Sunday, September 30, 2018

Fake takeout

My older son loves Asian food, and now that I'm avoiding dairy, a lot of our typical recipe options are off the table. Many Asian recipes don't include dairy, so we've been checking out a broader array of recipes lately. Sam wanted to make dinner tonight, so he selected Dragon Noodles. We had leftover cilantro from a cilantro hummus recipe I'd made yesterday, so the timing was perfect.

We loved the recipe, but made a few small tweaks:

  • Note that the serving size is 2. We tripled to serve 6.
  • We skipped the red pepper, as Sam likes moderately spicy but not intensely spicy food
  • We included 4 eggs vs the recommended 3, to increase the protein
  • We didn't have brown sugar, so subbed for 1 tsp of agave. We didn't want it to be sweet
  • We used spaghetti noodles instead of fettuccine or other kinds (that's all we had), but we increased the pasta to 16 oz. Sauce/flavoring worked perfectly with that
  • We served with a protein on the side, but if I were making it again, I'd thinly sliced cooked chicken, and perhaps add shaved carrot, at the time I was combining all of the ingredients
Delish! We've eaten through most of the frozen Trader Joe options, but Sam likes to have "takeout" night, where we make samosas, spring rolls, gyozas, etc. Trader Joes sells reasonable options, and it would have been fun to add another side dish if we'd had anything.

I was happy to have the help with dinner, as i was tired after my 10 mile run today. It was the first time in as long as I can remember that I almost threw up on my run. I didn't bring any fuel (shot blocks, electrolyte water, etc) & my water belt was rubbing uncomfortably on my stomach. I started feeling terrible about 3 miles in, and really struggled with miles 3-5, all of which were brutal uphill. I sat down on the side of the trail & rested for a few minutes & then had a solid run for the last five miles.

I rested for quite a bit after that, and then cleaned the house (fyi, cleaning the kitchen before a 12 year old cooks with you is a recipe in frustration),  & ran the kids around. Nick ran a 21 minute 5K, and was quite proud of himself. :-) 

All in all, a lovely Sunday. I hope you all had a great weekend, and feel free to share your favorite replacement takeout recipes!

6 comments:

  1. It is wonderful that your son likes to muddle around in the kitchen. Having him prepare a meal is even better!

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    1. It's been great. I need to keep working with him on other meal options.

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  2. Dragon noodles sound yummy, thanks for sharing the recipe. I am on a mission to clean out older items from the freezer, made chili out of last summers frozen tomatoes (bumper crop then, not so much this year), my own green pepper and some other frozen bits and pieces. I don't really have any takeout meal replacements - except we buy premade pizza (delission thin crust) and add a few of our own ingredients to make it tasty.

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  3. YUM that looks delicous! I need to find a reasonably low-carb gluten free version of lo mein noodles for dishes like these. Or maybe even a vegetable substitute. Have you ever used spaghetti squash?

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    1. I haven't. I'd like to try spaghetti squash, but don't think the kids would go for it. Does it reheat similarly to pasta? We make all of our meals in portions big enough to have leftovers. . . maybe I'll experiment a bit!

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