Good Tidying I Bring..

Ever year around this time, I get clean frantic.  It’s like spring cleaning, but mine comes in winter.  Maybe it’s because I’m spending more time in doors since it's below freezing out, or maybe its because when I just want to curl up on the couch it takes me an hour to clear off the books and toys, find a blanket, find my pillows that have been thrown everywhere, and then I’m just tired and want to go to bed.
So, since I have a few days off now without kids (yes I take them to school/daycare on my days off….how else would I get anything done?), I’ve decided to tidy ONE small area of my house at a time.  Not rooms, not whole closets….one, measly thing.  I know it doesn’t sound like much, but with my time, energy, and lack of ability to finish large tasks in one day because I keep getting sidetracked with little details…ONE small area works for me.  So my last day off was the dresser in our master bedroom.  Not the drawers…just the top.  This is what it looked like before I began:

Ugh its so ugly.  And it’s been like this for, well, ever.  Sometimes it gets neat and sometimes its worse than others…but overall it usually look like this.  Love that I have Hunters “sick” cup just sitting there….hasn’t been sick for at least a week…

Ugly alarm clock.  I know Craig doesn’t think it’s that bad, but guess what’s going to be in his stocking for Christmas??  Oh!  Just what I’ve always wanted!!    And then we have random knick knacks that actually have meaning to us but we aren't displaying them like we should.  Bad Lani….
More random crap….
Not random crap…but why aren’t these pics in frames?  Oh…because I am a slacker.  I admit it now.  Hi, my name is Lani, and I’m a design slacker.
And ugly phone.  We never use this phone.  I don’t even know if this phone works.  If anyone were to call us in the middle of the night they would call my cell.  So why do I have this phone in my room….

So, after clearing off the dresser, giving her a good rub down and dusting, shopping my house, arranging and rearranging, and of course, using the power of pix messaging to get Heather’s opinion…It now looks like this!

Hooray!  It’s neat, it’s sort of asymmetrically balanced, it’s not as offensive to the eyes, to say the least!  I plan on adding a mirror above the tray and perhaps some kind of collage effect to the rest.  And I’m sure this will change like every month….but for now I’m really enjoying the neatness.
These vases were a snag at Target!  I think the large was $6 and the medium was $5.  They were part of this whole equestrian themed display and I just fell for the stud detail on them!  Then I placed the “brick” with mine and Craig’s name and anniversary on it front and center.  It was hidden behind the ugly alarm clock.  The brick is one of those places outside Disneyland and this little acrylic piece is a copy of what it looks like.  Craig bought the brick as a wedding present since we were married at the Disneyland Hotel.  And why was this not displayed properly before?  (see slacker note above)

I grabbed this tray from downstairs, and I’ll probably change the fabric that’s below the glass.  I finally framed one of the pics that were laying around, and displayed my new gold bowl and white urchin from the Nate Berkus collection at Target.  Hello Nate Berkus….welcome to my bedroom.
I’m loving how clean and simple it looks and am really just glad that the dresser is clear.  Now that I have a day off today…I’m finding another little thing to clean off before I start my frantic clean-for-Thanksgiving-so-none-of-your-guests-think-you’re-a-hoarder spree!  Yay!

Pumpkin in a Half Shell

It all starts with a Pin. I’m trying to bridge the gap between pinning a billion ideas I don’t have time to make and actually making the stuff I’ve pinned… trying being the key word…
Call me crazy, but I’m also trying to actually peruse through and quite possibly read the plethora of magazines I get delivered to my house every month. They pile up and I don’t read them and Hubby gets rather annoyed by it. Ha! The good thing is that my favorite time of year is upon us, which means I really like all of the warm and cozy articles in the the latest issues arriving to mi casa!
I got pinspired by a little morsel of fun in a recent Rachael Ray magazine:

In the effort of time and simplicity, I thought I would strip this incredibly cute idea down to it’s basic principle…
I picked up some materials at Joann’s:
- Wood slice - ($9.99 + 40% off coupon = $5.99)
- Decorative pumpkin made of Styrofoam = $4.99

Plus the stuff I already had:
- hot glue gun
- foam hot glue sticks
- steak knife


Use the steak knife to cut the pumpkin in half. I picked a pumpkin with a little more character, instead of the run of the mill orange. I liked the multicolored look. I can always paint it down the road… or bedazzle it, or draw a face on it, glitter it… oh the possibilities!


I attached a d-ring hanger to the back of the plaque. I grabbed a couple of different length screws to make sure I got one that wasn’t too deep. The teeny one did the trick. Hang it on the wall.

