by : Reiko Breakfast

Lemon Cranberry Almond Muffins
レモンクランベリーアーモンドマフィン

I was so excited this morning because my mother-in-law and I were planning to go strawberry picking.

Before heading out to the farm, I thought it would be nice to sit down and have breakfast with her, and I baked these muffins.

I know my mother-in-law likes lemon flavored baked goods, and I decided to go with lemon, cranberry, and almond.

I realized I had run out of regular muffin paper cups, but I found these I had bought a while ago.

I’m glad it worked just fine.

I used this recipe as the base recipe. ↓

https://www.mydarlingvegan.com/vegan-blueberry-muffins/

I packed the still warm muffins and a couple of plant-based yogurt from Trader Joe’s (in a separate bag).

The weather was not the best (it rained), but I enjoyed spending time with my mother-in-law and picking these strawberries,

I have a few plans to use these for this long weekend.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Main Dish, Noodles/Pasta

Vegan Beef Stroganoff
ヴィーガン（って分からない）ビーフストロガノフ

My husband doesn’t cook much.

But he does make a few things.

One is pizza.

And the other is “Hamburger Helper”.

Since we don’t eat meat anymore, I should say the other “was”.

I’m usually not a big fan of box food, but when you are the cook 99% of the time whatever someone else makes for you tastes so good.

And he was a good “Hamburger Helper” maker, and I liked his Beef Stroganoff a lot.

Well, it’s been a long time since I made beef stroganoff.

But I just recently realized Next Meats vegan meat is perfect for this dish because it is a fillet type.

This turned out scrumptious!

Fettucine was perfect, in my opinion.

(I am a long pasta kind of person.)

Well, I like vegetables for every meal.

The figs from Trader Joe’s were perfectly ripe and DELICIOUS!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Asian Food, Noodles/Pasta

Tsukemen: Dipping Noodles
こってりつけ麺

Have you tried dipping noodles?

I’ve always liked this type of noodle dish.

I made the dipping sauce and noodles cold, and it was perfect for a hot Minnesota day.

I made the sauce with tahini and miso.

So it’s a rich sauce.

You can use any type of noodles.

Can you see how well the sauce sticks to the noodles?

Or if dipping is not your thing, you can always put the whole noodles in the bowl and enjoy it this way too.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Asian Food, Main Dish, Uncategorized

Vegan Beef & Broccoli (and Mushrooms)
ヴィーガン・ビーフ＆ブロッコリ（アンド・きのこ）

Chinese food is something I crave for regularly.

When we lived in the suburbs there was a Chinese restaurant five minutes from our house from where we would get a takeout probably every other week.

Unfortunately, since we moved to the city (and we started the plant-based diet), we have not been able to find “our” Chinese restaurant.

That means I have to make it whenever I want to eat Chinese food.

Since we still have Next Meats vegan meat, I decided to make Beef and Broccoli.

But then I also added mushrooms (who else feels beef and broccoli needs more veggies?).

Wait!

I had a few take-out boxes I had bought a while ago.

For some reason Chinese food tastes better when it comes from the container (lol).

I quickly cooked the store-bought (frozen) egg rolls in the toaster and also sauteed some peppers.

This was super tasty!!

Next Meats’ meat is already sliced, so it’s super convenient and works particularly well for Asian dishes.

For this I used their short ribs.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Breakfast, Vegan Egg

Breakfast Oatmeal Wrap
ブレックファスト・オートミールラップ

We were planning to go to a restaurant in Minneapolis for brunch this morning.

I got up early enough so that we could get an outdoor table (the place is very popular, and some people get there a few minutes early).

My husband was not too excited about getting up before 8:00 on Saturday, but he agreed that it would be nice to have a brunch out.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate…

It was not raining, but it looked like it might rain while we were there.

So we decided to postpone…

Instead, I decided to try the recipe I had been interested in.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeyOgumKt7t/

I love a recipe like this.

So simple and basic, but versatile.

I used my hand blender because I didn’t want to get my food processor out (and clean).

Okay.

My first one was a disaster!

But the rest turned out great.

