by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Vegan Meat

V-Beef and Crimini Stroganoff
Vビーフきのこストロガノフ

During the week I usually stick with light meals, but on weekends I like to change things a bit and go for a richer dish.

I used my homemade vegan “beef” and crimini mushrooms for this dish, and I was happy with the result.

I would have liked homemade pasta, but I just simply didn’t have enough time.

So the second best thing.

Lasagna pasta.

I cook store-bought lasagna sheets and then cut them into wide strips.

I like to use them when I don’t have time because they have the chewy texture which is similar to the texture of homemade pasta.

I also like the wavy design on the edges too.

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Vegan Meat

Vegan Swedish Meatballs
ヴィーガンスエーデン風ミートボール

My husband and I had a conversation about my car a few months ago.

It’s getting old, and he asked me if I wanted to buy a new car or keep the one I have and put money into it for proper maintenance.

I chose the latter.

Apparently there was a reason he brought it up because he told me there were some issues that needed to be fixed.

So he made an arrangement with his brother, who is great with cars (or anything that moves!), and they worked on my car at his garage yesterday.

My husband told me that he had no idea how many hours it would take to finish what they needed to do when he left the house at 8:30 a.m.

Well, they, my husband, his brother, and their cousin (who joined to help them) worked for 17 hours!

My husband did not come home until close to 5:00 a.m.!

I was speechless.

So grateful to all three of them for their hard work.

Also super impressed that they are so equipped with the right tools and skillful.

So I wanted to make one of my husband’s favorite dishes for lunch today.

Yesterday I secretly made a big batch of vegan meatballs.

I used to make these a lot, but I haven’t for a while lately.

We’ve been buying vegan meatballs at stores, but my husband always liked these homemade ones better.

The dish turned out great, and he loved it!

It’s such a hearty meal, but my vegan version does not have heaviness while being flavorful and satisfying.

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Tofu, Vegan Meat

Breakfast Tacos
朝食タコス

Friday Tacos!

Loaded with all my favorite breakfast items.

Scrambled tofu, vegan bacon, cheddar cheese, mayo, and scallion.

Served with spinach salad, dressed with apricot vinaigrette, which was sitting in our pantry forever and recently re-discovered.

We really need to learn not to tuck things away when we buy new things.

This was also sitting in the back of our pantry…

I’ll start using this too.

This was the smallest package I could find.

That’s a lot of tortillas for our household of two!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Vegan Meat

Kung Pao V-Chicken
カンパオVチキン

Chinese food is very popular in Japan, and I felt I had a good grasp of their cuisine.

So when I came to the U.S. and found a lot of dishes on many Chinese restaurant’s menus that were not familiar to me, I was shocked.

Kung Pao Chicken was one of them.

I never had the dish in Japan, but it quickly became one of my favorites.

I’m always looking for a fun product to try.

I found this vegan soy meat at the Asian grocery store, and I thought this would be a good “meat” to be used for Kung Pao as “chicken.”

The instructions on the package tell you to soak them in water for 30 minutes to make them soft, but they were far from “soft” after being soaked for more than 45 minutes.

Eventually, I cooked them in boiling water for 5 minutes or so.

Next time I will definitely boil them to avoid wasting time.

The “meat” browned well, and the texture was pretty good.

I think coating with strong sauce is the key when it comes to soy meat, and this dish worked well.

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by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Vegan Meat

Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo with “Chicken and Bacon”
ヴィーガン“チキンとベーコン入り”クリームパスタ

As you can tell from the number of pasta/noodle posts on this blog, I love noodles, and I eat them a lot.

This creamy Alfredo sauce was just perfect for my homemade fettucine pasta.

And this time lucky me, I happened to have homemade vegan “chicken” and “bacon” to throw in.

No regret about being on the plant-based diet!

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by : Reiko Mushrooms, Vegan Meat

Tricolor Tortilla Wrap
三色ラップ

Did you think I was done with this tortilla wrap trend?

Well, apparently not.

This is such a great way to use up all leftovers in my fridge.

This time what you see on the tortilla are 1) red sauce, vegan chicken slices, sauteed mushroom, 2) white cheese sauce, sauteed kale, 3) vegan cheese with black pepper, and 4) vegan cheese with fried onion.

When you make a slit at the bottom (between 2 and 3), and fold clock-wise, 3 and 4 become the outer (top and bottom) layers.

It took me a while to figure this out, but now I am a little more strategic when it comes to where to place what.

Loved the beautiful colors of this one as well as the flavor combo.

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by : Reiko Sandwiches, Vegan Meat

Vegan Ham and Cheese Sandwich
ヴィーガンハムチーズサンドイッチ

Sandwich-making after a big holiday meal is a must, isn’t it?

The reason is, of course, to utilize leftover food from the big meal.

For the bread I used the whole wheat baguette I had baked yesterday.

And of course the ham.

I sliced it very thinly for the sandwich.

I drizzled a little glaze.

The vegan white cheese spread is also homemade.

Après-holiday sandwiches are the best in so many ways.

But little prep time is definitely one of them!

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by : Reiko Vegan Meat

2020 Christmas Eve Dinner
2020年クリスマスイブディナー

This year I decided to try ham as the main dish for our Christmas dinner.

I mean, vegan, of course.

The supporting actors were roasted Brussels sprouts, sautéed garlic-onion-potatoes, and spinach and roasted chickpea salad.

I almost forgot (well, I did forget to add this to the group picture above) these.

I baked cardamom cranberry walnut rolls.

It took a little longer than I had anticipated to get the meal ready.

So, I decided to make a snack platter.

I was glad that I had the vegan cheese I had already made.

It snowed in Minnesota last night.

It’s pretty cold, so I’m sure we will have white Christmas tomorrow.

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