We woke up around noon. Yesterday our heater (unbeknownst to us) reset in a power flicker and we returned to an approximately 40° room. I slept in two long-sleeve shirts, a pair of sweatpants, two pairs of socks, under a comforter and an electric throw (Hubs had his own). We basically hibernated.
Needless to say, waking up to temperatures that didn’t get above 20° meant we weren’t going anywhere to buy food (even though I planned to get groceries at some point). I remembered my soup drawer, found a can of light chicken soup with brown rice, and had it with a few black bean tortilla chips. Donut for dessert.
Then I honestly just put off eating. It was in the back of my mind constantly, but I knew I’d have to cook and I did not want to deal with rummaging for foods that would go well together and calorie-counting. In fact, in opening the freezer to see if I had any Lean Cuisine meals left, I instead stood staring at two bags of horrible-for-you frozen burritos. Again, knew that wouldn’t be filling, even if it was quick.
Internet to the rescue!! I bought some fabulous noodles at Whole Foods a couple days ago (that was a trip! We’d never been to WF before) and remembered this evening that I had seen at least one good recipe for them. While checking through the recipe’s instructions and item list, I mentally went though what foods I had available to substitute. What resulted was probably the best Asian-inspired noodle dish I’ve ever made. A super special Thank You! to Beth at Budget Bytes for the inspiration!
"Sorta" Singapore Noodles
Veggies (I used one cup of each):
Spinach - 7 Calories
Squash (yellow and zucchini, frozen) - 30 Cal
Green beans (frozen) - 35 Cal
Broccoli (frozen) - 30 Cal
Chicken (about 4 oz) - 110 Cal
Maifun brown rice noodles (200 Cals a serving; as I hadn’t had much to eat I went for two servings, or 400 Cal)
Seasonings:
Mrs. Dash Onion & Herb - 0 Cal
Worcestershire sauce (2 tsp) - 10 Cal
Soy sauce (1 tbsp) - 10 Cal
Oyster sauce (1 tbsp) - 25 Cal
Olive oil (2 tbsp, divided) - 240 Cal
Sriracha sauce - 5 Cal (I just used a few dashes, which I figure roughly equaled the 1 tsp serving)
Okay, so did I mention this was easy?? I really didn’t want to make anything, mostly because I’m lazy but also because I hadn’t planned this, so I worried it wouldn’t turn out remotely close to what I thought it should taste like. But these blessed, blessed noodles are NO FUSS, especially for stir-fry. You simply submerge them in warm water and just leave ‘em for 6-8 minutes. This left me time to focus on other things, like measuring out frozen vegetables while my frozen chicken breast was defrosting in the nuker.
This is also where I messed up, just a bit. Once my chicken was thawed I thinly sliced it and sprinkled some Mrs. Dash over the top, then added a tablespoon of olive oil. I mixed that just a bit with my hands and let it sit while I microwaved my veggies (they were still frosted with ice, which I left, as it’s recommended to put some water in with them to steam) so they weren’t frozen when I sauteed them. And that’s when I realized I would need more olive oil. Given the amount of calories in the oil, I’d hoped to just use the one tablespoon and be done with it. But I couldn’t cook the chicken at the same time as my veggies, since the cooking times varied. So with a sigh I got down the olive oil and poured another tablespoon in the skillet, heating it to medium before adding the vegetables. This is when I also added my Worcestershire sauce, soy, and oyster sauce.
I let that saute for a bit while I strained my noodles and wandered around with my head screws loose because I never know what I’m doing in the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised that I had not yet burned anything. Then I put the veggies to the side, keeping the water+sauce+oil in the skillet. The thin slices of chicken cooked fast, and then the magic happened. This is the moment I fell in love with this dish. I put my noodles in the skillet (after giving a rough chop so they’d stir-fry well) and they immediately absorbed the sauce. They absorbed it so fast I thought I’d done something wrong, and worried I’d need more liquid or my food would be too dry.
After tossing the noodles with a pair of tongs and adding the veggies back in, I dashed in some sriracha and let the mix incorporate on its own before pouring it out onto a plate. Darn, I’d let some of the noodles stick. I gently scraped them from the pan and took a tentative taste. Holy mother was that fantastic. Slightly crunchy, full of flavor, and what a great texture! These are things cooks know, or even the random person who makes dinner more than once a month. I’m not ignorant when it comes to cooking, but I felt sure they’d end up tasting burnt or being hard. Thaaaat was pretty much my favorite part of the dish.
