If you're in Japan and trying to avoid gluten, it can be a trial. CR Supply has some gluten-free foods that are so-so at best, but the pizza crusts are fairly good. You can buy those here or at cr-supply.com.
For bread, I prefer this brand. This bread makes pretty good toast and reasonable sandwiches. The raisin bread is good too, but impossibly tiny. The size of a business card. This bread is about the size of a credit card. (Are those different sizes?) Anyway, if you toast it for about 10 minutes, even from a frozen state, it will hold up as sandwich bread.
The same brand's pizza crusts are all right, but you have to bake the crap out of them to make them any good. Too puffy.
I also tried out these curry croquettes. Quite nice. Not sure what all is in them in an "I hope there's no gluten" way, but they don't contain any wheat, at least. You pop them in the microwave for a couple of minutes, and they appear to be mostly sweet potato on the inside. The curry flavor is nice and overrides any other flavors (I am not a sweet potato fan).
I also got some hamburgs, but these are not nearly as good as the ones that Nippon Ham produces. I guess because they are "Japanese flavor" and as far as I can tell that means "watery miso something flavor." They kind of need something else. Ketchup? I dunno. When I drained all the juice out due to a bag issue, basically I was left with a well-cooked but moderately flavored hamburger patty. Better than nothing, I suppose.
I would definitely buy more of the croquettes, but the hamburgers not so much.
These little cookies are pretty good and have a nice coconut flavor.
These are interesting because they taste like La Choy rice noodles.
It's hard to know what has gluten in it, and so I repeat again that I can't vouch for these being 100% gluten free. I do know they are wheat-free and in Japan that's sometimes as good as you can hope for. I've gotten poisoned by foods I thought were "safe" before and can't wait to get out of here and "know" that foods are safe. But these "should be" safe.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Mrs. Leeper (who needs a name that does not make me think of an illness that causes necrosis) produces an array of pastas and Hamburger Helper-type meals, including something akin to Tuna Helper, mac and cheese, and chicken alfredo.
I found Mrs. Leper--I mean LEEPER. Leeper. I found Mrs. Leeper's beef lasagna dinner on FBC and decided to give it a shot. I'm always looking for things to eat that don't require a lot of work.
What do you need? You need about a pound of ground meat or tofu, the box, and some water. Brown your meat (does tofu brown?) and drain it. Put the meat stuff or not meat stuff in with the sauce mix and 3 cups of hot water. Boil it and then add the pasta. Cook it covered for 10 minutes and then remove it from heat. It will be violently, horribly, tremendously, dangerously hot. Don't even attempt to eat it for like, a half hour.
I speak from experience. I burned the CRAP out of my mouth by just waiting 10 minutes.
Add a little cheese and voila, it's a meal!
The noodles are good and have a consistency like egg noodles. The meat is what you make of it. The flavor of the sauce and everything together reminded me of Stouffer's frozen lasagna, which isn't great but is pretty good. And even better if you can't eat lasagna!
Because I'm single and live alone, I packaged up the rest of it and put it in the fridge. How did it hold up? I microwaved it for 3 and a half minutes (my wattage is probably lower than yours) and stirred it halfway through. The pasta was fine, not mushy at all. The flavor was still good. And it wasn't as LAVA-LIKE as it was when I first cooked it. It passed the leftover test! Hurrah!
So I would recommend this. I don't know about the other meals, as I can't get them. But now I would love to try them and see how they are. It seems that even though Mrs. Leeper might have an unfortunate name, she does not have an unfortunate product.
I found Mrs. Leper--I mean LEEPER. Leeper. I found Mrs. Leeper's beef lasagna dinner on FBC and decided to give it a shot. I'm always looking for things to eat that don't require a lot of work.
What do you need? You need about a pound of ground meat or tofu, the box, and some water. Brown your meat (does tofu brown?) and drain it. Put the meat stuff or not meat stuff in with the sauce mix and 3 cups of hot water. Boil it and then add the pasta. Cook it covered for 10 minutes and then remove it from heat. It will be violently, horribly, tremendously, dangerously hot. Don't even attempt to eat it for like, a half hour.
I speak from experience. I burned the CRAP out of my mouth by just waiting 10 minutes.
Add a little cheese and voila, it's a meal!
