Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

I intended, last Sunday, to come home and make a heaping hot plate of Thai food.  However when this dish was all said and done, it tasted like my favorite Vietnamese noodle bowl.  Y'all.  Mmmmmm Mmmmmm!

All the freshest crisp ingredients on top, with the hot steamy cooked veggies and soft noodles underneath.  Oh for the love!  It was downright AMAZING.  When my husband told me it was hands down, the best Asian recipe I'd ever attempted, I reached for the camera to snap some pics to share with all of you loves.  

Drew is pretty picky.  He likes fresh, exciting, new, different, healthy, recipes.  Take that.  All y'all at home trying to be good spouse-cooks.  That's his wish list for my dinner selections.  My spouse wants me to incorporate all of those adjectives into meals.  Oh Lawd.  I'm just getting started with this whole 'cooking thing'.  He was our primary family cook for 7 years.  Boy was I bamboozled.  And now I gotta try and do all that. 

Y'all don't understand.  I may type like some epic foodie psycho.  But no.  Just, no.  I'm the chick that has eaten stove-top Oatmeal every morning for 4 years strait.  I pack the same salad for lunch every day.  And I could eat cereal every night for dinner.  Okay okay okay.  So yes.  Yes.  I have an unhealthy love of cheese.  And yes, I enjoy chocolate and some good deep dish macaroni.  I love me some weird sushi.  I can kill some lebanese Baba ghanoush.  My parents taught me to enjoy everything from all cultures and I really can eat just about anything.  On the other side of the spectrum is this random habbit-forming desire to just eat the same stuff day in and day out.  Probably complete laziness.

But let's be honest, you'd want me in your bunker when the zombie apocalypse strikes.  Because I'd be the kid in the back eating the bland stuff.  Drew laughs and tells me my taste buds all died.  I can just eat basically bland rando stuff.

Wow.  Back to the recipe.  This dish is anything but basic.  So grab your prettiest set of soup bowls.  And start cooking this wonderful dish!

Vietnamese Noodle Bowl

Ingredients:

1/2 head finely chopped cabbage

2 cups chopped mushrooms

2-3 large carrots sliced thin

4-5 scallions chopped

1/2 box of angel hair pasta, cooked al dente

1 egg

1 cup fresh cilantro-chopped

1 lime cut into wedges

2 avocados- cut into chunks

Sauce:

3-4 tablespoons grape seed oil

1 cup Bragg's amino acids (or soy sauce)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon red curry paste

3 teaspoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons minced ginger

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Wisk all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In your WOK or large skillet, cook all veggies on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until lightly tender.  Push veggies to the sides of the Wok and wisk egg in the middle of the hot wok at the same heat.  Once egg appears to be cooked and scrambled, use your wooden spoon to mix the entire contents of the wok.  Turn the heat off after a few stirs and immediately dump in the cooked noodles and all of the sauce from the bowl you set aside.  Stir a few more times until all of the Wok ingredients are incorporated.  Divide out your bowls of noodle mix.  On each person's portion, squeeze a large lime wedge, place a scoop of fresh avocado, and a tablespoon or more of cilantro.  

Eat and enjoy this amazing fresh, yet tasty filling noodle bowl!

Love Y'all!

Ashley

Serves 4

This recipe saves you $40 a month!

So this recipe is the bomb.dot.com.  Yep.  You can save $40 a month in grocery costs.  But more importantly, once you taste these babies, you'll never buy store-bought again.

Introducing your own home-made tortillas.

You will need.

tortilla press (link below to purchase)

Buy on Amazon

Water 1 cup

Flour 3 cups

olive oil 1/3 cup (or whatever cooking oil you prefer. We've also used coconut oil)

cumin/paprika/salt (a pinch of each)

So how are you saving that much money?  Let me just tell you.  My family loves Mexican.  It's on the menu at least once a week at our house.  We eat tortillas like candy.  We stack tortillas in Mexican lasagna, roll them in fresh dip, break them into pieces and eat them with guacamole.  And then of course there are fajitas, quesadillas, and anything else you can think of.  We have small group get-togethers and football parties that are themed Mexican food.  It's a big deal.

