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jaybug-jabbers · 4 years

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Meal Ideas for College Students

Ok, so. As a college student, I’m compiling my own list of easy meal ideas. I have a bad habit of skipping meals, like many students do. A list of ideas helps a lot when you’re busy, stressed, tired, and/or not feeling up for much.

This post will prioritize quick/easy meals, ideas for relieving meal monotony, food that gives energy that sticks with you throughout the day, and meals that are generally healthy and balanced.

Note: This list of ideas was made with myself in mind. Everyone has their own dietary needs and/or preferences to keep in mind! Still, you might find something useful here. :) Also, check out my other post of recipes for more specific ideas.

Lunch/Dinner Ideas

1.) Soup/Salad/Sandwich.

-Not many canned soups are worth eating in my opinion, but a few taste acceptable (split pea’s pretty good), and sometimes grocery stores have containers of fresh soup. Those are almost always better tasting then canned!

-Salads ideally are more then just plain romaine lettuce and croutons/salad dressing. They can have all kinds of crap thrown on: nuts, seeds, tortilla strips, dried fruit, fresh sliced fruit, cheese, chicken, even some pasta noodles.

-It’s better to buy heads of greens and wash them yourself, as the already-washed bags of greens go bad quickly and have been prone to e. coli outbreaks. A little salad washing bowl speeds up cleaning greens. In either case, try to get a mix of darker, vitamin-rich greens.

-Sandwiches can use the healthier lunch meats but also leftover cooked chicken, or just a grilled cheese sandwich. (Use different kinds of sliced cheese.) Fancy mustard, pesto and horseradish can really punch up a sandwich; so can bread that actually tastes good.

2.) Pasta.

There are a lot of options of what to put on top of pasta; just adding some marinara sauce to spaghetti noodles is only the beginning.

-If you do use red sauce, I suggest adding mushrooms, sliced sausage or ground meat, or lots of cheese on top to bump up the protein.

-If you do something else, stir-frying some veggies (fresh– zuccini, mushroom, celery, carrot, snappeas, etc. frozen– frozen stir-fry veggie mix) and adding a light sauce is good; even dumping vinegarette salad dressing on it can be tasty.

-Other options include frozen shrimp, meatballs, leftover chicken, tofu or a cheese casserole.

-Try other kinds of pasta noodles, because even that can relieve some food monotomy. You can even use cheap ramen noodles, because why not? Just skip the spice pack they come with and add other things instead.

-Raviolis or tortillinis are also great for a light dinner or lunch.

-Sides for pasta include bread/garlic bread, salad, and fruit.

3.) Tacos/Burritos/Tostadas.

Canned beans, cheese, a bit of shredded lettuce, some jarred salsa, a tortilla, presto. Also great for using leftover ground meat or baked chicken. If you are lucky enough to own an avacado, please use it for this.

4.) Nachos.

This is basically when you have canned beans but you ran out of tortillas. Dump everything on top of corn chips instead.

5.) Enchilada Casserole.

Ground meat (or shredded chicken), canned black beans/red kidney beans, shredded cheese, canned enchilada sauce, corn tortillas, and a casserole dish. Dense and lasts you for a long time. Freezes well, too.

6.) Baked chicken.

There’s about a million different ways to prepare chicken. What’s more, the leftovers are so useful for so many things.

7.) Homemade pizza.

-They sell those kits at the store with the shell and the pizza sauce all ready. Just add your desired toppings and cook. A million times better then frozen pizza and worth the five extra minutes of work. You’ll need to invest in a large cutting-board and a pizza cutter or a large knife, but that’s it.

-If you want emergency personal pizzas, you can even use English Muffins for the task.

8.) Hamburger.

If you don’t care for ground beef, ground turkey or chicken works just as well; you can cook them insanely fast and easily on a Foreman grill, but still cooks pretty fast in a regular pan too. Adding some fixings goes a long way: pickles, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pineapple rings, etc. Good sides: salad, fries/potato, peas or beans.

9.) Baked frozen fish/salmon.

Again, you’re unlikey to have the time to buy and prepare fresh fish, which needs to be cooked and eaten quickly, but you can buy a filet of frozen fish. Good sides: rice, easy risotto, boxed couscous, broccoli, bread, etc.

10.) Fajuitas.

Steak strips/chicken strips that are pan-fried, plus stir-fried mushrooms, asparagus, zuccini, etc. Lime juice and avacado add a lot of flavor.

11.) Chicken, mustard, mushroom, garlic, spinach and swiss hot sandwiches.

Bake ‘em after assembling them for melty goodness.

12.) Smoothies/shakes.

This is a great addition to breakfast or lunch if you’re not very hungry or running low on food supplies; only if you have a blender, of course. Ice cubes, plain yogurt, fruit (fresh or frozen), shredded coconut, honey, fruit juice or ice cream, and blend. Experiment to find what works best.

Breakfast Ideas

Bulk up on breakfast if your schedule demands it!

1.) Oatmeal loaded with nuts, dried fruit, powdered proteins, flaxseed, and a dash of maple syrup/honey

2.) A plain yogurt parfait loaded up in a similar manner, plus granola

3.) Bagels or toast with cream cheese, nut butters, jam/honey, or avacado

4.) Stir-fried potatoes, potato pancakes, hashbrowns

5.) Low-sugar muffins

6.) Breakfast burritos

7.) Omlettes

8.) See above for smoothies!

General Tips

1.) Always make large portions when you cook so there are leftovers. When you bake chicken for dinner, you can use the leftovers the next day or make a sandwich or a taco or whatever. If you’re going to invest your precious time and energy into cooking, get the most out of it. If you have TONS of leftovers, freeze them in portions that are easily taken out, bit by bit, to use later on.

2.) See if you can locate a microwave on campus. This expands your options for what to pack for food, in case sandwiches a million times a month gets tiring. Pack things into microwavable tupperware or bring little paper plates and plastic utensils. Plastic bento boxes are also handy ways to pack things other than sandwiches. You can even bring soup, pasta, or ramen with you in a thermos.

3.) Frozen vegetables help a lot. You may not have the time to buy, clean and cook fresh veg, but grabbing a bag of something frozen is easy to make sure you have balanced meals. Steam them in the microwave easily in a bowl with a plate on top; avoid the ‘steamer’ plastic bags if you can, which tend to taste gross imo and may not be super healthy. (zapping plastic may create toxins.)

4.) See what’s in season for fruit. That way you can buy cheaper organic fresh fruit such as grapes, melons, berries or even exotics like kiwi. If you get them in bulk and need to use fresh fruit up before it spoils, try smoothies or put them on cereal/oatmeal or even make a fruit salad.

5.) Consider investing in a crock pot or insta-pot cooker. This opens up options for a lot of low-effort recipes, where you can just toss crap in and come back later and it’s done.

6.) Invest in spices. It’s worth the money and effort to get a variety. Get in the habit of tossing them into things. It can punch up just about anything and is way better then just salt. Even scrambled eggs can be punched up with some Sriracha sauce or some spices, or a little bit of shredded cheese.

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Nov 4, 2019.

#mycontent #college survival

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cookinguptales · 5 years

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hey i'm physically abled but have trouble with mental energy when it comes to certain routine tasks like cooking. sometimes I get excited to Make A Meal and buy all the ingredients, but by the time i get home, shopping has taken up all my energy and the fresh food just ends up rotting in the fridge. how did you learn to budget your energy so that you don't overestimate your abilities and end up wasting food?

