The Ramen Girl
If you want a see a fun, odd, noodle-ful movie, then The Ramen Girl just might be the flick for you. After losing her boyfriend and being stranded in Japan, Abby loses her sanity and becomes fixated on learning to make ramen, much to the displeasure of the local ramen chef she has decided will be the one to teach her.
I did have two issues with this movie. First, after a year of living in Japan, Abby still can’t speak or understand any Japanese, which I just didn’t believe and second, there wasn’t as much Japanese culture as I like in my foreign films, Abby really isolates herself and therefore us.
But I enjoyed it, and for those of you who have watched Tampopo, the first and best Noodle Western/food porn ever, keep your eyes open for a treat in The Ramen Girl.
Hubby and I just watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and I now feel like everything I have ever eaten is the equivalent of McDonald’s compared to what Jiro serves at his sushi restaurant.
Watching this has made me realize that perfect is something to strive for, not something to reach. If Jiro can feel that his sushi, rice, a slice of fish, and some sauce can be improved upon, than certainly the things I do in my life can be improved upon. I can always strive to do better, to learn more, to hone my skills, my craft, my intention, and my focus.
I am a vegetarian, but there is something so vibrant and seemingly nurturing and nutritious about raw fish: the color, the transparent shine. I don’t know, maybe it’s just Jiro’s sushi which looks this way, but I now want to go out and have sushi. Maybe someday I’ll even go to Japan, making my reservation at least a month in advance, and eat a meal at Jiro’s. I mean they start at 30,000 yen and can be more, depending on what is fresh and good that day. BTW that is $294.
Are you like Jiro always striving to be better to learn more? Do you love what you do and give your all to you work your passion?
My loving husband bought me gluten free chocolate cupcakes. For the sake of my sanity, we won’t discuss the calorie count of these amazing treats. Before I ate my cupcake, I asked my daughter to make one of the gluten free cake mixes.
She rolled her eyes and asked why. Um, hello, post cupcake sadness. She looked at me as if she didn’t know what I was talking about.
Post cupcake sadness is a serious condition. While eating one’s cupcake there is happiness and joy, which can last for a while. But the next day, or a few short hours later, when there is no cupcake, there is much sadness, wishing one had waited to eat the cupcake, and hoping cupcakes will magically appear.
But now there won’t be the horrible post cupcake sadness. Now I can go and have a yummy piece of cake, and all will be right with the Universe again.
I know they get formulaic and trite after a while, which is why you should watch My Tutor Friend 2, a Korean teen RomCom. It is cute, with lots of Korean culture which makes the story unique, well, for non-Koreans at least. There are the misunderstands, pranks, teasing, confusion, deep emotional trauma, and the hot guys and girls that we need in all our teen RomComs, with the added bonus of learning more about life of college kids in Korea.
This was fun silly movie. I enjoyed it and would watch it again.
Sorry the only trailer I could fine is in Korean
Sorry between being sick and jury duty I didn’t have time to read blogs 😦 I will bring you extra special ones next week.
After a minimal amount of research, I am very busy you know, I have several dishes to share with you. I wish I had prepped more for this segment of my Armchair Adventures, but I was gone for two weeks for work, we took the work kids to San Diego for a week then the next week was a drug intoxication recognition seminar in Phoenix.
I hope you enjoy what I have managed to come up with.
Rules to Armchair Adventures Food Porn. If I haven’t significantly changed a recipe then I will just talk about it and offer a link to the website I got it from or the book I got it from.
My recipes are gluten free and vegan due to my dietary needs. If I’ve altered a recipe I will leave a link to the original one so if you want to try it you can.
The first dish we made, my 12 year old daughter made this one, is a vegan version of nikujaga, meat with vegetables. The food blog I got it from had already made the changes and these is a photo, thankfully because I forgot to take a picture.
I didn’t change much, just the tofu. I’m not a huge fan of fried tofu and I am trying to eat healthy so I baked my tofu, here’s what I did.
Cubed I pkg of extra firm tofu
Placed on a oiled cookie sheet so cubes didn’t touch.
Brushed on a mild sauce.
Baked in a 350 oven for 20-30 min.
Let the tofu cool before removing it from the cookie sheet.
Okay the tofu is going to stick, next time I make it I’m going to try parchment paper and see if that helps.
Baking the tofu like this dries it out a bit, making it chewier and it doesn’t break up when you cook it.
Sauce- you was to use just a little bit- if you choose to use any at all. The sauce I used
¼ c water
2Tbs Tamari
2Tbs Braggs
2tsp Marin
2 tsp Spike – an all purpose seasoning
1 tsp garlic pwd
I mixed that together then using a pastry brush brushed some onto the tofu. I also could have used the sauce from the dish, or left them plain. But don’t add too much you want the tofu to dry out.
