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 7th Lunch

May 7th,

I think I'm in love with those Italian style burgers I made.  It's especially good with the garlic tomato sauce.

Cheesy Italian Style Chicken Burger with Tomato Sauce & Baked Pumpkin Chips.

Mmm... Cheesy innerds.

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 1st Lunch

May 1st,

Last night, it was raining so hard I thought my apartment would be swept away!

It's lovely today though.

Lunch:

Non-Spicy Japanese Style Mapo Doufu Don

Just used ground chicken, tofu and onion.  Instead of using doubanjiang (a tangy Chinese miso that helps give it its spice) I used regular miso.

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 25th Lunch

April 25th,

When seasons change and the weather's not so great... rainy and just ugh....

I always suffer such horrible migraine headaches.

So it's not good when the rainy season starts in the spring.

Oh well, we must soldier on.

Lunch:

Sweet and Sour Drumsticks with Hard Boiled Egg, Carrot Tofu Soup with Bread Sticks, and Cucumber Salad

Mmm~.

I love chicken drum sticks, but it is hard work getting all the skin and fat off when preparing the chicken... but so~ worth it.  Always good to cook boiled egg with your chicken, it's a yummy plus.

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 19th Lunch

April 19th,

The cherry blossoms in Japan are beautiful, no question.  But the problem is they don't last long because right after they come into bloom comes the rain and the rainy season...sad...

But, I guess that makes them more precious.

Lunch:

Miso Cheesy Chicken & Somen Salad with Ao Shiso Dressing

This is the second time I made Miso Cheesy Chicken.  I think I did it better this time.

Somen Salad.  Somen (so men)  is a very thin noodle made from wheat flour.

Somen is usually served cold.  There's a summer activity with somen called nagashi somen where you take a long flume of bamboo to make a sort of water slide for the noodles.  People stand along next to the bamboo water slide with a bowl of dipping sauce and catch noodles as they come down and enjoy.  It's a fun yummy group activity!

Slightly thicker noodles are called hiyamugi and then the even thicker noodles udon.

April 18th Lunch

April 18th

For surviving the winter in Japan, many people spend it sitting in a kotatsu.

What's a kotatsu.

It's basically a low table (where you sit on the floor) and there's a thick blanket in between the table top and it's base and there is a heater underneath so that the toasty warmness is trapped under the blanket.  It's heaven AND A TRAP!  Because you're so comfy that you don't want to leave, not to cook food, not to go to the bathroom, and not to got to bed.

I own a kotatsu.  But I just put it away because it's spring!  And wouldn't you know it, it gets chilly again.... but don't want to set it up again.

Anyway... lunch!

Chicken Chips and Panzella


I made my croutons for my Panzella out of English muffins.  It made it crispy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside.  I loved it but if you like your croutons with nothing but crunch maybe use another bread.

April 10th Lunch

April 10th,

One of my recipes I'm addicted to.

Chicken toast with melty cheese and cucumber on top.

April 9th Lunch

April 9th,

Tried something new.

Rice burger!!

You can find rice burgers at places like Mosburger (a burger chain in Japan)

I made my favorite chicken meat sauce  instead of a patty.

It was delicious!!!

April 6th Lunch

April 6th,

Breakfast for lunch?

Chicken cooked in worcestershire sauce, scrambled eggs and tomatoes in a flour tortilla.

Breakfast wrap!

Always a yum decision to do breakfast.

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 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 13th Lunch

March 13th,

It's getting warmer, nice spring weather.

But!! Today is not pleasant weather, it's a storm outside... don't wanna walk outside...ugh.

Anyhoo~...

Tried making Greek for the first time.

I made Greek style burgers with tzakziki sauce!

But I used chicken instead of lamb and cottage cheese instead of feta cheese.

It was DELICIOUS!!

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 26th Lunch

February 26th,

It's such a lovely spring weather day, but they said it'll get cold again by the weekend.

Today's lunch:

Tomato and Egg Udon Soup

Chicken and Hanpen Tsukune in Teriyaki Sauce

Tsukune is basically a chicken meatball.  You can find it most commonly on the menu at yaki tori restaurants.  It's usually served with tare (a sticky sweet sauce) or salt.

Hanpen is an ingredient that often looks like a giant square marshmallow (the ones they sell at the super markets in Japan).  It's made mostly from fish and egg whites.  The great part of hanpen is that it's low in fat and calories but will add volume to your dish so it's very healthy!

You may find it at an Asian grocery store.

February 25th Lunch

February 25th,

Running behind schedule.
Decided to make a simple lunch.  Used canned yaki tori (sauce flavored).

Cheesy Yaki Tori Open Sandwich

Basil Oven Pumpkin Fries

Mackerel Burger Salad