The noodles are good and have a consistency like egg noodles. The meat is what you make of it. The flavor of the sauce and everything together reminded me of Stouffer's frozen lasagna, which isn't great but is pretty good. And even better if you can't eat lasagna!
Because I'm single and live alone, I packaged up the rest of it and put it in the fridge. How did it hold up? I microwaved it for 3 and a half minutes (my wattage is probably lower than yours) and stirred it halfway through. The pasta was fine, not mushy at all. The flavor was still good. And it wasn't as LAVA-LIKE as it was when I first cooked it. It passed the leftover test! Hurrah!
So I would recommend this. I don't know about the other meals, as I can't get them. But now I would love to try them and see how they are. It seems that even though Mrs. Leeper might have an unfortunate name, she does not have an unfortunate product.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Envirokidz Gorilla Munch
Cereal is so easy and fast to prepare, but the variety of cereals here in Japan is seriously lacking and the box always recommends pouring it on salad.
The other problem with Japanese cereal is that it contains that enemy villain evil dude guy, barley. Barley! Barley is no! No barley! I've found a couple of edible cereals, but they're always so expensive and flavorless (and in tiny, tiny packages). Apparently the only way to get an edible cereal is to get one with two ingredients. Uhhh ... yum?
So I broke down and turned to the internet. I picked up some brown rice cereal and this Envirokidz Gorilla Munch. I don't really like sweet cereals, and this one looked kind of like Kix. So I went for it.
It is almost like Kix, if Kix was sweeter and crunchier. Kix is corn, but it's fairly crispy and light in texture. Gorilla Munch is heavy and has a texture like ... like ... well, I don't even know what it's like. I have a feeling I've eaten something like this before and I can't remember what it is. It's pretty good by itself, but very, very crunchy.
With milk, it did what I expected. It gets a little bit slimy. (I KNOW I have eaten a cereal like this before.) But it still tastes good. And gets a bit less crunchy. Still a bit sweeter than I'd like, but if I want to eat something that isn't organic corn flakes, I might just have to put up with that.
The other problem with Japanese cereal is that it contains that enemy villain evil dude guy, barley. Barley! Barley is no! No barley! I've found a couple of edible cereals, but they're always so expensive and flavorless (and in tiny, tiny packages). Apparently the only way to get an edible cereal is to get one with two ingredients. Uhhh ... yum?
So I broke down and turned to the internet. I picked up some brown rice cereal and this Envirokidz Gorilla Munch. I don't really like sweet cereals, and this one looked kind of like Kix. So I went for it.
It is almost like Kix, if Kix was sweeter and crunchier. Kix is corn, but it's fairly crispy and light in texture. Gorilla Munch is heavy and has a texture like ... like ... well, I don't even know what it's like. I have a feeling I've eaten something like this before and I can't remember what it is. It's pretty good by itself, but very, very crunchy.
With milk, it did what I expected. It gets a little bit slimy. (I KNOW I have eaten a cereal like this before.) But it still tastes good. And gets a bit less crunchy. Still a bit sweeter than I'd like, but if I want to eat something that isn't organic corn flakes, I might just have to put up with that.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Stupid Slow Food Lady
I normally review food, but this is totally food-related. Bear with me.
I saw this lady on Bill Maher's show the other day, promoting "slow food." Apparently "slow food" is when you cook everything from scratch in the slowest way possible. Like we used to in the "old days."
I understand that this is healthier. I'm not going to argue that it isn't. It is way healthier to make everything from scratch. But really? Unless you absolutely don't work and have a lot of money, it isn't always very feasible. She argued that it was totally possible to eat "slow" and be poor. I might give you that if you have conveniences like electricity, a fridge/freezer, access to a good supermarket, and no special dietary needs. I know from my experience that the first hurdle is dietary needs. If you don't have to supplement your diet with soy milk, egg replacer, or gluten free bread, you are going to spend a lot less money. Great.
Next we need access to a supermarket. Possible in more rural areas but less possible in the city. I realize we're talking about America here, but my experience is that here in Tokyo the supermarkets are smaller and more expensive, while the ones just outside Tokyo are a lot larger and cheaper. I'm prettttty sure this is the same back home. And let's not forget that, like I am here in Tokyo, you may be limited to what you can carry if you can't afford a car (or just car-less in general). So that economical bag of beans is out. So is the economical, wholesale package of chicken parts. You're stuck buying smaller amounts of things, which are already more expensive. When you can choose a frozen dinner or 20 ingredients to make it from scratch, which are you going to choose? Probably whatever is lighter.
