My fallback emergency dinner

I didn't feel well most of the day and spent several hours snoozing on the couch while my son entertained himself with Legos and books.  So when dinner rolled around this evening, I didn't feel like cooking.  When I lived in the US, not wanting to cook dinner wasn't a problem.  My freezer was always stocked with premade meals that I made myself.  I just had to pull something out and reheat.  Meatloaf, a variety of quiche, roasted chicken, lasagna, stew, my famous midnight Moroccan chili, and more were at my fingertips if need be. 

In Japan, my freezer is tiny.  I can make an extra one or two items for the freezer, but not much more.  It is currently filled with 1 lasagna, some homemade fruit popsicles, some bento additions like fish cake, some fruit, and cookie dough.  Lasagna takes a  bit more time to defrost than I had, so I decided to use my fallback emergency dinner plan.  Sushi was on the menu.

If I wait until 5:30 to pick up premade sushi at the store, it is discounted.  At first it goes down just ¥50 - ¥100, but then it's reduced again at 6:00 to 50% off.  This isn't anything like Safeway sushi.  This is the real deal. 

My son voted for rolls, which typically only come with one ingredient in them.  Cucumbers or tuna or pickled radish are very popular.  My son picked kampyo, a dried and rehydrated gourd. 

I also spotted and purchased a large roll.  There were only 2 rolls with multiple fillings and I picked the one with shimesaba, pickled ginger, and cucumber.  It is a tart combination that we really like.  I don't even dip it in soy sauce, because it doesn't need it.  It is a great summer roll.

A tray of shimesaba complemented the rolls.  I like to combine sashimi (just the raw fish) with sushi because I don't eat a ton of rice.  The fish we picked is the same as the fish in the large roll because my son loves it.  It is currently in season, so we are eating as much of it as we can.

Finally, I grabbed a tray with a variety of nigiri (slice of fish on rice).  We can pick and choose what we want.

All total, dinner cost ¥1250 or $11.  Not too shabby for feeding a family of 3.  While sushi doesn't have the amount of vegetables I like to be a part of any meal, it is quick and easy.  But if we went out for ramen or many other meals, they wouldn't come with enough vegetables either.  And I'm sure for our family, it is just fine to miss a meal of veggies.

Sushi has become my fall back meal.  I miss my wide variety of freezer meals, but at lease I have something that my family loves that I can grab quickly and not feel bad about feeding them.  And when I go back to having my freezer stash some day, I will be that much more grateful for it.