Badabingbadaboom! Pretty cute, right?

Here it is happily hanging above the sink in my kitchen.

Not too shabby for a 5 minute craft. It took me and Will longer to find the right sized pumpkin and wood plaque than it did to put together! You could make a collage of them on the wall with other a gourd variety! Line them up down the hall wall! Paint them metallic copper and let the rustic wood plaque stand out. So much fun! I’m thinking I’ll grow this little gourd collection every year, and by then we’ll have a bigger place to display a collage on a dining room wall or something fancy.

And then a week goes by

Wow….when you’re a working mom time certainly does fly!!  I never realized how much you can get done in a day until I added more responsibility to my life!  Haha!  Heather and I have said that we actually get MORE done because if we don’t….it will NEVER happen.
So anyway…just like any dedicated DIY-er….I haven’t stopped thinking of the house.  Remember I told the hubs that I wouldn’t do anything (major) until I finished our bedroom to completion….so this was part of that promise.  Our room needs curtains and this was the perfect time to test the new limited amount of hours in the day.  I still wanted to make them myself, but wanted to make it as easy as possible.  I’ve been loving bold patterns in graphic black and white, and I kept coming back to these pics on Pinterest


Ooooo I just love it.  I have seen a couple of different tutorials around about how to go about making these, and it seemed easy enough.  I chose to go the “paint the black stripes on the white material” method, mainly because time is precious right now (I don’t think I can say that enough) and I didn’t want to get hung up on exact measurements and sewing panels and such. So the first chance I got, I went out to our local big box hardware store and picked this up.

That’s right people…painter's drop cloths.  Why you ask?  Because 1) I wanted to use canvas…and this was already hemmed for me. 2) It’s actually cheaper than buying canvas at my fabric store, even with a coupon.  This is 6x9, enough for one hearty curtain panel (no wimps allowed!) and cost only $9.99.  Then I sauntered over to the oops paint…and lo and behold there was a whole quart of black paint!  Whhhaaaattt?  My luck amazes me sometimes….mainly because I NEVER have it.  And trust me on this, you will need a quart.  The canvas really sucks up the paint.  So after a quick sew to get the length right, I taped off some lines (I hope no further explanation required…..tape….lines…..) I started slapping on some paint.

Ok I guess a little explanation might be in order.  So scratch that….reverse it (Name that movie!).  I first measured the length of the canvas, and I then determined how big I wanted my stripes, and how many I wanted, and fudged it until I found a number that came closest to both of those.  Sounds back-asswards?  Because it is. What can I say….I do things the hard way.  I knew I wanted an odd number and I knew I wanted thicker stripes.  Anyways….back to painting!  I thought I’d use a roller and it would go super easy and super fast….I was wrong.

It was taking FORRRREEEEEVVVVEEERRR.  So I turned to the handiest and cheapest tool I had at my disposal.  The sponge brush.

Surprisingly this little tool made the job go SO MUCH FASTER.  Oh and little tip.  BACK YOUR CANVAS.  I used plastic dropcloths to protect the carpet.  Everything seeped through, so back it up back it up back it up.
So now I have 2 of these babies….minus the tape of course!  I can’t wait to hang them up!! 

Oh, and I know that these canvases aren’t white white…and I was a little ehhhhhh about it at first, but I’m actually a little glad. I love the stark black and white look, but being that this is my first time experimenting with such graphic details, I like how the of whited-ness makes it a bit muted. But we’ll see when I hang them!

Recipe: Quick & Easy Pad Thai

It seems like every restaurant has their own version of Pad Thai. And I love just about all of them. I’m a sucker for Thai food, Pad Thai, and most Asian noodle dishes. Yum! I happened to maybe probably, steal some Pad Thai sauce from my parents’ house, so I thought it was time to give it a whirl. I love it when one of my favorite foods can be made at home. It’s even better when it’s a quick meal!

To make this a super easy recipe, pick up some premade sauce. Thai Kitchen makes a good one, and so does Annie Chun. If you want to get fancy, you can make your own sauce ahead of time. I keep mine in a squeeze bottle in the fridge because I’m super fancy. Here’s a quick recipe for the sauce if you’re up to the challenge because it’s all of 4 ingredients…

Pad Thai Sauce Ingredients from Food Network:
3 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoon water
3 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
3 teaspoon Asian chili paste

Whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
________________________________________________
In true Heather-fashion, I used mostly what I had on hand, so it wasn’t necessarily authentic, per se… I might have to pick up the usual ingredients on our next grocery shopping trip to try the recipe again. I sliced a red bell pepper, zucchini, and onion to go in here. To be more authentic, use green onions, bean sprouts, and cilantro.