I used 1.5 cup instead of 1 cup of oatmeal (and water), and I was able to make 6 pieces including the first failed one.

What you see here are…

Good-for-anything-sauce, vegan mozzarella cheese, vegan turkey slices, hashbrowns, vegan omelet, and spinach.

I used Sweet Earth’s oven roasted-style turkey.

I liked it.

I’ve tried some of their other deli slices, too , and overall I’m happy with them.

So how to make “good-for-anything sauce”?

Mix vegan mayo, Peri-peri sauce (from Trader Joe’s), Carolina BBQ sauce (from Aldi), and sugar (or maple syrup).

This is so tasty!

Careful with Peri-peri sauce.

It’s a bit spicy.

The oatmeal wrap was surprisingly soft and wrapped the fillings very well.

You ask what happened to the failed one?

Don’t worry.

I turned it into a deconstructed version, and I ate it.

So good!

The pretty version was eaten by my husband, and he liked it too.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Breakfast, Vegan Egg

Green Eggs and Steak Tostadas
グリーンエッグ＆ステーキ・トスターダ

Green eggs and ham!

No, wait.

This is green eggs and “steak”!

It’s a little different.

But hey, this was equally fun and tasty.

This turned out to be a pretty plate.

Next Meats vegan meat is so handy.

It’s pre-sliced and marinated, and you just need to sauté it for a few minutes and it’s ready.

By the way, I didn’t realize how easy to make tostadas.

You don’t have to wrap or roll.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Breakfast, Vegan Egg

Vegan Irish Breakfast
アイリッシュ・ブレックファスト

I don’t know where it came from.

But for some reason I wanted to eat Irish breakfast.

Since I don’t know any restaurant that serves vegan Irish breakfast (do you?), that means I had to make it.

Then I realized I never actually had Irish breakfast myself.

I have seen my friend having one at an Irish restaurant though.

So I did some google search.

There are apparently some core things that you have to put on the plate, and one of them was an egg (or eggs).

These are my homemade vegan eggs.

I think they turned out great!

A few other things I wanted to put on the plate…

Beans.

Meat.

I used store-bought vegan sausage and sliced meat.

Fried tomato.

I didn’t see a lot of green on the Irish Breakfast plate, but I like having some green.

So braised kale made it to my plate.

I’m so proud of myself.

This is my homemade vegan Irish soda bread.

I actually made it just for my Irish breakfast.

I served it with vegan butter and homemade rhubarb jam.

Irish breakfast is a big breakfast.

I actually served it for lunch, and my husband and I were very happy with it!

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Bread

Vegan Irish Soda Bread with Sunflower Seeds
ヴィーガンアイリッシュソーダブレッド、ひまわり種のせ

I didn’t know much about Irish Soda Bread.

But I wanted to make Irish breakfast, so I googled for recipes.

https://www.theconsciousplantkitchen.com/vegan-irish-soda-bread/

This vegan recipe looked good, and I followed the recipe except that I doubled it to make two loaves.

I didn’t even know that it is not yeast bread, and it took no time from start to finish!

It turned out great!

I like the texture and taste both.

It has a very unique taste which I have a hard time explaining except for saying it’s tasty!

I was going to give one of the loaves to a friend, so I didn’t put seeds on that one (she does not like her bread with nuts, seeds, or fruit).

Now I know Irish Soda bread is easy and quick to make and it’s super tasty.

I’m sure this will be part of our bread rotation.

Leave a comment
by : Reiko Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta

Hummus Soba Salad
フムスそばサラダ

This morning we got up earlier (than usual for Saturday) and went to an outdoor brunch.

After that we visited Minnehaha Falls, and then explored the neighborhood around it.

We visited a few vintage shops, and when we were done with some grocery shopping, we were ready to take a nap.

It was a hot day.

Although we avoided the highest temperature for the day, the heat really got to us.

So for dinner I wanted something fresh and light.

I just placed all my favorite veggies along with freshly cooked Soba noodles and then put hummus on top of the soba.

It was served with non-oil dressing, but it was so good and satisfying as the hummus added wonderful creaminess.

Leave a comment