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 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 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!!