Ask Team Musubi: Real New Year’s Resolutions in Our Home Kitchens

The new year is the time to try something new—whether as part of a New Year’s resolution, a fresh goal, or crossing some things off the bucket list. And here at MUSUBI KILN, we like challenging ourselves in the kitchen. Bringing bento for lunch more often, cooking more with veggies or gluten-free ingredients, and helping the kids in the vegetable garden: these are all real goals by members of Team Musubi.

It’s easy to dream big, but the hardest part of setting a New Year’s resolution is the practical side. How to incorporate a new routine into your busy schedule. What specific actions to take to achieve something larger. What intermediate steps connect Point A to Point B. So we sat down with five members of the team to talk personal goals, plans on how to achieve them, and the tableware and kitchen tools that support the process. What we found was a road map on how to make those “wouldn’t it be nice if…” dreams come alive.

So follow along with our stories, and pick up tips and inspiration for your own resolutions in the new year.

A fan of skiing in Japan’s mountains, Mai K. brings a laid-back vibe to work, and today she shared a highly relatable goal: eat more vegetables.

“My skin cracks in the winter with the dry air, so I want to support my body from the inside. I figure if I’m eating vegetables I like, I’ll also be getting the vitamins I need.”

On top of her full-time job, she also cooks five times a week for herself and her family, which includes two kids ages eight and eleven. With her packed days, weeknight cooking involves quick dishes like hot-pot and curry rice. So how does she plan to add vegetables to this routine?

“First, I’ll buy pre-cut veggies from the supermarket to reduce cooking prep,” she tells me. “Next, I’ll add larger portions of vegetables into meals I already make. I can easily do that with curry, for example.”

Motivation and mood factor in, too. “I want to add seasonal ingredients to make our meals prettier—like yuzu peel to garnish salad. Yuzu adds color and brightens the atmosphere. Plus, it gives us something to talk about at the dinner table. I can connect the meal to winter yuzu baths and teach my kids about Japanese traditions. That would be ideal.”

To support a table set with both vegetables and tradition is the Summum Large Bowl. Its pop of blue adds cheer to any season, while its generous size holds enough to feed two growing kids. Meanwhile, the Mishima Donabe Japanese Clay Pot for 3 to 4 persons goes straight from stove to table, great for those quick weeknight hot-pots and stews.

Talking to Mai K., I was reminded that achieving our goals isn’t just about the specific steps we take or even the initial spark that led us to set the goal in the first place. It’s just as much about the loved ones who make those goals feel meaningful.

Chieri in HR is the kind of person who breezes into the office with a cheery “Good morning!” and a smile. She brought that positive energy to our conversation, too.

“I want to enjoy the process of growing things myself, the fun of creating, and get to eat vegetables my family and I have actually grown ourselves,” she said.

She explained, “We used to rent a shared garden plot, but the place closed down. My kids were really disappointed, so we decided to make our own vegetable patch at my in-laws’ house. Now we’re tilling the soil, making compost, planting seasonal seeds. It’s a challenge! We just started this fall, so we’ll see how it goes. My goal is to be more hands-on with it.”

What sparked her family’s interest in gardening in the first place? “I don’t have dislikes when it comes to food, and hope to pass that on to my kids, too. I want to reduce barriers to eating vegetables and cultivate awareness about food waste.”

That learning process doesn’t stop with the garden, though. Chieri is looking forward to continuing it in the kitchen. “I’ll have my kids cook with me. When my son brought home tons of vegetables from our shared plot, we’d cook them together. Washing the mud off, sharing the work—it’s all part of family life.”

What do they cook? “Now that it’s winter, we’re picking broccoli, daikon, and radishes. They’re great in nimono (simmered dishes). I want to enjoy pairing tableware with each dish, too.”

To assist Chieri’s goals, we suggested the Blue Line Leaf Vein Medium Bowl, a serving bowl that works just as well for garden salads as it does for the gentle, stewed umami of Japanese nimono. To round out a cozy nimono table setting are individual bowls for each person’s portion. For that, the Coneco Cat Bowl Set is a cute, family-friendly option made of sturdy porcelain that’s both microwave- and dishwasher-safe. Parents and kids alike can enjoy choosing their favorite of the four cat designs each night, bringing a fresh bit of fun to the dinner table.

Chieri concludes, “I want to value not just making food, but the entire process of growing it from start to finish.”

Good luck on the garden in the new year!

Next, I chatted with Mai I. Her culinary career recently led her to MUSUBI, where she helps each recipe on our YouTube channel and meal on our tableware look its best.

“I’d like to eat more gluten-free meals,” she told me without hesitation, confirming my hunch that she would have a cooking-related resolution. But where I was off the mark? Mai I.’s goal didn’t involve pro-level recipes or cooking secrets. Instead, it was simple steps anyone could take.

“Completely cutting out gluten isn’t realistic for me, so I plan to reduce it instead. I’ll swap cookies for senbei (rice crackers) and buy fewer bread-based sweets when I go shopping. For dishes like tempura and karaage, I’ll swap wheat flour for cornstarch or rice flour.” It’s balanced reduction, not elimination.

And when it comes to everyday meals? “Washoku (Japanese cuisine) doesn’t use much wheat. It’s based on rice. So if I return to what Japanese people have eaten since way back when, it won’t actually be that difficult to reduce my gluten intake.”