I liked this dish a lot, it had a good flavor, which was subtle not over powering like some American Japanese restaurants can be. I can easily see a Samurai eating this dish. This is something I have bookmarked and will make again.
In all of the books pickled vegetables are mentioned so I decided to try some. I went to the market where they have a large import selection. I found a selection of pickled Japanese vegetables and choose: cucumbers, missed vegetables with lotus root, ginger, and plums.
Hubby made some really yummy rice and vegetables in a bottled Teriyaki sauce, which was yummy. When we take an Armchair Adventure to modern Japan I’ll try Teriyaki recipes myself.
Pickled Cucumber- these were good, there was s spice in them I was unfamiliar with and they were a bit saltier then I am use to.
Pickled mixed vegetables- I liked these, they were a bit sweet and still crunchy.
Pickled plum- I couldn’t eat this at all, it was sour and very salty. I might try and find a recipe with pickled plums and see if I can eat them that way.
Pickled ginger- this one was a cheat, I love ginger and I’ve had pickled ginger many times before. Once I was done with my taste test I dumped the pickled ginger all over my rice and vegetables.
Warning- check the labels we found MSG in many of the pickled vegetables at the store.
I did take my daughter out for sushi to celebrate our journey to Japan. She was very brave and tried a lot of new things. The spicy crab roll was her favorite.
Do you have a favorite traditional Japanese foods? Any recipes or food blogs you can share with us?
Don’t forget our vacations to Shogun Japan isn’t over yet, on Friday I’ll be sharing several movies to finish up our journey.
Now that I have completed my thirty day cleanse I have gathered up some tips to share and hopefully remind myself of what I want to be doing.
1. If you are planning on increasing the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables you eat, brush your teeth more. The increase of acids can make teeth and gums sensitive. I would also recommend a toothpaste with baking soda; it helped me a lot.
2. If you have decided, or need to for health reasons, cut something out of your diet, don’t try to make new versions of old favorites right away. I’ll give an example. Let’s say you are removing dairy from your diet. For the first month don’t buy the substitute dairy products, or try to make vegan versions of favorite dishes. Make all new things, try different types of foods, and new recipes. The reason for this is twofold. One: if you wait a month, the non-dairy substitutes will taste better because your memory of the ‘real thing’ will have faded some. Second: if you are constantly trying to recreate favorites and they don’t taste the same, you will feel a lot more deprived because of what you are giving up. So for the first month of a new diet (and I mean change to a healthy diet not a fad to drop weight before an event), have fun experimenting with new recipes and wait to recreate favorites until that first month has passed.
3. Greedy eaters (don’t turn away from the computer you know who you are . . . ) You are the person who unfortunately lives with other people, and therefore there are others who eat your food. Normally this isn’t an issue, but when something yummy is served for a meal you overeat so they don’t eat it all! Oh, I’ve been here many times. Rod will serve something delicious for dinner, and I eat it all, maybe even lick my plate clean, and I’m full. But I want more, because it tasted good and because I don’t want my kids to eat it all! So I go and get more even though I’m not in the least bit hungry. Don’t worry, I have a solution: containers. Instead of getting seconds, get a portion-sized container and put some away for later. Don’t worry – if your family twitches when you get the container out of the cupboard, it just means the training with the cattle prod was successful and they won’t be touching your food. 🙂 Now that you have your second serving safely stored in the fridge where no one will touch it, you turn and glare at your family who all twitch slightly. Oh, yes, your food is safe. You can go about the rest of your night. You could eat it later or you could have it tomorrow for lunch. I adore leftovers for lunch. But the point is knowing that you have the option of eating more later will hopefully keep you from overindulging in the moment.
4. Eat the fruits and veggies first. A very common and healthy way to reduce calorie intake is to eat more fruits and veggies, which is fabulous. However, if I end my meal with a salad, I might feel deprived. I find that if I eat my salad first, then ‘fill up’ on the main dish I feel more satisfied. By eating fruits and veggies first I fill up on that lovely fiber. Then when I eat the main dish, I feel full faster and emotionally satisfied. I’m not eating small portions of the food I really enjoy then forcing myself to eat salad after because I can’t have any more. Don’t get me wrong, I love salad, but if I want to eat a small portion of homemade mac ’n’ cheese, I need to eat my salad first. Otherwise, I will go back for seconds.
5. DVR your shows, or watch them on DVD. I counted and in a one hour show there were twelve food commercials. You don’t need those constant taunts from food which typically look a lot better than they taste.