Honestly, I struggle with that a lot and I’m not going to pretend like I don’t still regularly throw out rotten food and feel terrible about it. There have been so many weeks where I’m like “I’m definitely going to cook healthy food this week!” but then it comes down to it and I don’t even unpack some of the groceries because I’m so exhausted.

I have severe ADHD and depression along with my physical problems, so I fully get what you’re talking about. Planning is so fun! You’re optimistic! This will be fun! But then you gotta do it and ugh. Your brain has already moved on to the next new shiny and your body’s like UGH. So it’s hard. It really is hard.

That said, I’ve started doing a few things that help.

1. Learn how to freeze things. Admittedly, this can only go so far because if you’re like me, you have very little freezer space. But often when I freeze things, it lets me break things down into more manageable bites. If I get to the point where I still can’t make that vegetable medley but the veggies will go bad, I just freeze them instead. I won’t be able to use them the same way, but I can still use them. Just throw ‘em in a soup.

2. Related, I break things up into smaller pieces. I don’t just get up and make a full meal. I might get up and cut up a squash, then put those pieces in the fridge. Then when I have all the prep work done, I can just dump it all together. And if you end up just eating some roasted squash for dinner? Hell, it’s still food and it’s still got nutrients. If you end up eating just chicken, then you eat a “side dish” a few hours later, that’s still food. You really have to get to this “doesn’t matter, ate food” mentality. It’s still food even if you didn’t make a traditional “full meal”.

3. I buy waste produce! I get probably 90% of my produce through Hungry Harvest, a company that rescues waste produce. Some people think of it as the “ugly vegetables” that grocery stores refuse, but there are actually all kinds of things that lead to food waste. Maybe they accidentally grew too much or maybe things are too big or too small or a store changed what they were stocking. Whatever. Buying waste produce helps me feel better about wasting food because I know that even if I only manage to cook and eat 70% of the box, that’s 70% that’s still reclaimed from the dump. It’s also cheaper.

4. Plan ahead. I need to order my groceries online because carrying them home is a disaster waiting to happen. I viscerally remember once when I first moved out trying to lug groceries home and just. Sitting on the sidewalk and crying. Now I use FreshDirect. They’re not perfect (and they’re a LOT more expensive than walking to the store), but at a certain point, you can’t bully your body into working better. The same thing goes for your mind. So I make my Hungry Harvest order (I customize my box so I don’t get any food I don’t like) on Wednesday, then I think of what I could cook with that. Then I can make a FreshDirect order and have those ingredients delivered on Saturday along with my Hungry Harvest box. When I plan ahead like that, it lets me think things through – and then have a day or two to think about whether that’s really feasible. I can do any prep work I can ahead of time before the perishables arrive. So then when the groceries arrive, I have a fairly good plan in place.

5. Cheat whenever possible. Get pre-chopped veggies when they’re on sale. Get grocery delivery. Use a slow cooker/instant pot instead of babysitting your food. Use frozen veggie mixes if it’s in a soup/pie/stir fry. Spruce up canned soup instead of starting from scratch. Do not be proud. You are not on Chopped. You are trying to feed yourself. Cheat as much as your budget will let you and never look back. Along those same lines, learn about some lazy food-making that’ll let you prep when you have energy and eat when you don’t. (Like, for example, just shoving overnight oats into the fridge instead of being fancy with breakfast in the morning.)

5. BE REALISTIC. This is the absolute hardest one. I try to think about what kind of day I need to be having to actually make a full meal. If it’s a really good day, I can make a delicious beef stew. But let’s be real, it’s gotta be a really good day. On a so-so day, I can make a quick stir fry, especially if I use a refrigerated yakisoba packet. On a bad day, I can make microwave chicken nuggets. On the worst day, I microwave broth and eat prepackaged applesauce. Be realistic about what kind of days you’re probably going to be having. If I have a week off work, maybe I can make some soup! I’ll freeze it and eat it during all the days I’m too tired to cook! But if I’m going to be doing something physically/emotionally taxing, I just… make sure I have applesauce in the fridge. Doesn’t matter. Ate food. So when you’re looking at some fun new recipe you need to try, mentally file it in one of those categories. How good of a day do I need to be having to actually make this? Will I actually have a day that good? And then make your decision accordingly.

The whole situation sucks, because you may be a really good cook! You may really like cooking! Hell, I wanted to be a chef when I grew up for a solid decade until the fire nation attacked POTS got bad. But your body and mind are what they are and getting mad at them won’t change that. All you can do is work with what you got, and if that means making instant ramen and just throwing in a few fresh veggies, then like. That’s what you do.

I’m sure as hell not in a perfect place, but that’s what I do. If you need any more tips or you want a referral to any of the services I use or anything, just hmu.

#replies #disability #sometimes it feels like my body is just a recalcitrant toddler that never wants to do anything and tantrums all the time #so you just gotta... learn to deal with it the same way you gotta deal with a toddler #you can't logic your body into doing things you just gotta survive #Anonymous

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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The Ultimate Guide to Instant Noodles

A variety of instant noodles from different countries

How to mash-up, deconstruct, and altogether upgrade the versatile staple of dorm room dining

As a semi-professional noodle slurper and collector, I’ve eaten hundreds of noodles in my life, but I have a particular soft spot for one type, specifically: the instant kind. You know, those hard squiggly bricks of dried, fried noodles with accompanying seasoning packets that have long been the foundation of the American collegiate diet. Since the pandemic started, I’ve been showing off my impressive collection of instant noodles to my friends on FaceTime like a YouTube beauty guru flaunting their makeup stash.

I love instant noodles for many reasons: They have a nearly indefinite shelf life; they are an easy breakfast, snack, or — with the right bolstering — a full meal; and, they come in a panoply of shapes, textures, flavors, and colorful packaging styles. But while there is nothing wrong with eating instant noodles according to the instructions, it’s their versatility that’s made me a devoted fan. Here’s how to mash-up, deconstruct, and upgrade the dorm room staple.

1. Load up on protein

Yes, many instant noodles come with their own packets of dehydrated vegetable or meat flavoring, but they rarely provide much real taste and add zero in the way of texture. Supplementing your own additional proteins will do a lot to make your instant noodles more satisfying and nutrition-rich. Try simple items like ground meat, sausage, tofu, and leftover fried chicken — or my personal favorite ramen topping, pork char siu. Meat shortage got ya down? Just crack an egg. You can stir it right in to create an egg-drop soup effect, or poach the egg gently in the soup broth to enjoy breaking the creamy yolk.

Chicken-flavored ramen with garlicky sautéed kale, roasted chicken legs, and carrots.

2. Go big with toppings

Going nuts with the add-ons at ramen restaurants can mean spending $30 on a bowl of noodles (toppings normally cost between $1 and $3 each.) But at home, you can have as many toppings as the inventory of your fridge’s produce drawer allows: scallions, corn, mushrooms, kale, you name it. Not sure about what to do with all those weird greens in your CSA farm box? Add them to your instant noodles! Fact: There is no such thing as a lousy topping for instant noodles.

3. Deconstruct everything

Each element of the instant noodle package is a multi-purpose cooking superstar. The seasoning packets add a pop to stir-fried vegetables. Broken into bits, the uncooked noodles are an excellent crunchy topping for a salad or even another non-instant pasta dish. Do yourself a favor and add some ramen seasoning to mac and cheese, or how about using those instant noodles to make buns for an at-home ramen burger?

