I bring a lunch box every day. Each night, while enjoying a bottle of red wine with dinner, I cook my main meal and prepare a couple of simple side dishes for my lunch box. I store these dishes in the freezer and pack some of them in the morning.




My Australian partner doesn’t eat Japanese home-cooked meals, believing traditional Japanese food consists of merely decorative vegetables rather than nutritious fare. Consequently, I divide the food into small portions and freeze them to avoid waste. It’s challenging to cook only small portions for one person, so freezing food is a convenient solution for me.
What is in my freezer?
- Simmered vegetables (Lotus root, carrot, burdock, and chicken)
- Tuna and carrot salad
- Sautéed salmon and mushrooms
- Sautéed asparagus
- Tofu hamburger steak
- Spinach sautéed with egg
- Scrambled egg
- Green beans and okura
Recently, I prepared two new dishes: a Chinese-style stir-fry with bell peppers and beef, and a shrimp and celery stir-fry. These will be featured in my lunch boxes next week, adding variety to my meals.