We experienced out first financial crisis a month or so ago... the transmission on our car went out... Thankfully we had saved almost all of our wedding money for just such an occasion, although I was hoping we could spend it on something a little more fun like a vacation... So we immediately did what I hope most newlyweds do when they find themselves without savings... we tightened our belts even tighter then they already were and we tried to come up with anything and everything we could to save money... We wanted to replenish our savings account for the next financial crisis... (Thank you God for giving us wisdom, brains and the extra self-control when necessary) One of the ideas that Steve had to cut our grocery budget was to make dinner with Ramen noodles... the snobby gourmet food in me wrinkled my nose... but... I remembered my mom made like a stir fry thing with ramen and it was good and my Grandma Elwell made Fu-mi salad with ramen noodles maybe it wouldn't be sooooo bad... I also have a knack of making things taste good which I'm probably too prideful about... I don't know how cheap this ended up being but I'm armed now with a bunch of ramen noodles in my pantry and a new cookbook 101-Things-Do-Ramen-Noodles
For my first attempt I chose something seemingly simple and safe and I had some extra veggies hanging around I needed to use up... and I added a few tweaks and kicks my foodie brain decided would help elevate it from plain Ramen... I know this is a grocery list of ingredients and isn't quite as simple as previous recipes I've posted but its was really satisfying, flavorful and loaded with good veggies you could put any veggies you have on hand just cut them into bite size pieces you could even use a frozen stir fry mixture. Steve and I try to eat vegetarin 2 nights a week (another effort to save money and be healthy) so i sometimes have bits of this or that on hand i try to throw the leftovers in whenever i can.
Chicken Ra-Mein
1 pkg Chicken flavored ramen
1 pkg Oriental flavored ramen
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
1/2 a green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 head of broccoli, separated into florets
5-7 green onions, chopped into 1 inch pieces
8-10 button mushrooms, halved
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 piece of ginger 2-4 inches long, peeled and grated*
1-2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Corn starch
1/4 cup Soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp sesame oil
Cook the ramen noodles and the broccoli florets until the noodles are tender and separated.
Drain and put aside.
In a small bowl combine soy sauce, water, half of the ginger, honey, corn starch, the chicken and oriental flavor packets mix well to make a sauce mixture.
In a BIG Hot skillet add the olive oil, garlic, remaining ginger and chicken cook chicken til done then add the vegetables and stir fry until the veggies are tender. Add noodles and toss stir in the Sauce mixture until it coats. The Sauce will thicken as it heats through and stick to the noodles giving them that slippery mouth feel. When finished drizzle with sesame oil and serve with chop sticks... :)
*quick tip for grating ginger if you cover the grater with a piece of plastic wrap and grate as normal its much easier the threads of the ginger stay attached and the pure grated ginger paste is easily scooped up. (Ginger is also supposedly a wonderful cure for Morning sickness... )
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