6. Stop watching food porn! As much fun as Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives is, watching it won’t help you stick to your new healthy eating choices. Unless the show is about cooking meals in your new plan don’t watch them, just skip over those channels, maybe watch sci-fi: those movie certainly won’t make you hungry.
7. Listen to your own body and do what is right for you. I know that I feel better when I don’t eat dairy. I am not saying that you must give up dairy, but that is what works best for me. What works best for you? I tried going slow, being gentle with myself, and going for my goal slowly didn’t work for me. I needed something more drastic to help break my unhealthy emotional eating habits. But what do you need? Will adding more fruits and veggies or reducing portions a little at a time work best for you, or do you need to do something more intense? Both are fine as long as you have support and help to make sure what you are doing is safe. Only you know what you need; trust yourself.
8. Buy new dishes, pretty dishes, small dishes. Seriously, perception is everything. If you are used to piling pasta all over a large plate, then you start measuring your portions, you will feel deprived when you see so little on your plate. If you get some nice dishes that are smaller, your new portion size won’t seem as much of a sacrifice.
9. Sleep. Getting enough sleep is so important to living a healthy lifestyle. You might be rolling your eyes, but when you don’t get enough sleep, your body starts looking for fuel to burn, aka food. And I honestly have yet to meet someone who goes looking for a nice salad with lean proteins when they are tired. No, you get a fancy coffee drink, then a huge pastry. But the carb loading doesn’t stop there, because all of that was too sweet so now you need something salty, to balance everything out. Next thing you know, you’re eating a sandwich made of Nutella and potato chips! When tired, your body craves fast-burning fuel, and you don’t have the emotional or mental strength to put a stop to those cravings. Please get enough sleep, it will make everything so much easier.
10. Find a physical activity you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be a hard-core cardio or muscle-building activity, just something. As good as it feels to lose weight and put on a pair of jeans that you hadn’t been able to squeeze into for a while, it feels even better to improve in something you love. When you lose weight you are able to walk faster, stretch deeper, you don’t lose your breath as quickly, your movements are cleaner, and all of these little things translate into being better at something you enjoy.
11. Emotional eating is expensive, so why are you trying to make your self-nurturing cheap or free? When I make a list of things I can do to reduce stress, take care of myself, or simply enjoy, I always try to make a list of the cheap or free things I can do instead of emotionally eating, but why? Sure, I can’t afford to get a massage every day, but when I get overly stressed out and turn to emotional eating I don’t buy just a candy bar. I also get a bag of chips, order a pizza, then Chinese food, then I want some ice cream, and the list goes on. Emotional eating doesn’t actually help, so I just keep eating. And this gets really expensive. So imagine you are starting to feel stressed and instead of getting that first ‘treat,’ you make an appointment for a message, or a pedicure, or plan going to the movies, or whatever it is that will help you feel better and truly nurture yourself. Wouldn’t you feel better knowing you were properly taking care of yourself?
I hope these tips for a healthy lifestyle help, and please share your own. What works for you? What do you need to have to stay focused on the life you really want? What tips can you share for living healthy?
I am out of town, we’re taking all the work kids to beach then I go to a drug awareness workshop so I won’t be back until June 22nd. Please leave comments, I promise to respond as soon as I get back! I can’t wait to see what you said.
And of course since this is Monday we need some music. This is one of my favorite Shakira songs, I love playing her music when I clean it makes it go faster and I get some shimmy practice in 🙂
While this is an American movie, it is an indie film, and it’s about a different culture within America, so I’m counting it.
First get your Indian meal ready, this is some great India food porn. Samir takes over running his father’s Indian restaurant, Tandoori Palace. Doesn’t every city have a Tandoori Palace? In doing so, he works with an amazing Indian chief who embraces life. Samir learns more then how to cook wonderful Indian food, he comes to terms with his life, his parents, and what he really wants for his future.
This is a movie I could watch over and over again. It is sweet and funny, and the advice the cook Samir hires is this amazing guru live life to the fullest kind of guy.
This movie is fine for the whole family to watch, but probably won’t be interesting to younger children.
Two Fat Ladies is a hysterical British cooking show staring Clarissa Dickson-Wright and Jennifer Paterson. The ladies travel around England in a motorcycle with a sidecar. The ladies use fresh, local ingredients to make traditional English meals. This is a wonderful peek into the English countryside and watching them cook is so much fun! As a vegetarian I can’t eat most of what the ladies cook, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the show anyway. They are so sarcastic and snarky, it’s a very fun show. If you find yourself tired of re-runs of your favorite food shows then you need to check out Two Fat Ladies.
Alica McKenna Johnson 