With five kids, there are a few things that I must keep on hand at all times. Graham crackers, macaroni and cheese, sugar free popsicles, chicken nuggets and Ramen noodles. This is a story (and recipe) about how Ramen noodles saved the day, and a lesson on how not to prepare dinner.
It was 5:15 and we eat at six o’clock. There was blissful silence. The twins hadn’t woken up yet, and something utterly engrossing was on the television–I have no idea what because I was too wrapped up in the silence. In any case, when I realized the time I went to my tried and true, super quick, “I have no idea what we’re having for dinner tonight” remedy and started a pot of boiling water to make spaghetti.
It’s 5:40 and my darling spouse comes home. I go to put spaghetti noodles in the pot and lo and behold I find I only have elbow noodles. Not only that but I only have half a box of elbow noodles. This is not enough to feed a family of 7. So I start to boil the noodles and begin to contemplate what charming spouse and I will eat for dinner. Now understand that tomorrow is food shopping night so my fridge is mighty bare: left over pork chops, 1/4 cup of teriaki sesame barbecue sauce and of course in my cupboard the beloved ramen noodles.
We were surprised at the results of my impromtu dinner because you couldn’t even tell it was Monday night’s pork chops. So just in case you find yourself in this predicament OR you actually want to make pseudo-Chinese food on purpose–here’s the recipe for Valorie’s Leftover Pork Noodle Bowl!
You will need:
pork or chicken, cubed into small pieces
some type of Asian marinade sauce; we had Kraft Teriyaki Sesame sauce (it’s with the barbecue sauces)
Ramen noodles
onions
mushrooms
steamed broccoli (or other vegetables of your choice)
Ramen noodles; one package per person eating
Directions
Steam broccoli. (Note: we are rather partial to microwavable steamer bags–but whatever you have that gets the job done.)
Saute mushrooms and onions until onions are clear.
Add chopped up pork (or chicken) and about 1/4 cup sauce to the mushrooms and onions and cook until the meat is heated through–about 5 minutes depending on how small you chopped. Set aside on a warm burner.
Cook Ramen noodles according to package directions.
Layer your bowl with noodles, then broccoli, then saucy pork. Enjoy!