bento Box ; scrambled egg, soy beans & onion stew, rice

3:30pm hot chocolate

5:50pm Dinner : ume onigiri, pastel

9:30pm beer

Bento Box

Onigiri for dinner

I had an onigiri before leaving my office to work out as soon as I got home. YES, I AM ON A DIET. I met a president of a company on my way home and he bought me a pastel. I really did not want it, but I had no choice. This is typical action of a working person? Anyway, I went to a small training room in the apartment building and ran. And now, I am publishing my blog with a can of beer by my side.

Sep. 19

5:30am Breakfast : a banana, cracker

7:15am cafe com leite

2:00pm Lunch : sushi

5:15pm beer, a glass of red wine

6:15pm Dinner : sushi

Lunch

Lunch

Dinner

I went to an aniversary party of an association on business. I took some pictures of food, but I ate only sushi. The lobster and sashimi looked good, but it was all gone while I was working. No choice. I was there on business, not to enjoy food. But one of the host gave me 2 packs of sushi for a suvenir. YAY. That is "one stone kills two birds". Thanks to the suvenir, J and I can enjoy sushi and I don't need to cook!

Sep. 18

8:00am Breakfast : a fried egg, soy bean & onion stew, bread, 2 cups of coffee

1:00pm Lunch : phantom mustard fish, kale, rice

5:30pm Dinner : chicken sandwich, a glass of red wine

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

I made a phantom mustard food again! I made it twice in 2 weeks. Then it is not "phantom" anymore.

Sep. 17

6:15am Breakfast : wakame soup, rice with furikake and umeboshi, a cup of coffee, a glass of smoothie, a glass of soy milk

12:40pm Lunch : Bento Box ; soy beans and onion stew, rice

7:30pm Dinner : BEER!, french fries, fried chicken(yes, bar food), at bar

Breakfast

Bento Box

Sep. 16

6:20am Breakfast : a piece of toast, 2 fried eggs, a cup of coffee

12:30pm Lunch : grilled chicken, feijao, salad, rice at lanchonete

8:20pm Dinner : crackers, cheese, beer, a glass of red wine

Breakfast

Dinner

I had a big...... I mean a HUGE lunch. That's why dinner was light. I think this is how I want to eat on a week day. My ideal eating style is fruit and coffee (and a boiled egg can be acceptable) for breakfast, a big plate of meat, vegetable and carbs for lunch, cracker and cheese with ONE glass of red wine. So, today was almost perfect.

Sep. 15

6:00am Breakfast : okra gohan, gomoku-mame(cooked soy beans), 2 cups of coffee

12:30pm Lunch : Bento Box ; Chicken & veggies Ankake gohan(stirfry on rice)

7:45pm Dinner : J's back up food, cabbage soup

Breakfast
Bento Box

Dinner

J's back up dinner showed up on the dinner table at last. As J mentioned, it is in case I don't feel like cooking. Today I felt ok, but there was not enough food in the fridge. Thanks to the back up dinner, we survived from hunger. I don't think I have time to go to grocery store tomorrow. But we still have some back up. Maybe I don't need to publish tomorrow dinner. You know what we will have.

Sep. 14

6:00am Breakfast : fried rice, marinated chicken & veggies, 2 cups of coffee
10:00am hot chocolate

1:00pm Lunch : Bento Box ; okra, gomoku-mame(cooked soy beans), rice

8:00pm Dinner : cheese burgar, beer at bendito's

Breakfast

Bento Box

I made dinner this morning, but I ran out beer. My body cried for beer. That's why I went to bendio's. Cheese burger sucked but I was happy to drink beer.

Sep.13

6:30am Breakfast : banana, a glass of soy milk, a cup of coffee

9:00am fresh orange juice

1:00pm Lunch : Bento box ; salmon & onion fried rice

7:50pm Dinner : cabbage miso-soup, boiled okra, gomoku-mame(cooked soy beans and vegetables)

Lunch (it is cooling off before putting in the bento box)

Dinner

Soy beans salad

You can add more diced vegetables. I need to keep the recipe of the dressing. It was good but I am not sure how healthy it is. Because I use sugar to hold the sour of vinegar down.

