Chicken Kijiyaki

My new book has finally arrived! It had been six weeks since I placed my order with Amazon. I was eager to try out some new recipes. The recipe for Chicken Kijiyaki caught my eye as I flipped the pages.

I tried it out for lunch, since it's Spring Break for the boys. Just as what the book had stated, the skin was crispy and yummy. Be very careful about the heat, as you don't want to burn the chicken and have it leave a bitter after-taste =)

Recipe adapted from The Just Bento Cookbook by Mikiko Itoh

2 pcs Boneless Chicken Thighs with skin on

1 tbsp Mirin

1 tbsp Soy Sauce (I use low-sodium soy)

1 tsp Sugar

Shichimi Pepper, to taste (I omit this)

• Debone and clean the chicken thighs.
• Pat dry with a kitchen towel.
• Actually, my deboned and cleaned chicken thighs were kept frozen in the fridge. I took them out to thaw the day before. Hence, all I need to do in the morning was to give them a quick rinse and pat dry them with a kitchen towel.
• Pierce the chicken all over on the skin with the tip of your knife. This will prevent the chicken pieces from curling up during the cooking.
• Place a dry non-stick pan over high heat.
• Put in the chicken, skin side down.
• Fry till the skin is brown and crispy, pressing down on the chicken occasionally with a spatula.
• Turn the chicken pieces over. Cook till done.
• During the cooking, if the pan became too oily, you can use a paper towel to soak up the oil.
• You may want to lower the heat to prevent the chicken from burning.
• The chicken is done when you poke the middle with a knife tip and the juices run clear.
• Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and wipe the pan clean with a paper towel.
• Put the sauce ingredients into the pan, using medium-high heat, and stir until he sugar is melted.
• When the sauce is bubbling, return the chicken pieces to the pan.
• Coat the chicken pieces on both sides with the sauce.
• Remove from the pan to a plate and let cool.
• Slice and pack.
• Sprinkle with shichimi pepper if need.

The boys just love the chicken. Crispy on the skin as well as on the other! They each had a chicken thigh, and they wiped their lunch plate clean. This is going to be a regular in their lunch bento!

Holiday Reading

Here comes Fantastic Mr Fox!

Yes, another book to add to the kids' collection of books by Roald Dahl.

We received a few book order forms from the school two weeks ago. The books were offered at a very reasonable price, and made good reading materials for the holiday. A great addition to what we already have ... The Magic School Bus Science Readers, The Magic Tree House (Story and Research Guide), Christmas Stories, etc.

In fact, darling son liked the books so much, he started reading "Christmas Animal Tales" in school when he received the books. He was so engrossed in his reading that he wanted to continue reading while walking back home from school! Of course it was not possible, especially when the paths and roads were so heavily covered with ice and snow. Well, he continued reading when he got home, and by bedtime he was exhausted.

With the two-week Christmas break, he can read all he wants, and not have to worry about getting up early to go to school! We are happy to see the boys read the books on their own. We are equally happy to read to them before bedtime. Through reading, we get to impart some science general knowledge to them, like teaching them about tsunami, twisters, and weather changes.

I am happy with the purchase, and I enjoy reading the books as much as the boys!

Bento Love

Love this book!

No kawaii bentos.
Just practical, simple to prepare bentos.

My kind of bento!

Boiled Salmon Rice Bento ... This is one good bento to bring to school. Easy to cook. Healthy.

• Boil 1 fillet raw salmon in salted water.
• Cook salmon thoroughly. Don't worry about over-boiling.
• Drain and pat dry the cooked salmon with a paper towel.
• Break into chunks and remove skin and bones, if any.
• Combine 1/2 teaspoon each of sake and soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil in a bowl and add the salmon chunks.
• Once flavor is absorbed, stir the flavored salmon into rice.
• Mix in the crumbled nori seaweed, and toasted black sesame seed, if using. I omit the black sesame seeds, as I don't have any on hand.
• Sides : Blanched broccoli florets, and scrambled eggs.

The boys had the boiled salmon rice for lunch today. They finished their rice and I was one happy mom! Yummy food for the boys, and minimal cleaning up for mom!

The "Never Fail to Help Me" Book

This is one book which I will read again and again :

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk.

I use this book for the different stages of my boys' growing up. Ever been in a situation where the more you ask the child to stop crying, the louder he will cry? Like he wants Banana Crunch Cereal for breakfast and all you have is Cheerios? "We don't have anymore Banana Crunch Cereal. Have some Cheerios instead." ... "NO! I want Banana Crunch!" ... "But we don't have any." ... CRY ... The harder we explain, the harder they protest by crying. Useful tips in the book like "Give the feeling a name", "Give a child his wishes in Fantasy" help me in dealing with such tricky situations. Letting the child knows that we feel his frustration, we understand how badly he wants something make it easier for him to accept reality.

Now that the boys are older, leaving behind their terrible twos, and moving into assertive independence, I am re-reading the book again. And I am still in Chapter 2 : Engaging Cooperation.

My boys are used to going to bed by 8am, and as a result, they will wake up before 730am the next morning. Lovely timing for school term. Bad for the weekends and school vacation! It is so difficult to get them to cooperate by keeping their voices down in the morning, just so the parents can nap for another half an hour. Or they will be arguing at the top of their voices, over who the lego bricks belong to.

One Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago, and after many failed attempts in talking to them, requesting that they play quietly on their own and not raise their voices while playing, I decided to try one of the methods stated in the book : Write a note.

I put the note on our bedroom door, low enough for the boys to see it should they come knocking on our door in the morning. The boys woke up the next morning, saw the note, and I heard them whispered to each other : Shhh .... Then they proceed to brush their teeth (very quietly), and to play on their own/together (quietly without any arguement). WOW! I was very pleased indeed. We managed to nap for another 45 minutes!

The little boy, since starting school this Fall, is learning to write. Last Sunday, we woke up to find a note stuck on each of the bedroom doors.

The note on our door read : Mama and Papa is still sleeping. You need to go brush your teeth by yourself ... Picture of a "NO Entry" with a person on it. When I saw the note, I read the part which I could understand, out loud. He grinned broadly when I asked if he wrote the note all by himself.

The second note on the boys' bedroom door read : And don't disturb my brother. Brush your teeth by yourself and play your Lego as quietly as a mouse. Picture of a "NO Entry" with his brother sleeping on the bed. His brother had gone back to lie on the bed after using the bathroom in the morning. Only the little one was up that morning. So he used his time to write the notes, before brushing his teeth.

How creative kids can be! Combining his knowledge on the "NO Entry" sign with "NO Entering because .... " in picture form. It really warmed my heart, seeing the two notes on a cold Sunday morning, and amazed at how fast and how much the little one learns ...