Summer Soba Noodles

You probably didn't know that noodles were seasonal, but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense.  You don't want a heavy bolognese in the heat of summer.  And somehow a bowl of spaghetti dressed with fresh tomatoes and olive oil just doesn't seem to fit a cold winter night.

I really like soba noodles in the spring and summer.  The buckwheat flavor seems lighter than the typical noodle, and carries so much flavor that a heavy sauce would not do it justice.  So instead, I load it with meats and veggies, letting the flavors of each ingredient speak for itself.  Each one expertly blending with the others as though their only goal in life was this moment, this bite. 

Soba noodles don't give you that heavy feeling that some noodle dishes do.  Instead you feel satiated.  Full, but not uncomfortable.  Ready to enjoy these last few days of summer.

Summer Soba Noodles

2 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb thinly sliced pork
1 chicken breast, thinly sliced

 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1 cup green beans, julienned
2 carrots, julienned
  12 oz shiitake mushrooms
1 pkg soba noodles
4 green onions, sliced

1. Heat oil over medium high heat in wok. Saute garlic and onions until tender. 
2. Add pork, chicken and shrimp, and cook until browned. 
3. Stir in soy sauce. 
4. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. 
5. Add cabbage, green beans, carrots and mushrooms. Cook until vegetables are tender crisp, about 5 minutes. 
6. Add noodles, mixing gently to prevent them from breaking. Cook until liquid is absorbed and noodles are done, about 10 minutes. 
7. Garnish with green onions.

The Worms Crawl In: Summer Soba Noodles

Happy Halloween Week!  We're in full Halloween mode over here.  On Friday night, DH kicked off the weekend by watching Mama.  I started watching it with him, but it was too sad for me.  I didn't get too far into it before crying and going to bed.


On Saturday morning, we did some pumpkin carving.

The original plan was for Thatbaby to put stickers on his pumpkin, but once he saw our carving tools, he wanted to carve a face on his pumpkin.

We ended up watching Paranorman during our carving.  Thatbaby wasn't entirely interested, but Thatboy and I really enjoyed it.  The plot was the same as a grownup horror film - a witch who was put to death casts a spell which raises the dead from the graves every year.  It was dark, it was scary, it was sad - I cried.  I cried a lot.  I cried enough that Thatbaby made fun of me.

I call it a pumpkin carving success.

We ended up eating out Saturday night (more on that tomorrow) but earlier in the week we had a very Halloween-y meal, a bowl full of worms (or soba noodles).  With slivers of tempeh and egg, woven between brown noodles, this bowl kind of looks like something that crawled out of grave.  But it sure doesn't taste like it.  Thatbaby went nuts over the tempeh, eating all of his and then asking for mine.  Thatboy and I like the earthy buckwheat of the soba noodles.  And everyone was a fan of the sweet dressing.

Summer Soba Noodles (from Japanese Home Cooking, as seen on Cate's World Kitchen)

8 ounces tempeh, thinly sliced

1/4 + 3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp freshly grated ginger

2 eggs

salt and pepper

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp water

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil

2 bundles soba noodles (about 6 ounces total)

1. Prepare the tempeh: mix the 3 Tbsp soy sauce and ginger, then evenly coat the tempeh slices, cover, and chill for about 4 hours. 
2. Place tempeh in a greased baking dish and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Let cool, then cut into matchsticks.
3. Prepare the eggs: Beat well with a pinch each sugar, salt, and pepper. Heat a small nonstick pan over medium, add the eggs, and cook until set, then flip to cook through. Remove to cool, then cut into thin slices.
4. Prepare the dressing: mix the remaining soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.
5. Boil the noodles just until tender, then drain and rinse with cold water. Arrange on 2 plates, then pour some of the dressing over the noodles. Arrange the egg and tempeh on the plate.

The Little Littles: Spicy Spring Noodles

I have a whole separate post dedicated to this, but for the past few weeks we've had houseguests.  Of the hummingbird variety.  We watched a mama hummingbird build her nest, warm her eggs, and raise her young.  We took to calling the babies "little littles" because I described them as "little little birds" and Thatbaby quickly picked up on the first part, and asked to see the "little littles" multiple times of day.

But teeny tiny hummingbirds aren't the topic of today's post.  Today I'm writing about the other little littles - of the human variety.  Premature babies.  L&O and I were talking about all the anxieties that come along with motherhood (which I'll probably touch on in another post also) and one of them is that the entire pregnancy, there's a worry that things won't turn out as planned.  Something will happen to the baby.  Along the spectrum of losing the baby and bringing home a healthy bundle of joy is the premature baby - a little little who comes a bit too early.

One of L&O's besties is going through this right now.  Panda's water broke 2 weeks ago.  She was 27 weeks pregnant.  I received a text from L&O shortly after Panda had headed in to the hospital.  We all expected imminent labor, and sent positive thoughts for Panda's son, who was not quite ready to be born.  The first goal was to stall labor for 48 hours, giving the steroid injection time to mature Baby Panda's lungs more.  And Baby Panda surpassed that goal, and the subsequent ones.  It's been over 2 weeks, and Baby Panda is still an "inside baby."  Panda herself is still in the hospital, receiving frequent visits from L&O, who is a kickass friend to have at times of crisis.

