Noodles with Green Sauce

Noodles - my husband hates them.... I love them!
So on the occasions that he doesn't join us for dinner, then I get to indulge!
Here's my favourite way of indulging in them lately:

NOODLES WITH GREEN SAUCE

Serves 4

You'll need:
350g noodles
1 zucchini
1 bunch broccolini
1 cup snow peas
90g baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon minced garlic
juice of half a lemon
150g soft silken tofu
1/2 cup soymilk (or other motherless milk of choice)
1 teaspoon cornflour
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 teaspoon allspice


Chop the zucchini, broccolini and snow peas into pieces of desired size. 
 
Place vegetables and noodles into a large pot  with water & bring to the boil. Once boiling simmer for 3-5 minutes. 

Whilst the noodles & veggies are cooking prepare the sauce.
In a blender combine the spinach, nutritional yeast, garlic, lemon juice, tofu, soymilk, cornflour & herbs. Blend until smooth.

Drain the noodles & veggies and then return to the pot.
Pour the sauce over the noodles and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes until warmed through & slightly thickened.

Serve.
 

Submitted for Health Vegan Friday


Add your recipe on Rock My Vegan Socks blog each Friday.

Lunch Veg & Noodles

As the days are getting cooler I am thinking more about warm lunch options.
This is a great option! So quick and easy. You could whiz it up before work, or take 5 minutes to prepare it there if you have kitchen facilities :-)

To serve one you'll need:
90g of soba noodles (the packets I buy come in 3 parts - each part is 90g. But you can use as much or as little as you like!)
Soak the soba noodles in boiling water while you prepare the veggies.

1 carrot
1 onion
2 spring onions
100g snow peas (tops and ends trimmed)
1/4 large green capsicum
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon mince ginger
1 Tablespoon each: soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, BBQ sauce, sweet chili sauce
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Preheat a wok. Chop the onion, spring onion and capsicum. Chop the carrots into long strips. Toss them into the wok with the snow peas. Gently toss around the wok for a few minutes. Add the garlic and ginger. When the veggies are cooked to your desired texture then add the sauces and the allspice. Mix well. 

Serve on top of the drained noodles.

Kids Lunchbox Club - Quick and Tasty Noodles

1 cup udon nooodles (or other noodles of choice)
1/2 cup frozen vegetables of choice (I used carrots, peas and corn)
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1 teaspoon soysauce
1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce


Place the noodles and vegetables in a bowl that either has a lid or can be covered.
Pour boiling water over the top until the noodles are completely immersed.
Cover with a lid and let stand for 5-10 minutes.

Drain and add the sauces and peanut butter.
Stir well.


Pop into a container for your little one!
Don't forget something to eat them with!!

 

 If your school doesn't allow nut products - you can always replace the peanut butter with tahini for an equally delicious lunch.

Red Lentil & Spinach Sauce

Nervously my husband sat awaiting this meal. 
He wasn't convinced he would like it. 
He reminded me how much he's not a fan of trying "new things".
He took his first bite & I hear a squeal of delight "WOW - that sauce is so yummy!"
Both him & I were overjoyed!
"I'd even take that to work heated up" he said! WOW - it really was a winner in our house!

You'll need:
1 brown onion
1 cup red lentils
3 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon veggie salt
100g baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup tomato paste

Finely chop the onion and place in a dry frying pan. Water sautee for 5 minutes. 
Add the red lentils. Pour over the boiling water and add the veggie salt. Stir. 
Cover with a lid and leave for 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed into the lentils and the lentils have become mushy. Stir in the spinach leaves. Stir well - cover and leave for another 5 minutes. The spinach leaves will wilt.
Stir in the tomato paste until it is well distributed.

Serve over pasta, potatoes or other grain of choice.
Makes 4 serves. 
Shown here over black bean spaghetti.

 

Have you tried this spaghetti?

