Hoarders and Ramen Noodles.

Still trying to figure out why hoarders need, cases of paper towels and toilet paper, to ward off the Coronavirus aka Covid-19.  Then there are the food hoarders who obviously need Ramen noodles to survive the "Stay Home!" order.  I have to thank these hoarders, as they seem to have a craving for the chicken and beef flavored noodles.  The shrimp flavored?  Plenty of those on the shelf, and I can make some tasty meals with these.

That’s exactly what I did for lunch today; pulled together some things out of the seasoning cabinet, freezer and pantry.  As I added them to my Wok, I mentally figured out the amounts and what the combination would taste like.  After all my years of cooking and experimentation, I’ve gotten rather good at this method.

Technically, the recipe I made should give six to eight servings.  In my home, make that four to six; yeah, it’s that good, and very easy to create.

Stovetop Shrimp Ramen

Ingredients:

5 cups water

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce

3 packages Ramen noodles, shrimp flavor

1 lb. peeled & deveined shrimp (medium size)

1 (10 oz.) package sugar snap peas, thawed

Preparation:

In Wok, or large skillet, high heat, bring water, soy sauce, chili sauce and contains of Ramen seasoning packets to soft boil.  Add in Ramen noodles, shrimp and snap peas; stir together and bring back to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Semi-Homemade with Knorr Rice Sides.

What can I say, I like the ease of preparation, taste, and variety of flavors using Knorr Products; whether Rice, Noodle, or Combo Sides.  Sometimes I can simply serve it as an actual side with whatever protein I've cooked up: pork, meat, poultry, seafood.  Then there are times I want to make it into a complete skillet meal which involves adding vegetables, maybe extra seasonings, sometimes a dairy product like cheese or sour cream.  It's my skillet and I'll cook in it if I want to!

For ground beef, beef strips or cubes; Knorr Beef Flavored, Asian BBQ or Teriyaki are three flavors we enjoy eating the best with meat.

One Skillet Beef and Sugar Snap Peas

 

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef (90% lean or more)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup diced onions
1 package (5.5 oz.) Knorr Rice Side, beef flavored
1 and 1/2 cups hot water
1 package (10 oz.) frozen sugar snap peas

Preparation:

Partially brown beef, medium-high heat, in a deep, 12 inch skillet; add mushrooms and onions, continue to brown beef till no pink shows. 

Add contents of Knorr package and water; bring to a boil.  Add sugar snap peas, cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir contents of skillet together and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Notes:  Do not add the oil/butter recommended on Knorr package directions; oil from the browned beef will complete that requirement.  Instead of 2 cups of water, only 1 and 1/2 cups is needed, the remaining 1/2 cup will come from the frozen vegetable.

This recipe is quick, easy and delicious.

Mary Cokenour

 

 



Three Ingredients, Twenty Minutes, Dinner Done.

I am not immune to "I don't want to cook" moods; perhaps it was a lousy, and too long of a, day at work.  It could have been one of adventuring all day with my adorable husband, and food is the last thing on my mind; sleep sounds a lot better.  More than likely though, I'm just feeling lazy.  The convenience of packaged, canned, or premade meals is hard to resist at these times; it's the chemical additives that make me hesitate in purchasing them.  Then again, I do not resist buying those packages of rice and noodle side dishes; that convenience I'm not willing to give up.

It came to be, one evening, that I was staring into the freezer; spying a bag of frozen shrimp and a package of sugar snap peas, a stir fry seemed the answer for dinner.  *sigh*  I just didn't want to get out the Asian ingredients, and I know my hubby always wanted fried rice when we did Asian.  No, this wouldn't do; maybe I had some Knorr Rice Sides with an Asian flare; nope, I had already used the last package up.  Wait though, two packages of herb and butter sat behind the ones of Spanish rice. 