Quick & Easy Chicken Pad Thai
Servings: 4
Time: 20 minutes or less!

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, sliced
8 oz. pad Thai or rice noodles
4-6 tablespoons pad Thai sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:
Cook noodles according to package directions.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Put in the chicken, cook for 1 minute. Put in the onions and red bell peppers, cook for 2 minutes. Move chicken and veggies to the outer rim of the pan, put in egg. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Put in cooked noodles and 4 tablespoons of sauce, carefully toss thoroughly, so everything gets a nice coat of sauce. You can add more sauce, to taste.
And that is it!

A whole 5-7 minutes of cooking time, depending on how thick (or thinly) sliced your chicken and veggies are, plus a few minutes of prep time to chop, and you’ve got a tasty home cooked meal in under 20 minutes!

Now that I’ve got the quick & easy version down, I’ll have to work on adding different things to spice it up. Hubby and I added a little chili garlic sauce to ours for a little spicy. I made some edamame, too, knowing that Will would gobble those up. I used them as leverage to get him to try the noodles. He slurped up noodles, ate some chicken, and ate more than his fair share of edamame. I’ll add that as a win in the ever-changing Will foods. 3 year olds… sometimes you just can’t win.

Next time, I’ll have to experiment with a little ginger and garlic for some added flavor, and definitely pick up some cilantro. Oh, and a little lime juice.

What’s your favorite Asian dish? Do you have a favorite meal you loved eating out but found you could make it at home, too? I love when that happens!

Painted Leaf

While pillaging my stash of old accessories to decide what to put out for my Spring Mantle, I came across this old leaf tray. I got this 5+ years ago from PartyLite (my mom is a candle lady), so I have a lot of their old pieces that have long since been discontinued. I got this when I moved into my old apartment. It’s been put away for a couple of years now. It was time to get it back out, but it needed a makeover. The bookcase it was going to sit on is dark espresso… having a dark bronzy tray is just white noise. It needed some umph. Some POP!


So outside I went. I debated on spraying it gold, white, green, or blue. It was a long and tumultuous debate, but I made it through to the other side, after a text and phone call with Lani… Sometimes you just need to talk it out. We have plans to paint the living room a lovely Martha Stewart Bay Leaf, so green was out. I’m digging the gold, but was thinking a whole tray was a little much in my gold-less house. White is boring and I have a bunch of white vases that were staying. So by process of elimination, True Blue was the chosen one!


First I laid down a couple of thin coats of primer. Then a lot of thin coats of Krylon’s True Blue in gloss. I basically went out, sprayed a coat. Came back inside and unloaded the dishwasher. Went back outside and sprayed. Came back in and made my bed. And did this routine for half the day. It took a while since I had to wait till the top dried and then do the bottom… Next time I know to start on the bottom, and then finish with the top… Live & learn…


I added a touch of gold on the stem. I waited until the blue was dry (about an hour), and then held up one of my fancy shmancy USPS flat rate boxes so the main blue leaf was protected, and sprayed the stem. It’s not perfect, but it’s just the little touch of gold I was looking for. Debating on getting really crazy and adding gold to the edge of the whole leaf. Of course I’ll update you if my crazy pans out…

How about some glamour shots?!

I especially like that it’s pulling in the blues from the couch, since blue is seriously lacking everywhere else in the room.

I made a couple of pillows to go with my existing collection, but the blue tray is helping tie everything together. Now just imagine a lovely green on the walls. Its going to be so bright and glorious!

Total cost of my leaf tray makeover:
- Tray – had it
- White spray primer – had it, but runs a whopping $3.87 at Home Depot
- Krylon True Blue spray paint – I inherited it (Thanks Yvett!), $5.24 on Amazon  
- Krylon 18k Gold spray paint – had it, but $5.99 at Joann’s, and use a coupon!

Not bad for a free project! And a little cure to my painting itch…

Quick & Easy Sausage Pasta

Here's another Quick & Easy dinner comin' atcha from my crazy kitchen, to yours! I told you about my favorite Fajita Burritos last week, so here's a little Italian slice for you. In 20 minutes or so, you'll have this tasty meal on the table.