4. Switch up the liquid

To deepen the character of the soup, try cooking the noodles in vegetable or chicken broth instead of plain water. There are plenty of wilder recipes out there, including this one I’m skeptical of that uses milk, but homemade stock is a safe jumping off point.

5. Mash-up different styles

Mixing different instant noodle styles and seasoning packets is a culinary art form in itself, and can have big payoff. Jjapaguri (also called ram-don), the famous dish from the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, is actually just a hybrid of two different kinds of instant noodles — Neoguri and Jjappaghetti — and has become one of Korea’s national dishes. The magic comes from the mixing of Neguri’s spicy seafood powder with Jjappaghetti’s savory black bean powder, which ignites a lethal umami bomb. But jjapaguri is just the start. Try mixing Neoguri and curry noodles to create an exuberant, spicy curry broth. Combining super spicy noodles with something cheesy is also 100 percent never a bad idea.

Jjapaghetti goes well with fried egg

The Ones to Know

Here, then, are some of the best instant noodles to stock up on, categorized by whether or not they’re “brothy” (the noodle soup kind) or “saucy” (brothless noodles with a separate sauce).

BROTHY

MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle If you love Penang curry, try adding this noodle to your cart. These wildly popular Malaysian instant noodles are considered some of the best in the world on this heavily opinionated ranking. Three whole flavor pouches — one of them is a paste — make for a deep, coconut-y taste and hearty portion size that you rarely get from instant noodles. Add toppings like fried tofu or prawns.

Neoguri, Spicy Seafood Udon Noodles Neoguri, a Korean word for raccoon dog (neither a raccoon nor a dog; discuss), has been my top choice for ramen since I started slurping noodles at the age of three. This beloved Korean instant noodle is known for two things: thick udon-like noodles and a spicy seafood broth with actual dried seafood. It’s fantastic with any fishy topping or add-ins.

Nongshim Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup Shin Ramyun might be the very first Korean instant noodle brand, as well as one of the easiest to find internationally: I still remember the exciting moment when I found Shin Ramyun in a random gas station in Alabama. It’s known for its spicy broth, and doubles as an excellent noodle for Korean ramen beginners. Top this with a slice of American cheese to tone down the spice and pump up the greatness.

Prima Taste Laksa Coconut Curry Lamian Noodles This Singaporean instant noodle inspired by traditional laksa has a paste sachet that can and should be used for stir-frying vegetables, too. The noodles are rounder and less wavy than others, and the white powder adds the signature creaminess.

Mama Noodles Thai cooking doesn’t shy away from acid, and neither do these Thai instant noodles, with just the right balance of acidic and salty flavors. The wavy noodles and the powdery seasonings make a great snack — though it may not be hearty enough to be a standalone meal. Beef it up with a hard-boiled egg and other vegetable toppings, like scallions.

Sapporo Ichiban Tokyo Chicken Momosan Ramen Think Japanese shoyu ramen, in instant form: salty, slightly smokey, and clean tasting. It’s great with plain old white-meat chicken breast — which is hard to say about anything, really.

Paldo Gomtang Oriental Style Noodles with Beef Soup Base Not all Korean instant noodles are spicy! This mild, creamy Korean noodle soup is inspired by gomtang, or beef bone broth. It has an intense beefiness and is excellent with hearty greens like cabbage or scallions. Add some ground beef to make it more filling.

Tseng noodles with black sesame sauce

SAUCY

Nongshim, Jjapaghetti (Noodle Pasta with jjajang Sauce) “On Sundays, I’m the chef for Jjapaghetti” has been a Korean catchphrase for more than a decade. A combination of two dishes — jajangmyun (black bean noodles) and spaghetti— this saucy Korean instant noodle is also what spurred the ram-don trend after its crucial role in Parasite. The accompanying savory black bean sauce is all it really needs, though I highly recommend a luxe drizzle of truffle oil, too.

Indomie Mi Goreng Instant Stir Fry Noodles If you haven’t tried this Indonesian instant noodle, stop what you’re doing and fix that immediately. The package comes with a liquid seasoning mix of savory onion-flavored oil, sweet-spicy chili sauce, and sweet soy sauce, creating a salty-and-sweet coating for the wavy noodles. Any optional toppings like grilled steak or boiled eggs are just gravy.

Samyang Extra Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Are you up for #FireNoodleChallenge? Join the leagues of people who’ve filmed themselves slurping these dangerously spicy noodles. There are multiple flavor options available, from carbonara to curry, and all of them equally fiery. Cover this with lots of mozzarella cheese to tone down the heat to the point where you might actually enjoy it.

Tseng Noodles Scallion With Sichuan Pepper Flavor This Taiwanese instant noodle is all about texture. Its curling, knife-cut-like strands are a perfect match for the sauce. There are many different flavors, besides this scallion one, such as black sesame and shallots. Depending on the sauce, the noodles textures vary. Think of this as gourmet-tier, since it costs slightly more than other noodles, but it’s totally worth the splurge.

Paldo Bibim Myun Cold Noodle The spicy, tangy, sweet sauce of these Korean noodles will wake up even the dullest of palates. Cook the noodles until they’re just al dente, or still a little firm, then rinse them under cold water to get rid of any residual starch and achieve peak bounce and chew. The sauce packet is an excellent salad dressing, too. Add some chopped cucumber and hard-boiled egg for a clutch midnight snack, or add some ice cubes for a cooling summer treat.

Mom’s Dry Noodle Sichuan Spicy The Taiwanese knife cut-style noodles cling to the oily, spicy sauce for maximum slurpability. Top with a fried egg or fried cubed tofu and you can almost pretend you’re at a restaurant.

Mom’s Dry Noodle has dried ribbon noodles which have ideal textures for the sauce

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2NkSTkS https://ift.tt/2V7Dj0p

A variety of instant noodles from different countries

How to mash-up, deconstruct, and altogether upgrade the versatile staple of dorm room dining

1. Load up on protein

Chicken-flavored ramen with garlicky sautéed kale, roasted chicken legs, and carrots.

2. Go big with toppings

3. Deconstruct everything

4. Switch up the liquid

5. Mash-up different styles

Jjapaghetti goes well with fried egg

The Ones to Know

Here, then, are some of the best instant noodles to stock up on, categorized by whether or not they’re “brothy” (the noodle soup kind) or “saucy” (brothless noodles with a separate sauce).

BROTHY

Tseng noodles with black sesame sauce

SAUCY

Mom’s Dry Noodle has dried ribbon noodles which have ideal textures for the sauce

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2NkSTkS via Blogger https://ift.tt/2V92Rds

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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millenialpeasant · 5 years

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Meatballs, and an Introduction

INTRODUCTION:

The year is 2020, and we are Millenials. This is a term bandied about by Boomers and Gen X’rs to infantalise us, but it is also OUR Generation and OUR term. The economy is dying, we all work 3 jobs, none of us have time to cook, but also can’t afford to eat out all the time. And to top it off half of us dont even know how to cook, and using services like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron to help us learn skills we should have learned in Home Economics leads to derision and snark about how we can’t even be bothered to do our own grocery shopping.

I love to cook. I was a latchkey kid who was cooking dinner about twice a week since high school. I also had a grandmother who loved to bake and valued a nice meal presentation, a trait which passed on to me. I’m one of the lucky ones, and I’m grateful for that. there were times in my 20′s where my entire grocery budget was about $20 to feed myself for a week. You learn about 30 different ways to prepare eggs and about 10 ways to doctor up Ramen Noodles or you go mad with food boredom.

