Sesame Garlic Noodles with Veggies

Stir fry. Judging from the number of posts on this blog, stir fry is a popular dish at this table. The youngest table counterpart is having a teen crisis, as mentioned numerous times, and still only wants carbs, cheese, sugar. But as a all children before and children yet to come, the rule stands: dinner is what is being served, breakfast is in the morning. Depending upon the level of complaint at dinner, breakfast might very well be dinner served again. Its a standard growing up regime. Not wanting to serve just Sesame Garlic Ramen Noodles for dinner, I modified it just a bit.

Modifications:
First, ramen was dumped as there is a time and place for ramen noodles, but tonight was not it. Instead, angel hair spaghetti was used. While the noodles cooked, one diced chicken breast was browned and then a bag of frozen Asian style veggies were sauteed. Finally the sauce was doubled to accommodate all the extras, and because I like my noodles saucy. When the noodles were done and drained, half the sauce was added to the noodle pot, the other half to the veggie/meat mixture. The two were combined and quickly and let cook for 1 minute or so to evaporate some moisture.

Scaled for Likability: Good
It was good, in fact it probably would have been great if eaten as written in the instructions. The veggies should have been served on the side and should have been more of the carrot/brocc/cauliflower mix not the bite size medley or even just a snap pea/water chestnut mix. Addition of chicken in the noodles was a nice touch and would serve again with the chicken added to the noodles. What kept this from being great was the Asian mix, the chicken, and the sauce was a meld of too many flavors. Unlike a flavor explosion this was more of flavor fight with your taste buds being the loser. With all that being said, there were still no leftovers so it was not a bust, it just was not a meal I would add to the T&T list.

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add po...

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almos...

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese ...

Eating Waffles

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