12/11/2011

I am a day late for my scrapbook day, but better late than never. December 11th was Sunday and we had our normal routine - lazy morning in our pjs and then church in the afternoon. I have been trying to be better about preparing dinner before we go to church as we always get home and are hungry, tired, and it is dinner time. Normally we just pick up bentos at the grocery on the way home, but I felt like I need to be more productive in the morning so we can have a good meal when we get home. Yesterday I fancied a new recipe from a book my American sister-in-law gave me from her square dancing network. It was a chicken and rice casserole and turned out really well. I tweaked it a bit and added broccoli to try to get some veggies in it. Low and behold, Miyako ate two servings and did not complain one time about the broccoli. Here is my version of the recipe -

First, sit out a few pieces of bread to dry.
Boil two chicken breasts and shred
Steam broccoli
Combine above chicken and broccoli with 3/4 cups mayo, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 2 c. cooked rice and 1/4 c water in a large mixing bowl.
Spread in baking dish.
Top with dried out pieces of bread for topping.
Bake on 375 F, 190 C, for 30 minutes.

I baked mine before we went to church and warmed it when we got home for dinner and it was not dry at all. I think next time I will add carrots for an orange veggie and maybe some shredded cheddar cheese. Thanks Aunt Kim for the cookbook - everything I have tried from this book has been a success.

The pictures of the kids were taken today. We got some fun Christmas pjs in the mail from Grandma and the kids sure do look kawaii in them. They are growing up so fast. Kei kun is still the happiest baby on the block. We were at Starbuck's with friends the other day and I left him to order my coffee. He started crying and both of my girlfriends were shocked as they both said, "This is the first time we've heard him cry." We have introduced all kinds of solids - mushed up that is - sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, zuchinni, peas, apples, pears, bananas, avocado, and pumpkin. He eats it ALL! He is so cute when he sleeps and every now and then you find him sucking his middle and ring fingers. He is definitely a blessing and we are so in love with him. I just want to eat him up. I hope he keeps his easy going personality. Miyako is lively as can be. She finally watched a show other than Charlie Brown...she watched "Frosty the Snowman" and loves it! She likes to watch him ride the train over and over. Maybe that is because we ride trains nearly every day. She loves to sing and dance. The other day I heard her trying to play "Jingle Bells" by herself on her little piano and she played most of the song by herself. I was pretty impressed, and proud. She is starting to speak a little bit more Japanese. Today when our friends left she told them "Sayonara." She also loves to repeat my friend and her little girl when they speak Japanese. She still will not speak it at her sports class or music class, but I can see her understanding more and more. I was glad she spoke it on her own today.

Well, this mama is tired so enough for now. This scrapbook day post will help me to remember how lazy our Sundays are here in Tokyo and how much I like that.