Learnings from making lunches

This past winter, I made an effort to make and bring lunches to work because I was tracking my macros and wanted to eat healthier and eat less restaurant food, which I was often opting for lunch and dinner (and occasionally store-bought breakfast). Living in Tokyo with almost unavoidable convenience to dine out in high quality at…

Easy prep olives and cottage cheese endive appetizer (Cottage cheese substitute also on the blog)

I just did my wikipedia research and found that endive has more than ten names… what? That is a lot of names to memorize for one vegetable. So I chose to pick up endive (in Japan, they call these chicory) for a home lunch gathering since I wanted to bring something in (… and to…

Valentine’s Banana Muffin

Valentine’s prepping this year was lots of fun because I was on a baking mission. I hardly bake because I don’t have an oven at home and because I’m more on the savory food making side, but I borrowed my mom’s kitchen (aka my fav and most beautiful and practical kitchen of my liking, not…

Kolinky – Favorite pumpkin recipe and roasted seeds

I often get my cup of coffee at Streamer Coffee Company in Gohongi, and I picked up a new vegetable called Kolinky from Greenman’s Market. This vegetable looks like a pumpkin, but it’s much smaller than a typical Japanese pumpkin, and it weighs more than it looks. So out of its pumpkin meat, I made…

Savory French Toast at Grand Lake Kitchen, Oakland California

I was in Oakland, California for a day and a bit a few weeks ago, and I knew that I would be grabbing lunch in the area. I had a Mexican dinner planned and also another meal to discover for myself, so I went on Yelp to find the good eats and found this savory…

Homecooked Korean-Mexican adzuki salad

This was exactly what I needed the other day, something spicy, colorful, and rich in nutrients. It was super easy to make (again) with whatever that was in the fridge (yet again). I had loads of frozen adzuki beans because I had been cooking a lot of it, so I needed a way to use it…

Quick and easy salmon veggie bowl

Sometimes you simply have a hodgepodge of ingredients you have to put together for a quick meal. To be honest, I don’t have a recipe in mind most nights I cook, I find whatever is in my fridge to make whatever I can. Here is a bowl I put together that has heaps of nutritional balanced…

The fad: avocado toast

Avocado toast -avocado in general- is everywhere on health, fitness, and food related blogs and Instagram. It’s amazing how much attention it’s receiving these days! And yes, with so much influence in my eyes, it was only natural for my brain and tastebuds to crave it, and now I’m riding with this fad of having…

White Asparagus Mimosa

White asparagus has a super short season, and it is spring’s gem vegetable in my opinion. Asparagus goes so well with oil, and I like to have it with simple salt, pepper, and olive oil. Otherwise, it is also good with butter. This dish is one I learned from my cooking class. Its mimosa is…

Homemade shungiku and tuna rotini

I am not a huge pasta eater, but I won’t miss out a chance to eat rotini, especially these big curled rotini. There was one weekday I had the day off and was at my parent’s house, and I came across rotini in my mom’s fridge and put together this simple pasta for lunch. Shungiku is…

Homemade Ganache with pinot noir and paprika

I figured ganache is actually pretty easy to make at home as long as you: 1) have good chocolate; 2) can be cautious about not burning. This Valentines, I made homemade ones referring to this cookpad recipe,with an added kick of pinot noir salt crystals and powdered Columbian cocoa powder with paprika.   I actually didn’t use the best…

Hemp Seeds

Hemp seed can put a question mark to some, but I trust the internet to believe that it is a legal food. This seed is more than amazing as it is nutritionally dense with good omega fats and is a source of complete protein. It can turn into milk, oil, butter – it is super versatile!…