I used the microwave to carefully defrost the shrimp and snap peas; I didn't want them to cook before their time.  Getting out the five quart cooking pot, I began the rice according to package directions.  After it began boiling, I turned down the heat, added the shrimp and snap peas, covered the pot and waited the required seven minutes.  Testing the rice, it was still too firm, so covered the pot for two more minutes; turned off the heat, uncovered and within two more minutes, the entire dish was ready for eating.

The shrimp was pink and had a lovely scrunch to it; the sugar snap peas popped in the mouth; the herb and butter rice was perfect in texture, the herbs and butter adding flavor to the shrimp and snap peas.  The naysayers who only make everything from scratch, and it better all be organic, will probably be saying how gross my meal was.  Guess what?  It was delicious!

 

Shrimp, Sugar Snap Peas and Rice

 

 

Ingredients:

 

2 (5.4 oz.) packages Knorr Rice Sides, herb and butter flavor

1 lb. jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 (10 oz.) package frozen sugar snap peas, defrosted

 

Preparation:

 

Using a 5-quart cooking pot, prepare rice according to package directions; at stage where the pot is covered and heat turned down, add the shrimp and snap peas.  Check rice for doneness after 7 minutes; cook 2 minutes more if necessary.

 

Remove from heat, uncover and let rest for 2 minutes before serving.

 

Makes 6 servings.

 

Mary Cokenour

 



Ramen Noodles Can Make a Meal.

Ramen noodles are more than just a soup; they are versatile enough to help create a hearty meal for the family.  This is especially true when it's a spur of the moment meal, or you're just entirely clueless as to what to cook that day.  Rummaging around the pantry and refrigerator completes two tasks; you find items to make a meal with, and you find items that should have been tossed ages ago.

In this recipe, I had two portions of seared chicken breasts already staring at me from the fridge.  I knew vegetables had to be included in the meal, so thank the gods that I always keep a stash of frozen veggies...sugar snap peas and baby carrots were my pick this time.  We have a storage draw full of Ramen Noodles - beef, shrimp, chicken, roasted chicken, vegetable; if I only use the noodles, the seasoning packets are saved for other uses.  For an Asian twist, soy sauce does the job well; light soy sauce is lower in sodium too.

5 Ingredient Ramen Noodle Fix

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) package frozen baby carrots

2 (3 oz.) packages chicken flavored Ramen Noodles
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken breast
1 (8 oz.) package frozen sugar snap peas, defrosted
3 Tbsp. soy sauce

Preparation:

Place carrots in microwave safe container with 2 tablespoons water; cover and heat for 4 minutes.  Prepare Ramen Noodles per package directions, saving seasoning packets for later use; drain noodles. 

In a large skillet, on medium heat, add carrots, drained noodles, contents of seasoning packets, snap peas and soy sauce; mix thoroughly.  Let cook for 5 minutes, mix to keep items from sticking; cook additional 5 minutes.

Makes six servings.

 

Mary Cokenour

Miracle Noodles?

Since I post links to my food and travel blogs on Facebook, I often gets ads on the sidebar for these subjects. One day the ad for "Miracle Noodles" showed up, I was curious, so clicked on the link. Lowers cholesterol and blood sugar, improves digestion; well now, this is something I could definitely benefit from. On the official website ( http://www.miraclenoodle.com/ ) there is a special offer for a variety pack of six types of noodles and rice, each contains two servings.  Personally, I wasn't too fond of several of the flavors, and purchased what I really wanted to try out elsewhere.

So, what is this "miracle" stuff anyway?  Glucomannan which comes from the root of the Asian yam-like plant called Konjac (full name Amorphophallus konjac). And this means what to me?  Glucomannan is a water-soluble polysaccharide that is considered a dietary fiber. It is a hemicellulose component in the cell walls of some plant species. Glucomannan is a food additive used as an emulsifier and thickener. Products containing glucomannan, marketed under a variety of brand names, are also sold as nutritional supplements for constipation, obesity, high cholesterol, acne vulgaris and type 2 diabetes.  You know that commercial for Lipozene....it's glucomannan, and you can buy it more cheaply as a supplement than as a diet aid.  Now you know!