Ingredients (dressing) : each ratio

sugar : vinegar : olive oil = 1 : 1 : 0.5

Preparation :

1. Cut vegetable as small as beans

2. Sprinckle garlic salt on the vegetables

3. Mixed #2 and dressing

J's 'Backup' Dinner

M usually cooks during the week, but since her work keeps her busy now, I like to help out. I don't mind cooking, but I'm busy and tired by the time the evening hunger comes on. I usually overcome the weekday obstacle of evening exhaustion by cooking on Sunday. I often prepare lunch or a breakfast dish on Sunday, now I prepare a dinner or two. We call this the 'backup' dinner - if M doesn't feel like cooking, this is the answer.

Today's backup menu is nameless. They all are. Since I'm now technically a blogger, I'll call it Backup menu 'J1', though this is technically a variation on J1. This recipe was modified to account for our household demographics: the home is half asian and some of us prefer darker chicken. I'm using chicken legs instead of breast meat, so I guess this is 'J1 Dark'. Sure, it will be slightly fattier than J1, but even better tasting. I've also made this recipe with various cuts of beef and would like to try lamb.

Basically, its a bunch of vegetables, red wine and herbs topped with chicken, stuffed into a cast iron pot and roasted at 120 C, for... a while? Luckily for me, living overseas has forced me to learn some basics in celsius! I still mess it up all the time though so check that your chicken is well done.

Stage one:

Red cabbage sits on carrots and few pieces of celery. Salt and pepper added. After a few cuts, I thank myself for sharpening all the knives last week. What a pleasure to have a sharp knife, not only is it easy to prepare the meal, but in case some criminal mugs M and demands to come back to the house with her to rob us, I can plunge it into his chest.

Stage two:

add green beans and a few smaller pieces of celery. I notice it is quiet today. We live close to a roadway that is busy, at least at night. It doesn't usually get too noisy even at night during the week, except for the random angry driver and his horn. Though I'm pleased that Brazilians don't use their horns a lot. That isn't the case in all places down here in the Southern Hemisphere...what an annoyance. I chop in peace and quiet.

Stage three:

add garlic and red chilis. No, it won't be spicy. It add depth or some shit like that. I don't know, I like to use chilis and it looks pretty with some red in it.

Stage four:

One smaller green pepper, a few tomatoes, and one onion. Salt and pepper lightly. Follow with blend of basil, dill weed, French tarragon, chervil and chives. I also add a chicken boullion cube. Sometimes I add a bit of water, but I'm going to let the vegetables sweat this time.

Stage five:

Add chicken legs that are lightly seasoned with the mixture mentioned above, any additional vegetables I can cram in (and I mean get some leverage here), then two or three tablespoons of red wine, some balsamic and olive oil. It all goes in the oven for ~ 45 minutes, or possibly more. At this point it is most critical to sample the wine. Sample an entire glass while cleaning up. The cleanup is done after washing my knife and the cutting board. 'J1' is an easy cleanup meal.

The finished dish will be loaded with yummy vegetables and a sumptuous red wine sauce. And it will taste just as good (or better) in a day or two. And if it doesn't, there's a really great pizza place right across the street. They can finish an order in less than 10 minutes. I didn't know this until two weeks ago. I stopped on a Friday evening, just after my yoga practice and they said something in Portuguese. I missed most of it but clearly understood "5 or 10 minutes". I love that place. No matter though, this dish of 'J1 Dark' is going to make two cool winter evenings a little more comfortable.

- by J

Sep. 12

7:30am Breakfast : scrambled egg, cabbage & tomato, rice, 3 cups of coffee

1:00pm Lunch : Morioka reimen(cold noodle) at work

6:30pm Dinner : grilled salmon(for J), avocado salad, soy beans salad, konnyaku steak with garlic, a glass of wine

Breakfast (where is scrambled egg??)

Lunch

Dinner

I had morioka reimen for lunch. Reimen means cold noodle and it is popular in summer, Japan. Morioka is a city in Iwate prefecture, Japan. Morioka reimen is one of their traditional foods. The soup is also cold and spicy. I liked it, but I never had a water melon on it. I think that's original.