Dining Japanese Style

Wow, it has been quite some time since I posted.  Not that I need to make excuses or even that it matters what excuse I have for being away from my blog so long, but I did want to say I am sorry and fill everyone in one why I have been absent from the blogging world.  First, if you do not already know, I started working at the WIC office on base.  I absolutely LOVE my job!  But in the meantime we had 2 employees leave (one back to the US and one had a baby) so I have been picking up more hours than usual.  I went from a 20 hour work week to 31 hours most weeks.  It may not seem like a lot, but because I have other jobs it means work spills into my evening hours and into my weekends, which means less time to blog.  I am currently teaching 3 classes between 2 different online universities.  In total I have 60 students to interact with and grade the work for each week.  Needless, it's busy.  On top of that I am also taking 2 doctoral classes, both of which I am really enjoying.  

I wish I could say it stops there but I also continue writing monthly for 2 websites and I do some volunteering on base.  Just last week I spoke to the Daisy Scouts about healthy eating.  They are so cute!  My main volunteer role, which I enjoy so much and is a part of my everyday life so I forget it is volunteering, is as a Key Spouse.  Basically, this is an appointed position (appointed by my husbands squadron commander) and I serve as a liaison between spouses/families and the squadron.  The official role helps spouses out when the active duty member is deployed, but because we are so remote, our squadron spouses also work to stay in contact with spouses all the time and plan events to boost morale and keep families connected.  It has been great for the past year and a half and I am now ready to accept my new role as Lead Key Spouse for the squadron.  I am really excited and hope to do a lot of good keeping spouses in the loop about what is going on around base and provide a support network for them here, miles and miles away from their families.

Yes, I do get some free time to take a breather, head to the gym, and enjoy good Japanese food out with friends and Ryan.  Obviously some things, like blogging, get pushed to the back burner.  But I can't complain!  I love my life and all that I do.  Plus, I have some travel coming.  I haven't been to the US since Sept 2011, so I am happy to say that I will be in the States for all of April.

Now, on to the good stuff.  I have some fun food pictures to share.  The first is from a traditional Japanese restaurant that Ryan and I went to with our old next door neighbors.  This was a few days before they moved back to the states.  I am sad because I had become very close with Jasmine and it was great having a friend next door.  We were often over each others places and our dogs went back and forth playing with each other.  So when it was time for them to move back, we made sure to all go out to dinner.

You can see here that it is a traditional Japanese style of dining.  We had to take our shoes off and sit on the tatami mats.  At least here you can put your legs down under the table instead of sitting with your legs crossed.  Ryan is over 6 feet tall so this is a little easier for him, assuming the floor goes down far enough!

We started off with edamame.  Very Japanese!

Jasmine and Andre tried the yakitori, which is meat on a stick.  They made some faces with some off the odder meat choices.  Ryan wasn't even brave enough to try!

I loved the presentation of Ryan's meal.

Still not sure what it is, but it was some sort of meat and onion dish that was cooking in this pot.

Mine was served with a traditional presentation as well.

I had the lobster tempura.  Yes, it was as good as that sounds.  I actually think it was a giant prawn and not lobster, but I am not complaining.  It also came with some veggies.

Next up are some pictures from Coco's.  Now, this isn't the world famous Coco's curry place.  It is a different Coco's that is more like a Denny's or IHOP (minus the pancakes) sort of establishment.  Honestly, we heard mixed things about it, but I loved the atmosphere.  I think because we went in not expecting the curry house we were not disappointed like so many others have been.

One thing I thought was cool was that the menu had calories listed.  It is hard to see here, but it is listed just about the 880 yen.  At least you can see what the dish looks like.

Now you can see the calories a little better.  It is 661 calories, and I think it is 32.2 grams of carbohydrate, but I am not sure if one of these is supposed to be fat.  I need to look into this a little better and see what those other numbers really mean. 

I was excited to see that they offered half portions of some things.  In fact, this looked so good that I ordered it.  Not too bad for 155 calories.  Although now looking at this I wonder if it is 13.4 grams for the fat...or is it protein?  I give up!

Whatever it is, this was tasty!

For dinner I ordered something I don't usually get and wasn't even sure I would like it.  I went with the grilled mackerel.  I was surprised that I enjoyed it this much.  Now, the grated yam (white stuff in the bowl) is definitely not my thing.  Neither Ryan or I are a fan.

It also came with rice and a soup that had meat in it so I just didn't eat it.  I tried to order this not as a set but the server didn't understand me.  Oh well!

Since I didn't think I was ordering the set meal, I ordered bread.  In the end I wound up with too much food.  But that's ok!

Ryan tried out the onion soup.

Dinner for this was a steak.  He rarely gets the chance to eat meat, so he decided to go for it since they had so many steak options.

The best was dessert.  I knew everyone said this place is great for desserts.  There seems to be a strawberry festival going on (no idea why this time of year) and almost everything, everywhere is flavored with strawberry.  So I ordered the strawberry parfait.  Ryan and I shared.  It was really good.

Next up was a trip we made to a cafe for lunch one weekend.  This cafe is just outside the gate for the base.  I couldn't believe we had never been before.

