by : Reiko Bread

Veggie Dog & New Toy!
ベジドッグ＆我が家にもアレがやってきた

I’ve never been a big hotdog person.

Even before we chose the plant-based diet, that was something I didn’t need in my life.

But this got me interested.

Last week we went to Ikea after avoiding it for several years (due to COVID19), I was pleasantly surprised at the number of plant-based products they now carry.

This was one of them.

One thing I really like about Ikea products is their ingredients.

Yes, they call it “dog”, but it’s packed with various vegetables, and quite different from the regular hot dog, which is perfectly fine by me.

You can actually see the bits of veggies.

Another reason I never really liked hotdogs was the quality of the bun.

Often times hotdogs are served with low-quality buns.

In my opinion, buns are as important (or even more important) as the hotdog, and it’s a shame to serve your good hotdog in not-good buns.

So I had to bake my own buns.

Trust me.

It makes a huge difference!

I was super happy with this lunch.

I will definitely buy these hotdogs again.

Now we have to talk about my new toy!

I know I’m so late to the party, but I finally got an air fryer.

It took me several years to go back and forth between “I want it” and “No I don’t need it”.

The major reason why I hesitated was my belief that the convection oven I have was supposed to do the same thing as the air fryer does.

I think I read it somewhere.

But I wasn’t super happy with the convection oven when it comes to trying to get the “fried” texture.

Yes, I could get pretty close, but that I had to use quite a bit of oil to achieve the crispiness, which I did not like.

Then, I found an article that said the air fryer does a better job than the convection oven to crispiness.

That was it for me.

We picked potatoes to try our air fryer for the first time.

This was cooked at 400F for 15 minutes.

This was cooked for another 10 minutes.

So what do I think of the air fryer?

Well, I think I like it.

First of all, it’s very quick for it to preheat, which was expected but still great!

It got the crispiness like the one you will get from deep-frying.

And I didn’t have to use a lot of oil.

I already have a few other ideas for using my new air fryer, and I can’t wait.

The storage was a concern, because it’s a nice size (although I wouldn’t go smaller than this for our household), but I was able to make a spot for it by moving things around.

Now it looks like it belongs here.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains, Vegan Meat

BBQ V-Chicken Rice Bombs
V甘辛チキンばくだんおにぎり

This was my second time making rice bombs.

They are easy to make, and it looks so fun.

For the vegan chicken I used soy curls.

They are one of my favorite things to keep in my pantry.

It’s so quick to prepare.

It takes no time from the pantry to the table.

And I can’t emphasize enough that it tastes great.

The vegan chicken was smothered in BBQ sauce and then packed in the rice bombs along with creamy coleslaw.

This was so good!

I was perfectly happy, but my husband was not sure about the rice and meat ratio, so for him I may have to make an elongated bomb next time, like a hotdog, so that he will have more meat.

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Pizza/Flatbread, Uncategorized, Vegan Egg

Breakfast Pizza Picnic
朝食ピザでピクニック

Since we enjoyed our last picnic so much that we decided to do it again.

I was initially thinking of making rice balls, but I didn’t prepare enough for that, so instead I went with pizza.

I still needed to make crust, but it takes much less time than cooking rice.

I usually make my egg with tofu or a mixture of tofu and chickpea flour, but today I just used chickpea flour (because the cheese I was going to use is made of tofu), and I really liked it.

Hash browns.

I found these on sale ($2.99 instead of $6.99).

Of course, I grabbed some.

I cooked the sausage as another topping.

I used my favorite tofu crust and make the sheetpan pizza.

This turned out great!

I packed up a few more things.

I also got my hot green tea packed just like the last time.

We decided to go to the same spot as the last time.

It was another cloudy day.

Today I didn’t even bother to bring a hat or sunglasses.

The pizza was so good!

We got some veggies and dip.

Green tea for me.

My husband brought coffee.

Unsweetened vegan yogurt with blueberries and currants.

It was another successful picnic breakfast.

But toward the end it started sprinkling, so we packed everything up quick once we finished eating.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Vegan Meat

V-Chicken Curry over Corn Barley
Vチキンカレーとコーン大麦

Love Japanese curry.

I have to make it at least once a month.

The chicken was this.

Soy curls!

It’s such a great product.

This was so good.

I usually eat my curry with rice.

But my husband has been into barley lately, and he actually cooked a large batch of barley.

I’ve never really paid much attention to this grain, but I’m hooked.

The texture is awesome.

This time the added corn made the whole meal even tastier.

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by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Vegan Fish

V-Salmon Roe Natto Soba
Vいくら納豆そば

I marinated the red currants in the soy-based marinade for a while.

Now they taste so flavorful!

I placed a big spoonful of the V-salmon roe (that’s what I like to call them for the fun of it!), along with natto, avocado, seaweed, and cucumber on freshly cooked soba noodles.

