Innie or Outie

This version of local bento boxes included hake, mustard green-carrot-tuna mix, fried chicken, omelette, squid-seaweed-carrot somen, pickled eggplant, burdock-carrot mix, rice, and pickled plum with cracked black sesame seeds.

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Here’s a flavorful meal idea for one of those cookouts, Mustard-Steak & Ginger-Chicken BBQ Dinner:

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This meal included steak marinated in whole grain mustard, soy sauce, white pepper, and olive oil; sliced onion-garlic skewers; chicken marinated in ketchup, oyster sauce, sesame oil, minced ginger paste, sage, and coriander; foil-wrapped frozen asparagus with butter. lemon juice, powdered lemon peel, diced bacon, and cracked black sesame seeds; and a chilled mini-penne, minced hard-boiled egg and white onion, mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar, and dill weed salad.

This East-meets-West style take-out meal had rice with pickled plum and black sesame seeds, a tuna-carrot-mustard greens mix, niblet corn, pickled eggplant, potato salad on iceberg lettuce, and a giant hamburger pattie.

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This is another of hubby’s delish meals, Papa’s Wine Sauce-Pork Dinner:

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For this meal, hubby used leftover Leek Stuffed-Pork rolls and potatoes sautéed in olive oil and sesame oil smothered with a white wine, sour cream, chopped fresh parsley, mirin, white pepper, butter, and minced garlic paste sauce and garnished with grated parmesan cheese; accompanied by sautéed carrots and frozen asparagus spears.

These wonderfully sweet munchies (actually American cherries) came from a local supermarket in an adorable faux crystal to-go bowl.

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Here’s another simple and tasty home barbecue idea, Ginger-Honey Chicken BBQ Dinner:

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The flavorful meal consisted of grilled chopped chicken thigh marinated in honey, whole grain mustard, minced ginger paste, white pepper, and allspice; chopped bell pepper, white onion, and garlic clove skewers with a soy sauce dip; foiled-wrapped quartered whole potatoes with olive oil, butter, and chopped fresh basil leaves; and a salad of iceberg lettuce, quartered cherry tomatoes, chopped scallions, bacon bits, dried oregano flakes, and a creamy sesame seed dressing.

Here’s another original home cooked meal idea, Leek Stuffed-Pork Cutlet Curry-Ramen Dinner:

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This twist on two very popular dishes in the local cuisine included pan fried leek-stuffed pork cutlet medallions; instant ramen with a curry powder/one-half packaged ramen bouillon broth; leftover crockpot curry; a spiced dried-seaweed sheet garnish; and a chilled brocolli/cherry tomato in dill weed with apple cider vinegar tsukemono.

This is a simple and tasty mid-morning meal, Sunny-Side-Up Brunch:

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The meal consisted of leftover curry-potato croquettes, toast, mustard greens sautéed in sesame oil with minced garlic paste, and a sunny-side-up egg.

Here’s another tasty home cooking idea with a twist, Crockpot-Curry & Cold Bean Salad Dinner:

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The meal consisted of minced carrot, bell pepper, and white onion with ground beef, two powdered curries, clove, cinnamon, minced ginger paste, minced garlic paste, and beef bouillon cooked in a crockette; ladled over a spicy pork sausage on a slice of bread;and garnished with a sliced, spiced, seaweed sheet; accompanied by deep-fried potato croquettes of ground whole potatoes with skins, crockpot curry, and dried bread crumbs then coated in panko; and a cold salad of shredded iceberg lettuce with bean mix sautéed in olive oil, butter, minced garlic paste, soy sauce, dried parsley flakes,and white pepper; chilled, then drizzled with olive oil; and garnished with parmesan cheese.

Here’s another of hubby’s stir-fried meals, Papa’s Chicken-Veggie Rice Dinner:

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This meal consisted of chopped chicken, bell pepper, carrot, white onion, scallions, and bamboo shoots sautéed in sesame oil with chicken bouillon granules, white pepper, minced garlic paste, and minced ginger paste on a bed of rice garnished with cracked black sesame seeds.