I love to cook but so many websites with amazing recipes assume you have access to fresh herbs, uncommon ingredients, and have 8 hours to let homemade stock simmer (I can’t even remember the last time I was home, in the day, for 8 hours straight) So you find shortcuts, cost hacks, and rework recipes to work with the tools you have at hand. you learn which tools are a godsend (food procesor) and which tools are basically fancy garbage (looking at you quesidilla maker). This Blog will be a collection of the various recipes I’ve tweaked over the years, as well as cooking tips and tricks to get the most bang for your buck, or how to make food prep actually work around a busy schedule. My hope is that someone, somewhere finds this blog and gets inspired to give real cooking another shot. It’s cheaper, healthier, and a skill we should all have, so grab a mixing bowl, we are gonna make some meatballs.

ABOUT THE RECIPE:

so I wanted to start with this recipe for a couple of reasons. 1) It’s stupid easy, just put it all in the bowl and mix. 2)It makes a masssive amount of meatballs, especially if you live alone or only have 1-2 other people eating. And 3) it’s cheeeeeap. You can feed up to 10 people on $20 with this recipe if you do your shopping at Aldi or similar cheaper stores. There are also no fancy techniques to worry about (although I will include Advanced Technique tips where applicable, all of my recipes will taste fine without the extra steps)

Every recipe generally wants you to pull out and pre measure all of your ingredients before you start cooking. You should do this if posible, but when you are working in a tiny galley kitchen, or only own 2 bowls and 1 cutting board, you have to cut some corners. To make life easier, I will seperate the ingredients into steps, in case you need to be able to measure things and put them straight into the bowl.

THE RECIPE:

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350*F

Step 2

Put all of the following into a large mixing bowl:

~3lb ground beef ( I use the super cheap “meat log” 3 lb packs at the grocery store, but better beef means better meatballs. you can also use ground turkey, ground sausage, anything you like in any combination, but for the sake of cost cutting, I will be sticking with the meat log for now) ~2 large eggs ~3/4 C Italian Bread Crumbs ~1 TBS Garlic Powder ~1 tsp Garlic Salt (this might seem redundant but I’ve tried different combinations of salt and garlic and this was universally the best way to get the right ratio) ~1 tsp Onion Powder ~1 1/2 TBS Italian Seasoning ~1 TBS Red Pepper Flakes (these make mild-to-medium spicy meatballs. use spicy sausage, or add more red pepper flake for spicier meatballs, or omit red pepper for very mild, kid friendly meatballs) ~1/2 tsp Salt ~1 tsp Pepper

Step 3

Wash your hands and start mixing all that goodness together. Use your hands, not a spoon, as a wooden spoon is more likely to overwork the meatballs, making them tough and weird. Just hand mix like you are mixing together playdough, and wash your hands both before and after. If you are squeamish, then you can always wear latex gloves if you prefer.

Step 4

Once the mixture looks uniform, begin making walnut sized balls by pinching off a bit and rolling between your palms. For consistency, I like to make 1 ball and set it aside as a “template” to follow, otherwise I find my meatballs keep slowly getting larger and larger as I get impatient and just want to get these in the oven.

Arrage your meatballs on a broiler pan with drainage, close to each other but not touching. If you dont have one of those, then grab the aluminum foil and line a baking pan and use that instead. You will have to manually drain off the grease at the end, but at least the foil makes cleanup way easier.

Advanced Tip: For better flavor, you can brown the outside of your meatballs in a frying pan for a few minutes per side before putting in the oven to finish cooking. the browing give them a richer taste.

Step 5

Bake at 350*F for 12-15 minutes. To confirm doneness, you can insert a meat thermometer into the largest meatball (aim for a temp around 155-160*) or cut one in half with a fork and check. you want meatballs that are ALMOST done, with just a tiny hint of pink in the middle. Drain off any grease needed and remove meatballs from the pan.

Step 6

This step is where you start asking yourself “Well, I’ve got meatballs, now what?”

I’m a big fan of Spaghetti with my balls, so at this point I’d be opening 2 jars (trust me, 1 will not be enough) of your favorite grocery store red sauce, and pouring them into a large sauce pan, or even a pasta pot if you have an extra. Add a bit of extra salt and pepper to taste, as well as a bit of garlic and maybe some more Italian Seasoning. It really depends on personal taste and what your base sauce starts as, so add small amounts until it tastes right to you. Remember that you can always add more, but you can’t remove it once it’s in there. once your sauce is right, add your meatballs and cover. Let the sauce/balls mixture simmer on medium-low heat while you make your pasta. Give it a stir every few minutes to make sure nothing is sticking and that the flavors distribute properly

Advanced Tip: you can always make Meatballs ahead of time and freeze them once they are out of the oven. To reheat just put them into the sauce and let them simmer until the internal temp of the meatballs is around 165* F. You can also thrown them into a slow cooker with the sauce and let the flavors build all day while you are at work. Step 7

Boil your pasta according to box directions and serve the meatballs on a bed of that beautiful spaghetti. Alternativly you can instead make meatball sandwhiches by spooning some sauce and balls onto a nice deli roll of your choice, maybe topping with some parmesean or mozzerella if you have it handy.

#recipes #cooking #foodblog #meatballs #easyrecipes

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abeeproductions · 3 years

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Daily Check In #2- Eat food when you are hungry

Physical- I am feeling collected and satiated I started the day in a very scattered place and found unity from connection time and cooking!

Mental- In the transition from narrow to broad prospective. I have come into a knowing that I wasn’t seeing a big trigger in myself about my health and wellness. I wasn’t aware of my overall state of being focused very too close to the present

Emotional- The storms feel calm. The waves in my pool are tiny ripple of the once tsunami of feeling. I feel content and clear. This state create optimal learning a growth atmosphere for Me!

Spiritual- New plan following the flow of my purpose, creating Visionary and Intentful Orientation inside of myself. This looks like responding more to the energy in the morning to find the flow for the day. Tapping in to my genius right out of the gate instead of forcing a routine or letting my mind seek out external pleasure sources.

In this go around with my big f*cking sads and mads I really struggled with cooking myself food. I can’t do takeout or other simple common fixes because of my lifestyle and diet. So I get creative, surviving on mainly chocolate, oatmilk chai, bananas, ice cream and cheese puffs. That isn’t sustainable long term for many reasons- nutrition and cost mainly. There is a process to starting to eat again after you go grave dancing and shadow walking.

How to reintroduce yourself to cooking and eating-

Step 1: Eat foods you can make with your electric kettle. This includes many delicious options like instant mashed potatoes, oatmeal, those amazing curry cup noodles or any cup noodles. Plus whatever fruit is on sale. Maybe grab some peas or spinach, you can put them in your cup noodles/mashed potatoes for extra nourishing yum. This step expands on the foods you have been consuming adding variety in texture, temperature and of course nutrition. While expanding your pallet you are only using 1 dish, a serving bowl! So easy no though clean up usually a rinse with hot water is all you need. I love using disposable chopsticks so I don’t have to wash utensils.