Of course, I wanted to always be purchasing the "healthy ones".  You know, only a few non-GMO ingredients, no fillers, fresh whole wheat flour?  Yeah.  Those specific tortillas are $4.99 for a package of 6-8 tortillas.  And we were buying at least 2 packs a week to support our Mexican addiction.  $10 a week, $40 a month, $480 a year?  That's the break down of what we were spending on nasty pre-packaged cold tortillas that still had quite a bunch of weird ingredients.  I don't think so kids.  I need maximum healthiness for minimal coins.

Well then we tasted these tortillas and realized we hadn't been just compromising budget, we had been compromising taste!  These puppies are warm and soft with a hint of smoke (the paprika) and sea salt.  And, so good for you, with a whopping THREE organic fresh ingredients.  One batch yields 14 medium sized tortillas!

Instructions:

Mix ingredients.  Form into round balls--about the size of golf balls.  Place dough balls, one by one,  in the middle of the hot press.  Spray press as needed with non-stick spray.  Press down hard and allow each tortilla about 5-12 seconds in the press before removing.  

Note.  You may want to read the basic instructions that come with the press.  My magic number is 8-10 seconds in the press because I like a really soft tortilla.

Done.

Boom.  You saved $40 a month and your whole family will be eating these by the dozen.

Pumpkin Soup for the soul

If you didn't know by now, I'm a happy long-time member of the pumpkin psycho craze.  Please see all earlier posts this fall.

I'm also scrambling to share all my pumpkin wonderfulness with y'all in time for the frenzy of fall foods in November.  Everything pumpkin is fine with me.  And my daughter seems to love pumpkin as well.  We eat it without anything on it, right out of the Libby's can.   Literally.  We shared a can this week.  

On that happy note, I'm bringing you a very good pumpkin soup recipe today.   I've actually been perfecting the recipe since we lived in Maryland.  And I'm happy to announce it's blog-ready, after 6 years.  The first time I made the soup, I received a lot of backlash.  Now, my family and friends can't seem to get enough!

Even the pickiest of eaters open their hearts during the holiday months to enjoy some savory foods that are different.  

My parents always taught us to try everything.  I'm happy to announce that three out of three kids in my family can literally eat anything, because of my parents consistent encouragment.  My sisters and I can pretty much scarf down any sort of food, any time, anywhere.

Encourage your kids to try different foods, y'all.  As they grow up, they'll learn to enjoy all types of flavors and textures.  You won't have to worry about them offending others by not wanting to enjoy what others have worked hard to prepared.  They won't starve on missions trips and oversea adventures where the cuisine is hardly sugar-laden and covered in salt.  Teach your kids that we eat to LIVE, we don't LIVE to eat.

Food is so important y'all.  Thanksgiving and November teach us a lot about food.  Not all who live in this world get very much to eat.  So we are thankful for our food.  And we eat so that God can fuel our bodies to serve others and work for His kingdom.

I hope all y'all, and your spawn, enjoy this very fun November delicacy!

Chunky Pumpkin Soup

4 large carrots chopped

4 celery sticks chopped

2 onions chopped

1/2 stick organic butter

1 teaspoon Thyme

1 teaspoon Rosemary

1 teaspoon All-spice

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons yellow curry

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspooon nutmeg

2-3 garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup white wine

1.5 cups Heavy Whipping Cream

1 large can pumpkin

1 box of stock (I used Vegetable but Chicken stock would be good as well)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Dump all veggies into a stock pot with butter and all the spices.  When everything is tender, deglaze the pot with the wine.  Allow to simmer another 2-4 minutes and then add in stock, pumpkin, and heavy cream.  Bring to a boil.  Immediately turn back down to a simmer.  Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer another 5 minutes.

I served the soup with parmesan cheese and my one year old completely approves!

Coming up on the blog...

How to transition some of your October decor into November decor... hmmmmm

okay here is a hint: I'm mad about PLAID!

And...

Our CHRISTMAS tour featuring Mr. Christmas himself (Drew!)

Happy November my loves!

