One of the perks of our apartment location is how much stuff is nearby! Hundreds of restaurants, shops and grocery stores. Still trying to decide which grocery store is my favorite so every few days I visit a new one. The only downside of walking to the market is carrying the groceries home. Those tote bags get heavy with so many yummy things.
Sidenote: We all know my draw towards, Let's Save the Environment! Cloth napkins, avoidance of disposable plates/baggies: with a giant exception for when construction remodeling necessitated the use, Recycled toilet paper: you don't need to chop down a tree just to wipe your tooshie! I'm still trying to figure out how Japan feels about our environment. On one hand, they do a LOT of recycling. Seriously. We have a full 11 x 17 in paper describing in detail how we are supposed to break down all our items then sort them into one of 9! different recycling categories! Basically everything can be recycled. Which is good. Cause they sure do love their plastic.
Everything is wrapped in plastic. The $2.00 lime I bought for Mojitos? Wrapped in plastic. When I'm checking out and they find miscellaneous produce in my bag, they take the time to put that head of broccoli in its own plastic bag to be put in a larger plastic bag. A bag of lettuce in a bag that's open on top? Can't have that, gottta be completely covered by plastic before it mingles with the other groceries. I don't know how to say I don't need a bag, but I've figured out if I make a big deal of putting my tote bags on top of the groceries they've finished scanning it gets the point across mostly well.
Sidenote: We all know my draw towards, Let's Save the Environment! Cloth napkins, avoidance of disposable plates/baggies: with a giant exception for when construction remodeling necessitated the use, Recycled toilet paper: you don't need to chop down a tree just to wipe your tooshie! I'm still trying to figure out how Japan feels about our environment. On one hand, they do a LOT of recycling. Seriously. We have a full 11 x 17 in paper describing in detail how we are supposed to break down all our items then sort them into one of 9! different recycling categories! Basically everything can be recycled. Which is good. Cause they sure do love their plastic.
Everything is wrapped in plastic. The $2.00 lime I bought for Mojitos? Wrapped in plastic. When I'm checking out and they find miscellaneous produce in my bag, they take the time to put that head of broccoli in its own plastic bag to be put in a larger plastic bag. A bag of lettuce in a bag that's open on top? Can't have that, gottta be completely covered by plastic before it mingles with the other groceries. I don't know how to say I don't need a bag, but I've figured out if I make a big deal of putting my tote bags on top of the groceries they've finished scanning it gets the point across mostly well.
Our second shipment came last week and now we have all our things!!! The last shipment held our stuff from our vacation driving all the way East, our camping gear, the last of our cold weather clothes (not that it will ever stop being hot here) and our day packs. These are the same day packs we used hiking all the way down and back up the grand canyon, they can hold a ton! Once these arrived it seriously upped my grocery shopping game! #mustbuyallthethings
Grocery shopping here is still very much the adventure. I easily pick out produce, meat and cheese. After a few false starts I've found a brand of milk that tastes great in my coffee. Interestingly enough, the one in the red packaging doesn't taste nearly as good!
Grocery shopping here is still very much the adventure. I easily pick out produce, meat and cheese. After a few false starts I've found a brand of milk that tastes great in my coffee. Interestingly enough, the one in the red packaging doesn't taste nearly as good!
But everything else is a bit more of a mystery. I tend to pick out things that look good, bring them home to taste and assess then figure out what to cook with them. Sometimes I get a bit more ambitious and plan recipes. That begins a cycle of Google Translate, Google Images Search, Website recommendations, comparing products on the shelves with the images on my phone. Sometimes I get what I'm looking for, sometimes not so much.
Friday I was looking for Chicken broth. Wandered up and down the aisles, looking for something that resembled what I was looking for. Eventually I found a shelf with some options in the produce sections (the produce section?!?! It was not the any of the first several places I checked) I tried Google Translate, but it couldn't read the font. I tried Google Image Search but still no clue. I shook it a few times, sounded liquidy enough and brought it home.
Began mixing the broth with some other ingredients for Homemade Ramen. After my last recipe with Miso Paste I learned an important lesson, add small amounts as you taste it. Probably should start following that strategy with all new ingredients. Mixed everything together, pulled out my tasting spoon and woah, that is definitely not Chicken Broth. No worries, I'm flexible in the kitchen. The broth was super rich so I added some water. Another taste, more water but we got to a good balance point. The Ramen was fantastic! In sharing this story with my brother I decide to do some more digging, thanks to Rakuten I was able to find the product I bought along with an English(ish) description.
Friday I was looking for Chicken broth. Wandered up and down the aisles, looking for something that resembled what I was looking for. Eventually I found a shelf with some options in the produce sections (the produce section?!?! It was not the any of the first several places I checked) I tried Google Translate, but it couldn't read the font. I tried Google Image Search but still no clue. I shook it a few times, sounded liquidy enough and brought it home.
Began mixing the broth with some other ingredients for Homemade Ramen. After my last recipe with Miso Paste I learned an important lesson, add small amounts as you taste it. Probably should start following that strategy with all new ingredients. Mixed everything together, pulled out my tasting spoon and woah, that is definitely not Chicken Broth. No worries, I'm flexible in the kitchen. The broth was super rich so I added some water. Another taste, more water but we got to a good balance point. The Ramen was fantastic! In sharing this story with my brother I decide to do some more digging, thanks to Rakuten I was able to find the product I bought along with an English(ish) description.
Those 7 kinds of soup stock definitely explain the richness!
Grocery store misadventures aside, we're eating good foods, tasting lots of new things, trying new recipes mostly with success. Just another aspect of this life in a new to us country.
And then yesterday, I upped my grocery shopping game even more! Look out Utsunomiya!!!