Step 2: We graduated to pasta! We can boil pasta and have many meal options. To create your perfect easy pasta you pick options from 3 categories sauce, pasta, add ins! Sauce’s: marinara, alfredo, pesto, broth! Pasta shapes: stars, angel hair, penne, honestly any pasta that you love the texture of will work Add Ins: greens of any kind, broccoli, peas, cheese- parm or whatever you like, proteins- meatless beef crumble or crumbled tofu, seitan, or white beans, cream/nondairy cream, basically anything that you like that can cook quickly in boiling water/ simmering sauce. Then you just go along a pick 1 sauce, 1 pasta shape, and as many add ins as you want. Examples of this might look like; marinara, kale, meatless beef crumble/ tofu crumble and spaghetti OR pesto, peas, and angel hair OR broth, stars, parm, spinach, cream and white beans Or alfredo, broccoli, seitan, and penne. You have so many options and can make this very affordable just by buying the same type of pasta, greens, and a few different sauces. You cook all in 1 pot + a strainer by boiling the pasta and adding any add ins that need serious cook time like kale, frozen veggies, broccoli. Straining all of that and setting it aside, try reserving a little pasta water by not rinsing or shaking your stariner. Add your sauce to your hot pot plus any other add ins like beans, spinach, crumbles, seitan this will simmer very quickly. Add your ingredients from the strainer stir and simmer (avoid this simmer if using pesto) for a few moments then eat! You can eat this right out of the bowl you made it in because you made it for you!

Step 3: Stir fry noodles. Simple ingredients so many options very fun! I use a ramen noodle packs and a combination of these things coleslaw mix, peppers, peas, frozen broccoli, kale, tofu, eggs. And a simple sauce you make by adding 3 pt soy sauce, 1/2 pt vinegar, and 1 pt sugar together mixing and adding more of whatever you like. You boil water in your kettle and make your noodles. Then you do your chops tofu, peppers, whatever you want like onions, garlic, ginger. Heat up a skillet or a griddle add your chopped stuff and other stuff like coleslaw mix or peas. You can add oil or water depends on how you are feeling oil makes the dish richer and more filling and water makes it like and easy to digest. Drain your noodles. Then you can take a break and sit down on your phone till you smell your pain cooking. By not stirring you allow the veg to develop color from long contact with the pan. Then put your noodles on dump on half of your sauce, wait for it to sizzle then incorporate it into your noodles and other stuff by stirring! add more sauce until your noodles are the darkness that you desire. turn off your heat dump the noodles and company in a bowl grab those disposable chop sticks (which are great for cooking with too) and go to town on your delish dinner!

Step 3 is the finally step after you have accomplished this meal you are ready to move on to your regularly scheduled diet of whatever vegetarian food you prefer to cook. For me that includes, stews, soups, curries/Indian food, quiche, stir fry, breads, desserts, etc. 3/9/2022

#abeeproductions #abeetext #recipes #food #vegitarian #depression #depression meals #vegitarian meals #how to eat #healthyish #orientation #prospective #connection #narrow minded #visionary #intent #calm vibes #content

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worldramens-blog · 4 years

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A simple Ramen Guide

You might have thought that how to deal with midnight cravings, how to create a quick meal to satisfy your hunger, you are too short of budget, you know struggle meals, or you are too lazy to cook. I do not know about many, but most of us get up, open a cabinet, and pull out a packet or cup of instant ramen or instant noodle.

Seriously, it just requires a cup of hot water to satisfy your hunger. But this comfortable pack of ramen is originated in Japan and China. It is known as the pride of both countries. Tokyo style ramen, Sapporo ramen, Hakata style ramen, Chinese cold noodle, and many more…. It is not just a bowl or a dish; it is a journey towards their culture and new flavors' dimensions.

Although you can travel between Japan and China for the week, you need a lifetime to taste the ramen and noodle variety they offer according to their regions, modified versions, and even the range of instant ramen. But we have a perfect solution for you, World Ramens.

World Ramens is a subscription box with eight amazing flavors of ramen from all over the origins of ramen. Every month, the box helps you explore different types of noodles with various flavors and add-ons that you were missing out.

To understand the adventure, I am here to provide the simplest guide of ramen that you will enjoy. So, the following are the main components of a bowl of ramen:

• Broth: You might have thought the seasoning packet in the ramen and hot water is the broth of the ramen's base. It is for us, but the original ramen either has light clear broth or creamy, dense broth, or maybe the combination of the two. The clear broths are salt-based and made from simmering vegetables and lean meats. The dense and rich creamy broth has emulsified fats, protein, and bones that might have cooked for an entire day. They both are delicious and have their own significance.

• Noodles: Noodles are the crucial component of ramen. We have many options in noodles like udon, Soba (Buckwheat noodles), and many more. Further, we have categories on the same noodles in fresh, dried, and of course, our beloved instant noodles. The thing that really matters is the texture, thickness, and bounciness of the noodles. The noodle should complement the broth. Ramen is a bowl of harmony, after all.

• Protein: Different regions have different preference of the protein for example

• Chashu, the fatty roasted pork

• Tonkotsu, the crispy, deep-fried pork

• Narutomaki, the flowered shaped fish cakes

There is no hard-and-fast rule, and you can use Fish, Chicken, Bacon, Egg, Beef, pork, or whatever protein you have in your fridge. Seriously, you can fry the protein, boil it, bake it, or even shred it and add it. No strings attached.

• Toppings: It is further divided into two categories, condiments and vegetables. In condiments, we have soya sauce, chili oil, fish oil, and sesame oil. In vegetables, we have further two categories of fresh, preserved, or pickled.

In fresh vegetables, mushroom, carrots, scallion, and spring onions are must to have. In pickled or preserved, I recommend Menma, the pickled and fermented bamboo shoots, and Kimchi, the fermented cabbage.

Ramen is a bowl of all flavors merrily married together. Whether they are soupy, cold, stir-fried, or dipping noodles, they are just delicious and profoundly satisfying. They are must to have in your kitchen cabinets and shelves, and we recommend World Ramens for a fantastic experience with the perfect solution to your hunger.

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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The Ultimate Guide to Instant Noodles

A variety of instant noodles from different countries | James Park

How to mash-up, deconstruct, and altogether upgrade the versatile staple of dorm room dining

1. Load up on protein

James Park

Chicken-flavored ramen with garlicky sautéed kale, roasted chicken legs, and carrots.

2. Go big with toppings

3. Deconstruct everything

4. Switch up the liquid

5. Mash-up different styles

James Park

Jjapaghetti goes well with fried egg

The Ones to Know

Here, then, are some of the best instant noodles to stock up on, categorized by whether or not they’re “brothy” (the noodle soup kind) or “saucy” (brothless noodles with a separate sauce).

BROTHY

Tseung noodles with black bean sauce

SAUCY

James Park

Mom’s Dry Noodle has dried ribbon noodles which have ideal textures for the sauce

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2z89lS1 https://ift.tt/2LC3sPt

A variety of instant noodles from different countries | James Park

How to mash-up, deconstruct, and altogether upgrade the versatile staple of dorm room dining

1. Load up on protein

James Park

Chicken-flavored ramen with garlicky sautéed kale, roasted chicken legs, and carrots.

2. Go big with toppings

3. Deconstruct everything

4. Switch up the liquid

5. Mash-up different styles

James Park

Jjapaghetti goes well with fried egg

The Ones to Know

Here, then, are some of the best instant noodles to stock up on, categorized by whether or not they’re “brothy” (the noodle soup kind) or “saucy” (brothless noodles with a separate sauce).

