How to Make Sesame Noodles

I'd had sesame noodles from the deli before, as more of a cold salad. But I figured they'd be good hot, too!

Sesame Glass Noodles and Baked Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

I was looking for a way to jazz up pasta, and found this recipe for sesame noodles on Pioneer Woman. I liked that we had all the ingredients on hand...except for sesame oil, that is. :/ Ironic, right? I used sesame seeds instead, browned a little in the frying pan.

My husband liked that it had a little bit of a kick to it, and he asks for this dish a lot now. In the above photo he actually asked me for the recipe and made it himself! You can adjust the spiciness, of course.

Also...did you know you can use any kind of thin noodle? We did use rice noodles above, but you can't really tell...regular spaghetti works just as well. If you're not a purist, I guess.

The only thing left to do now is to get some sesame oil and finally try it the real way!

How to Make Tomato Zucchini Ragout

I was going to do a summer wrap-up, but a zucchini showed up in my refrigerator, so I decided to do one last stove-top meal!

My dish was loosely based on this recipe. However, I didn't have all the ingredients and I didn't follow the instructions too well. And I still had good results. So what I'm trying to say is that if you have zucchini on hand and some kind of tomato product, you can make a tasty dinner!

Parmesan cheese on top would be a nice addition!

The instructions said to saute the bell pepper for a few minutes and simmer in the tomatoes/zucchini/etc. for 15 min. Ummm, try more like 30! I don't know if it was me or what but I am trying to brush up on my cooking chemistry skills to better understand how to time things. Anyway, I had the cover on the sauce while heating the pasta water, so that the veggies would get all nice and tender. And then for the last few minutes I had the cover off to let it cook down into more of a ragout as opposed to a liquidy sauce. We like it that way around here.

Meals we had, April 22-28

New series! I don’t always have time to edit and post recipes, but I’m going to do a little retroactive menu “planning” and just type up what we ate all week, to use for meal ideas in the future.

Note: My in-laws generally deliver groceries and some cooked meals to us regularly. I organize the week’s meals around those ingredients, along with using up leftovers. If we are having a repeat combination then I try to change the presentation. If I want to use a particular recipe then I start with something we already have and buy the rest of the needed ingredients. But I try not to buy a lot of additional groceries if we already have something in the refrigerator that needs to be used.

Breakfasts: Eggs
Lunches: Homemade soups with sour cream and fresh herbs; bread with cheese or a slice of meat

-Monday dinner: Fried potatoes (Russian-style) with sliced pork and steamed broccoli
-Tuesday dinner: Scalloped potatoes with cubes of pork
-Wednesday dinner: Boiled pelmeni with sauteed green beans
-Thursday dinner: Eggless meatballs (we ran out of eggs) and boiled potatoes
-Friday dinner: Homemade popcorn chicken with angel hair pasta (we just make plain and garnish with cheese/butter)
-Saturday dinner: Pizza made with this crust and using leftover meatballs/popcorn chicken as toppings
-Sunday dinner: Chicken-bacon-cheese bake with boiled buckwheat and sauteed bell pepper

Looks like we need to add more veggies to the menu. Got any recipes to recommend?

How to Make Whole Wheat Fettucine (or other noodles)

You don't have to have a pasta machine to make pasta any more than you need a bread machine to make bread.

I would say that the benefits of homemade pasta are probably 1) the taste and 2) the sense of satisfaction that you made it yourself.

Not to mention, you can try all sorts of variations, like spinach or sweet potato pasta. Mmm.

I used a basic pasta recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens "New Cookbook," 11th Edition, 1989