The reason I wanted to include the iHerb review in this week’s series of posts is that this week (October 3-9) was when I finally got to use some of the goodies I’d bought in our dinners.
First up were these konaberry and kelp noodles that just looked and sounded interesting enough to give a whirl. Of course, I didn’t exactly know what would be the best recipe to use them in so a quick search led me to Coconut Soup with Kelp Noodles & Shrimp. Oh, man, this was good. The kelp noodles were nice in that they didin’t overpower anything (raw they remind me a lot of seaweed salad, no surprise there, but in hot foods they fade into the background in a good way) but added a nice texture to this very yummy soup.
The next night I made a somewhat deconstructed spinach artichoke dip pasta using the spinach spaghetti from Tinkyada, a white sauce, chopped artichokes, and parmesan cheese. I even saved some of the artichoke hearts to sizzle in a small pan to put on top. Now, unfortunately, I didn’t write down everything I did, so I’ll have to try and recreate it later, but it was a tasty experiemnt. The chicken I breaded much like I would the Oven “Fried” Chicken Nuggets in my cookbook, using crushed corn flakes for crunch and whatever seasonings sounded good.
Some nights, simple is the name of the game. A staple option in our house are grilled pork chops (on the George Foreman, in this case), baked sweet potatoes, and a vegetable of some sort (I had okra & tomatoes in the pantry from that time I stocked up on canned goods for the storm, so figured I’d use them). Sage is always good with pork, along with salt, pepper, and garlic. No muss, no fuss, no recipes.
Thursday night was one of those nights where I just couldn’t be bothered to do anything in the kitchen, so we ended up going to IHOP for supper. I have to say, that BLT I had really hit the spot and made me think I need to do sandwich suppers more often.
Friday night was like a taste of Thanksgiving a month or so early. The Chicken Caruso recipe from the previous menu had called for a pineapple-cranberry relish (I’m really not sure how that would have gone) but I completely forgot about it. Instead, since I had the ingredients, I decided to roast some turkey cutlets, top with the relish, and serve with some yellow rice and green beans.
On Saturday I had to go in to my old job for a bit and then run some other errands on town (didn’t want to “waste” that quarter tank of gas and, oh, twist my arm to go shopping) so by the time I got home I wanted something simple and quick. Thank goodness we still have a few freezer meals left and I could quickly defrost and cook up this Taco Soup. Topped with a bit of cheese, some sour cream, and some avocado salsa Verde it was just perfect.
Finally, the meal I’d really been looking forward to: Sunday night’s Beef Ramen Noodle Soup.
This is not the cup of noodles you rehydrate and microwave. The homemade broth, the fresh vegetables, the thinly sliced grilled steak, and the gluten free ramen noodles I ordered from iHerb just made me incredibly happy. Sure, it had a few more moving parts than a lot of dinners, but it was absolutely worth it.