Then you need something to keep it in and heat it up. You can buy a Hot Pocket and heat it up at the convenience store if you don't have a microwave at home. Even if you do have cooking implements, you're going to need cooling implements. If you're rather poor and don't have a fridge or even electricity, there is no way in hell you are going to buy or cook enough of anything to be remotely economical. The McD's dollar menu is your best bet. Once again, being that I live in Tokyo, I know what it is to have no fridge or freezer space. If you have a small fridge or freezer, even if you HAVE it, you are still limited on the amount of bulk cooking you can do. (I won't get into how my kitchen is basically a gas burner and a sink. A single burner.)
I wish Maher had prodded her when she said that poor people could easily do the slow food thing. And not just for the points I just made. Also for the point that OH MY GOD FOOD TAKES TIME.
Yes, we have crockpots to do some of that work for us, and I guess those count as slow food. But most food that requires stoves and ovens is going to require a person sitting around and minding that. If you're poor and working 2 or 3 jobs, when are you going to find that time to mind the stove? If you have 3 kids swarming around your legs, how are you going to mind the oven and still get stuff done? The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day, the last thing some people want to do is cook. And it's not satisfying to simply just eat an apple. You want to eat something satisfying, but you don't want to spend an hour or two preparing it. And then another 10-20 minutes washing dishes and cleaning up. This sucks for anyone, but even more so when your time is at a premium and you're worked like a dog for slave wages all day long. And when "second shift" becomes third or fourth.
Slow food is a great idea if you have the money and the time, or a personal chef to make stuff for you. I would eat "slow food" all the time if I had a personal chef, slave, robot butler, or house elf to do it for me. As it is, I find myself opting for the fastest "slow food" I can find. Like scrambled eggs. Or peanut butter from the jar.
I think I would actually like cooking a whole lot more if I weren't FORCED to do it by the circumstance of Japan being stupid about intolerances and allergies.
I saw this lady on Bill Maher's show the other day, promoting "slow food." Apparently "slow food" is when you cook everything from scratch in the slowest way possible. Like we used to in the "old days."
I understand that this is healthier. I'm not going to argue that it isn't. It is way healthier to make everything from scratch. But really? Unless you absolutely don't work and have a lot of money, it isn't always very feasible. She argued that it was totally possible to eat "slow" and be poor. I might give you that if you have conveniences like electricity, a fridge/freezer, access to a good supermarket, and no special dietary needs. I know from my experience that the first hurdle is dietary needs. If you don't have to supplement your diet with soy milk, egg replacer, or gluten free bread, you are going to spend a lot less money. Great.
Next we need access to a supermarket. Possible in more rural areas but less possible in the city. I realize we're talking about America here, but my experience is that here in Tokyo the supermarkets are smaller and more expensive, while the ones just outside Tokyo are a lot larger and cheaper. I'm prettttty sure this is the same back home. And let's not forget that, like I am here in Tokyo, you may be limited to what you can carry if you can't afford a car (or just car-less in general). So that economical bag of beans is out. So is the economical, wholesale package of chicken parts. You're stuck buying smaller amounts of things, which are already more expensive. When you can choose a frozen dinner or 20 ingredients to make it from scratch, which are you going to choose? Probably whatever is lighter.
Then you need something to keep it in and heat it up. You can buy a Hot Pocket and heat it up at the convenience store if you don't have a microwave at home. Even if you do have cooking implements, you're going to need cooling implements. If you're rather poor and don't have a fridge or even electricity, there is no way in hell you are going to buy or cook enough of anything to be remotely economical. The McD's dollar menu is your best bet. Once again, being that I live in Tokyo, I know what it is to have no fridge or freezer space. If you have a small fridge or freezer, even if you HAVE it, you are still limited on the amount of bulk cooking you can do. (I won't get into how my kitchen is basically a gas burner and a sink. A single burner.)