Sausage Pasta
1 lb ground Italian sausage (ground beef or turkey would work too)
2 cans stewed tomatoes - 14.5oz each.
Pasta (I used penne, but spaghetti or anything would work just fine with this)
For bonus points (and added flavor) and an extra 5 minutes, sauté diced onion and/or bell pepper with the sausage.


Directions:
Brown the sausage in a skillet.
While the sausage is browning, start a separate pot to boil water for the pasta. Make sure you salt the water.
Once the sausage is about 85% done, dump in the cans of stewed tomatoes. I used one can diced and one can of halved tomatoes. They were S&W Italian seasoned cans, so that helps limit the seasons you need to add, since its already done for you. Of course, I can't leave well enough alone, so I added some dried basil, salt, pepper, and a pinch or two of crushed red peppers. I broke up the halved tomatoes with my wooden spoon as I let the tomatoes simmer with the sausage. I let the sauce simmer for a good 10 minutes. Once the pasta was done, I drained it, and tossed it right into the sauce and let it simmer a little more. The starch from the pasta helps thicken up the sauce too.
If you're feeling fancy, sprinkle on some shredded Parmesan cheese. Done!

I've been trying to nix buying Ragu or Prego sauces (although I do pick up a Ragu Mama's blends when it's on super special sale.) because it's just not as good as if you make it yourself. I like that this sauce is heartier and chunky. It makes me feel like we're getting more veggies in our bodies, which, of course, has to be healthier. I used about 3/4 of a box of penne and we had plenty leftover for 3 lunches. Next time, I'll probably toss in some spinach and maybe break out the immersion blender for the sauce for some added hidden nutrients.

I literally threw this together at about 6:35pm after I picked up Will from my grandma's house after work, we got home and did our just-got-home-ritual:
- shoes off
- potty break (oh the joys of potty training!)
- backpack put away
- shoes put away
Just as I got to take my shoes off, Hubby walked in the door. Usually I'm a sucker for a hint from him to go out to eat, but I was a stickler this night (I must have just paid bills...) so I said "give me 20 minutes. We'll eat at 7pm.". Bada-Bing, Bada-Boom! Will even gobbled this up. Probably didn't hurt that I let him pick out which noodles, so he "helped" make it.
Enjoy!

Recipe: Fajita Burritos

I’ve been back in the office-job-working-world for 2 months now. I’m only working 3 full days a week, but man oh man… my hats off to all you full time working mommas. It’s hard work!
Now that my life has become even more of a juggling act, and my house looks like a 3 ring circus, I’ve been trying to make dinners at home as much as possible. The extra money from this job isn’t for fun stuff, it’s for paying off stuff and saving. Geez, I sound like such a Nazi…Extra food eaten out is not in the budget, as much as I’d like it to be… Of course, we fall off the wagon a couple days here and there because Dangit! I’m tired and maybe I want to throw a little hissy fit about not wanting to make dinner that night…
This was an attempt to jumpstart dinners at home again. It’s ridiculously easy, we had leftovers for lunches for a few days, and it was ready in under 30 min. Best part is that you just use what you’ve got! You know how much I love doing that!

Now that grocery shopping is a little more time restricted, I’ve been trying to make a thorough list and coupon clip like a mad woman to save as much as possible every trip, especially since our trips are larger and further in between. I saved $125 at the grocery store last week. WHAT?! Yeah. I know. Mind bottling. Coupons baby. Coupons. I’ve also been trying to keep an eye out for meat on sale. We are a bunch of carnies… carnivores, not carnival folks, in spite of the circus jokes… If it doesn’t have meat in it, its not a meal. So I cruise by the meat department and see what’s on sale. And I grab 2. One for now, one for the freezer, for later. This makes a last minute meal prep a little easier because we have something on hand already. No last minute grocery trips saves me time and money. I like both of those things. A LOT.

I had picked up a family pack of chicken breast tenders. I had lots of leftover refried beans that I made over the weekend (You can get my recipe here), and one of my favorite meals was born. I’m pretty sure I was Mexican in another life because I love their food a lot. Like, A LOT, A LOT. Throw this meal in your bag of tricks when you’re in a bind!