They had a nice set for lunch.  We both ordered the egg salad sandwich and it came with the best corn soup I have had yet.  Corn soup is a very popular soup in Japan.  Just about everywhere that serves soup will have the corn soup.  This is by far the best I have tried yet.

Last up are some sweets.  First are some baked goods that I split with Jasmine and Andre on their second to last day at the base.  They had never been to this bakery and always wanted to try it so I took them there as a farewell.  We picked out a few things and then split them all up.

The items they are most known for is the banana cream filled French toast.  It is heavenly!  Definitely a treat. 

I thought this was a cute way to end this post.  I love the Japanese and this is one reason why.  How cute!  It is a little roll filled with chocolate.  

Well, that is all for now but I hope to post again soon.  Just keep checking back.  I'm still here.  I promise!

One last thing...Andrea is the winner of a copy of my book Train Your Brain to get Thin!  Thank you all for entering.  Congrats Andrea!  The book will be on it's way soon.

QUESTIONS:  What has been keeping you busy recently?  Any travel plans in your future?

Riding the Stove Train

Last weekend Ryan and I went on a day trip from the base to ride the Tsugaru Stove Train.  This train has been in operation since 1940 and makes 2 trips a day during the winter months.  Part of what attracted me to this was the thought of riding on the train through heavy snow covered terrain.  Something about that just seemed magical sounding, almost like being in a movie.

We arrived at the train station, which has probably been around just as long as the train itself, and quickly rushed inside.  You can see by the snow everywhere that it was definitely cold outside.

Although I can't read what this sign says, I like that it had the cute little picture of the stove.

While we waited inside the station we looked at the local products for sale.  Any idea what is in the bottle with the red liquid?  Apple juice!  Yes, there is an apple grown around here that has red flesh and they make this special juice from it.  We came close to buying it but passed in the end.

After a short wait we were ushered outside and lined up to await our boarding.  We were riding on the Tugarutetudo Line.

We then had a fun treat.  We were told these high school students were selling special miso flavored donuts.  I think they were fundraising, possibly for a sports team.

Miso donut?  Not kidding, these were miso donuts, and we were told this is a special flavor for this region.  I thought the packaging was really cute.

Didn't really look like anything out of the ordinary.  It was actually really good though, but definitely savory and not sweet.  It almost tasted like a pound cake, but richer.

We ate our donuts while we waited to be taken down to the platform to board.  I caught a glimpse of the train from up above.  It definitely looks old!

If you look closely you can see the black smoke pouring out of the chimney.  Ok, not the most environmentally friendly thing out there, but the point of the train is the nostalgia and novelty of the stove train.  The ride was only 25 minutes so at least it doesn't run for hours and hours.

Almost there and ready to board!

Getting closer!  This was good because by now we were definitely freezing.

Here is what the stove looks like inside the car we road in.

Close up you can get a better view of the stove and then the coal they put out on display.

Here we are enjoying out ride, although the sun behind us mixed with the snow outside gave us this nice glare.

After the short ride we boarded the bus and headed to a local mall for lunch.  This is about 3 hours from the base so we have never been to this mall before.  Almost immediately after entering we spotted this bakery and knew we wanted something from here for lunch.

I ate an egg salad sandwich, and then tried this kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) pastry.  It was so good!

And for dessert?  This mall has a Starbucks!  I splurged and ordered their Valentine's fancy hot chocolate special.  It was so good!

After lunch we boarded the bus again and headed to a pottery studio.  Yes, you read that correctly.  The final activity for the day was making our own pottery.  The options were to make a mug or a plate.  Here we are watching the instructor as he effortlessly makes a perfect mug.

Ryan and I both opted to make a plate.  It just looked a little easier!  We all started off with a piece of clay.

This one is my plate.

This one is Ryan's plate, but after this he did a little more work and made the top edges even and smoothed everything out.

See, much smoother.

Here I am with my plate.  So this means now I have made a sakiori weaving placemat, a glass blown cup,  a pot using an ancient pottery technique, and now this plate.  I am feeling very accomplished in Japanese culture art works!

When we were all done we headed to the main studio and looked at their beautiful pottery works that were for purchase.  On the way over to the building I took some fun pictures of the statues that were partially buried in the snow.

I think there is a horse statue hiding in there!

Well, that does it for our fun day out riding the stove train and exploring northern Japan.  It was a ton of fun and I am glad we decided to go on the trip.  I love that the base offers tours like this.  It helps us really get a chance to explore the local area and learn about the history and culture here.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever ridden on a stove train?  Have you ever made pottery?  Is it snowing where you live?

My Book Was Shown on The Today Show! (and giveaway)

Saturday morning I woke up to the most exciting news.  My book Train Your Brain to Get Thin had been shown on the Today Show in a segment titled "Science-y or Emotional Eater? Find the Right Diet Book for You".

My book was mentioned in the category of "Change Your Relationship with Food (emotional eating)."

