Fun with Friends

I hope everyone's 2013 is off to a great start!  I also hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve.  We went to my friends house (she happens to live in the house next to our apartment building) and played Apples to Apples and enjoyed good company and champagne.

Speaking of good times with friends, one of my friends and coworkers at WIC left to return to the states.  For her going away, all of us from WIC took her to dinner at Yoshino's Steakhouse because she had never been.  I actually hadn't been either and had been dying to try it.  It gets rave reviews.  Plus, the owner teaches the cooking classes on base and I have had the privilege to learn from her.  It is because of that experience that I knew her place could accommodate me as a vegetarian.  See, this is a teppanyaki steakhouse and they cook in pork fat.  Definitely not my thing.  But, she told me they could cook on a separate grill and use oil and/or butter.

I seriously never would have known this place was hidden away on this little tiny road, but had I ever accidentally ended up on that street, I would have stopped to look because the outside it really fun looking.  I love the lights!

Sorry, the lights were dim so the pictures didn't come out the best.  We all ordered set meals (as in it comes as a set with multiple courses- very common in Japan).  It came with an appetizer, but it was meat.  The cook was nice enough to have something else prepared for me.  I still have no idea what it was, but it was all vegetable.  I know the one on the left looks like meat, but it was actually some sort of cabbage with sauces.

Next came the salad.  I loved this because it came with apple and kiwi.

Here is my friends steak cooking.  Most of them ordered the set with two different beefs.  One was Australian beef, which was described as a leaner cut, more like a filet mignon.  The other was more fatty and marbled Japanese beef.  In fact, it was local Aomori beef and has apparently won some awards.  In the pan is pork fat cooking, which had previously been used on the grill for the cooking fat. My dinner was cooked on the grill over to the left.  I was so glad the chef had no problems accommodating me.  Actually, I have always had good experiences with chefs in Japan being very happy to accommodate what I think seems like odd requests to them.

Here is the chef working on our garlic rice.

If you have never had Japanese garlic rice before, you are seriously missing out.  Well, that's assuming you like garlic, which I do!

Here is my dinner.  I ordered the mixed seafood and fish set.  It has scallops, shrimp, salmon, spinach and in the foil is steamed mushrooms.

It's a little hard to see, but there are definitely mushrooms in there.

Here is the steak and shrimp that my friend ordered.  This was the Australian beef.

Oh, let's not forget about dessert.  This is their version of fried ice cream.  It is an ice cream block wrapped in a wonton wrapped and then cooked on the teppanyaki grill.  Loved it!

Couldn't resist getting this pic of us ladies.  Great minds think alike!  I nearly died from laughter when I walked in and discovered that Kathryn (far right) was wearing the exact same thing as me.  Teal underneath a black shirt.  It was even funnier when Tanisha (center) came in and was wearing a teal colored sweater.

Here we are with the rest of the group.  Joanne (in the back behind me, next to Tanisha) is my friend that left to go back to the States.

At the same time Joanne was leaving, Kathryn was also getting ready to say goodbye to WIC.  You may have noticed in the pic above that she is pregnant.  Well, she was pregnant there.  She has already given birth to a beautiful baby boy with an amazing head of hair.  So before Joanne left, we made sure to have a going away/baby shower for Kathryn at work.  Cute table cloth, right?

We had salad and pizza, plus the cake.  It was a party so cake was definitely a must have.

Too cute!

Do you see a trend here? Super cute blanket for her little guy.

Not only have I been busy having fun with friends, but I have been enjoying my time home with Ryan too.  The next pics are from going out around town with Ryan and some of our meals.  First up is this fun pizza our commissary started carrying.  I love a good veggie pizza and was happy to try this.  It's a German product but made in the US. 

We also had a spinach one to try.

One restaurant we hadn't been to in a long time was Global Kitchen.  They have all kinds of foods there, but the Thai seems to be what I stick with.  For some reason, on this night, I had a tofu craving.  So I ordered the tofu salad.  It was so good, but it was a ton of tofu.  That was a good thing because it was excellent for lunch the next day.

Here is my entree.  I had the shrimp coconut curry.  Yum!

Next up is one of my favorite things.  Okonomiyaki.  That's a traditional Japanese pancake.  I love it!  I mean I really love it.  We go to this place called Dohtonbori (it's a chain) where you order the okonomiyaki and you cook it on a griddle at your table.  Yes, you do all the work.  But the good news is that you don't have to clean up!  Even better news is that they now offer the menu in English at the location we always go to.  It made ordering so much easier.

