Thursday Night Noodles

Before I start I first want to say THANK YOU to everyone that reads, comments, shares and enjoys my blog. Being a new blogger the whole thing is scary and nerve racking. Will people like it, will they comment, did I use the sentence structure? All of these things go through my head after I hit the "Publish" button. This is a journey for me and I am so happy others are along for the ride.

Enough of the mushy girly stuff. ON TO THE FOOD! For those of you that read my blog often you may notice that I don't post on Thursday. The reason for this is because I am off "mommy duty". My son stays the night with his grandma so I can have at least one day of during the week. When he is gone I don't see a reason to cook big a meal so for the past few years I eat the same two things. Noodles and Spring Rolls mainly because they are fast, cheap and lo calorie. Now before anyone gets up in arms, no I am not living off of the Top Ramen you get for 10 cents at Kroger and Keithon has never had a bowl of it. The Oriental is vegan so I've been told but I've never tried it.
 

  My favorite "go to" Ramen is at the Viet Hoa called Mama. ( I love the name it fits me so well) Mama does have her flaws, aside from being processed and the one I can't get around, the MSG. It is in every processed foods but I don't eat like this everyday so I give myself a small pass on it. When people think Ramen they think noodles and a salty broth. Not Mama Noodles and not when I cook them! There are two and sometimes three seasoning packets with Mama Noodles. One packet is the spices, the other is the chili packet which I love because I love my noodles spicy and the final packet is the oil.

When I make ramen I diva it up, while the water boiling I add lemongrass and tomatoes and let them cook. I also add 5 cups of water instead of the 3 it calls for. Yes I measure water to cook ramen. Its my OCD I can't help it.  Meanwhile in my Ramen Bowl (yes I have a bowl that is just for my Ramen, it just taste better in the proper bowl) I add whatever veggies I have in the fridge, mushrooms, broccoli, bean sprouts, celery, carrots plus whatever fresh herb I have sometimes basil but mostly cilantro. I leave my veggies raw and allow them to "cook" from the broth. Hey, I'm eating one of the most processed foods so I try to get my nutrients from my raw veggies.

  My Thursday night routine is I walk my dog, put on my pj's, make my noodles and sit on my ass and watch The Big Bang Theory. It's my time just to just be and Cassi is a pj wearing, noodle eatin, Big Bang Theory watchin kinda girl. Now not all Mama noodles are vegan so make sure you flip the package over and read to make sure it doesn't have shellfish in it but most of them are. I've tried other ramen that I just don't care for but if you have a tried and true Ramen let me know what it is so I can hunt it down.