I believe its fairly new to the market. I picked it up a couple of weeks ago at a health food store. It makes for a great pasta substitute. I didn't think it was too expensive. Just a few dollars for this packet which I felt would comfortably serve 4-5. It seemed to go so much further than regular pasta. It cooked really quickly too. It doesn't really taste like regular pasta at all though. I felt that it tasted quite similar to soba noodles. I enjoyed the taste and will definitely buy them again.

Peanutty Noodles

After a quick & easy dinner that is really tasty?

This takes less time than getting take-away - SERIOUSLY!

 

Really great for those nights when you open the pantry and think "We have NO food!"

You only need a few basic ingredients so you can't go wrong! 

Place a section of soba noodles in a bowl with boiling water & cover. You can leave them long or break them into short pieces - whatever you would rather! The soba noodles I buy come in a paper wrap with the set amount of one serve! What a great idea!

Leave the noodles to rehydrate and soften for 3-5 minutes. 
In the meantime, chop one spring onion into little pieces.
Drain the noodles and place back into the bowl.

Add 1 heaped Tablespoon natural peanut butter, 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar & 1 Tablespoon soysauce. Mix until the noodles are coated. You may need to add a Tablespoon or 2 of boiling water to allow the peanut butter to spread evenly - this will depend on if the peanut butter you use is moisten or not - this can depend on the weather too, so just see how you go & adjust the water as needed :-)
Stir in the spring onions, reserving some to serve on top!


Enjoy!

You can add other veggies if you like - grated carrot works well too :-)

Serves one.

A confession, a thought & WIAW

Confession:

So I'm still technically on my unprocessed challenge but over the weekend and the last few days I have struggled a little bit with snacking :-(
I had a few rice crackers for afternoon tea & some chocolate & some packet popcorn & a dollop of mayonniase with some tofu! 
I was feeling realllllllllllllly guilty about it!
I tried every way to comfort myself - it doesn't really matter, it was only a little bit, except for the mayonniase the other bits had less than 5 ingredients and that's one of Michael Pollan's food rules! Yet in my heart I know all of that is silly!

Yes, I had a few things that I shouldn't of had!
No, its not the end of the world!

Here's what my brain initially thought:
"You stupid girl, how could you do that? What about your challenge? You have no motivation whatsoever. You have stuffed it all up now & what's the point in going on? How is it that you can leave that chocolate bar in the pantry since Easter and now you have it? You have no self control - You're a failure!"

Here's what my logical brain thought:
"Sandy, don't let something so pitiful worry you! It's only a personal challenge that has been put on you by yourself and no one else! No-one is perfect & you have done soooo well to go 5 complete weeks without anything processed! Brush off the last few days & keep going! You are building healthy habits for life and that is what matters most!"

TODAY I CHOOSE TO GO WITH LOGICAL BRAIN THINKING!!!! ;-)

Thought:

Life would be so much easier if people didn't need to eat!

When I get hyper-think-on-ism this is a topic that often comes to mind. 

Why do we need food?

Yes, yes I know the simple answer is nourishment..... but in these times the fact that food is 'nourishment' is often forgotten! 
When was the last time you thought of food purely as 'nourishment' and not as anything else? I know for me, that fact rarely crosses my mind! Not for its taste, not as a treat or not as a social event! 
Food can often just become routine - "its lunch time now" and people can eat when they aren't really hungry, therefore not really needing nourishment. And then what about those times when we "just feel like something to eat"... are they really about nourishment?!?
Food is often the centre of social events - which I think automatically then connects our relationships to food too! Meaning that food becomes involved with our feelings!
And yet I think its not emotionally healthy to have a relationship with food itself but the fact is that we often do!
Think about the amount of people who use food as a crutch for them, and food becomes a comfort for them, either too much food or not enough.
The 'need' for food consumes so much of our time & energy. Not only for cooking and eating but grocery shopping and meal planning too.
Think about the emotions that are caused when people mention their meal preferences! ~vegan speaking~ I know just to mention that I choose not to eat meat because of the health benefits can cause people to instantly become defensive & its obviously setting off a certain feeling in them! And not even as far as that, when someone says "oh I don't like (fill in the blank)"  even that can be something that sparks emotions in people. Eg: "Oh that is sooooo tasty", "its my favourite", "how could you not like it?", "it doesn't even have a real flavour". I could go on but I'm sure you get my point!