And let me tell you, there was a lot of favorite to be had. So full of flavorful goodness, and I know it wasn’t junky, bad-for-me burritos. I also know for next time not to put olive oil on the chicken, as there will be plenty of liquid from the vegetables and sauce. I’ll also probably leave out the green beans and add an extra half-cup each of squash and broccoli, as I really love those veggies. Lastly, I used spinach from a bag of wilting salad mix (which also had a few matchstick carrots to add in). This, like so many stir-fry or fried rice dishes, would be a great way to get rid of random foods in your fridge.
I spoiled myself and ate another donut, because it was there. These donuts will do me a lot more good once they’re gone. Even so, I still ended under 2000 Calories for the day (1852 Cals).
Spinach - 7 Calories
Squash (yellow and zucchini, frozen) - 30 Cal
Green beans (frozen) - 35 Cal
Broccoli (frozen) - 30 Cal
Chicken (about 4 oz) - 110 Cal
Maifun brown rice noodles (200 Cals a serving; as I hadn’t had much to eat I went for two servings, or 400 Cal)
Seasonings:
Mrs. Dash Onion & Herb - 0 Cal
Worcestershire sauce (2 tsp) - 10 Cal
Soy sauce (1 tbsp) - 10 Cal
Oyster sauce (1 tbsp) - 25 Cal
Olive oil (2 tbsp, divided) - 240 Cal
Sriracha sauce - 5 Cal (I just used a few dashes, which I figure roughly equaled the 1 tsp serving)
Okay, so did I mention this was easy?? I really didn’t want to make anything, mostly because I’m lazy but also because I hadn’t planned this, so I worried it wouldn’t turn out remotely close to what I thought it should taste like. But these blessed, blessed noodles are NO FUSS, especially for stir-fry. You simply submerge them in warm water and just leave ‘em for 6-8 minutes. This left me time to focus on other things, like measuring out frozen vegetables while my frozen chicken breast was defrosting in the nuker.
This is also where I messed up, just a bit. Once my chicken was thawed I thinly sliced it and sprinkled some Mrs. Dash over the top, then added a tablespoon of olive oil. I mixed that just a bit with my hands and let it sit while I microwaved my veggies (they were still frosted with ice, which I left, as it’s recommended to put some water in with them to steam) so they weren’t frozen when I sauteed them. And that’s when I realized I would need more olive oil. Given the amount of calories in the oil, I’d hoped to just use the one tablespoon and be done with it. But I couldn’t cook the chicken at the same time as my veggies, since the cooking times varied. So with a sigh I got down the olive oil and poured another tablespoon in the skillet, heating it to medium before adding the vegetables. This is when I also added my Worcestershire sauce, soy, and oyster sauce.
I let that saute for a bit while I strained my noodles and wandered around with my head screws loose because I never know what I’m doing in the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised that I had not yet burned anything. Then I put the veggies to the side, keeping the water+sauce+oil in the skillet. The thin slices of chicken cooked fast, and then the magic happened. This is the moment I fell in love with this dish. I put my noodles in the skillet (after giving a rough chop so they’d stir-fry well) and they immediately absorbed the sauce. They absorbed it so fast I thought I’d done something wrong, and worried I’d need more liquid or my food would be too dry.
After tossing the noodles with a pair of tongs and adding the veggies back in, I dashed in some sriracha and let the mix incorporate on its own before pouring it out onto a plate. Darn, I’d let some of the noodles stick. I gently scraped them from the pan and took a tentative taste. Holy mother was that fantastic. Slightly crunchy, full of flavor, and what a great texture! These are things cooks know, or even the random person who makes dinner more than once a month. I’m not ignorant when it comes to cooking, but I felt sure they’d end up tasting burnt or being hard. Thaaaat was pretty much my favorite part of the dish.
And let me tell you, there was a lot of favorite to be had. So full of flavorful goodness, and I know it wasn’t junky, bad-for-me burritos. I also know for next time not to put olive oil on the chicken, as there will be plenty of liquid from the vegetables and sauce. I’ll also probably leave out the green beans and add an extra half-cup each of squash and broccoli, as I really love those veggies. Lastly, I used spinach from a bag of wilting salad mix (which also had a few matchstick carrots to add in). This, like so many stir-fry or fried rice dishes, would be a great way to get rid of random foods in your fridge.
I spoiled myself and ate another donut, because it was there. These donuts will do me a lot more good once they’re gone. Even so, I still ended under 2000 Calories for the day (1852 Cals).
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