BROTHY

Tseung noodles with black bean sauce

SAUCY

James Park

Mom’s Dry Noodle has dried ribbon noodles which have ideal textures for the sauce

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2z89lS1 via Blogger https://ift.tt/367Ubs6

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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fil-in-the-blank · 5 years

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no see what i need in a recipe/meal is

ingredients i can keep and use, in single-use units, in unspoilable limbo, for a month or maybe even more

makes 3-4 servings

is storeable / reheatable for leftovers (ie. no reheating eggs or fish filets)

requires reheating no more than (2) items/plates for leftover meals

no alcohol and probably no balsamic if i don’t wanna be stpuit

combines protein and vegetables OR combines protein and carbs

combines protein and vegetables and carbs? fucking marry me already

uses only (1) pot/pan greatly preferred

uses only cooked meat or whole chicken breasts greatly preferred

oi haet ground beef, i have not figured it out yet, i also do not have a scale

even eliminating prepackaged frozen dinners, you would be surprised at both how much leeway i have with this and also how limiting it is. i love using canned ingredients. i eat canned soup for lunch almost every weekday. i put half-empty open cans of meal ingredients (spinach, refried beans, etc) in my fridge. i eat a lot of stir-frys and simmer sauce meals with rice. actually more simmer sauce meals than stir fry lately because it’s got more pizzaz and available variety, i guess? and mac and cheese. i found a bitchin mac and cheese strategy that uses canned tomato and meatballs for that hamburger helper one pan shit.

i might even make a ‘’throw chicken potatoes veggies + sauce in a pan just do it’’ recipe again if i can remember to use my crock pot.

recipes i can remember making

various simmer sauces for meals with chicken and some kind of vegetable. mixed veggies, or just okra, or bamboo shoots and soybeans...

texmex cheesey tomato bean rice thing on tortilla chip pieces

bitchin tomato mac and cheese and meatballs

kraft dinner but we don’t do that shit anymore we got bitchin mac’n’cheese

canned chili plus canned beans equals chili dog night

pasta with jarred tomato sauce and just. so much spinach. plus meatballs.

i don’t think that counts as a recipe, and it has only one serving, but it is a dinner that’s not a frozen prepack

madras lentils plus hot dogs and MORE CUMIN

chick pea tomato stew plus meatballs and celery seed/salt and cayenne

chef boyardee mini ravioli plus green beans in the sauce lmao

dinners i wanna make

tomato basil pasta in one pot forever

stroganoff??

any of these tuna rice recipes i have

meatloaf (can you make meatloaf in a crockpot???)

apparently nobody can stop you from throwing broccoli into mac’n’cheese

apparently people will fry tortillas in salsa????

pulled lime chicken or savory roast beef seems freezeable even

literally any of these crockpot recipes, please can we plan ahead in life

THROW CHICKEN VEGGIES AND POTATOES IN A PAN, JUST DO IT

lunches i can remember making

crab tacos that are crab, cheese, and spicy mayo

egg cheese mayonnaise sandwich

hot dogs + ketchup

instant ramen plus egg (and now plus spinach)

instant miso ramen plus real miso for EXTRA MISO

not making a lunch: corndogs but i love them

in summary: i need to buy some rosemary

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consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis · 7 years

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19 Easy Gluten Free Dinner Recipes for Back to School

New blog post! Whether you're ready for it or not, back to school 2017 is here. Some may have a few weeks until back to school season is in full swing. Meanwhile, I've been in teacher training for two weeks already - and I officially start grad school (and teaching!) in less than a week. Either way, having delicious and easy dinner recipes on-hand is more important than ever.

So, of course, your favorite college celiac decided to round up some of the best back to school gluten free dinner recipes around the blogosphere! Whether you eat paleo or vegan, are craving comfort food or healthy dinners, this list of nineteen gluten free dinner recipes has something for you. Going back to school has never tasted so good!

1. Quinoa and Black Bean Tacos (Vegan, Grain Free Option) - Raia's Recipes

Who says that going back to school means the end of Taco Tuesday? These tacos are as easy to make as they are to eat!

2. Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole - Wholesome Yum

Nothing says "easy dinner recipe" like a casserole! If you have leftover shredded chicken on hand, this 30-minute dinner recipe is your perfect match.

3. Loaded Potato Wedge Nachos (Paleo and Vegan options) - Casey the College Celiac

Sometimes, after a busy day of work and class, comfort food is a must. Why not give nachos a healthier spin by loading baked potato wedges (Yukon potatoes bake especially quickly!) with toppings like roasted veggies, beans, cheese and salsa?

4. Gluten Free Tamale Pie - There Is Life After Wheat

Craving tamales but don't have the time - or energy - to make them? Then dive into this delicious, gluten free twist on the classic tamale.

5. One-Pot Vegan Mac & Cheese - Strength and Sunshine

If you're craving comfort food during the stressful start of a new school year, what could be better than this gooey mac and cheese recipe?!?

6. Mexican Sloppy Jose Sandwiches - The Heritage Cook

Turn Sloppy Jo night into a flavor fiesta with this Mexican twist on an old favorite.

7. Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup (Vegan) - Vegetarian Mamma

This might be one of the easiest soup recipes on the blogsophere, but that doesn't mean it's short on flavor! If you don't have an instant pot, don't worry. You can also whip up this gluten free soup on the stovetop!

8. Lipsmackin' Pesto Zoodles Stir fry (Paleo, Vegan Option) - Casey the College Celiac

You've seen this gluten free recipe in a lot of my round ups - but that's only because this paleo lunch is a winner for nearly every occasion. Chop your veggies and cook your choice of protein ahead of time for an even quicker back to school dinner.

9. Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken - What the Fork Food Blog

When your schedule is really tight, the slow cooker is the ultimate secret weapon. Throw your chicken in the crock pot that afternoon and be ready to devour this delicious gluten free dinner that night.

10. Easy Homemade Grain-Free Mini Pizzas (Paleo) - Raia's Recipes

This paleo pizza crust recipe only needs four ingredients, which means there's no good reason to not throw a gluten free pizza party on a school night!

11. Gluten Free Ramen - Fearless Dining

Do I really need to say anything more? Ramen might as well be the edible representative of easy dinners!

12. Savory Arroz Con Pollo - My Gluten Free Miami

Fun fact: the secret ingredient in this dinner recipe is gluten free beer. If you're looking for an extra quick back to school dinner recipe, you can also freeze this arroz con pollo in individual servings and defrost as needed!

13. 5 Minute Crunchy Greens Quesadilla (Vegan) - Casey the College Celiac

Nothing says back to school like a healthy dinner that can be whipped up in five minutes and stuffed with any ingredients you have on hand!

14. Creamy Corn Soup (Vegan) - Vegetarian Mamma

This soup is easy to make and even easier to eat. Maybe this gluten free recipe is exactly what you need to become a veggie-lover.

15. Easy Homemade Beef Stroganoff - The Heritage Cook

If you're craving something creamy, cozy and comforting, look no further than this gluten free stroganoff recipe.

16. Pesto Chicken Bake with Cauliflower (Low Carb) - Wholesome Yum

Short on time and ingredients? This gluten free dinner recipe only needs ten minutes of prep and six ingredients. Its flavors, though, are anything but simple!

17. Quinoa Chili (Vegan) - There Is Life After Wheat

Everyone needs a good chili recipe in their life, and this one might be exactly the kind of comforting gluten free dinner you need. Plus, it can be made on the stovetop or in the slow cooker!

18. Gluten Free Quick and Easy Mexican Lasagna - Fearless Dining

Lasagna just got an enchilada-inspired upgrade.

19. The Ultimate Gluten Free and Vegan Snack Plate Dinner - Casey the College Celiac

Need a way to make leftovers exciting? Combine them with avocado and roasted veggies for a deliciously customizable snack plate dinner!