I ordered the shrimp okonomiyaki and then added in a potato mochi (that's the big round white thing).  They bring you a bowl with all the ingredients and then you mix it all up, making sure to get the egg well mixed.

Then you pour it on the grill and make it smaller and thicker rather than all spread out.  It cooks like this for about 10 minutes before you flip it to cook the other side.

Here it is flipped and cooking on the other side.  Then it gets flipped one more time.

After that it is ready to be eaten.  Super yummy!  Packed with veggies too (mostly shredded cabbage or something similar).  It is very filling.  I tried to eat it all, but it was impossible.  I love this stuff!

On my way home, I had a craving for something chocolate.  So we stopped into a bakery and I bought this.  If you are new to my blog and/or not familiar with Japanese baked goods, they are not as sweet as they look.  In fact, you would be shocked if you looked at this and then took a bite because it would not be what what you were expecting.  I like it better that way.  You really get to experience the flavors rather than get a mouth full of sugar.

Well, my stop at the bakery triggered Ryan's sweet tooth a few days later and we ended up heading back to that very same bakery (called Cake House, not kidding).  Here was my chocolate and caramel cake.

Ryan had a cheesecake.

Well, that bakery trip ended up triggering a need to take one more person there.  My friend and next door neighbor Jasmine had never been so I took her there for her birthday.  They also serve set meals here.  It comes with a salad, beverage, entree (only 3-4 to choose from) and the cake of the day (I don't know what happened to my pic of that.  The dish I usually get was no longer offered so I somehow managed to get them to make me the chicken sandwich on croissants without the chicken.  It was actually super yummy.  Probably because the croissants were so good!

Well, that's it for me.  So far 2013 is good but work has been super busy.  I am enjoying my short time off from school and getting back into teaching.  Starting next week I will be teaching 2 classes and then a 3rd will be added in at the end of the month.  At least that class is only a 1 credit, 4 week class.  I guess where it gets really busy is when I start taking my classes (I have 2) for the semester.  At least by then I will have cut back my hours at WIC and will eventually be back to only 20 hours.  I am looking forward to meeting the new nurse and new RD that will be starting.  Well, I already know the RD, but I look forward to having her start.

QUESTIONS:  When was the last time you went out for girl's night?  Have you been to a baby shower recently?  Have you been to a going away party recently?

Checking in on My 2012 Goals and New Goals for 2013!

Here we are at the very last day 2012, about to enter 2013, so I thought I would go back and take a look at my goals from last year at this time and see how things went for me.  This year had some unexpected twists and turns (deployments and trainings) that threw a wrench into some of these goals, but as a military spouse, I expect that.  You just can't plan for it! 

1. Physical Activity at least 4 days a week- I would say that I reached this goal at about 75% for the year.  I was on the road traveling for 10 weeks total of the year and did not make it to a gym during that time.  Instead, I stayed active by walking a lot during my travels.  Most days I was walking a few miles, maybe even 5+ in some locations.  In Australia I even went hiking one day to maintain an active lifestyle.  While Ryan was deployed I was in the gym at least 4 days a week, but since he came home I have only been going 2-3 times.  I also nearly doubled my work schedule at WIC (temporarily) so that make it hard to get everything done for my other jobs and school, with limited time for sleep.  After Ryan came home I decided that a bigger priority was spending time with him (can you blame me, he spent a few months in Afghanistan!).  However, things are getting back to normal around here and I plan to get back into this for 2013.  I will be going back to my normal 20 hours a week at WIC and then will have more time to fit in my workouts (more than just walking the dog).

2. Cook dinner at least 2 nights a week- This went really well for the first part of the year.  Then the travel started.  Without a kitchen for around 10 weeks of the year, this was not possible!  When Ryan was deployed I cooked, but not "real" cooking.  I may have made some pasta and heated up some frozen veggies to add to it, but rarely did I cook anything from a recipe during that time.  Some nights I would cook and share with my neighbor, but for the most part, I just tossed together some things and called it dinner.

3. Make more From Scratch Weekends creations- Nope, not even close!  We talked about it, but apparently that was all talk.  I think in 2013 we need to bring back our From Scratch Weekends.

4. Tweet more nutrition tips- Initially I was into this, but as time became limited and I was working more hours, something had to take a back seat.  Twitter was it.  But, I am still out there on Twitter and hope to connect more with you there.  If you aren't following me, make sure to start now! I'm @RDontheMove.