I made this soba dish cold.

Okay, it’s good without the vegan salmon roe, but it definitely makes the dish very special!

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Sandwiches, Vegan Egg

Sunday Brunch Picnic in the City
日曜日のブランチピクニック

Since I bought a picnic basket, I wanted to have a pinic.

We’ve been busy, but a few weeks later finally this morning we decided to do that.

Since it was brunch, I didn’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen.

I slept in, put together this breakfast sandwich quick.

The only thing I made was the tofu-chickpea omelet.

Our favorite everything sourdough bread, dijon mustard, vegan cheddar cheese, vegan deli meat, homemade vegan omelet, arugula, and vegan mayo (I used store-bought mayo for this, but I doctored it up a little; it’s convenient, but I haven’t found any vegan mayo that tastes right as is.).

Some veggies and grapes.

Homemade vegan cheese dip.

This basket is smaller, but really perfect for the two of us.

I got hot green tea in a thermal tumbler.

Now ready to go.

Unfortunately, right before we left, we saw the weather forecast predicting rain.

Initially we were planning to walk to the picnic spot, but we decided to drive.

It actually turned out to be a perfect weather.

75 degrees.

No strong sun.

Very comfortable.

Luckily, the rain that was supposed to come disappeared before getting to our area.

Simple but satisfying!

But first.

Pictures.

This is me arranging things so that they look good in pictures.

My husband is so patient.

Love him :).

Now we get to eat!

These are the savory muffins I made a while ago (I kept some in the freezer).

Everything tastes extra good when you eat outside.

The hot green tea tastes great too.

This was our picnic view.

The Mississippi river.

Not bad, right?

We were only a few blocks from our place.

This is the city view behind.

It’s fun to go for a drive to a countryside and have a picture in the nature, but I also enjoy a city picnic like this very much too.

I took a few more pictures before we left.

This was such a great idea.

We enjoyed it so much.

I can’t wait to do it again!

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by : Reiko Breakfast

Ultimate Simple-Ingredient Pancakes with Yogurt and Fig Butter
究極シンプル材料パンケーキ、ヨーグルトと無花果バターのせ

The funny thing about checking ingredients…

For certain recipes, I’m attracted to a small list.

The fewer, the better.

This pancake is made of two main ingredients plus two extra ingredients.

The main ingredients are bananas and rice flour.

I use two ripe bananas to make four small-medium sized pancakes.

That’s perfect for the two of us to eat for breakfast, two pancakes each.

I mash the bananas first (I usually use my hand blender) and then add rice flour until the texture achieves your preferred texture.

Don’t put too much rice flour.

I’ve done that before, and it makes the pancakes tough and not good.

Oh, the other two extra ingredients are salt and baking powder.

I never skip them, but I have a feeling that the pancakes still probably turn out okay without them, just not as fluffy, I assume.

The pancakes turned out great!

I made this pancake so many times while we were in a vacation home in Hawaii last winter.

Anything you can make with a few ingredients is great when you are in a temporary residence.

These pancakes are delicious with butter and maple syrup.

But this time I was in a mood to keep them light.

So I ate them with vegan yogurt and fig butter, both from Trader Joe’s.

The sourness of the yogurt goes so well with the sweet and rich fig butter.

And they were lovely eten with the banana pancakes together.

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by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Vegan Meat

Spicy Dipping Noodles
ピリ辛つけそうめん

I eat a lot of cold noodles in summer.

I make various versions of dipping sauce, but it’s usually a little spicy, and a little sweet.

I usually like to add some milk to make it rich.

This time I used coconut milk because I had a big carton that someone gave to me.

It instantly made the sauce exotic (in a good way)!

This is the somen noodle.

It’s a popular noodle to eat cold in Japan.

I remember that when I was on a summer break, we would have somen noodles almost every day for lunch.

Somen noodles are so thin that they are perfect for dipping.

Never forget veggies!

Or soy curls!

It looks like chicken, and its texture and taste are pretty similar to those of chicken.

So good!!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Gluten Free, Main Dish

V-Meat and Veggie Jeon (Korean Savory Pancake)
元気もりもりチヂミ

I’ve tried various types of savory pancakes, and at this point I have to admit I like them all (lol).

This Korean version is packed with a lot of vegan meat (Next Meats) and veggies.

Like I need cabbage for the Japanese version, for the Korean version I have to have “nira”.

I was surprised to find it at the local Asian grocery store.

It’s got wonderful garlicky flavor.

I would strongly recommend if you’ve never tried it.

As you can see, the batter is very thin.

I made the batter with rice flour this time, and it turned out perfectly fine.

Doesn’t it look great?

I enjoyed it simply with a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar.

Tasty!!!

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