I really do think life would be easier without the need to eat!

WIAW:

And yet despite my complaint over food - I LOVE cooking & blogging & sharing recipes! I join sooooooooo many other people in that fact I'm sure ;-)
What-I-Ate-Wednesday shows just want I mean! Look at all these bloggers taking pictures of the food they ate!!!! I love it! It truly makes me laugh that we can do it each week - and yet funnily enough, it really is a lot of fun!

Breakfast

After being super organisied last night I woke up to some soaked oats!
I love soaked oats! 
When they have been left overnight they are so moist & end up so much more delicious than just soaking in hot water in the morning!
I had soaked these in soymilk and with raisins.
In the morning I transferred them out of my rather wonderful leak-proof Tupperware container and into a bowl where I added a chopped banana! 

What a great way to start the day!

Lunch

I had some leftover bulgar & chickpea pilaf with a green salad busy day at work meant I forgot to take a picture :-( But here's a picture of the pilaf from the other night!

In the afternoon I snacked on strawberries & these very convenient walnut stuffed dates that I picked up at our little grocer down the road from work!

Dinner

I made some Peanutty Noodles.
Quick, easy & delicious!

























And... whilst watching a movie tonight with my hubby nibbled on some dried fruit & popcorn :-)

Question of the day:

Do you ever beat yourself up about food? If so, do you forgive yourself easily or do you feel guilty about it for ages?

AIM OF THE WEEK:

STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP ABOUT FOOD!

(That goes for me too!)

Soba Noodle Stir-fry

Is it possible to have easy noodles at home, better than take-away???

I think so ;-)

This dish takes me less time to prepare than it does for me to drive to our Noodle shop & wait for them to be cooked!

1 packet dried soba noodles   **

5 cups finely chopped asian cabbage

1 large carrot, julienne sliced

1 onion, chopped into slices

2cm piece fresh ginger, grated

200g marinated tofu - sliced (You can marinate your own if you prefer) 

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

- sesame seeds to serve

**You may be able to find egg-free fresh soba noodles, but I haven't been able to.

Soak the soba noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes whilst you prepare the stir-fry. 

 Heat a wok til hot. Add the cabbage, onion & ginger.

Add the carrot and continue to cook until the cabbage has cooked down quite significantly.

Saute the tofu in a frying pan until lightly browned.

Add the noodles and the tofu to the cabbage mix.

Pour over the rice wine vinegar & the soy sauce.

Stir to combine well & serve in a noodle bowl with sesame seeds on top.

Same recipe different noodle....

 This recipe also works great with hokkien noodles!

Noodles with veggie "sauce"

You will need:

1 packet of oriental 2 min noodles (my preference is the Maggi low fat ones)
1 cup mushrooms
1 onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 green capsicum
1 tablespoon flour



Chop all the vegies and saute with the garlic til tender - bout 5 mins.
While the veggies are sauteing, put the noodles in a bowl with 2 cups of boiling water & cover DO NOT ADD THE FLAVOUR SACHET. Soak for 2mins (or until tender).
In a small dish mix the flour with a small amount of cold water. Stir until becomes a thick paste without any clumps.
Empty the contents of the noodle flavour sachet into a measuring jug. Add 1 1/2 cups of boiling water. Stir until all the sachet contents has dissolved. Add to the veggies.
Add the flour paste and mix rapidly to avoid any clumps forming & continually stir until it thickens.
Drain the noodles & serve into bowls.
Pour the veggie sauce over the top.

Serves 2