Happy Friday.
I had craving for ramen for a while, and I finally had time to make one.
Ramen is one of the “YES” meals.
When I ask my husband if he wants ramen, his answer is always “Yes.”
Today I made rich soup.
I’ve tried different types of soup, but this is probably our favorite.
By the way, “Kotteri” means “rich (flavor)” in Japanese.
These guilt-free donuts are amazing!
The recipe calls for only a few ingredients, and the main ones are tofu and rice flour.
Of course, they have to taste good, and they do taste great!
I made two different flavors.
This is lavender lemon.
The sweet x tart plus lavender combination was fantastic.
These are cardamom chocolate.
Cardamom makes everything special and sophisticated.
Adopted from Ms. AYA’s recipe https://www.instagram.com/mmm_diet_160/ (in Japanese).
This is the chili I made the other day.
At the last minute we decided to visit my mother-in-law, and we offered to bring lunch.
(that makes things easier because she doesn’t have to think about what the heck she can make for us to eat(lol).)
We brought this chili, homemade sourdough bread, and a bag of Asian salad (that she likes, from a grocery store close to her house).
For the “meat” I used seitan meat and walnuts.
I’m so grateful that my mother-in-law is always so open to new food.
She finished her chili saying it was very good.
Later we accidentally found out that she had been at my brother-in-law’s place the night before and chili was served for dinner…
I usually go for cornbread when I have chili, but I found sourdough as a good option too.
We like our chili with homemade vegan cheddar.
It definitely adds extra depth and richness in flavor.
There are different types of cakes, but I tend to be attracted to the moist type.
This gateau au chocolat is super moist, almost like mousse, and delicious!
The cake looked great when just out of the oven.
It was hard to wait for it to cool down.
I actually decided to refrigerate it overnight.
I wanted to taste it badly, but I’m glad I waited.
The cake was served with whipped-slightly sweetened coconut cream.
The recipe – > https://www.instagram.com/nozomi__iii/ .
I loved it so much that I made it two weekends in a row.
I wake up hungry most of the time.
I think it’s healthy, right?
On weekends I can’t get out of bed fast enough because I’m ready to eat (lol).
(During the week? It’s a different story.)
I like to buy my yogurt unsweetened and add sweetness myself so that I can adjust the sugar amount.
This ↑ is my current favorite combination, Forager plant-based yogurt and Trader Joe’s fig butter.
Fig butter (or jam) is too sweet for me to eat by itself, but it is great when eaten with yogurt.
This is fig “butter”, so it’s pretty thick.
Sandwich: homemade sesame “almost bagel”, homemade vegan
cheese, BBQ tempeh, turmeric tofu, mashed avocado.
The sandwich was served with yogurt with fig butter, wilted kale, and tomato slices.
My husband (from MN) and I (from Japan) usually eat the same thing at home, but once in a while I prepare two different dishes, one for him and one for me.
Today was that kind of day.
I wanted to make him a sandwich for breakfast, but I had craving for Somen noodles (Japanese thin noodles).
So this is what I made for myself, using similar ingredients.
My husband was happy with his meal, and I was happy with my meal.
When I have a sandwich, I usually feel like I should have another dish like soup or salad to go with it to provide additional nutrition, but with Banh-Mi I don’t feel that way because it’s full of vegetables and passes as a complete meal.
I usually make bread myself for sandwich, but for banh-mi I go to a specific Asian grocery store that sells this called “French Bread.”
It’s crunchy outside but soft and super light inside, perfect for banh-mi
I also bought Renkon lotus root from the same store today to use for the sandwich.
This is one of my husband’s favorites.
For the “meat” part I used Renkon and tempeh steak.
Inside the bread you’ll find homemade vegan “pate”, cucumber slices, tempeh and Renkon steak, pickled radish and carrots, and Shiso leaves.
The flavors are a bit different from the traditional one because of the use of Shiso instead of cilantro.
We loved it though!
Homemade granola is great for breakfast, but it also comes handy when you want a little snack in the afternoon.
This is my recent favorite plant-based yogurt.
I like its thickness.
Do you have a favorite?
Spring rolls are fun to eat, but not fun to make!!
I’m pretty good at folding things (e.g., pot stickers), but not so good at rolling things.
It’s hard to roll things tight, which is my problem.
This time I was faced with extra challenge, and some of them did not even close.
I probably put too much stuff inside.
But because of that you can see what’s inside (you have to find something positive in everything, right?).
If I remember it correctly, inside were homemade seitan meat, turmeric tofu, carrots, cabbage, peppers, noodles, sprouts, and cilantro.
Served with three different sauces, peanut, sweet chili, and black bean.
Curry Bagels and Curry Bagels with Sesame Seeds.
Which do you prefer???
Me?
I prefer the ones with sesame seeds to eat.
I prefer the ones without sesame seeds to store.
Yes, I did make a smoothie bowl with my first homemade granola.
Remember this, homemade cinnamon cocoa granola?
Okay.
Smoothie is still not my favorite, but I’m completely sold on this granola!
(I do say, however, that a smoothie bowl is pretty to look at.)