Fajita Burritos

Ingredients
Chicken breasts (or any other meat you might have. Flank steak is also tasty. Ground beef or turkey would work well too.)
Refried beans (black beans would work too)
Onion – cut lengthwise into strips
Bell pepper – cut lengthwise into strips
Rice, steamed
Cheese, shredded
Sour Cream, optional
Avocados, for guacamole
Cilantro
Salsa

To make the chicken, I used this Four Step Chicken Recipe. I usually add a little cumin or cayenne to the dredge mixture to give it a little flavor.
You don’t want to mess with the chicken too much while it’s cooking. The more you move it, the more moisture it loses, the dryer it gets. Yuck. Once it’s in the pan, let it sit for a couple of minutes before you touch it. While the chicken is cooking, I put the refried beans in small saucepan on low heat to reheat them. I sliced my onion and bell pepper, and set them aside. Then I whipped up some guacamole. Mash it, add some lime juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, you’re good to go.
After the chicken is cooked and set aside to rest, I use the same pan I cooked the chicken in for the veggies. I drizzle some olive oil in and toss the sliced onions and bell peppers in. I cook them down for a few minutes.
That’s it for the cooking. And you only dirtied 2 pans! Love it! Easy cookin’ and easy clean up.
Just assemble on a tortilla or make a burrito bowl, add a margarita on the rocks, and enjoy!

Have you tried the Kirkland margarita mix from Costco?! It’s only $6 for 2 big jugs (that’s what she said), and it’s delicious! We might have gone through one whole jug in a week. Maybe… Probably.

It’s a great go-to meal because it gets mixed up every time, depending on what we have in the house. No bell pepper, no problem. Maybe caramelize the onions instead of just a quick sauté. Use salmon or flank steak, or any other kind of meat you have on hand. Or, GASP!, go without meat and just have a BRC (beans, rice, cheese) burrito! You won’t get stuck in the Tuesday-night-is-meatloaf-night rut with this one.

What’s your go to meal when you’re in a bind? You forgot to take the sausage out of the freezer to defrost, what do you do?

Recipe: Rice Pudding

Since I’m in the stretch-my-buck mode, I figured I’d continue with that theme in this post… We like rice. Steamed rice, especially. It’s cheap & easy when you have a rice cooker – Set it & Forget It, as they say. I always make a little extra just in case Will decides he wants to gobble rice up for dinner that night. If he doesn’t, then I get to whip up some rice pudding with the leftovers. It’s so easy, and oh so tasty. And again, means that I’m getting not just our dinner out of the rice, but some leftovers for lunch, and more leftovers for dessert. Hello Bang, I’d like you to meet Buck. And if you can buy it in bulk where you get to scoop out your desired quantity into the bag… even more bang!

While having the Food Network on in the background, Barefoot Contessa came on and of course she makes some delectable looking rice pudding. Queue the light bulb above my head when I half hear her making this & realize I’ve got that leftover rice in the fridge.

Rum Raisin Rice Pudding – from Barefoot Contessa
Total Time: 42 min (7 min prep; 35 min cooking)
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 3/4 cup white basmati rice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 cups half-and-half, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 extra-large egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the raisins and rum. Set aside.

Combine the rice and salt with 1 1/2 cups water in a medium heavy-bottomed stainless steel saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stir once, and simmer, covered, on the lowest heat for 8 to 9 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed. (If your stove is very hot, pull the pan halfway off the burner.) [Note: If you’re using leftover rice, like I did, skip this step]

Stir in 4 cups of half-and-half and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the rice is very soft. Stir often, particularly toward the end. Slowly stir in the beaten egg and continue to cook for 1 minute. Off the heat, add the remaining cup of half-and-half, the vanilla, and the raisins with any remaining rum. Stir well. Pour into a bowl, and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Serve warm or chilled. [Note: I used 2% milk instead of the half & half, and skipped the egg. I also added a few white chocolate chips to my individual bowl while it was still hot, & stirred it around so they would start to melt a little bit. Regular chocolate chips would work great, too.]

Grind It Up!

What? You don’t grind meat up on a Friday night with your Hubby? Seriously… all the cool kids are doing it!

Guess what Hubby got me for Christmas… I am starting to think that we just got each other gifts that we secretly really wanted. He wasn’t quite sure about the whole meat grinder & how I’d like it. He even told me about it prior to purchasing for Christmas & I’m sure my sour face didn’t convince him I was sold either. Meat grinder? It’s not exactly the most romantic gift…

Oh… what did I know?!

We busted out some mostly frozen chicken (because we read it’s better to grind frozen or super cold meat so it stays nice & tender), hooked up our new meat grinder Kitchen-Aid mixer attachment, and got to work.

Works like a dream!

After we ground up 4 large chicken boneless breasts, we split it up into 2 batches. Hubby wanted to make some patties for burgers, and I wanted to give Lani’s homemade chicken nugget recipe a whirl. Ready…break!