5. Get started on a writing a book- This was definitely a success.  Not only did I start writing a book, I finished it.  And it is for sale already!!!  If you haven't seen it, it is called Train Your Brain to Get Thin.  It is available in stores and online.  After the new year, I will be giving away another copy on my blog.

6. Read more books for fun- Yes and no on this one.  I actually read more books this year than the previous, but it was still not what I was hoping for.  Maybe because I started a doctoral program and had to devote a lot of time to academic reading.  Good thing I find that material very interesting!

7. Continue with my travels around the world- Major success for this.  I spent about 10 weeks total away from home.  It started in February when we went to Sapporo for the Snow Festival.  Then in May/June I spent 5 weeks traveling in Israel (I actually went twice during these 5 weeks), Spain (I even attended a friends wedding in Spain), France (twice! and even took a cooking class while there), Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary.  When I came back, Ryan and I spent 1 week in Tokyo.  A few weeks later I was off to Australia for 3 weeks!  I would say that I did a fine job traveling the world in 2012.

8. Grow my private practice- There was an unexpected bump here, but this turned out to be a good thing.  Once I started at WIC I was pretty much unable to see private clients because of the potential for conflict of interest.  Instead I sell my book through this company and donate nutrition services when auctions come up.  I am available for consult, but I am not actively advertising this.  Plus, I post tips on FB on my company page.  Don't forget to "like" me on Facebook. 

9. Learn Japanese- I took all of the free classes offered on base and wanted to start with the classes at a local community center, however my travel schedule prohibited me from started.  Maybe in 2013, but I can't make any promises.  I think instead I will work on self learning using my books at home.

 

10. Update my blog- I had intentions of updating my blog, but my go-to person had a baby (technically that would be his wife) and that made him a little tied and I just never came back to the idea.  But, looking over things again, I think this is something I am interested in for 2013.  I think it will get me back on track with my own blogging.  That got away from me when I was lacking material without my husband around.  I was working on a book and spending a lot of time doing "boring" things.  I just didn't have anything to post and limited time for writing outside of my "jobs".  Now with my work schedule changing and having my husband back in Japan, I think I will have a lot more to blog about!

So it looks like I was partially successful in 2012.  The good news is that while some planned goals did not pan out, I had many unexpected good things pop up and this meant I had an amazing 2012.  For me, I think I was very successful overall.  I started a doctoral degree, started guest blogging on 2 RD websites, wrote a book, submitted my first paper to a journal (still waiting to hear, so fingers crossed!), continued with my volunteer activities in dietetics and as a military spouse, and I got a job on base with WIC (on base, good paying jobs in your field are hard to come by on overseas bases).  I would say I had a pretty amazing 2012 and I look forward to seeing what 2013 holds for me.

Here are my goals for 2013:

1. Physical Activity at least 4 days a week

2. Cook Dinner at least 2 days a week

3. Make more From Scratch Weekends Creations

4. Create more of an @RDontheMove presence on Twitter

5. Continue with my world travels

6. Continue learning Japanese

7. Promote myself as a Nutrition Expert (through guest blogging, my own blog and my FB page)

8. Update my blog

9. Get published in a professional journal 

10. Continue working on my doctoral degree

Well, there you have it (and now you can keep me to it!), my recap of 2012 and my goals for 2013.  Some may seem boring or seem like things I should be doing and don't need to really set as my goal (like continuing with school), but some of these are difficult to maintain so I like to keep them as goals written down on paper.  This will help me stay on track and remember what was important to me at the beginning of the year.  I prefer goals to resolutions.  I have never liked that word.  I feel like goals better meet my needs.  They are fluid, they are dynamic, they are lead to smaller milestones I can set and reach easily throughout the year.  They are not these lofty resolutions that loom over my head and I beat myself up over when I don't stick with them after the first few weeks of the new year.  Some aren't meant to be achieved in January.  I have all year to work on these goals.  Rather than resolving to do something, I am determined to better myself by achieving these goals...the goals that are what I want, not what society things should be my resolutions for the year.  So that is where I am with looking back on last year and forward to the next.  How about you?

QUESTIONS:  What are your goals for 2013?  Did you meet your goals for 2012?  How will you spend NYE?

We got a Starbucks! And Potluck Food

First off, Merry Christmas to all my readers that celebrate this holiday.  Although I don't, my husband does, so we have already exchanged gifts, had an extra special breakfast, and will soon head to get some Chinese for dinner (the standard Christmas day out for Jews!)

