May 12th Lunch

May 12th,

I dish I ate a lot as a kid but not as an adult: Sloppy Joes.

I loved sloppy joes and you can't really find it here so I decided to make it!

Sloppy Joe with Avocado and Egg & Carrot Oven Fries

It ended not being so sloppy as the sloppy joes I remember for my childhood but still I liked it.

May 5th Lunch

May 5th,

Early this morning, we were hit with a pretty sizable earthquake.  Luckily, only 17 non-serious injuries.

Still was not happy to wake up at 5AM to an earthquake.

For lunch, I tried a new version of hamburger.

Cheesy Italian Style Chicken Burger with Tomato Sauce, Avocado Salad, Tofu Pumpkin Potage with Bread Sticks.

I mixed basil in with the ground chicken and filled the burger with melty cheese.  It's topped with a garlicky tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes.

Mmmm~... cheesy goodness.

May 4th Lunch

May 4th,

I used the leftover negitoro to make a sort of negitoro don.

"Don" or donburi is a bowl dish where meat, veggie, or fish dishes are served on a bed of rice.

It's usually very filling.

Negitoro Don with Avocado

April 28th Lunch

April 28th,

The weather is so~ nice these days.  Why can't the weather always be like this, sigh...


Anyway, I tried another new recipe for lunch today.

Baked Cheesy Tomato and Meat Sauce topped with Avocado & Focaccia

I made focaccia!  Since I don't have an oven I made my focaccia in a frying pan.  It was actually a lot easier than the naan I made.

The baked cheesy tomato and meat sauce topped with avocado was baked in my toaster oven.

I cooked the meat sauce with onions in a silicon steamer first (silicon steamers make life so much easier in the kitchen).

Layers are slices of tomatoes → meat sauce → melting cheese toast.  After you toast it top with fresh avocado slices.

April 26 Lunch

April 26,

Wanted to eat Indian food.

But!! Because I can't eat spicy food I have to make it if I wanna eat it.

And so my lunch today was this:

Tandoori Chicken Drumsticks, Yogurt Naan and Avocado Potato Salad


I used the left over drumstick and marinated them overnight to make tandoori wings!

And made Naan for the first time.

I used yogurt and cooked it in a frying pan.  What's great is that you don't need any oil in cooking either the Naan or drumstick in the pan (the marinate prevents the chicken from sticking to the pan).

April 21st Lunch

April 21st,

Wanted pizza, but need to stay healthy and don't have money to get delivery...

So~....

I made this!!

Teriyaki Chicken and Guacamole Tortilla Pizza!!

It's a double decker; two tortillas with cheese in between for the crust.

I think I could have gone with a little less guacamole... but it was still yummy.

I made it in a frying pan, it was nice and crunchy on the bottom and gooey in the middle... I think I'm in love..

April 17th Lunch

April 17th,

Used the last of the carrot tofu burgers to make this delicious creation.

Tomato and Egg Tofu Rice Burger with Avocado Chips

Delicious!!

April 14th Lunch

April 14th,


I made tofu carrot burgers.

And I used this burger to make...

Teriyaki Locomoco Bowl!!

Instead of gravy sauce I used teryaki sauce as a healthy and easy alternative.

It was DELICIOUS!!

Definitely making this again.

One thing to note if you are a vegetarian and planning to come to Japan.  Just because it says "tofu burger" does not mean it's vegetarian.  Many tofu burger recipes include meat, usually ground chicken, to help the patty keep it's shape so be sure to ask if you do order the tofu burger.

April 4th Lunch

April 4th,

These days the temperature is at that indecisive point, are you going to need a coat or will just a jacket do?

I wish it would be just a TAD bit warmer, then it would be perfect.

Lunch:

Tried a new menu

No cream and no egg required!

Creamy Avocado Carbonara with Chicken.

Nice and creamy but very light and healthy!

April 2nd Lunch

April 2nd,

Keep forgetting to post.

Cherry blossoms are a-bloom here and it's so beautiful!

But isn't just the way, we've been getting some serious rainy days so who know how long these pretty petals will last.

Lunch:

Avocado Chicken Wraps.

Nothing special, but none the less yummy.

March 30th Lunch

March 30th,

It's so windy today, I thought I would blow away when I went out.

I hope it doesn't blow all the cherry blossoms away. 

They all just started blooming.

Anyway lunch:

Ginger Chicken with Onion

Avocado Toast

March 27th Lunch

March 27th,

I don't know if it's the bad weather, but I've had a horrible headache all day.

Very unpleasant.

Anyway, lunch:

The other day I bought tuna; the ara of the tuna.

Ara (or アラ) is the left over parts of the fish after all the main parts have been cut away and usually you cook it rather than eat it raw.  You can eat it raw if you are careful in the preparation and what part you use.

It can also have a more fishy smell/taste than other parts.  So I first boiled mine in a mixture of water and cooking sake before I cooked it nice and slowly in soy sauce and ginger.  Marinating or first boiling/steaming it in sake will help to get rid of the fishyness.

I also perfected the poached egg!  Finally!!

Beautiful, no?  I knew it would just take me practice.

I used it and the tuna to make today's lunch.

I call it my AraAra-don.

It was yummy~.

Poached eggs are golden gooey globs of yummy.

March 19th Lunch

Sorry, it's been a while.

Went with my Aunt to the airport, then my Mom.

Anyway lunch from the 19th.

Roast beef sandwich with cottage cheese and cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocado chips with yogurt dip.

Yumm... I love roast beef!

March 14th Lunch

March 14th,

Mom's over for lunch and I tried a new dish!

Chicken Banh Mi, Avocado Chips with Yogurt Dip, and a Simple Salad.

Banh Mi sandwich is a Vietnamese sandwich usually served in a baguette and usually includes things like cilantro, fish sauce, and pickled carrots.

The original Banh Mi recipe also uses hot sauce, but because I cannot eat spicy foods I used oyster sauce instead of hot sauce + fish sauce.  A very good decision if I do say so myself.

It was so yummy and my mom loved it too!

It's a success!

Must add it to the recipe list.

March 4th Lunch

March 4th,

Today, Mom is visiting from the States!

Unfortunately, she didn't make it in time for lunch.

Chicken Sauce Cheese Open Sandwich with Avocado & Mackerel Burger Salad

A dish from Yamanashi-ken, Japan; Seidanotamaji.

Potatoes cooked in sweet miso sauce.

February 27th Lunch

February 27th,

I made a delicious new menu discovery using left over tomato egg soup from yesterday.

It took me about 5 min to make, using left over soup and rice.

Tomato Risotto Topped with Avocado

February 20th Lunch

February 20th,


Used my favorite meat sauce again!!

Meat Sauce and Cheese Open Sandwich with Avocado

Basil Oven Pumpkin Chips

Salad

I think I'm addicted to this meat sauce.  The combination of meat sauce, cheese, and avocado it magical!!

February 12th Lunch

February 12th,

Easy Japanese menu using canned sardines

Miso Sardine with Cucumber

Avocado and Tomato Yogurt Salad

Pumpkin and Tofu Miso Soup

February 11th Lunch

February 11th,

Meat Sauce and Cheese on Toast Topped with Avocado

Cucumber Egg Salad & Daikon Radish and Tomato Salad

February 7th Lunch

February 7th

Day before a major snow storm!!

Lunch:

Chicken with Avocado Open English Sandwich & Oven Fries

Peppers and Fish Sausage Soup