I am still overwhelmed and in shock, I guess you could say.  This is absolutely huge.  The segment even mentioned 4 key criteria to help you find not only the right book for you, but a credible book or something that will really help (taken from the article link below):

body of scientific evidence to support the plan

author health credentials

plan is easy to understand and implement

not a quick fix (“when it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”) but for long term success

It is great to know that someone out there found my book and determined all of these criteria to be true.  I am beyond excited and so happy that so many people will benefit from my book since now so many people know it exists.  I even got an email from a friend that has lost 10 pounds now since reading my book!

Here is a link to the video with with article about it at the bottom.  Enjoy!

WATCH VIDEO HERE

Oh, and in light of the recent publicity, I am giving away one signed copy to a lucky reader!  Just post a comment here telling me one healthy change you have made so far this year and are sticking with.  Giveaway ends Thursday, January 24, 2013 @ 11:59 PM EST.

Good luck and thank you all for your support!

French, Italian, Indian, and Chinese Cuisine

Would you believe we have them all right here in rural northern Japan?  Well, we do!  In the past few weeks Ryan and I have been out and about enjoying just about every type of cuisine we can find.  Probably enjoying them all little too much, but you almost can't help it when your spouse returns home safely from Afghanistan!

Here are some of the things we have been enjoying here:

French- We found this bottle of Meursault at a nearby grocery store.  This is a lot more meaningful than a bottle of wine.  Nearly 2 years ago Ryan found this wine mentioned in a magazine and wanted to try it.  They didn't sell this pricey (and I do mean pricey) French wine in the Azores, so we thought we would get in when we were moving to Japan and passing through the US.  That was a great idea until we considered the cost and remembered that it had to travel with us in our suitcases, not carry on bags.  Scratch that idea!  So when I was in CA a few weeks after we moved, I thought I would check again.  Instead, a gentleman recommended another white from the Burgundy region of France at a much more reasonable $25 price tag (much cheaper than $80).  I brought it home and a full year later, Ryan and I enjoyed the bottle.  It was devine (Macon Villages is the name and I HIGHLY recommend it) and this drove us to seek out more whites from Burgundy.  Long story short, the Japanese are fans of the French and with a little searching we found this (yes, expensive because we paid in yen too) bottle of Meursault.  

The verdict?  Good, but the Macon Villages we had was actually much better.  Still a huge fan of white Burgundy wines.

To go with the wine we had to get some cheeses.  To save on money after the wine splurge we opted to go to the grocery store and buy these individually instead of on a pre-made platter.  Yum!

While we were wine searching, we discovered a nearby liquor store selling a variety of beers from around the world.  I picked this beer, La Trappe, mostly for the purple label, but it turned out to be great.  This is from a Trappist brewery in the Netherlands.  Not sure if you have had a Trappist brew, but if not, definitely give it a try.  Chimay is probably the most easy to find.

On to some Italian.  One a snow, snowy day, Ryan and I decided to try this place out.  We had never been before.  It was an "off" hour (places closes after lunch and reopen for dinner, like 3-5) and we were in need of some lunch.  This place was open, so we decided to go in.

I started off with tomatoes and mozzarella.

Our entrees came with salads.

The garlic toast was a bit of a splurge.  Amazing fresh bread.

Some sort of kelp soup (I think!).

I had shrimp and pasta with tomato sauce.  Even though it was just fair, I am still planning to give this place another shot because the ambiance was perfect for a cold, snowy day.  The decor was very log cabin feeling and cozy.  Warm and inviting.  Plus, that garlic toast was amazing!

Ryan had pasta with meat sauce, and again it was less than spectacular.  Thankfully, he enjoyed the setting there too and is open to going back.

But we didn't stop the cultural food tour there.  The following weekend we went to an Indian restaurant in Hachinohe that we hadn't tried yet.  Our meals each started off with a salad.

Next up was the entrees.  Ryan and I always order 2 vegetarian dishes and split them.  I love that my husband is all for vegetarian dishes and is happy going meat free.  Indian food is always so flavorful.  It's in the spice, not the meat.  So this time we ordered a vegetable curry dish.

We also ordered aloo gobi, which is potatoes and cauliflower.  It was amazing!  And spicy, of course!

It also came with naan bread and some rice.

Last, but not least, the night before New Year's Eve, we decided to try some Chinese.  Finding an open restaurant was difficult, but we managed.

I started off with these sesame balls filled with red bean paste.  Amazing!

Ryan tried out the egg rolls.

For dinner, Ryan went with this spicy ramen soup.  After some questionable meat the last time he was here, he decided to try something completely different and go with this soup.  It was a good choice for him.  He absolutely loved it.

I ordered the crab and tofu, which is one of my favorite dishes.  I love this!

Last up, the eggplant.  We felt like we needed more veggies, so we ordered this very flavorful eggplant dish.

It was great to have 11 days off with my husband and not have too much to do.  After having him gone for a few months it was great to be able to relax and enjoy each others company.  We even worked a lot on fixing up the house.  We sold our old couches and bookshelves and purchased new ones.  The place is pretty much finished now and everything is "grown up" and matching.  I would say that we were very productive over the break and our house really shows it.  Most of the "mess" around here was cleaned up too.  It is nice to have less clutter.  What a great way to start of 2013!

QUESTIONS:  What different cuisines have you enjoyed recently?  What is your favorite Chinese dish?  Have you redecorated recently?