So I have been in japan for 3 months now, I don’t have a refrigerator in my room so I have been buying 28x200ml milk packets, I have Calbee granola (750gr 680Yen), bananas (5x 200Yen), eggs (300Yen x10), melting cheese (280Yen) and Bread slices (78Yen) along with 4 various sweets like oreo, chocolate dics etc. in my house at all times.
I work at a convenience store 4-5 days a week where they let us eat throw away food, so I don’t eat much at home, when I do I buy 300 gr chicken meat from gyomu super and season it with some spices and put melting cheese on top and eat it with bread slices. But the problem is, I only have 2 main dishes that I’m revolving around, 1st one is the chicken meat that I mentioned + 3 cracked eggs, fried with salt and added melting cheese on top + dry olives.
I feel like there’s a lot of sugar intake lately, “I guess bread slices have sugar in them as well.” Can you suggest any foods that I can prepare without needing a refrigerator? Good for body and not expensive, I want to buy in bulk, store them and eat them, at this point if it’s not too expensive, I can even go for MRE or canned food if you have suggestions, high nutritional value and I actually like eating MRE or canned foods. I was thinking about replacing the bread with rice for more carbs and tbh, going out to buy bread is kinda annoying.
Secondly, humidity, my god the humidity. Someone suggested turning on the bathroom fan at all times which helped immensly but i still have to turn on my AC’s dry mode from time to time. I’m worried about electricity though. Would it be cheaper/more effective to buy dehumidifier and keep it on at all times?
My apartment is all electric, my first bill was 7,600Yen and last one was 6,300Yen
Also, I’ve been looking for Warhamme40k stuff anyone know anywhere I can go for that? I live in Osaka
PS : I forgot the mention, not having fridge is a choice. room is small and I am very light sleeper. Whenever the fridge turns on in the middle of the night, I wake up.
29 comments
> I buy 300 gr chicken meat from gyomu super and season it with some spices and put melting cheese on top and eat it with bread slices
Are you an actual goblin?
My advice would be to google something like “easy recipes”. Plenty of tasty, healthy and cheap stuff you can cook with minimal work.
There were also several threads on this sub about cheap recipes using ingredients that are cheap in Japan, like [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/10p68la/need_to_start_cooking_any_good_cheap_recipes/) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/v2jrib/cheap_and_quick_food_recipes_for_international/).
If you’re looking for Warhammer40k stuff why not try the Warhammer shop in Namba?
Fellow heretic spotted.
Pasta + *insert sauce* is pretty easy to make and it’s cheap.
>I don’t have a refrigerator in my room
Are you planning on buying one? You can get a small one on Amazon for a pretty okay price. Also, I hope you’ll be okay. July/August/September are insanely humid in Japan. Hopefully you don’t get sick from the way you’re eating.
Where are you putting the milk packs if you don’t have a fridge??
You like to buy in bulk but doesn’t have a fridge is kinda weird.
About your diet, I hope the food from conbini contains lots of green veggies, because your 2 main dishes do not.
I suggest buying packs of corns or packs of mixed pea, carrot and corn from gyoumu super for cheap meal.
Just add oil to pan, heat the oil then lightly stir fry them, add sugar/ salt/ spice to your taste. You can also add chopped sausage/ chicken or chopped green onion to it.
I always makes these when I feel lazy on the weekend.
All I got from this is that the chicken toast sounds delicious and I may need to steal your idea lol
Get a rice cooker. You can use it to cook meat and vegetables too, not just rice.
Gyomu super oat flakes, 500g for 100¥. I mix that with slightly more expensive cereals. Cheapest milk and some joghurt and a breakfast will cost you 50¥ a day.
https://preview.redd.it/f24vodagvp5b1.jpeg?width=2610&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=c7291139d0cf50f21e6279721e88f593c47187a3
I go 50/50 with the mix and the oat flakes. Can eat that every day without getting tired.
Make sure to go shopping in the evening as all the fresh food will become discounted, 50% or more if you really hunt for it. Changes the variety a lot. Also recommend furikake to change the flavour of your rice.
Favourite dish for me, spaghetti, mayonnaise, canned sardines/tuna and some cheese. 150¥ for a dinner.
* Avocado — I don’t think it’s that hard to eat a whole one, but yeah once you peel the skin, they don’t last long without refridgerator. You can mix with tomatos to make a sort of guacamole.
* Protein Powder — Though it doesn’t sound like you need more protein, since you mentioned enjoying MRE
* Soylent — Apparently there is a shipper that ships to Japan, may be cheaper options — [https://soylent.thebase.in/](https://soylent.thebase.in/)
* Spinach — easy to work into salads, or throw into blender with bananas for a smoothie
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Other thoughts:
* Given the noise issues about fridges, how would you feel about buying a cooler and adding ice manually? Since you work at conbini, maybe they will let you take home ice? Or some super markets have free ice (meant to keep your products cold while you get home). Obviously not ideal as you’ll be dumping and draining every day, but could keep things a bit longer.