I wish Maher had prodded her when she said that poor people could easily do the slow food thing. And not just for the points I just made. Also for the point that OH MY GOD FOOD TAKES TIME.
Yes, we have crockpots to do some of that work for us, and I guess those count as slow food. But most food that requires stoves and ovens is going to require a person sitting around and minding that. If you're poor and working 2 or 3 jobs, when are you going to find that time to mind the stove? If you have 3 kids swarming around your legs, how are you going to mind the oven and still get stuff done? The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day, the last thing some people want to do is cook. And it's not satisfying to simply just eat an apple. You want to eat something satisfying, but you don't want to spend an hour or two preparing it. And then another 10-20 minutes washing dishes and cleaning up. This sucks for anyone, but even more so when your time is at a premium and you're worked like a dog for slave wages all day long. And when "second shift" becomes third or fourth.
Slow food is a great idea if you have the money and the time, or a personal chef to make stuff for you. I would eat "slow food" all the time if I had a personal chef, slave, robot butler, or house elf to do it for me. As it is, I find myself opting for the fastest "slow food" I can find. Like scrambled eggs. Or peanut butter from the jar.
I think I would actually like cooking a whole lot more if I weren't FORCED to do it by the circumstance of Japan being stupid about intolerances and allergies.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Enjoy Nastiness
Did I mention in the other Enjoy Life review how much I hate cookies that are made with raisins and dates as a binder (not as a visible ingredient like chocolate chips are a visible ingredient, though I'm no fan of that either)? Yeah. I hate it. Usually I would see this with "low-cal" cookies to cut the calories in the eggs and milk and whatever. These have no eggs or dairy. And with something that contains absolutely no ingredients, you gotta use something to keep it all together.
So your good news, if there is any, is that these cookies contain no gluten, wheat, nuts, soy, eggs, or dairy. They even don't contain fish or shellfish, which seems very "duh," but which also might have improved the flavor somewhat. Two tiny little cookies contain 120 calories somehow. And these are really really tiny. Even compared to the snickerdoodles. Just incredibly teensy.
I am not sure how one makes a chocolate cookie with no dairy. Apparently the answer is "badly." I could smell the odor of dried fruit from the moment I opened the package. This one also uses dates, as well as grape, apple, and pear juice. I guess I'm of the mindset that a chocolate cookie should never contain fruit. But what do I know? I decided to give them a shot anyway.
Horrible.
The texture was the same as the snickerdoodles, but more offensive because the flavor was just so terrible. It was like eating a wad of date puree masquerading as a chocolate cookie. There was probably something like chocolate in there, but it didn't really taste like chocolate. It tasted like it was something trying to be chocolate. I suppose if you're a celiac vegan and you've forgotten what a brownie tastes like, maybe it works out for you. If you're simply celiac, then I hear Betty Crocker has some gluten free brownie mix (I have some in the cupboard, actually, so I'll review it at a later date) that's pretty good. I wouldn't even bother eating these.
The only time someone should eat these are:
1. You're the aforementioned celiac vegan with multiple other allergies
2. You're stuck on a desert island and this is the only food available
3. Your mother buys them for you, thinking she's doing something good for you, and you don't want to see her cry
And I might be flexible on #3. Hopefully your mom could deal with the fact that the cookies she bought you tasted like ass.
So your good news, if there is any, is that these cookies contain no gluten, wheat, nuts, soy, eggs, or dairy. They even don't contain fish or shellfish, which seems very "duh," but which also might have improved the flavor somewhat. Two tiny little cookies contain 120 calories somehow. And these are really really tiny. Even compared to the snickerdoodles. Just incredibly teensy.
I am not sure how one makes a chocolate cookie with no dairy. Apparently the answer is "badly." I could smell the odor of dried fruit from the moment I opened the package. This one also uses dates, as well as grape, apple, and pear juice. I guess I'm of the mindset that a chocolate cookie should never contain fruit. But what do I know? I decided to give them a shot anyway.
Horrible.
The texture was the same as the snickerdoodles, but more offensive because the flavor was just so terrible. It was like eating a wad of date puree masquerading as a chocolate cookie. There was probably something like chocolate in there, but it didn't really taste like chocolate. It tasted like it was something trying to be chocolate. I suppose if you're a celiac vegan and you've forgotten what a brownie tastes like, maybe it works out for you. If you're simply celiac, then I hear Betty Crocker has some gluten free brownie mix (I have some in the cupboard, actually, so I'll review it at a later date) that's pretty good. I wouldn't even bother eating these.