I am slowly gathering up pictures that have yet to be posted.  I have some time off from work now, which is nice, so I am hoping to get caught up on posts and sharing pictures.  

I know I mentioned this before, but things have gotten very crazy around here and I have found myself without a lot of free time for blogging.  I went from 16 hours at WIC to 31 hours most weeks (going back to 20 in Feb!).  On top of that I was teaching 2 classes, as well as taking 2 classes (in a doctoral program), writing on 2 other websites monthly, and then add in some volunteer activities...yeah, I have been busy!

The good news is that while I may have been too busy to work on this blog, I did have some time to hang out with friends and Ryan.  One of those great evenings with friends included a potluck to celebrate the going away of one of our Key Spouses.  For those of you that are not associated at all with the military you are probably wondering what a Key Spouse it.  Basically this is a squadron appointed volunteer position where I help keep spouses connected to what is going on with the squadron and on base when their spouses are deployed.  We also help organize events for families when our spouses are busy with exercises and extra long days at work.  It is something I really enjoy doing and I love all of my other Key Spouses for our squadron.

Here are some pictures of the foods we made for the going away potluck.

Mac and Cheese

Tapenade

Taco Bar

7 Layer Bean Dip (which I made!)

This bean dip ends up being my quick, go-to recipe for potlucks.  In case you are interested, it is super easy, and here are the ingredients.

Starting from the bottom and working your way up:

Refried beans (I use 1 can fat free refried beans)

Guacamole (I mash 1 avocado with garlic powder and some lime juice)

Diced tomato

Sour cream (I use light)

Green chilies (or jalapenos)

Black olives 

Shredded cheese

Next up I have some pictures to share of the local Japanese apples.  Apples are a major product from the region where I live in Japan.  They can get quite pricey, but for the most part they are some of the highest quality apples you will find.  A few weeks back we found the biggest apple we have ever seen. 

Here it is leading the pack of "baby" apples!

It is a little hard to tell, but this apple is huge.

This picture may give you a better idea of just how bog this apple really is.  Yeah, just a little smaller than my head!  Surprisingly, this was very flavorful.

The apple was to compliment the other items we purchased to make up our sophisticated movie watching snacks.  This included some olives.

We served them in our olive dish that we bought when we lived in the Azores.

Here is the apple inside.

French bread of course.

Who could resist a cheese platter like this?  Certainly not us!

Lots of goodies inside.

We also picked up some Japanese baked goods for the next day.  

Oh, and we enjoyed wine with our cheese plate.  There is always wine!  We lived in Europe for 2 years, so wine is still very much a part of our lifestyle!

Now I want to share a major milestone for this area.  You may not think Starbucks is a big deal, maybe overrated and overpriced, and really just a luxury and not something we need.  But, I know many of you probably still go to Starbucks or at least recognize that this is a coffee symbol and a symbol of the US.  Therefore, living abroad for the last 3 years without access to a Starbucks has increased the value this has for us.  We have plenty of other good coffee chains around, so I could go on living without a Starbucks, but that didn't stop us from driving 30 minutes to get to the new Starbucks in Hachinohe.

Tokyo and other areas already have Starbucks, so this is not new to Japan.  However, I think the nearest Starbucks to the base (not counting the cafes on base that brew Starbucks) is about 90 minutes away.  This is the first location in this area and people went nuts when it opened.  Nuts?  Not kidding, I heard that traffic blocked up the roads and wait times for the drive through was insane.  I read one article that said people waited 7 hours in line to sample coffee.  Yeah, we were not those people.  We waited until about a month or so after opening before trying it out.  It was busy, but not a ridiculous wait.  I was definitely glad we went.

Here is the parking lot.  They picked a good location.  Across the street you can see the hospital.

Inside they had many good looking food options, but we just stuck with ordering drinks.

Nearing the end here, I promise.  I know this post is not the most exciting! 

Here is a red wine that Ryan and I bought when we were in Paris.  It traveled back to Portugal with us and then all the way to Japan.  Thankfully we were able to ship our wine collection in our household goods.  

We enjoyed this wine with some perogies, which Ryan cooked up for us.  They were not as good as our homemade ones, but they were good, and certainly took less time than the homemade ones.

