"Easy Lunch Ideas for When You Need Help: A List for Your Stay-at-Home Cooking"

2020.04.28 published

Cooking is more of a hassle than thinking about what to make.

Since April, I've been living a life where I make and eat three meals a day at home.

How about you, everyone...?

In our home, my husband has also been working from home every day since April, so we're truly together 24/7.

Until now, we only shared meals in the evening, so I only had to think about the issue of "couple × meals" regarding dinner. However, now we are living a life where we eat together for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Isn't the time spent thinking, "What should I make?" more bothersome than the actual cooking process??

Considering what we ate yesterday and what we plan to eat next, while consulting what's in the refrigerator.

It's still manageable on weeknights or weekends when I have time to spare, but what I find most challenging is the 【lunch during remote work】.

The time for lunch during remote work is tight because within the one-hour break, I have to:

✅ Decide what to make

✅ Cook

✅ Eat

✅ Wash the dishes

✅ Brush my teeth too

So, it really feels like there's no time. The actual time to eat is less than 20 minutes, right? In those 20 minutes, I try to sit down slowly in a chair and have a conversation with my husband (while inwardly panicking, "I only have 20 minutes left!").

Personally, I think that if I were on my own, I'd prefer to eat something simple like rice with a raw egg or a purchased sandwich... but since I'm spending time with my beloved husband, I can't show such a careless side, and I want to make delicious food for him.

That being said, I don’t want to spend too much time and effort on it.

Since we're just sitting at home working, the calorie consumption is low, so if I eat something high in calories for lunch, I won't be hungry by dinner, and that creates a problem.

However, it seems a bit off for a newly married couple to just face each other eating only natto and rice every day...

It's also tough to have to think about dinner while eating lunch...

As I was thinking about such things, lunch during the weekdays started to feel gloomy.

"It might make me feel a little better if there was a list where I could choose from instead of having to come up with a menu from scratch..." I thought.

I wonder if there are others who feel the same...???? I hope so...

With that in mind, I decided to write an article.

I don't want to increase the number of dishes to wash, so I'm focusing on one-plate meals. I’ve aimed for lunch menu items that don’t overlap with dinner concepts.

I can't handle complex processes, so I've listed only the things that I think, "This wouldn't be too much trouble to make."

Rice Bowls

✅ Tamago Don (Egg Bowl)

✅ Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg Bowl)

✅ Gyudon (Beef Bowl)

✅ Butadon (Pork Bowl)

✅ Hiyashidon (Cold Tofu Bowl)

✅ Kitsune Don (Fox Bowl)

✅ Bibimbap (Namul as a side dish)

✅ Buta Kimchi Don (Pork Kimchi Bowl)

✅ Kakiage Don (Tempura Bowl, if the previous day was tempura)

✅ Yakiniku Don (Grilled Meat Bowl)

✅ Shirasu and Grated Daikon Radish Don

✅ Sashimi Zuke Don (Marinated Sashimi Bowl from the previous day)

✅ Stir-fried Vegetable Don

✅ Tofu Don (It's delicious)

Spaghetti

✅ Aglio e Olio

✅ Napolitan

✅ Tarako Spaghetti

✅ Meat Sauce Spaghetti

✅ Tomato Sauce Spaghetti

✅ Carbonara

Other Noodle Dishes

✅ Udon

✅ Somen

✅ Yakisoba (Fried Noodles)

✅ Somen Champuru

✅ Yakiudon

✅ Soba

✅ Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Chinese Noodles, with lettuce, tomatoes, and ham)

✅ Chuka Sanmai Sour Hot Noodles (from Akasaka Eirin's package noodles)

Frozen Noodles

✅ Frozen Spaghetti (I like the ones from Seven-Eleven. I add some vegetables.)

✅ Frozen Ramen (I like the Tan Tan Men from Seven-Eleven and Nissin's Goota Tan Tan Men.)

✅ Frozen Dry Tan Tan Noodles (They're all delicious.)

Rice Dishes Other Than Bowls

✅ Fried Rice

✅ Omurice

✅ Mixed Rice

✅ Takikomi Gohan (Seasoned Rice)

✅ Zosui (Rice Soup)

✅ Okayu (Rice Porridge)

One-Pot Dishes

✅ Nabe (Hot Pot)

✅ Yudofu (Boiled Tofu)

✅ Soup

✅ Pot-au-Feu

✅ Curry

Other

✅ Tofu Bakudan (Tofu Bomb)

✅ Salad

Grilled Meat Wrapped in Lettuce

How does that sound...?????

For me, just having a list of "things I can choose from" makes me feel a little lighter, but how do you feel about it...???

I hope the burden that has increased during these stay-at-home days will reduce as much as possible.