Mac and Cheese Pot

Have you ever thought about what you would order for your last meal on death row?  Many countries actually observe this bizarre tradition.  The tradition allows the prisoner to order a very special last fodder, before going to the slaughter.

Well.  I know this is a strange thing to bring up, especially on a Thursday, but I have thought about what my last meal would include.  And Mac and cheese would be my delicacy of choice on the orange plastic tray.  It would be smothered in cheese, butter and bacon grease.  It would be probably nothing short of 14,932 calories.  And it would be extremely palatable.

The problem is, we live in a world where we have to get up the next morning and have a clear conscience about our blood vessels.  At least I feel I need to.  As a nurse, I have a photographic memory of the lining of my arteries since my cardiac days.  Yea.  I better keep this recipe healthy.

In addition to my over-active medical brain, my tiny one-year-old daughter is an eating-machine.  She eats more then Drew and myself combined.  So I wanted it to be really tasty and REALLY healthy.  "Not possible" you may be thinking.  Well I plan to prove you dead wrong.  No pun intended.

Behold.  The best tasting mac and cheese ever!!!!  With lots of sneaky substitutions, tasty alternatives, amazing flavors, bold spices, and four fall veggies.  You'll be licking the bowl.  And thanking the Good Lord you get to see another day.  So you can eat the left-overs tomorrow, of course.

Amazing Mac and Cheese Pot 

1 onion

4 carrots chopped

4 celery sticks chopped

1 lb macaroni 

1 butternut squash peeled and chopped.

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup milk (I used coconut milk but any milk will do)

1 box vegetable broth

1/2 cup white wine

2-3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon celery salt

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup water

Boil, drain, and puree butternut squash.  Set aside.  Use the squash water and the box of vegetable broth to boil macaroni al dente.  

In a separate pan, sauté chopped onion, chopped celery sticks, and chopped carrots with all of the spices.  When the veggies are soft, deglaze the pan with the wine.  Allow to simmer 2-3 minutes.  Add 1 cup of water and simmer another minute or two.  

Meanwhile, add pureed butternut squash to the cooked macaroni pot (There will be some water and broth that the macaroni is still sitting in, that is okay).  Add in the milk.  Stir.
Add in the pan full of veggies and liquid.  Add in the cup of cheese.  Stir and cook on low just a minute or three, until the cheese has melted and all ingredients are incorporated.

Serve hot with shredded cheese on top.

Love Y'all and Enjoy!

Ashley

Pasta e Fagioli...what the heck is THAT?

A few years ago Drew's sweet Mom flew all the way to the Peach state to help me for a week while Drew was quite ill with a rather horrible malady.  That's another story all-together.  And for another less-tasty bloggy day.

 During that time, however, we did quite a lot of rather raw bonding.  It was September in Georgia which is usually as malicious as July when it comes to heat and humidity.  However, being locked inside, with a practically unconscious sick loved one, we were forced to pretend it was bitter cold.  Something about tending to 'the ill' makes you want to have the oven going and be pouring oneself over a rather large stockpot of something savory.

So, darling Mother-in-Law taught me how to make pasta e fagioli.  "Pasta and beans" or "poor man's dinner" is an extremely tasty comfort food for anyone who wants a very budget friendly easy dinner that tastes rather expensive.  Did I mention that my Mother-in-Law remembers her grandmother teaching her to make this tasty dish during the long winters in New York City?  How charming is that?!

Here's what you need:

1 lb Ditalini pasta

2 cans cannelloni beans

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 large onion

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 cup Pesto

1 cup white wine

salt/pepper

2 tsp oregano

Parmesan reggiano cheese 

fresh parsley

Directions:  Sauté chopped onion in the coconut oil.  Once tender add in garlic and all the tomatoes.  Deglaze the pot with half the wine and add salt and pepper, oregano and pesto.  Meanwhile boil and drain pasta.  Continue to simmer your sauce about 10 minutes, adding in the beans.  Finally add in the cooked/drained pasta with the second half of the wine, you may sprinkle in a little more salt if you so desire.  Simmer another minute then serve immediately.  Sprinkle with the fresh cheese and fresh parsley leaves.

Serves 6