by : Reiko Bread, Sandwiches, Tofu

Tofu Nugget Sandwich Lunch
豆腐ナゲットサンドイッチランチ&ちょこっと”大掃除”

This is the kind of lunch plate I like to eat.

Tasty sandwiches, salad, and soup.

There are a lot of veggies, and the whole plate is plant-based.

Homemade buns.

I loe them when they are just out of the oven.

They are so soft and smell good.

Homemade tofu nuggets.

This is a basic recipe for which I only wanted to use ingredients that are easy to come by and for which I don’t need to use a knife.

I used Ao-nori (seaweed flakes) to give them umami.

These are small sized ones.

They make a great snack.

These are the larger ones that I used for the sandwiches.

I love how these mini sandwiches looked.

Gochujang veggie soup.

Who is interested in this lunch plate?

This is the time when you deep-clean your house, called “O-soji” in Japan.

I’ve been keeping the house in a good shape, by cleaning a little every day, so I don’t feel like we need to do “O-soji”.

But today I cleaned the fridge inside and out, and I felt good.

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by : Reiko Noodles/Pasta, Vegan Cheese

Black Noodles with Plant-Based Cheese Sauce
黒パスタとVチーズソース

The impact of the color black is strong.

It’s unique, but I do like black food.

So when I saw this at a local specialty store, I decided to buy a package.

It really has a nice black color.

It loses the intense black color when cooked, but it’s still pretty dark.

I served it with homemade vegan cheese sauce, sage, and black walnuts.

The pasta’s texture is a bit different from the one of the wheat pasta.

It’s chewier.

I didn’t dislike it, but I couldn’t say I loved it.

Since I’m not used to this type of pasta, there is a possibility that the more I eat, the more I may come to appreciate it.

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by : Reiko Uncategorized

Plant-Based Turkey Apple Sandwich & our favorite vegan turkey this year
感謝祭のすぐ後に作ってた七面鳥と林檎のサンドイッチ＆美味しかったヴィーガンターキーはコレ。

I made this sandwich shortly after Thanksgiving.

I was meaning to post it but apparently forgot until now.

It’s a simple sandwich, yet so delicious.

Sandwich bread.

Homemade vegan mayo (always better than the store-bought one; or I should say I haven’t found one I like).

Dijon mustard.

Vegan cheese slice (lately my favorite is the Whole Foods’ brand).

Vegan turkey from Aldi.

Arugula.

Nice color!

Doesn’t this look good?

So this year we tried several vegan turkey options.

Turkey breast from Aldi, Trader Joe’s turkey roast, and the Field Roast’s turkey roast.

Vegan turkey breast from Aldi (Photo from https://vegconomist.com/ )

Vegan turkey roast from Trader Joe’s. (Photo from https://www.clubtraderjoes.com/ )

Vegan turkey roast from Field Roast. ( https://fieldroast.com/product/celebration-roast/ )

We liked the Field’ Roast’s turkey roast much better than the Trader Joe’s.

(Last year Trader Joe’s had a different vegan turkey roast (small), and we LOVED it, so we were very disappointed that they did not have the same roast this year, and the one they had this year was not good.)

The vegan turkey breast from Aldi was also really tasty.

It doesn’t look as festive as the roast, so I would still choose the roast type, but this Aldi’s breast was so good, and we enjoyed it for non-Thanksgiving meals.

The one I used for this sandwich is this one.

I like vegan turkey, and I wish they sold it all year round not just for November.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Mushrooms, Noodles/Pasta, Soup/Stew

Ankake Noodles with King Oyster Mushrooms and Soy Curls
キングオイスターきのことソイカールのせあんかけ蕎麦

Ankake or thick soup is one of my favorites.

It makes any dish a bit special.

I like this brand.

The noodles are NOT fried but “air-dried”, and the ingredients appear very good too.

Also the texture is wonderful when cooked.

Soy curls.

I get these mushrooms at the local Asian grocery store, Ha Tien Supermarket.

They are always fresh, and I like their size and how they look.

it’s currently one of my favorite mushrooms.

Today I put away our Christmas tree and all the decorations.

The spot where the tree was looks so empty now.

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by : Reiko Bread, Sweets

The world’s easiest Bûche De Noël
世界一番簡単ブッシュドノエル

This Bûche De Noël (or Yule Log) is not made of cake but made of sandwich bread!

You need several (I used four) slices of white bread.

Take crust off.

Roll them flat with a rolling pin.

Spread your favorite jam (I used cherry jam) and roll them into a log.

Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest while you prepare Adzuki butter.

I just combined and mixed store-bought sweet Adzuki paste and vegan butter until it was creamy.

Spread it over the log.

Voila!

As you can imagine, it’s quite small.

It’s perfect for one or two (I ate the whole thing myself!).

It was absolutely delicious!

