So, two things happened today. One, I finally went food shopping. Veggies, protein, and complex carbs have all been added back into my kitchen. Two, I'm finally feeling a little inspired in the kitchen again. Recently, I realized that I have been making the same standard meals for a couple of months. I have become very bored with the same old, same old. But, for some reason, I had a mental block on how to mix it up. Does that happen to you guys? Oooof. Anyway, since I had some down time last week, I watched a little food network... Chopped, Ina, Giada. It really helped... really! I feel like I'm getting my groove back again so hopefully #fff will benefit!

I asked Rob to give me a little inspiration tonight and he suggested noodle bowls, so I went with it! The last time we had noodle bowls at Blue Dragon, they used ground pork and a lot of spice. Here's what I used:

- Soba noodles
- Organic ground turkey
- Sliced green beans
- Sliced red bell pepper
- Hot pepper oil
- Sesame oil
- Rice vinegar (a lot of it)
- Crushed red pepper
- Grapeseed oil and extra virgin o/o
- Black pepper
- Reduced sodium soy sauce
- Ground ginger
- Shallot
- Chopped jarred jalapeños
- Freshly sliced jalapeños

In a large sauce pan, add sesame oil and evoo to pan with a chopped shallot or two. Add the turkey and season with salt, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. As it starts to cook through, add a decent amount of rice vinegar, and smaller amounts of soy sauce, sesame oil, and hot pepper all to taste.

Chop green beans and orange bell peppers and add to pan. Also, add the ginger and taste it to see what else it needs. I usually keep adding soy sauce, sesame oil, hot pepper oil, crushed red pepper, and vinegar. What's great about these dishes is that you can use whatever veggies and whatever seasoning you like - making it as spicy or not spicy as you please. As everything continues to cook through, add the soba noodles to a rapidly boiling pot of salted water.

Mix together in the saute pan, put in a bowl and top with freshly sliced jalapeño peppers. Serve hot & enjoy. Rob and I LOVED this meal tonight. I made extra for lunch tomorrow- whoo! There's a lot of nice protein in this dish from the ground organic turkey and the soba noodles which have more protein than regular wheat or white noodles. The veggies and seasoning provided added vitamin-rich benefits. The spice is great for a winter cold or just to warm up on a cold night. Enjoy!

Have a great Wednesday! xo

As mentioned, a couple weeks ago I made my way to Blue Dragon with Rae & Becca. The three of us were sitting there trying to dissect each ingredient in our delicious noodle bowls. I hadn't cooked an Asian meal in a reallllly long time so I decided that I'd give it a whirl the following Friday night. We knew we tasted chives, garlic, definitely some chili oil, vinegar, and ginger. I picked up what I already didn't own and also some pine nuts and a red curry paste. Figured it wouldn't hurt...

I told Rob... "I have no idea how this is going to come out... be warned"... he assured me he was confident (so nice). Anyway, so I chopped up a couple cloves of garlic, the chives, pea pods, and grated ginger.

In a separate pan - I quickly toasted the pine nuts to bring out the flavor. Then, I started sauteing all of the ingredients:

- Couple cloves of garlic
- Chopped chives
- Crushed red pepper
- Tsp of chili paste
- Grated ginger
- Rice vinegar (I just kept adding it and letting it burn off)
- Pea pods
- Walnut oil

Then, I boiled the shrimp separately (next time I'll just toss them right in this pan).

I boiled the pasta in salted water (I used papardelle noodles because I had them in my cabinet - an Asian noodle would make more sense, but, these were delish).

Separately, I made the deviled eggs as snack. You can find my simple recipe for them here.

Finally, I tossed it all together and served it. I must admit that I kind of nailed it. The flavors were so powerful and tasty. I love experimenting in the kitchen and this was one of my most favorite experiments in a long time. A long time ago, I learned that tasting the food while you cook is essential for any meal you put together. I don't think there is much better advice. You don't need recipes... do what works for you!

Question of the day! What have you made recently that surprised you?

Hope you're all having a great week! xo