To make her goal more flexible and easier to achieve, Mai I. has designated weekdays for washoku and made weekends a “gluten-okay” zone. It’s a measured approach that allows for stress-free joys like Sunday morning pancakes and lunch out with friends.

Ideal for meals built around rice are the tableware staples in any Japanese household: a rice bowl and chopsticks that match an individual’s style. Mai I. likes the Raska Marin Modern Kobachi Small Bowl 4.7 in and the Wavy Grip Wood Grain Chopsticks. The bowl suits her sleek, modern aesthetic, and she appreciates how the chopsticks show the full beauty of the wood grain.

Although Mai I. had explained the what and how of her cooking resolution, I was still curious about the why. She gave me the backstory. “I was first inspired by a former cooking student, a model who said reducing gluten gave her more energy. Not long after, Covid hit, and I thought I’d give it a try myself.”

But like many people who adjusted their diets during the pandemic, cutting out gluten was harder to do once lockdown lifted. “Everyone just wanted to go for pizza together again, you know? Now, looking back, I’m ready to take that extra step again for my health.”

Mai I. shows that it’s okay to let our goals be flexible and change throughout the years. The world is always changing, so it’s only natural. When it’s the right time, that goal will still be there waiting for us to challenge ourselves anew.

“Something that I definitely want to do this year is take things a little more slowly. And one way I can do that is through tea.”

Kayoko lately has found herself caught up in the busyness of work and family life with two young kids. She’s been turning to the convenience of tea bags and powdered tea, but found she’s not getting the enjoyment from her tea time that she would like. “That’s why I want to incorporate tools dedicated to tea time into my routine, and value moments that allow me to reset my mind.”

Kayoko explained, “When I’m drinking loose-leaf tea, I can enjoy the flavor more. I notice more. It’s part of a bigger picture of self-care, which I haven’t been able to do much…Tea is something for myself.”

But how to add that pause into her day? Kayoko said her first step would be investing in the right tools. She pointed to the RINKA Shiboridashi Japanese Teapot as an ideal candidate for her loose-leaf gyokuro, a delicate green tea that brews well in a wide, flat pot. “If I have proper equipment,” Kayoko said, “it will feel like a tea ritual.” It adds that extra touch of intentionality that will help her to slow down.

This extends to her daily mugs, too. “The Kutani Animals and Florals Mugs happen to include my kids’ zodiac animals, the rabbit and the boar. They let me feel a connection to my family and have a small story.”

What’s the next step? “Oftentimes I’m sitting in front of the computer for two or three hours and hardly move, so I’d like to take a few minutes out of an hour to stand up, stretch, and not look at the screen for a bit.”

Finally, Kayoko left me with something to think about in the midst of my own bustling routine.

“The busyness will always be busy,” she pointed out. “But I can carve thirty seconds out of an hour to add loose-leaf tea to a teapot, add water, and drink out of a nice mug.”

“I never make New Year’s resolutions, but I am this year! I have so much I want to accomplish in 2026, and I know it won’t happen unless I make specific plans.”

An American living in Tokyo, Rebecca is an English-language writer for MUSUBI KILN. And when it comes to the kitchen, her resolution is to increase meal prep and bring lunch to the office twice a week. A self-described “probably intermediate level” home cook who lives alone, her priorities include saving money so she has more resources to spend on enjoying experiences. Currently she buys a bento every day at the local supermarket. So how does she plan to switch to home-made lunches?

“I already know how to meal-prep, so the main thing will be reducing barriers.” For her, that looks like setting aside time in her calendar, clearing space in her fridge for meal-prepped lunches, jotting down ideas of what to cook, and keeping her kitchen clean between cooking sessions.

“Decision-making is really energy-intensive for me when I’m tired, so deciding on routines and menus ahead of time is crucial.” 

Even little changes make a difference. “I’ve started labeling food storage containers with the date I cooked something. Keeping sticky notes and a pen near my fridge is so basic, but it gives me confidence I’m not about to eat something old and accidentally give myself food poisoning,” she laughed.

“Also, if I can’t see something, it vanishes from my brain. I have a whiteboard on my fridge with lists: one for groceries, one for what’s currently in the fridge. To help with this goal, I added a third section for food I’ve prepared. The lists help reduce food waste and give me hints on what to cook next. Like, ‘Oh yeah, better use that cucumber soon. Maybe I’ll combine that with tofu and make hiyajiru on Wednesday.’”

So far, Rebecca’s plans have involved making meal prep “less hard”—a process of subtraction. But what about something she could add?

“It would be nice to pack my lunch in a high-quality bento box and furoshiki (Japanese wrapping cloth).” Rebecca picked out the Natural Wood-Grain Rectangular Two Tiers Bento Box and Green Cat and Birds Furoshiki 17.7 in. “The wood is really beautiful, and I like that a furoshiki doesn’t make loud crinkly noises as I carry it around the office, as plastic does. Plus, the bright colors make it easier to see, so I won’t forget to grab my lunch as I rush out the door.”

And for the cooking itself? “My current cutting boards are plastic, but an upgrade to hinoki would be nice. I love the look and smell of natural wood, so it could be a mood boost while I meal-prep.” She pointed to the Tono Hinoki Rectangular Cutting Board with Stand, whose convenient stand makes it easy to dry and store.

“I expect some trial and error,” Rebecca concluded, “but I’m looking forward to new challenges, too.”