Lani used a food processer for hers…I just shoved the onion & apple through the grinder and mixed it all up in the bowl. Easy peasy!

I just went straight to the oven with my nuggets, versus frying them a little to crunch them up. We weren’t going to eat them right away, and I was making them so we would have them stocked up in the freezer, on hand for a quick fix lunch or dinner for the little dude (or my nugget-lovin’ self). 2 large chicken breasts easily made 4 dozen nuggets…too bad I dumped about 10 of them on the floor when I was pulling them out of the oven. Bonehead move. But they are delicious and oh-so-handy to have in the freezer. I just pop a few in the toaster oven for 5 minutes & they’re hot & crispy.

Hubby added herbs and spices to his half of the grindings and I don’t even know what else to the mixture. We put some parchment paper down on a cookie sheet, put a hunk of meat mixture on it, another piece of parchment, and squished it to make a patty. Then we stuck the cookie sheet & all in the freezer. Once the patties were frozen, we transferred them to freezer safe Ziploc bags. These have been a great quick fix dinner for us. Hubby throws them on the grill & they’re done in no time. I love that they’re a little crispy on the outside. So so good! I told Hubby I felt like I was cheating on one of my favorite meals – a good ol’ fashioned cheeseburger. This totally satisfies my burger craving, but on an obviously healthier note.

The best part of our new little toy is stretching our piddly dollars that extra mile. 4 chicken breasts would usually make us 2 dinners and at least one lunch, maybe two. By grinding our own meat, we made 48 chicken nuggets = 12 lunches for the little dude, and 10 chicken patties = 3 dinners for our whole family. 21 meals out of 4 chicken breasts. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Needless to say, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for great deals on chicken, maybe a beef chuck roast, and whatever other meaty goodness I can get my hands on. I think my little meat grinder has already paid for itself!

Bread Pudding

MMMMM…what a way to eat away a weekend!  I found some cheapo bread on the clearance rack at the grocery store and knew that I wanted to make something delicious with it.  And yes…I said clearance rack at the grocery store.  Have you guys found your baked goods clearance rack yet?  It’s awesome!  I’ve scored a dozen bagels for a buck, and I just saw 12 GIGANTIC glazed donuts for .99.  If I wanted to TOTALLY ruin my diet and probably give myself a cavity, I totally would have pulled a Paula Dean and made donut bread pudding.  Serio…she has a recipe.  Instead…I picked up my $.84 loaf of Italian bread and used this recipe to create a delicious and warming desert!!  YUM!!!

Ramen is the bomb….en..

Well you have to make it rhyme, right?  So I’m very proud of this recipe…not only because it is yummy, delicious, cheap, and super easy…but because it’s 100% mine.  Well…my mom’s.  But mine.  Obviously from the title you can tell that it’s about ramen noodles.  Ramen noodles, you ask? Yup.  Plain, simple, 5-for-a-dollar-ramen noodles.

I made this the other night and it was gobbled up by the chitlins and the hubs alike.  Sonny asked me if this was like the poor man’s pasta…and although it is…I’d like to think of it as the Chinese kids mac & cheese.  This is something that my mom used to make at least once a week for my sister and I and she would throw in whatever was leftover or whatever was in the fridge.  It’s truly a “kitchen sink” kind of meal.  So…here goes!

Lani’s Bomb-en Ramen (feeds about 4 generous helpings)

Take 4 Packs of ramen noodles plus one of the flavor packets and boil them in water, just as you would pasta.  Ramen takes about 3-4 minutes though…so it’s super quick!

Then add in whatever you have on hand!  In this particular recipe I had shrimp and broccoli.  Yum! I precooked the shrimp and then threw in the broccoli with the noodles.

Next is the most important.  It’s where all the flava comes in.  Takes a large serving bowl and add a few shakes of soy sauce and a few glops of OYSTER SAUCE.  Seriously, for all you no fish people…it doesn’t taste fishy.  It’s a whole bottle of deliciousness.  I do a few GENEROUS glops because I love the stuff.  My mom always used to say “if all else fails, add more oyster sauce.”  It’s delicious.  So put all that in a serving bowl and take your noodles directly out of the water into the bowl.  No draining no rinsing.

Then serve, eat, and enjoy!!  The kids really liked using the chopsticks, so I definitely encourage you to have your kids try them.  Yes you have to help them along, even if they are the beginner kid friendly version, but Hunter has never tried something new so readily!

It’s “foggy” cuz it was so hot and steamy and delish!