That brings me to my last picture.  I had a Scentsy Party!  I had never heard of this company until I moved overseas and I am definitely hooked.  I am allergic to a lot of scents, but I have also found tons that I can tolerate.  I even use it in my office at work.  My office smells like peaches, which I love because I am a dietitian and get to talk about healthy eating with our WIC participants.  Here is Ashley, my lovely (and very pregnant) Scentsy consultant.  She is awesome!  I had some friends show up and we all had a nice afternoon playing some games and smelling the scents.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever heard of Scentsy?  Are you a Starbucks fan?  What did you do to celebrate Christmas?

Happy Hanukkah from Japan

Happy Hanukkah everyone!  Yes, I am a little late, but better late than never.  Right?

Last year I tried to get my friends together for a Hanukkah party but the close proximity to Christmas and lots going on made it difficult.  This year I decided not to even try and just celebrate at home with my husband.

That was until my friend Emily asked if I was having a party.  I said no and she told me she would love it if I did.  Emily is an amazing woman so I was not surprised that within days she secured a room on base with a kitchen right in the midst of holiday season.  In nothing short of a (Hanukkah) miracle, we had a location, so all that was left was getting the word out.  Emily had learned about Hanukkah as a child and wanted the same experience for her children.  I quickly learned that some of my other friends also really wanted to celebrate with me.

So last Saturday, on the last day of Hanukkah, I threw Misawa's first (or what I believe to be the first) Hanukkah party.

Here is Emily helping me get ready.

I found Hanukkah plates and table cloths last year on base which meant that I had them for the party this year.

So cute!

I made matzo ball soup and latkes.  I know matzo ball soup is not your typical hanukkah food, but since my sister and I don't eat meat we always had matzo ball soup at every holiday.  Now a holiday just isn't a holiday without it!  I was really excited to see that I had so much room to cook.  Trust me, this room will be on my list of places to reserve for future parties.  It was awesome!

I make my latkes from the box mix.  Grandma always did when she hosted the party, so making them just feels right.  I think next year I plan to make them from scratch, but the thought of it not smelling like grandma's house from frying up the mix makes me a little hesitant to give up the tradition.  At the same time, I know I really should be making them from scratch.  We'll see how it goes.  I have a whole year to figure it out.

I decided to order a cookie cake.  My friend here has a cookie home business and does amazing work.  She did not disappoint this time!  I love how this turned out.  Amazing!

Emily made some rugelach, which are a kind of Jewish cookie/baked good.  They were awesome!

Since everyone else there was not Jewish, I went over the story of Hanukkah, explained the traditional foods, taught the kids to play dreidel and lit the menorah.  We had an awesome time.  I am really thankful that Emily asked me to do this.  I am also really thankful to find that so many of my friends cared and were interested in learning more.  It was a lot of fun.  I hope we can make this a Misawa tradition.

QUESTIONS:  Did you go to a Hanukkah party this year?  What is your favorite holiday tradition?  Di you host any parties this year?

Sweet Potato Soup Guest Post (and winner)

The holiday season is an incredibly busy time.  Factor in the end of the school semester (taking two classes, teaching 1 that ends before Christmas) and picking up more hours of work (2 co-workers had their last days) and it is easy to see why I am so busy that I can't even find time to relax and get some new posts up.  But I promise they are coming!

In fact, I wrote a guest post over at Stone Soup, the blog for the Food and Nutrition Magazine, which is from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  The theme was Fall so I decided to write about some of my fall favorites in Japan.  One of these is a sweet potato soup that I made from the Unno potato.  Ever heard of the Unno?  Yeah, I hadn't either.  It is s purple variety of sweet potato local to the area where I live in rural northern Japan.  Actually, the outside of the potato is purple but the inside is a creamy color that turns orange when you cook it.  

In Japan there is a restriction on potato imports from the US.  This means all of the potatoes we get at the commissary are Japanese.  Around Thanksgiving time a lot of people will ask about getting in American sweet potatoes so that they can make their favorite dishes.  Sadly, the answer is no.  The closest thing in Japan to an American yam for the holidays is the Unno potato.  People make do, but I have heard that it is just not the same for sweet potato pie.  I guess the answer there is stick with canned.  For me, I am happy to experiment with the Unno potato.  It worked perfectly in the sweet potato soup I came up with. 

So head over to Stone Soup and check out my post:

http://foodandnutritionmagazine.com/rediscovering-fall-japanese-sweet-potato-soup 

Oh, I nearly forgot.  I did select a winner for a copy of my book.  I never heard back, so I have selected another winner.  Congratulations to Jessie from the Happiness in Health!