The first packet I chose to cook up was the "Miracle Rice" which look more like tiny pearls (round) than actual grains of rice.  I followed the directions for cleaning and wondered why it had such a fishy smell to it; seems it's just a natural smell of the plant fiber.  I had already planned to make an Asian style dish with shrimp and sugar snap peas; how appropriate was the shrimp with the fishy smelling "rice"!?!

Simple recipe, took out my Wok and sautéed one pound of shrimp in two tablespoons of oil until they were a nice pink color.  I then added in one and one half cups of the peas, a quarter cup of hoisin sauce and the Miracle Rice; tossed till all was coated and hot (about seven minutes) and dinner was done. 

I divided it in half with my hubby; his reaction about the Miracle Rice was, "Eh, not great, but not lousy.  It absorbed the taste of the hoisin sauce well, so it's not bland."  I felt basically the same way, nothing special taste wise, but than the miracle happened.  I'd eaten only half of my serving and felt full; and that is what the glucomannan is all about.  It swells up and gives you a full feeling, so you don't overeat, or even eat an entire portion.



The claim to "aid digestion"; well that's when the second miracle happened, spending time in the bathroom as it makes you GO!  So my warning for this product is, if you have somewhere to be the next day, make sure spending time in the bathroom won't be a problem for you.  ...and there's the rub, as much as I'd like to use this product for its benefits, my schedule doesn't allow for me to live in the bathroom every morning.  I use it occasionally, that's fine, but on a daily basis simply can't be.

My opinion for this product is, for the benefits, I will use it when I can.  For others, I say read up on the product and make sure this can be beneficial, and you don't mind being in the bathroom several times in the morning.  It's definitely NOT Ramen noodles, so don't make that mistake.

Mary Cokenour

This Shrimp Recipe is Light and Easy.

So, there I was at the City Market in Cortez, Colorado picking up the ingredients to make an Alfredo sauce. I had already purchased pappardelle elsewhere; now I wanted to combine it with shrimp, broccoli, sugar snap peas and cover it all in Alfredo sauce. That was the plan, until I got home and decided, "I don't want Alfredo sauce, I want something different!"  Now what, was the question indeed.

I still wanted the shrimp, definitely the sugar snap peas, but broccoli and pasta just didn't seem enticing at the moment.  Digging around the fridge, I found a red bell pepper and diced it up; in the pantry I found a jar of chopped shitaki and oyster mushrooms in brine (drained that off).  Hmm, now what, I thought, perhaps a stir fry?  Rice, sigh, rice is a bore; but wait, instead of water, why not cook it in broth and soy sauce...and a new plan was finally born.

The dish I ended up with was so light and yet, packed with flavor; it was hard not to eat the entire skillet full.  It was also very, very easy to put together.  The ingredients in the skillet finished cooking up just as the rice was done; no waiting for one, while the other got cold.  I love when a plan, turns into a plan which ends up delicious!  Oh, the other ingredients I had purchased to make an Alfredo; you know I'll come up with something else eventually.

Shrimp, Vegetables Over Rice

 Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. canola oil

½ cup diced red bell peppers
1 cup chopped mixture of shitake and oyster mushrooms
½ lb. sugar snap peas
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

 

Ingredients for the Rice:

1 cup rice (white, long grain wild, brown)

1 Tbsp. butter (or butter substitute)
1 and ¾ cups vegetable broth
¼ cup soy sauce

Preparation:

 

 

 

In a medium saucepan, on high heat, bring the rice, butter, broth and soy sauce to a boil.  Stir, reduce heat to low, cover, let simmer for 15 minutes.  Turn off heat, uncover and fluff up rice; any excess moisture will evaporate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While rice is simmering, heat the oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat; add in bell peppers, mushrooms, snap peas, garlic powder and ginger; mix and cook for 3 minutes.  Add in shrimp, cook for 5 minutes; shrimp will begin turning pink, stir in lemon juice, cover and remove from heat.  Let mixture settle for 3 minutes; serve over rice.

 

 

Makes four servings.

Mary Cokenour