* One convenient way to explore this option would be to order via “Co-op” or equivalent weekly delivery service. After the first delivery, when when they ring the doorbell, don’t answer. They’ll leave the groceries outside in a styrofoam container, with frozen ice or ice packs. But these will generally only stay cold for 12-24 hours. Still a real cooler apparently can stay cold from 2 to 7+ days according to [https://gudgear.com/how-long-does-ice-last-in-a-cooler/#:~:text=Ice%20in%20a%20cooler%20will,for%202%20to%206%20days](https://gudgear.com/how-long-does-ice-last-in-a-cooler/#:~:text=Ice%20in%20a%20cooler%20will,for%202%20to%206%20days).
* If you like this lifestyle, the Yeti Tundra seems to be the most highly recommended, it’s available on [amazon.jp](https://amazon.jp) but costs around 40,000 to 50,000 yen it seems.
* Another option, though riskier: Unplug your fridge at night or put it on an electricity socket auto-timer. Probably has stuff in the freezer melt or tons of frostburn, but just an idea.
​
For warhammer40k stuff, I think it’s probably prohibitively expensive (as in, you save money by booking flights and bringing a suitcase or something). But sometimes yodabashi camera has some stuff near the boardgames / toys / models, might be worth looking. I’m not sure how much of a WH40k playerbase there is here either, so you might be better off just painting other models, but anyways I’m not an expert, sorry.
Very monastic
Get a fridge + white noise machine for sleeping at night, it will gently block out the fridge noise.
Raisins and other dried fruit. Bananas. Peanut butter. Oranges. Nori.
Seasonal vegetables might be not too pricy and the “fruit” types can go without the fridge. Also dried seaweed mix/wakame is a staple in my cabinet: add cucumbers tomatoes radish or other veggies, vinegar and preferred seasoning for a quick salad. Add some shelf-able tofu for more protein.
Leafy stuff, maybe you can try “growing” them (rather, keeping them alive) in a container with water? At least my lettuce/green onions/tomyo sprouts are good for a bit in room temp
My personal favorite shelf-food is 麩(焼き麩) (baked gluten pieces? Not sure what they are exactly 🤔) teriyaki style, oyako-don style, stir fry w eggs, miso soup, etc
Buying in bulk usually means not fresh… And therefore not healthy…
How the heck do you keep your happōshu cold?
There’s lots of canned fish, which can also work well on toast or rice or in pasta. Also, packet/canned soups with veggies, not to mention vegetable drinks that don’t require refrigeration.
I see you have not used Grandfather Nurgle’s favorite gift of Google. Shame on you.
Do you have a microwave or a stove? A rice cooker?
I would agree that a mini-fridge, kept in the hallway so that there is a door between it and where you sleep (I am imagining a Leo Palace setup, main door opens onto hallway with bathroom and toilet, an inner door leads to the living space) is the best way to stave off food poisoning. Or a cooler box, but you’ll have to keep buying the ice.
Fruit and veg that you can eat raw in a salad or cook easily; grains like couscous that only need boiling water to prepare.
Lentils are incredibly healthy and versatile – eat as is, with stews, in soup, in salad.
If you eat a lot of bread then yes, find a bakery that sells better bread than what you’re eating now. White bread has a lot of sugar.
Flatbreads like tortilla are a good alternative, and easier combine with other foods.
Cans of refried beans are good.
Good luck 🙂
Where are you from before you moved to Japan?
Canned food is actually pretty healthy. Japanese canned fishes are pretty good and lots of variety, from Japanese style to western. It’s good on pasta or to toss on salad.
Also, those sauce packets for pastas are pretty solid.
QOL suggestion would be to buy a fridge. Wear earplugs to sleep if you have to.
How about buying a large premium cooler box and getting ice from your conbini?
Should be enough to keep your fruit, vegetables and meat eatable for a couple of days?
Dang dude. You can be poor anywhere. This seems like an expensive place to be poor in.
You say not having a fridge is a choice. Well, make a difference choice.
Good god, get a refrigerator and some ear plugs and live! Expand ! Strive for more!
How is your electric bill so high while not turning on your fan 24/7 and no fridge? Honestly I was going to judge you about the fridge situation but I get how it can make the whole room vibrate especially if it’s a small place. But I suppose you could try placing a shock absorber of some sorts to dampen it. It’ll going to expand your food options considerably and is probably healthier in the long run. Also: rice cooker.
Not having a fridge is not the a problem if you could buy, cook and finish all your food in one day. Get salad packs when they are on sale and eat it right away. Other suggestion for foods that doesn’t need refrigeration: canned tuna, all sorts of dry seaweed, rice, dried mushrooms, dehydrated tofu (?)
Lentils. You can get them in the so-called ethnic shops. You can make simple curries with them I guess, you’ll need practice to get the flavor you want though.