Nihon Monkey Baby Blanket

I made this baby blanket for a friend of a friend whom had a baby last month. The couple is from Japan and they named their little girl Hanna. I have been eyeing this monkey-karate print at Joanns for a while, and I thought it would be perfect for a baby Japanese girl. The kanji script on it says "Nihon" which means "Japan". I used a cuddle flannel print for the back and tied it with white yarn.

I had a blanket like this someone in my family made me with Carebears for years and I'm sure it's still floating around somewhere. They're pretty easy to make but they're a lifetime of memories. I hope they like it!

Salmon with Eel Sauce Dinner

This one is actually about a week old, but I did take a picture of it so I'll share. In a continual effort to make my (any my roomate's) eating habbits healthier I try to find time to make us at least one full meal a day. This was salmon, broccoli, rice, and miso soup.

The rice I made in my pampered chef microwaveable rice-maker. I add a slpash of rice wine vinegar and sesame seeds to give it a little more flavor. It doesn't add a lot, but it makes for a slightly sweeter rice. I topped it with some Japanese eel sauce from a bottle. Just a little drizzle.

The salmon was marinated in teriyaki sauce overnight from frozen. I cooked it on a lower setting for quite a while (10-15 min) and let it become blackened. I love blackened fish and poultry I don't know why we Americans don't do it more often. The salmon was also drizzled in eel sauce which is a nice addition to the teriyaki marinade.

The miso and the broccoli are instant. Bag steamed from frozen broccoli and powdered miso. Just some low-calorie sides to get in some fiber, nurtients, and a little extra protein.

Pie!

My roommate called me and asked me how many strawberries she should bring home from her trip home on Memorial Day.

Um... how many can you get? Because I can do a lot with strawberries!

So the first thing: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Oh yes. Sweet and tangy.

Let's Spread out and Grow!

We were able to aquire a second garden plot for the summer. Thus, I transplanted the gourds so they have lots of room to spread out and grow. I gave the peppers more room too, and they're already blowing up.

I also picked some of our lettuce and had some delicious salad. I added some fresh cilantro and parsley, delicious.

On another note, hurray for healthy living. A friend of mine got me started on weight watchers in March and yesterday I am officially down 20 pounds. *dance*

It's been a few weeks now, but I made this dress for my friend Shannon. We went down to Lake Street Mercantile and she picked out this lovely blue and black plaid from their sale vault with every intention of making it for her and teaching her a little bit about how to sew.

I whipped this one out in a few hours, but considering it's the third time I've used this pattern, it was pretty much a cakewalk.

The pattern is from New Look. I love the cut and the way the bodice fits. Of course there are 3-4 different ways you can make it, but I've been pretty much using the same style every time and changing how I put the back together.

For Shannon's I used a criss-cross in the back so that it gave her a little more support. I also ommitted the zipper because it's just a casual sundress and, really, do you always need a zipper in these dresses?

Juicy Mini-Harvest

Right now, you defiantly wish that computers were scratch-n-sniff, because these smell amazing. The sweetest strawberries, juicy and ripe with summer. You can almost smell the sun radiating off them!

Happy Memorial Day!

Yummy Miso

Back in THE DAY when we were all poor and in college (wait, I'm still poor and in college...) Michele used to make us "Yummy Ramen"; which is pretty much ramen with chicken and mushrooms and any other veggies you have in the house. It makes something that is a cheap base into a decent meal, which is always welcome in my book.

Recently I've been on a kick to look for new recipes to try in an attempt to make my recipe repertoire have a little more variety. I picked up a lot of Asian cookbooks including Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat which is a rather hilarious book about a Japanese-American's reflection on how she ate in Japan and how she ate in the USA. One of the recipies she mentions is a delicious Japanese breakfast: Miso soup and an egg. That's it! It's really good, trust me, you should try it.

All you need is your local supermarket or local Asian market packaged miso soup mix, an egg, and your prefered cute bowl to serve it in. Boil your water and make your miso. Fry the egg to your preference and slide it right into the soup! Eat it with a spoon or eat it with chopsticks and slurp the soup right from the bowl. That's how they do it and so do I!

It's really good for you and far more filling and satisfying than a bowl of cereal. The miso soup alone is only 25 calories with .5 grams of fat. For those of you doing Weight Watchers...it's all of .5 point and the egg is just 2!

Miso is made from bean paste and the mix usually has things like dried onions, spinach, nori (seaweed), and dried tofu in it. If you want to make it even better add veggies yourself. Onions,

pea pods, baby corn, bamboo shoots, carrots, spinach, broccoli, and celery are all good additions. If you want you can even throw in some of that sushi wrapping seaweed you might have around. Seaweed is practially the ocean's version of spinach. It has vertually no calories but is FULL of nutrients and vitamins.

So give it a try and tell me how you liked it! You don't even have to have it with breakfast, try it as a side with dinner, or a mid-afternoon snack. Either way it's a cheap and easy way to get a little satisfaction without eating empty calories.