Yesterday, Mark was gone preparing for hunting season. Usually when he does this he gets home super super late and will have grabbed something to eat before he got home. My oldest son was gone to work and the oldest daughter was over at a friend's house. That left me wondering what to feed the 3 youngest and myself for dinner. As you know, young children are not overly needy of a gourmet meal. And honestly, they could care less if it was balanced or had any fruits or veggies at all.
I did talk to Mark on his trip home and realized he was going to be home much earlier than usual. Now I am starting to "feel real bad, bad llama". I have no plans for dinner. He did save me when he said he wasn't very hungry and would just eat a salad. But I was still having some issues on what to feed the littles. One year olds aren't crazy about salads. And I don't care how good of an eater the 5 year old is, he's not crazy about eating just a salad for dinner either.
Ahhhhhh! Daddy noodles aka Ramen noodles in the rest of society. Those small little packages of cheap, overly salted processed food, that graces the plate of almost every college student or young adult just starting out.
My younger kids love these things. And they're cheap. But, hello? I can't just feed my kids these for dinner and call it good. I had some major Mommy guilt going on with that concept. As I was breaking up the noodles and putting them in a bowl to microwave them (I am going all out here. In all truthfulness though, I didn't even know you COULD cook them in a microwave until my much younger brother taught me several years ago), I had a light bulb moment.
A week or so ago, I had caught a few moments of one of my favorite cooking shows Mad Hungry. She had one of her sons on the show with her and he was adding stuff to his ramen noodle "sauce". You can find his recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/349053/ramen-noodle-upgrade. I didn't see but a few seconds of the show, but I did see him add peanut butter.
I start digging through the fridge and freezer to see how I can transform the simple package of noodles. I am also a fan of Chopped, so I took this as a challenge to see what I could do. I found some broccoli florets in the freezer and some roast beef deli meat in the fridge. Hmmmmm? Could I? Would it taste ok?
Beef and Broccoli "on the fly"
1 pkg beef ramen noodles
1/2 cup cut up deli roast beef (leftover roast beef could be used as well)
1 cup broccoli florets, cooked (roughly chopped if using florets)
1 tsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp soy sauce (add more to taste)
bean sprouts, optional
lime wedges, optional
chili paste or sirachi sauce, optional
Cook the ramen noodles according to package directions. (In my house that would be in a bowl, add enough water to almost cover and then cook in the microwave for 3 minutes. Let stand for 2-3 minutes.) Do not drain. Add seasoning packet and stir in. Add the peanut butter, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce to the ramen noodles. Stir. Gently toss in the broccoli and meat. Put in individual serving bowls. Top with bean sprouts, a squeeze of fresh lime, and/or some chili paste or sirachi sauce if you choose. Serves 2-3
Not exactly the best choice for a dinner, but it was an improvement over plain ramen noodles. And the kids devoured it. When I made more for me to eat, I had to use turkey meat so I used a chicken flavored one. I don't think it was AS good as the one I made for the kids, but it wasn't too bad. Even Mark was impressed.
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