Since it’s so easy to make, it can be a make-your-own project for kids too.

If Adzuki is not your cup of tea, you can simply use chocolate whipped cream or any frosting.

Merry Christmas.

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by : Reiko Bread, Breakfast

Fruit Bread and Fruit Bread French Toast フルーツブレッド＆二日目はやっぱりこれ、フレンチトースト

One of my favorite cakes is fruit cake!

I don’t understand why fruit cake is so unpopular.

I love its denseness packed with yummy fruits and nuts, and I would eat a slice with a cup of tea every day if I could.

But I don’t do that because that would make it difficult to stay at my ideal weight for sure.

Even having one fruit cake this time of the year is dangerous because my husband does not touch it (he is NOT a fan of fruit cake).

So, I decided to make the second best thing, fruit “bread”.

Well, it’s not “sweets” technically, and I can eat it as a “meal” instead of “dessert”, which makes me feel better (lol).

This turned out amazing!

I loved the light and soft crust, and all the fruits and nuts!

You toast it lightly and eat it with butter.

It’s heavenly!!

The second day I made French toast with it, and it was great too!

My husband even asked me to make some (he said he liked it, but quickly added “fruit bread is still not my favorite” ; ( ).

For the vegan French toast batter, I used her recipe -> https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-french-toast/ .

And for the fruit bread, I used her recipe -> https://merryboosters.com/easy-fruit-bread-recipe/ .

I just replaced butter with vegan butter.

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by : Reiko Tofu

2022 Christmas Eve Lunch
２０２２年クリスマスイブランチ

This year I decided to have a low-key Christmas meal.

I just wanted to have a quiet relaxing day.

Initially the plan was not having a plan (lol), but at the last minute I wanted to have something still a bit special for lunch.

I saved this recipe for a while ago, but I didn’t have a chance to try it.

The recipe looked easy enough, so I thought it would be a good main dish.

It WAS easy to make, and it turned out great!

I happened to have leftover roasted cabbage from yesterday, so I made this roasted cabbage lentil sesame stew.

For the buns I made this microwave stuffed buns in the Christmas colors.

The red ones are stuffed with vegan meatballs, and the green ones are stuffed with sweet Adzuki bean paste.

The brown sugar mustard glaze was so tasty that I wanted to lick the plate!

The glazed tofu recipe – > https://www.instagram.com/fitgreenmind/

Stay warm and safe if you live in a cold climate like we do.

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Vegan Cheese

Sun-Dried Tomato Shiso Pancakes
甘じょっぱい、がたまらない！サンドライトマト紫蘇パンケーキ

I’m always attracted to dishes that are both sweet and savory.

I still had some fresh Shiso left, so I thought it would be fun to use it for pancakes.

What goes well with Shiso?

Tomatoes!

I added chopped fresh Shiso and sun-dried tomatoes to my vegan pancake batter.

The pancakes were ready.

You can simply enjoy them with butter and maple syrup.

Or…

Add things.

This time I placed homemade vegan cheese and fresh Shiso.

Then…

Here is my not-so-secret sauce.

A mixture of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and maple syrup.

Trust me.

This is SO GOOD.

Ta da!

Scrumptious!

I would put this on the menu if I opened a restaurant (lol).

Yes, it would be served just like that, with salad and Tofu croutons.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Crispy Tofu Temaki Sushi for One
かりかり豆腐で、おひとり様手巻き寿司

It’s been really cold the past few days.

Yesterday it was only 5 F degrees and snowed all day.

So, I stayed home.

Luckily, I had enough food plus some fun ingredients to try.

A friend of mine was recently back in Japan, and she brought some fun gift for me.

I’ve never seen this mini bag of rice.

It’s so cute!

I wanted to try, and I decided to cook it for lunch.

The “Shiso” and Yuzu are from the Kaiseki chef.

He is always so generous and kindly shares Japanese foods that are hard to come by here with me.

The Yuzu zest was added to make pickled radish.

The Yuzu has such a refreshing flavor and takes the pickles to the next level.

It was a one-person lunch yesterday, so this is all I prepared for myself.

Well, that’s pretty much everything I happened to have at hand.

Inside the roll you’ll find Shiso, Yuzu radish pickles, air-fryer crispy tofu, and mashed avocado.

These were super tasty!

Since you don’t have to tightly roll or slice (if you make regular rolls), “temaki” is so easy.

This way you can enjoy the roasted seaweed still crispy this way too because you roll it when you’re ready to eat.

I had a dish of soy sauce ready for dipping, but I didn’t have to use it.

They were delicious without any extra sauce.

By the way, it’s cold again today.

It’s only -7 F degrees onw.

I’m staying at home.

By the way, this is what I’m reading right now.

I liked another book (The Pillars of the Earth) written by this author, so that’s why I decided to try this one.

So far so good.

I have a long way to go.

But time is what I have right now : ) .

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