When back to school season comes around, it can be challenging to adjust to a newly busy schedule. Even when you're short on time, though, you can still enjoy delicious and healthy food! The next time you want to try another quick, scrumptious recipe, pull up this page and see what gluten free dinner recipe catches your eye.

Like this roundup? Tweet me some love by clicking here: "Fuel up for #backtoschool with these 19 #glutenfree (& some #vegan and #paleo) #dinner recipes! via @collegeceliackc http://bit.ly/2vvOcfX"

Maybe going back to school is the motivation you need to get back to experimenting in the kitchen! What's your favorite easy, weeknight dinner recipe? Which recipe on this list has your drooling the most? Tell me in the comments! via Blogger http://ift.tt/2vEasTn

#Blogger #college #celiac #gluten free #coeliac #celiacs #paleo #primal #foodporn #foodart

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underimagines · 8 years

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Let's talk about headcanons about Food

Now, Mod Sync here is a decent enough cook. Put a recipe in front of me and I’ll be able to cook almost anything, and I can cook some things from just memory. I was making omelettes and looking up recipes and I wondered “What about the Undertale cast? What do they eat outside the game?” So, here are some things I’ve thought up about the main four!

If anyone remembers the Anniversary Q&A that happened (oh, who am I kidding, of course you guys do), then we know some things about that already. HOWEVER, I’m only going to partially use this info here. These are headcanons after all, so I don’t have to quite follow canon.

Now, if you wish to continue, I shall leave these under a Read more, because this is gonna get wordy and also for you guys who are avoiding food for whatever reason. Also will include some other AUs.

Undertale Cast

Sans, without a doubt, loves anything greasy and fried. Pub food in partcular; burgers and fries are his go-to faves obviously, but also cheese sticks, stuffed potato skins, fried pickled, and so on. Hot pockets and mini pizza bites become a staple in his diet once on the surface. Anything he can pop in the microwave real quick. Also, mac and cheese with all the ketchup.

On the healthier side of things; He’s also very fond of anything with a large amount of tomatoes. Tomato soup with grilled cheese, sun dried Tomato slices, and many, many Italian dishes, though Papyrus has to sort of make him eat it. Except V8 juice. That shit is nasty.

Cooking-wise, he’s decent. He can make a number of different quiche by heart, and anything simple. He’ll need a recipe for anything else, and if it get’s too complicated, he’ll opt-out. Too lazy for anything fancy, leave that to his bro.

Papyrus is head of the kitchen in the Bros’ house. Strangely (or not so much) though, he’s the opposite of Sans; Paps is perfectly capable of making beautiful, complex dishes you’d see at a five-star restaurant. He likes the challenge. He could easily make Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq Au Vin, Backed Alaska, Curry from scratch, etc. But, when it comes to simpler things like Spaghetti, he’s thrown off. In his head, it’s too simple, so he adds things that the recipe doesn’t call for, thinking it will be better like his more complex ones. But…. yeah, the things he adds aren’t always even edible in general.

At the same time, he’s very fond of simple dishes. His favorite food is Oatmeal, an extremely simple dish to make for most. He has a cheese sandwich and an apple for lunch. Maybe he likes these because they’re so hard for him to make, like complex dishes are to normal people. I’d garner that the quiche Sans makes was another thing Paps favored but couldn’t make, so Sans made it for him sometimes.

Aside from Italian, Paps would like fruit salad or salads in general, yogurt parfaits, cheese omelettes; simple, healthy things. He hates greasy foods, but he’s not above taking candy from the Inn lady, so he’s definitely got at least an ‘All things in moderation’ mentality.

Undyne is an odd ball here. We know that, similar to Sans, she’s fond of greasy foods, a call noting that she likes Grillby’s cheese fries. She also has soda and hot chocolate as choices when you hang out with her. It’s not a far stretch to say Undyne likes junk food. However, as an apparent fitness nut -stemming from needing to stay strong as Captain of the Guard- I’m sure Undyne knows that too much junk food is bad for her. However, there is one thing I can garner off her personality and one particular physical trait of hers that can tell me about what she might eat: her teeth.

Undyne’s teeth are pointed. Meaning her teeth are sharp. I would go as far as saying that if Undyne is any particular kind of fish, it’s a Piranha. And what do Piranha like? Meat. Undyne, without a doubt, would love meat and grilling. Anything at all. Fish, Chicken, Hotdogs, Veggies, Kabobs, anything she can stick on a grill.

Seafood is another thing entirely. I’d think seafood is more on the side of comfort food for her. Clam chowder in particular. It stems from a headcanon of mine about Undyne’s family, I’ll talk about it later if you guys want. Sushi is definitely a thing she can get behind, though may take a bit for her to build up to Sashimi.

Tea was another thing in the choices at your hang out. It stemmed from her time while training with Asgore, and she keeps some around. I think she drinks it when she’s stressed. It helps her relax and think.

Alphys is another junk food lover, but only because she’s busy with other things and doesn’t have the time to cook. Cup Ramen is her go-to, but she’s got some other stuff stored away. Finger things she can eat with one hand and type with the other. On the surface, Undyne gets her to start eating grapes or trail mix instead.

On actual cooked foods, she’s fond of anything hearty; stews and thick soups, stir-fry, and anything served in a skillet. Also, of course she’s into oriental food. The first time she tries REAL ramen, she’s in heaven. She loves noodle dishes and once again, soups. Oddly, she has an extremely high spice tolerance, easily popping whole habaneros an a snack. Undyne refuses to kiss her after she has been.

Alphys herself is fairly decent at cooking. She learns to make a number of Japanese dishes once on the surface; onigiri, bento boxes, and her own sushi and ramen.

(I haven’t come up with any more than the skelebros of other AUs at the moment. Might do another post at a later date about with other characters if it is wanted.)

Underfell Skelebros

Sans, again, loves greasy pub food. He loves anything with a kick too. Jalapeño bites and pepper jack cheese are a constant. He also loves foods with layers or can have lots of toppings; pizzas with everything on them, subs and hotdogs piled high, and obviously his bro’s lasagna. (Don’t let him near a Cincinnati three-way, you will never hear the end of all the perverse jokes if you do.) He’s also fond of Cajun and Creole cooking.

On actual food, one of the few leafy greens Papyrus can get Sans to eat that he likes are Mustard greens, so more often than not, Paps will sauté some up as a side to whatever he’s cooked to get Sans to eat something relatively healthy. Otherwise, it’s limited to whatever Paps can sneak into a dish. Strangely, Sans is also fond of Southern style Sweet tea, even though he doesn’t care for sweet things otherwise.

Sans is an ok cook, but prefers not to if he doesn’t have to. If it isn’t microwaveable, it better be simple, or he’s gonna need a lot of motivation to make anything with more than 4 steps.

Papyrus is a literal Master Chef. He’d put Gorden Ramsey to shame. Paps can take almost anything and make it taste good. It’s the reason Sans eats anything healthy at all. Unlike UT!Paps, he can actually cook simple things too. It’s something besides his strength that he prides himself in.

On his own diet, he does love his lasagna, but also anything you can make in a casserole dish. He’s not overly picky, aside from keeping his own food to a tolerable spice level unlike his brother, but he does favor things that can last for a while and be reheated. In a world like Underfell, sometimes there are days were it’s just not safe to go out, so having a lot of leftovers can be helpful when stuck inside. So casseroles, stews, anything that can sit in the fridge and not taste bad after a day or two.

