During such a low-economic growth era, we tend to be hesitant to spend our money. Instead, we are more likely to enjoy looking for novel foods in our everyday life. One of the trends I’ve found is that many restaurants now serve fettuccine (noodles in flat strips) with ragu sauce, the beef cheek stewed in wine. To my surprise, I also found it already sold in a frozen pack at a grocery store.

ght when I had a chance, I decided to try fettuccine with ragu sauce in a frozen pack with my original arrangements. First of all, I felt the sauce was not quite enough and it would become better if I increased the volume of sauce. So this is what I did. Take 100g of ground meat and cook with salt and garlic. Add maitake mushroom and red wine to the ground meat and season with ketchup, and Tonkatsu sauce (thickened Worcester sauce). Heat up the frozen-packed spaghetti and mix with the additional ground meat. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be much more delicious than we had expected and we liked it so much!

You may be wondering why I don’t start from scratch if I use so many additional seasonings. But it is much easier this way by saving some preparations. If I didn’t have a sample frozen-packed spagetti, we would not have fettuccine with ragu sauce on our dinner table. Using the rest of maitake mushroom, I quickly made a salad by adding snap peas, avocado, mini tomatoes, boiled shrimp and lemon juice.

a restaurant. I can already buy it in a frozen-pack at a grocery store. I’m sure this has already been in market for over a couple of months. I’m just amazed how fast this spaghetti is changing.

The other day, I went to help with a volunteer activity to make up handicapped children.  They were so excited because they have never had make-up on before.  As the make-up went on, they started to have bright smiles on their faces as if roses bloom under the morning sun.  We were the ones to provide, but it was us who got deeply impressed by those children more than we had expected. 

I really think a make-up has a power!  Most of the developed countries are becoming aging societies.  Because we are living in such times, it is important to have a full make-up on to trick ourselves to look younger.  I’m sure that we will feel happy and confident when we find ourselves look younger in the mirror and that shall encourage us to lead a happy life. 

Decades ago people used to have a negative belief toward women over 60 years old having make-up on that those women were presumptuous.  But now the women in the same age range of those in 20 years ago look much younger by 10 to 20 years old.  Of course, they have become younger physically, in muscle health wise.  This is not just an outcome of being effected by the power of make-up.  Looking younger than your actual age surely stimulates your female hormones, growth hormones, and immune systems. 

I think this has a direct effect on reducing medical expenses after all.  The Recent hair dyes have improved quality so much to help us look younger.  I assume that not many people are aware of how much gray hair they actually have. 

Considering our second life starting from the age of 60, it may continue 30 years or more.  So let’s straighten up our back, put on an appropriate make-up, and dress-up accordingly!  These are the tips to make ourselves bright as well as the whole society!  I hope that even men, if possible, should have make-up on in a casual manner from now on.

The photo shows the autumn leaves in Tokyo.  This is only one thirds of all but lined Ginkgo biloba trees are beautiful in yellow.  In recent days, science has clarified why leaves turn colors in autumn.  Leaves are green because of chlorophyll.  In autumn, chlorophyll decomposes.  What’s been left is carotene creating yellow as of Ginkgo biloba trees.  When anthocyanin remains, it creates a color of red, typical to Japanese maple trees.

But we’ve already known that such pigments are effective antioxidants for restraining aging and we can take them into our body through vegetables.  Isn’t it surprising that tree leaves contain antioxidants?  You may not have imagined making supplements from wild tree leaves.  But have you heard of an extract essence of Ginkgo biloba leaves?  This is what xanthophyll and carotene of the leaves are condensed and it is already put into practical use.

Have you ever heard of flavangenol, an extract essence of a pine tree?  It is consisted of 3 carotenes.  Its effects as antioxidants have been paid attention well enough to use as supplements or cosmetics. 

While seasons change, everything changes as well; no exceptions.  We, Japanese people have learned from our mother nature that we cannot stay in the middle of glory for good…in addition, we should not be attached to doing so either.  Not only that, I’ve been thinking lately that we can learn from science nature lies in quiet but with full of marvelous antioxidants.

Do you know that School Lunch in Adachi City (Tokyo) has been paid close attention from all over Japan? “Japan’s Most Delicious School Lunch” is the motto of Adachi City. I can tell they have gone for a step ahead compared to typical conservative plans that administration may have. I had a chance to interview the author of this book, who is a subsection chief representing the School Lunch section of Adachi City Office for a radio show the other day.

As a professional nutritionist, I have been concerned about the school lunch system, in which the cooking is done at a center, and which is usually committed to private companies. Although it was almost a decade ago, school lunch seemed to be inclined to go against food education. A good example is one lunch menu when udon noodle was served with rice. The udon noodle is packaged in a plastic bag which children are required to open to a soup bowl by themselves. Because of the udon noodle, a spork (a spoon the edge of which are shaped like a fork) is prepared instead of chopsticks.

Recently, an attention has been focused on food education in nationwide and school lunch has been developed a trend to have Japanese style menus more. Along with that, a plan also has a goal to educate all children to use chopsticks properly. Among of all the efforts, Adachi City is prominent because the female mayor adopted food education as one of the major policies 5 years ago. Delicious school lunch will make children happy and smile. Now that all the school lunch in Japan are well-balanced and includes all 12 nutrients. I expect it affects on children’s physical and mental health, the sense of taste, and good action of the cerebrum. The salt level in each meal is maintained to be 3g. This is quite low.

The famous ramen noodle restaurants that host a line of people usually serve one bowl of ramen noodle with 5 to 10 grams of salt in it. Once accustomed to such a food, it is natural for children to dislike less salty meals. But it is mandatory that school lunch provided in Adachi City use natural soup stock and seasoning. They have proved that such natural soup stock and seasoning can make delicious, satisfactory meals with low salt level. But how?

If children find school lunch is not their taste, they usually do not eat. So the amount of leftover can tell whether children liked the day’s school lunch or not. All the schools in Adachi City have adopted this method. When small fish, liver, or seaweed such as hijiki and wakame are used for the menu, the leftover simply increases. But in Adachi City where a delicious school lunch is provided, it does not happen. The leftover in the year of 2010 was 5.5% in elementary schools and 10% in junior high schools, which are both relatively low. The figure is even 4% lower owing to the better seasoning, better arrangements of foods, and much more fun lunch time. This is a great outcome of Adachi City’s method. Children eat fish, soy beans, and seaweeds. Each menu includes around 250g of 10 to 15 different kinds of vegetables.

Each meal costs about 254yen, almost as equivalent as a cup of coffee. If we want to use the same ingredients at home, it will probably cost nearly 500yen. I can tell this is almost a miracle that school dietitians and cooks have combined their efforts and passions to make a delicious school lunch. In fact, even though we are living in what is called a “satiation period,” 97% of children have answered that school lunch time is fun. Can you imagine how those children who bear our future on their shoulders are having delicious, fun school lunch with smiles every day? 20 and 30 years later when they grow up, they are healthy and able to eat anything. Moreover they grow up to be able to cook such meals at home. I can imagine the future Japan is full of sophisticated people who have been taught so by traditional Japanese food and elegant manner of chopsticks. Am I thinking too much?

I’m just happy that one book is having an important impact on recent Japanese School Lunch.