As an example, shortly after Panda headed to the hospital, L&O organized a team to walk in support of Baby Panda at this year's March of Dimes walk.

When she asked if I wanted to join in, I couldn't help but say yes.  As a friend of a friend, I've gotten to here about Detective's struggles, and I'll do anything I can do to support her in her journey to motherhood.  On top of that, I know several others who have faced the journey of having a premature baby.  It's not an easy road.  Leaving your child in the NICU while you head home must be one of the hardest things to bear as a parent.  And I recognize how lucky I am to have brought a healthy, full term, child into the world.

I'd say we woke early to head to the walk on Saturday, but in truth, we wake early because of a certain toddler who doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in on the weekend. But we did leave the house early and head to Balboa Park to meet up with the group and get our t-shirts before getting our walk on.

There were a ton of people there, warming up.  Eventually our group filed into line to start the race.  I'm not going to lie.  I completely missed the start.  There were so many people, and since we were all walking, there was no movement at the start line for a while.  I thought we were just smooshing forward, when actually we had started the walk.

Thatboy hates "races" in Balboa Park because it means getting up extra early to make the drive down and find parking.  But it is a great venue for them.  The beautiful architecture, fountains, and wide paths. 

After 3.5 miles, we waited in line to cross the finish.

Looks closely and you'll see that even though he was being pushed, the walk really tired out one member of  the team.

He awoke in time to check out the amazing kid's tent - with lots of bubbles to play with.  And share some of Little LO's snacks.

On Friday night, when Thatboy was complaining about having to head down to Balboa Park, I tried to sweeten the deal with the offer of breakfast out.  Which he was more than happy to take me up on.  So after the walk, we headed to grab a bite to eat.

This picture cracks me up.  I couldn't figure out what Thatbaby was doing, until Thatboy informed me that he was copying me.  I was leaning back trying to get them in the picture, and our little Monkey-see had to get into the action.

The morning of the walk started off nice and cool, but by the time it finished, we were all peeling off layers.  It got hot!  It was such sunny, summery weather that I'm compelled to share this summery noodle dish.  Not the typical heavy pasta dish, this one is filled with spring vegetables and, yup, fresh herbs!

Spicy Spring Noodles

4 ounces Pad Thai noodles
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped mint
Juice of one lime
1 Tbsp  soy sauce
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 tsp crushed ginger
6 garlic cloves, sliced
2 Thai chiles, finely chopped
1 pound snow peas, trimmed
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

1. Cook noodles according to package directions.
2. Add radishes,onions, basil, cilantro, mint, lime juice and soy sauce.  Toss.
3. Combine the canola oil, ginger, garlic, and chiles in a skillet.  Cook over low heat for until fragrant.
4. Add snow peas and salt and cook until the peas are tender, but still crisp.
5. Combine the snow peas and noodles and toss.
6. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Macaroni and Lamb

My husband may be the only person who drinks wine out of a giant plastic tumbler covered in pictures of giraffes. Of course, his choices are rather limited given that our kitchen and dining room are officially packed.

We've kept out very little, which means doing dishes has become far more important than ever before. And I'm going to be limited over the next couple of weeks on the meals I can make. I kept out a pot, pan, and baking dish, and just about everything else is in a box.

I've made a meal plan for the next couple weeks and there's a lot of pasta on it. Not only because I need to use up what's in our pantry, but because pasta requires very little in terms of cooking and serving. In fact, just in case, I spent all morning making spaghetti, so we should have more than enough to last us!

When I make any kind of noodles Thatdog situates himself right under the chair where I hang them to dry. He knows that anything that hits the floor is fair game for him. And he knows that while I'm pulling apart strands there are quite a few strands that hit the floor. It makes him a very happy dog.

These are obviously not homemade noodles. I can't make macaroni. I'm very talented but not THAT talented. But we do have a lot of boxed noodles I'm trying to get rid of and frankly there's a limit to how much mac and cheese someone can eat. Time to get creative. I know many people like hot dogs cut up in their mac and cheese, but the idea is highly unappealing to me. Throwing in some actual cooked meat, however, doesn't sound like such a bad idea. I used lamb in this, but it would be equally delicious with ham, and I expect it to be reincarnated over the next couple weeks with some steak we have in the freezer!

Macaroni and Lamb
1 cup cooked lamb
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp onion, diced
1 Tbsp celery, diced
1 cup macaroni
1 egg
1 egg white
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Mix the lamb, salt, pepper, onion, and celery in a bowl.
   
2. Place the macaroni in a layer on the bottom of the baking dish and spread the lamb over top.
3. Beat the egg, egg white, and milk together and pour over the lamb and macaroni. Bake 35 minutes until firm.