A Japanese Breakfast II

Spending a very slow Sunday morning. My cold has subsided a bit, and I am hungry for a substantial breakfast since I went to bed early to get rid of the fever last night.

So I made myself a hearty breakfast.

menu:
brown rice (oats and millet cooked together)
miso soup (bean sprouts and seaweed)
spinach (sesame paste on)
picked plum and sea kelp

3 years ago back in southern California, my usual Sunday brunch consisted of white flour, butter, sugar and maple syrup, in a form of pancakes. I never would have imagined eating the way I did this morning! Not in a million years.

Until next time,

Sak

Saturday Night

Had a semi-date dinner plan but since my nose is running Niagara style and my occasional coughing makes people imagine that I'm dying, I came home like a good girl. Recovery from a cold is in high order, seeing that it's my 6th day in. Should probably go to bed soon but since it's Saturday night I've decided to enjoy the time alone at flat.

Starting with re-decorating the space with a lovely bunch of fuchsia carnations that I picked up at the grocery store after work tonight.


A girl space complete. And of course...

...The Big Ban Theory!!!


My favorite sitcom of all (simply because I love nerds and geeks)! They started playing the show on TV in Japan a few months ago every Saturday, and I'm in awe. Whenever I don't have a dinner plan or girls' night out, I have something to look forward to after work. I'm a Howard fan all the way.

And strawberries to go with my TV time!!


The yumminess is beyond words.

Wish it was Saturday night every night.

Until next time,

Sak

Morning Porridge

Breakfast should be something easy on the stomach. 80 percent of the time I make a bowl of oatmeal, but this morning I was feeling a little more hungrier than usual and made myself a brown rice porridge.

ingredients:
brown rice (cooked)
dried kelp dried shitake mushroom
pickled-plum paste
water


You just cook everything in a pot. Easy to make, hearty and warm and filling, it's perfect for a little wake-up meal.

sak

Radish Tea

My skin is being a little iffy since I'm coming down with a cold and also expecting the delightful time of the month soon. My latest remedy for the skin problems, namely blemishes?: radish tea.

Ingredients:
dried radish (a quoter cup)
water (2 cups)

You just boil them together on a medium heat for about 5 minutes. You can remove the radish or eat it, but I prefer using it for some other dish than in my drink.


It does taste a bit like radish, a little tangy and sweet. It takes a bit of getting used to the taste since I still think of radish as a vegetable and not exactly a "tea" material. But it works great on your skin the next morning when you wake up, I can guarantee you.

Sak

Brown Rice Millet Jelly

A vice in macrobiotics is sugar. Processed sugar, like the regular sugar, confectioner's sugar, or even brown sugar, are considered unnecessary in your body.

But that doesn't mean "sweetness" is banned forever in your diet. You simply use more natural alternatives, such as ama-sake, which I often use in my cooking as you can see in my blog entries, maple syrup, and brown rice millet jelly. The last one of which I had never had in my kitchen until today. I had another delivery made with lots of macrobiotic food and organic stuff this morning. Included was the item in question.

It's sort of like honey in texture, only maybe thicker, and tastes a lot like maple syrup. Very tasty on its own.

I tried it in my brown rice flakes that I blogged about the other day, and it was really yummy. Will use it more often now.

Until next time,

Sak

Lunch at Home I

The sun light gently comes in through the south window, and I simply cannot think of a better place to be right now than right here in my living room.

A half day off is really lovely. I can't get this enough. Being able to go to work at 5 pretty much means that I get to eat three meals at home!

My lunch today:
vegetable-fruit soup
squash bread
roasted chestnuts


The soup is actually an organic vegetable-and-fruit juice right out of the carton. Amazing what a plain heating up can do, really, creating an instant main course of a meal!

Sak

Mid-night Snack

I have a half day off tomorrow. Yay!

And instead of being in bed at 10 at parents', I'm back at my flat spending the night up watching movies.

The stew I ate for dinner digested really quickly and I got hungry again. It's a little too late at night to be eating something but I couldn't stand it. So here is what I opted for a mid-night snack: toasted brown-rice flakes with soy milk.

I added a spoonful of ama-sake to sweeten a bit. Very easy on the stomach, and you are less guilty for eating so late and near bed time.

Until next time,

Sak

Burdock-root Stew

My dinner tonight: vegetable stew cooked with miso and soymilk.

Ingredients:
burdock root
carrots
maitake mushrooms
shiitake mushroms
spring potatoes
ginger
soy milk
miso paste
water

All in a pot cooked slowly over a medium heat until the potatoes pretty much dissolved. It's so creamy and rich, it's hard to believe it's dairy-free.

Until next time,

Sak

Pretty in White

I went to a wedding dress fitting today.

Well, the bells will be tolling this summer not for me but for one of my best gal pals.

I had never been to a wedding dress fitting. Well, it's not something I get to experience more than a couple of times in my life time, I'm assuming. So I set out to the place totally determined to take it all in and really enjoy the ride. And I have to admit, it was quite exciting being in the spacious room with big floor-to-ceiling mirror walls, and seeing my girl friend get into one dress after another two hours straight. She was glowing with a beam and looked really happy, smiling the most special smile I had ever seen on her. And I just couldn't stop telling her how beautiful she looked in every one of the gown she put on.



I have to admit. Seeing all the gowns did put me into a perspective of things about my single-and-mingle-in-a-jungle life. While waiting for my gal to get clad in all white behind the curtain, I strolled around the room greeting the dresses hung, imagining which one I would choose for myself.

I never thought I had it in me, but I might have a bride gene or at least a shred of it left in me still. If, after all.

I thought they would give me a glass of champagne like they do at the Vera Wang showrooms, but instead it was a cup of peach tea. Oh well. It was just as lovely, though.

Until next time,

Sak

Lunch at Work I

This is the lunch I brought to work today.

brown rice (this time with black rice grains)
pickled plum
steamed broccoli

Here is a delightful dressing that I tossed the broccoli with.

ingredients:
hato-mugi miso
white sesami paste
a bit of maple syrup

Very tasty and filling.

I break out less lately, and I have a feeling all the brown rice I've been eating is paying off.

Until next time,

Sak