Andrew Zimmern's Ramen Noodles from People Magazine

I love magazines and have since I was a kid. Growing up the only magazine we got regularly was the TV Guide. When I was in junior high my sister got a job as a cashier in the local pharmacy and I would spend evenings there at a small card table reading all of the magazines in the store. I vowed that when I grew up and could afford it I would subscribe to every magazine I wanted. Well, one of the guilty pleasures from those days persists and I read People magazine every week. I was excited when they started including recipes and so far all that I have made turned out great. This recipe for Ramen Noodles is super easy and delicious, and guess what, Tom even ate it because I substituted beef broth for the chicken broth.




For this tasty soup you will need carrots, green onion, broth, soy sauce, ramen noodles (toss that nasty flavor packet), sesame oil, sriracha, ketchup, sugar, lime and an egg.


Juice your lime and whip up your egg.


Chop your green onion.


Get your water on to boil.


Measure out your broth.


Mix together soy sauce, ketchup, sriracha, sugar and sesame oil.


When your water is boiling drop in your ramen. I break mine up just so it is a bit easier to eat.


Ramen noodles only need to cook for a couple of minutes. Get them out and drain them and set them aside.


Put the broth into the pan.


When the broth is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and stir in the soy sauce mixture.


Add the carrots and cook for one minute.


Slowly stir in the egg.


Add the noodles back in and let those cook for about a minute.


Get the pan off the burner and add in the lime and green onion and you are ready to eat.


This was so good, and spicy! Tom liked it too but said it wasn't hot at all. Apparently I am still a wuss when it comes to hot food. Tom also added a handful of peanuts because he wanted a little crunch in his soup. He said it was a great addition.

I hope you all are having a great weekend!

Pork and Poblano Stew

I told you about my quest for weight loss and how I am cutting those evil but so delicious carbs and dairy. Some people asked what I am eating instead. Well, I have been eating a lot of stir fries and lots of beans, cruciferous veggies, eggs, and lean protein. When I saw this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens I was thrilled that it pretty much fit into my new eating habits.


I made the full recipe because I can freeze some and have a quick dinner when I don't feel like cooking.

Somehow I managed to forget to take an ingredients photo...but you can just take a look at what you need in the recipe. Poblano chiles are often labeled Pasilla peppers and they are very mild. If you really want to kick this up use a jalapeno or a serrano.


First you want to chop up your pork.


Measure out your OJ.


Chop up your onions and peppers. Biz is about to vomit at this point seeing those onions I am sure.


Season the pork with chili powder. It is easiest to just get your hand in the bowl to make sure the meat gets coated.


Look everyone it is my Microplane that was featured in my last favorites post. I used it to zest the orange that is still sitting on my cutting board. I don't really like fruit...maybe I will just juice it.


Get your pork into a pan with some olive oil and let it brown for about 5 minutes.


Yum, gotta love pork tenderloin but now it needs to get the heck out of there.


It is the veggies turn in the pan. Cook those for about 5 minutes as well.


Add in the tomatoes, broth, and the cinnamon stick.


Cover it up and walk away for 10 minutes. You can use that time to clean up the kitchen or just play around on instagram and text some friends. I won't say which one I did but if you follow the user 'wiliger' on instagram you may be able to figure it out.


So after 10 minutes take off the lid, add the pork and orange zest in and let that hang out for about 5 minutes. Then go fishing for the cinnamon stick, it will hide from you, I promise.


Look at that delicious and filling stew on my nice fall themed table, too bad it is 90 degrees here. But I still loved this stew and will definitely make it again. The stew tastes totally different than it smells, I loved all the complexity of flavor and texture.

I hope you all have an awesome week.

The Best Thing I Ever Made - Soup

This is the first installment of the 'Best Thing I Ever Made' series, and I am going to stick with the same categories as the Best I Ever Ate, so this week it is soup! It was really a lot harder to choose than I would have imagined, but this is definitely the winner. This is a Moroccan Turkey stew that is filled with delicious flavors and textures. If you are experiencing chilly fall weather and own a slow cooker, you should definitely make this soon.



You can find the recipe and the step by step photos here.

Ramen Soup with Vegetables

I have been really in the mood for soup lately even though it really hasn't cooled off all that much in Arizona. Maybe I am anticipating my upcoming trip to the Netherlands, which would explain my new header photo. Do you like it? I also realize that a lot of you gardeners probably have an abundance of vegetables right now. This soup is perfect and so versatile. Oh and did I mention it is easy as could be? Well, it is.