The only time someone should eat these are:
1. You're the aforementioned celiac vegan with multiple other allergies
2. You're stuck on a desert island and this is the only food available
3. Your mother buys them for you, thinking she's doing something good for you, and you don't want to see her cry
And I might be flexible on #3. Hopefully your mom could deal with the fact that the cookies she bought you tasted like ass.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
I fixed it! I fixed it!
If you add cheddar cheese to your Tostitos salsa con queso, nuke it, and then put some chopped up, raw tomato on top (I generally use cherry tomatoes because they're less gritty) it is actually pretty cheesy and good!
It also takes all the spiciness out of the "medium" flavor. Which I don't mind at all. But you have been warned.
It also takes all the spiciness out of the "medium" flavor. Which I don't mind at all. But you have been warned.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Mi-Del Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
I must have some sort of body part that is dedicated to metabolizing Oreo cookies. In the absence of Oreo cookies, it triggers a reaction that causes me to salivate and obsess over and crave Oreo cookies. That's all I can figure. I love Oreos more than life itself and would jump in front of a train for them.
So it's been hard to not be able to eat them. I see Oreo cheesecake and Oreo ice cream and Oreo this and that, and I want it soooo bad. But really, I just want an Oreo. How can I have an Oreo? I needed something like an Oreo. NOW.
Well, I found these lovely friends and decided that I would give them a shot. After all, they LOOK like Oreos, right?
They are not Oreos.
They aren't horrible. But let me explain how this works, exactly.
When I opened the package, it was like staring at Oreos again. Hello, fake Oreos! And I pulled one out and bit into it. Absolutely vile. Like chewing on cardboard. Just disgusting. But then as I chewed and took another bite, the flavor started to catch up with itself. Slowly it became the flavor of an Oreo cookie.
When I bit into the second cookie, it was a convincing Oreo substitute.
The aftertaste leaves something to be desired, though. I'm sure this is a common problem, like my bland cheese problem.
Well, so here's the thing. You can eat these Mi-Del sandwich cookies in place of your beloved gluteny chocolate sandwich cookie of choice, but you need to be warned that you MUST eat two cookies in order to appreciate the flavor. One will not do. And at 130 calories per two cookies, you're wasting about 70 calories of your day on a cookie that tastes like paper products.
Enjoy.
I wonder if they would be any good in something like a cheesecake. I ordinarily eat my chocolate sandwich cookies by halves, but when I tried that with these cookies, found the frosting too bland. Blah. (I don't eat them with milk because milk is disgusting, but they might be good for that. I have no clue.)
So it's been hard to not be able to eat them. I see Oreo cheesecake and Oreo ice cream and Oreo this and that, and I want it soooo bad. But really, I just want an Oreo. How can I have an Oreo? I needed something like an Oreo. NOW.
Well, I found these lovely friends and decided that I would give them a shot. After all, they LOOK like Oreos, right?
They are not Oreos.
They aren't horrible. But let me explain how this works, exactly.
When I opened the package, it was like staring at Oreos again. Hello, fake Oreos! And I pulled one out and bit into it. Absolutely vile. Like chewing on cardboard. Just disgusting. But then as I chewed and took another bite, the flavor started to catch up with itself. Slowly it became the flavor of an Oreo cookie.
When I bit into the second cookie, it was a convincing Oreo substitute.
The aftertaste leaves something to be desired, though. I'm sure this is a common problem, like my bland cheese problem.
Well, so here's the thing. You can eat these Mi-Del sandwich cookies in place of your beloved gluteny chocolate sandwich cookie of choice, but you need to be warned that you MUST eat two cookies in order to appreciate the flavor. One will not do. And at 130 calories per two cookies, you're wasting about 70 calories of your day on a cookie that tastes like paper products.
Enjoy.
I wonder if they would be any good in something like a cheesecake. I ordinarily eat my chocolate sandwich cookies by halves, but when I tried that with these cookies, found the frosting too bland. Blah. (I don't eat them with milk because milk is disgusting, but they might be good for that. I have no clue.)
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