by : Reiko Asian Food, Sandwiches, Vegan Meat

V-Chicken Waffle Banh-Mi
Vチキン・ワッフルバインミーサンド

I love banh-mi sandwich.

Its flavor combination is so good.

It’s traditionally made with a short baguette, airy inside with light crust.

Today I thought about giving a little twist and decided to use a waffle instead of a baguette.

A waffle.

Vegan butter.

Cucumber slices.

Vegan ham.

Vegan chicken.

Pickled veggies.

Cilantro.

Vegan mayo-like sauce.

So you ask how I made the “chicken”?

(or maybe you didn’t?! (lol))

I used Butler’s soy curls.

I love this product.

I don’t know exactly when it came out for the first time, but I know it has been in the market for a long time.

It was there before Impossible, Beyond, or Next…

One of the things I like about this product is its simple ingredient.

Another thing I like is that you can store them in the pantry, as it is dry.

And it doesn’t take time to have it prepared when you are ready to use them.

They need to be soaked in water for 10 minutes and they are ready to be cooked!

I like to cook them well and add some color.

This is looking so good!

I wasn’t sure if it would keep its form when folded, but it did!

Scrumptious!!

The slightly sweet and soft waffle was so good.

I will definitely make it again.

The carbs/fillings ratio passed my test, too.

Carbs < fillings.

Always.

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by : Reiko Other

Pretty Red Strawberry and Currant Sparkling Water
赤い苺とカラント・ スパークリングウオーター

Here is a great way to showcase the beautiful strawberries and currants.

They were both hand-picked by me, and I’m so proud of myself (lol).

They are both so pretty.

You just put some sliced strawberries and currants in glasses, and pour sparkling water over them.

I just love how it looks.

So festive!

Too bad, it was just me at home today.

But this will be great to serve at an outdoor summer party.

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by : Reiko Breakfast

V/GF Bergamot Black Tea Currant Scones
ベルガモット紅茶カラントスコーン

Since I got the beautiful currants from my mother-in-law’s backyard yesterday afternoon, all I could think of was how to use them.

I get so obsessed when it comes to food!

My mother-in-law’s sister was there yesterday (she helped me pick these), and she gave me a lot of good ideas, including making scones.

I decided to add bergamot black tea (I ground it fine) along with the currants.

The scones turned out amazing!

Super flavorful.

You can eat it with butter, but I didn’t need it.

Doesn’t it look like a wonderful Sunday breakfast?

(I eat vegetables every morning now.)

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by : Reiko Main Dish, Noodles/Pasta, Vegan Meat

Fettuccine with Vegan Meat Sauce & Salad
Vミートソースパスタ＆サラダ

I was so hungry tonight, and I wanted something rich and “meaty”.

So I decided to make “meat” sauce with my super hard tofu from Costco (this tofu works great to make ground “meat” because of the firmness).

For the sauce I just used marinara sauce from Aldi.

Speaking of Aldi, this is our recent favorite, vegan Parmesan.

This was sprinkled on top of the pasta.

By the way, as I announced yesterday, I went to pick currants at my mother-in-law’s yard today.

They are so pretty!!

I made dressing using some of the fresh currants.

It turned out super tasty, but I wasn’t sure about this color…

This color reminds me of gum balls for some reason.

I hesitated, but my husband said there was nothing wrong with the color, so I did pour the dressing.

I’m still not sure about the color, but the salad was delicious.

It turned out to be a great Saturday dinner.

By the way, how much pasta is a regular portion for an adult?

I used to eat at least 100g (dry) and I would be stuffed.

Now I measure my pasta, and after trials and errors, I think 65g (dry) for dinner and 70g (dry) for lunch work the best for me.

With that I’m full and satisfied, but not overly stuffed.

ーーーーー

Forgot to talk about this.

I drizzled this truffle oil at the end on my pasta, and it was soooo good!

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Vegan Egg

Vegan Green Eggs and Ham
ヴィーガン・グリーンエッグ＆ハム

Another fun dish to make when I have homemade vegan eggs.

Toasted sourdough bread.

Hummus.

Vegan ham.

Vegan eggs.

Then I drizzled homemade green sauce, which I made with cilantro as the major ingredient.

These sliced “boiled eggs” were my first attempt, but they turned out great.

This was super fun to make and a super tasty breakfast!

I don’t have any specific plans for this weekend, except that I will probably go to my mother-in-law’s house to pick fresh currants from her garden.

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by : Reiko Rice/Grains

Rice Bombs
ばくだんV肉おにぎり

As you can see these are rice balls, but a special kind!

We call it “Bakudan” which literally means “bomb”.

We were initially planning to have a picnic lunch yesterday, but the plan had to be cancelled because it rained.

So we had “picnic” at home.

I cooked a bunch of vegetables and some tofu.

They were made into kebabs.

I just poured this Thai sweet ginger sauce from Trader Joe’s.

I just cut the rice bombs in the middle and put in lettuce leaves, Next Meats plant-based meat, and Yuzu pepper mayo.

These were so good!

I will definitely make some again.

These were good, but I can’t wait to have a real picnic “outdoors” soon!

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by : Reiko Breakfast, Sweets

Tricolor Crepes with Berries and Cream
三色クレープ、ベリーのせ

A lot have been going on in this country.

Lately.

Well, actually pretty crazy things have been going on for a few years, something I didn’t expect to see before coming to this country.

I’m not happy with a lot of things, but at the same time, I love this country.

There were reasons why I left my own country and made the decision to live here away from my family.

It’s like this.

You may not approve everything your child does, but you’ll never stop loving him/her.

I made crepes with three colors.

White, red, and blue.

I used this powder for the blue, and it worked amazingly.

The color is so bright!

I also wanted tricolored toppings.

These are the strawberries I went picking with my mother-in-law yesterday.

“White” is coconut cream.

“Blue” was blueberries.

By the way, I picked twins!

First, you place the crepes.

And all the toppings, plus maple syrup.

This was not only pretty but also super delicious.

I used this recipe, and it turned out great!

(The only change I made was that I added some water to adjust the thickness of the batter.)

https://www.theconsciousplantkitchen.com/vegan-crepes-recipe/

I hope everyone is enjoying this long weekend.

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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.

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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!

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