This recipe comes from the magazine Everyday Food, one of my favorites for many years. I cut this in half because Tom was not touching this soup with all of the weird textures and cooked veggies.


You don't need much, some stock (use veggie for a vegetarian soup), some diced tomatoes, ramen, onion, celery, carrot and some beans. Again though, you can use whatever you have on hand.


Chop up your veggies. That is the most difficult part of this meal.


Get the veggies in a pot with some olive oil and cook them until they are soft, about 6-10 minutes.


Add in the broth, and the tomatoes and bring it to a boil.


Open up the ramen and ditch that seasoning (salt) packet. I like to break the ramen up a little before adding it. Reduce the heat a bit and let this simmer for about 3 minutes, ramen cooks in no time at all.


Simple veggie noodle soup in no time at all! You could drizzle a little bit of chili oil on this to kick it up if you wanted to, or stir in some sriracha. Like I said, this is a super versatile recipe that you can personalize any way you would like.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Hold on to your hats people, this recipe is a soup that is approved by Tom! A SOUP, I could fall off my chair. He has always said that soup is a four letter word to him, something to be muttered under his breath in a most disapproving way. But for some reason I convinced him to take one bite and then a miracle happened, he liked it. He really liked it! So I can't say enough that you need to make this soup from the Food Network magazine.


This doesn't take many ingredients and you can bet that no cilantro was used in the making of this at my house. I cut this recipe in half, assuming I would be the only one eating it.


You will need some veggie stock, celery, roasted red peppers, potato, shallot, sun dried tomato, sour cream, and some grated cheese. I am super excited to get Delallo brand products here in AZ as they are from a small town in Western PA.


Chop up your veggies.


Drain and rinse your red peppers.


Grate your cheese, preferably on to a cute Corelle plate.


Get everything staged near the stove for easy cooking. A giant bottle of vodka is optional, but encouraged ;)


Get your veggies in the pot over medium heat with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook these guys until they are soft, about 5-10 minutes.


Add in the broth, red peppers and sun dried tomatoes.


Cover it up and bring it to a simmer. Take the lid off and let it cook for about 15 minutes.


Transfer the soup in batches to the blender and add the sour cream. Here I confess that I got distracted by my husband talking on the phone and managed to shoot hot red pepper soup over a good portion of my kitchen. Steam in a blender is NOT your friend, so pay attention and puree in small batches. Once it is all pureed you are ready to serve!


Top the soup with the grated cheese and dig in. This is such a perfect fall meal and would be delicious with a grilled cheese sandwich. Tom tested and Tom approved :)

The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Spicy Stuff

When I am sick, I don't want chicken noodle soup, I want something with a kick that will get my sinuses flowing and have me sweating by the time the meal is done. My go to meal is Pho from a local place called Noodles Ranch.

If you are not familiar, Pho is a Vietnamese rice noodle soup that comes in all sorts of varieties, you can even get it with tripe, which I have tried and loved. The version I get comes with spicy chili on the side, so I can make it just as hot as I can handle. I like to bring it home and bring it to a boil and poach an egg in it as well.


If you get a chance, try some Pho!

What is your favorite thing to have when you are not feeling well?

Pasta E Fagioli

My awesome sister got me the America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two cookbook and I must say, it is amazing. The soup I made from it is also amazing. Pasta E Fagioli is one of my favorites and to be honest I have the Olive Garden to thank for my discovery of it.




This recipe is simple, so lets gather some ingredients and get started.


You will need some bacon, canned tomato, white beans, celery, onion or shallot, garlic, small pasta, chicken stock, oregano, and some crushed red pepper.


Chop up your bacon.


Chop up your celery, I did mine the night before because when I get home from work I am usually really hungry.


Chop your onion.


Measure out your beans, pasta, stock and have everything ready to go, that is the key to stress free cooking. Have a plan and be prepared, just like those boy scouts.


Cook the bacon for about 5 minutes or until it begins to brown, then throw in the celery and onion.


Let those cook for about 7 minutes then add the oregano, garlic and red pepper flake. Stir that around for about 30 seconds.


Stir in the tomatoes and the beans and scrape the bottom of the pan to be sure there is no lingering bacony goodness on the bottom.


Bring that to a boil then lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.


Add in the chicken stock and pasta with some salt and fire the heat back up and let this boil away until the pasta is cooked to your liking, probably about 10-15 minutes. That is it, talk about a quick and delicious dinner.


I love that this made two servings because I was more than happy to have some the next day, I just had to add a bit more chicken stock when I reheated it. I definitely recommend this soup and the great cookbook the recipe came from.