On another note, he’s fond of breads and baked goods. He makes some hella good garlic bread, and always has dinner rolls or biscuits or whatever ready as a side. Just don’t tell Sans how much he loves Monkey Bread, it’s one of the extreme few things he indulges in.

Underswap Skelebros

Sans our little taco man. Yes, he loves Mexican food. No, it’s not the only thing he cooks. No, his food isn’t that bad. He has a tendency of burning things because he gets distracted, but he knows better than to put inedible things in his food. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t get a little… creative with his cooking, but at least they’re all things that are supposed to be edible.

Through his love of Mexican food, he has a decent spice tolerance, and, though Tacos are his fave, he’s very fond of rice dishes as well. And black bean soup. He makes some fine salsa and guacamole from scratch too.

On the other hand, he’s not really picky. He’ll try anything once. He’s pretty fond of most any beef and chicken dishes. Though Paps has forbidden him from straight sugar and coffee, Sans can wip up some damn good sweets, like Mexican brownies and chocolate filled Churros. At least that way, Paps won’t drink straight honey while still getting his sugar fix.

Papyrus, on the other hand, is practically a sugar addict. He loooooves everything sweet. Candy, pastries, ice cream, anything with sugar. He’s Muffet’s taste tester if she’s making something new. Aside from honey, he’s particularly fond of chocolate in general and fruit fillings.

On the normal food side, he’s not as fond of spicy things as Sans, so Sans usually holds back on Pap’s food when it comes to spice. He also isn’t fond of complicated dishes unless it’s sweets. He likes simple things; sandwiches, salads, rice, anything you can throw together real quick or pop in the microwave. It’s not that he won’t eat healthy, it’s just it tends to be disproportionate to the amount of sweets he eats.

This also shows in his cooking. If it isn’t simple, he’s gonna have trouble. He’s not bad, he just gets a little nervous and that can lead to being a little clumsy. He’d rather Sans do the cooking, or at least keep an eye on things if it’s something he needs a recipe for.

#Undertale #Underfell #Underswap #sans #papyrus #Undyne #Alphys #headcanons #food #mod sync #I'm still working out Swapfell so their not on here even though I want them to be #long post #extremely so #queued post #rip mobile users

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jupitermelichios · 8 years

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My super nutritious bad mental health lasagna recipe

I’ve seen a lot of really weird recipes, and bad food and eating advice on this site, and I know a lot of you guys are at University and maybe cooking for yourselves for the first time, and in some cases dealing with shitty mental healthy stuff at the same time, and it’s really easy to just live on junk food (I know, I’ve done it, and it’s definitely better than not eating). But cooking is great, and eating real food is great, so here’s your big sib Sapphy with one of my favourite easy (really easy, not TV cooking show easy) healthy recipes.

Today’s offering is my courgette & lentil lasagna recipe, which I promise is a lot yummier and a lot less health-food tasting than that sounds. It’s very easy to make, but does take some time. On the plus side, it contains 95% of your 5 a day in each serving, so it tends to be something I make when I have one good mental health day in a run of shitty ones, or after a period of eating really badly (like, say, after Christmas). It can be done in stages, if you can only muster a bit of energy at a time, it’ll keep well in the fridge or freeze fine, and most importantly, it makes a bucket-load so once you’ve done this, you’ve got something healthy and tasty that only needs microwaving. It also feels like a real achievement to make, even though it’s very simple, which can be a big mental health boost for me in the bad times. Plus, one helping of this is most of your veg for a day, so you don’t need to feel bad if everything else you eat is toast and cup ramen.

It makes 10 portions, which is what I’ve used for working out the calories etc (which I’ll list at the bottom), and costs between £1.15 and £2.10 per portion, depending on what goes in it and where you shop.

If you want less, just half the amounts, or double them if for some reason you need 20 portions of lasagna (I’m not going to judge).

Recipe below the cut. Give it a try!

Equipment

A large saucepan

A sharp knife and chopping board (if you have issues using knives for motor or mental health reasons, you can use frozen ready chopped veg)

A large deep baking dish or roasting tin

A wooden spoon or spatula

A vegetable peeler (you are going to need this, unless your knife skills are amazing and you have hours of free time)

A hob and oven (or you could probably put it under the grill if you have one but no oven)

A medium sized mixing bowl or anything else of a similar size (small oven dish, saucepan, big plastic lunchbox, whatever)

A cup (the drinking kind, not the measuring kind)

Ingredients

I know this looks like a terrifyingly long list, but there’s nothing weird or hard to find, and the only prep any of it needs is chopping, so don’t be scared

Oil or butter (about 2tbsp of oil or 1 slice from a standard pat of butter)

2 onions (red for preference)

2 small / 1 large head of garlic (if you can hold it in your clenched fist it’s small, unless you have very big hands)

4 (bell) peppers (red, orange or yellow for preference, as they’re sweeter than green)

1 aubergine / eggplant

2 medium sized carrots (travel size hairspray it’s too small, size-queen bottom drawer it’s too big)

2 or 3 sticks of celery (if you’re not likely to cook again in the next week, or if money is tight, leave this out as it doesn’t keep and you can’t buy it by the stick)

400g - 500g mushrooms (chestnut are the tastiest, but normal white ones will be fine

3 medium courgettes / zucchinis (bigger than the carrots, but if it’s getting into scary sex toy size, it’s too big. Big ones aren’t as dense textured, so they won’t work as well for this)

250 - 300g dried lentils (puy are the tastiest, but they’re expensive and hard to find, so I usually use the little red ones which are very cheap and perfectly good)

2 tins chopped tomatoes

187ml red wine (optional - this is the size of those little individual size bottles you get in the supermarket. Alternatively half a normal bottle. Don’t worry about getting the good stuff, you really won’t know the difference so get something cheap and/or alcohol free)

Tomato puree (optional)

Dried mixed herbs

2 vegetable stock cubes (or those little knorr jelly pots if you prefer, which I do. If you haven’t got vegetable, chicken or beef will be just as good - any flavour except fish, basically)

100g - 150g fresh spinach (you can’t use frozen for this, so if you can’t get fresh, just leave it out)

2 x 170g tubs of reduced fat soft cheese (I use a mix of philly light garlic & herb and philly lightest, but one 300g tub of tesco basics soft cheese will do. You can’t use cottage cheese for this though, it will split)

2 eggs (it doesn’t matter what size, but if they’re huge ones, use just one)

Grated parmesan (or cheddar if you’re on a budget)

150ml single cream (or double, or whipping, or just a few splashes of milk if you’re on a budget)

Method

A quick note before we start: I’ve broken this down into small steps, and assume that you’ll want to chop everything in one go before you start. If you’re happy to be standing in the kitchen chopping and stirring at the same time, they by all means chop things as you go - in that case your order should be onions, celery, carrots, garlic, mushrooms, aubergine, peppers, (based on how much frying they need). You can stop and leave this at the end of any step if you’re getting tired or overwhelmed, just remember to turn off the stove.

Peel or wash your mushrooms and carrots. Remove the skin from your onions, then dice the onion, celery & carrot as small as you like. Remove the skin from your garlic, and slice all but three or four of the cloves. Set the whole ones to one side. Now dice your aubergine, mushrooms & peppers, and set them to a different side.

Put your pan on a high heat, and add your oil or butter. Add the onion, celery, carrot and chopped garlic, and fry until the onion starts to go clear, 5 to 10 minutes. Don’t worry if your onion crisps up a little, but keep stirring to stop the garlic burning. (If you can’t stand for long periods, use a low heat, cover with a tight lid and allow the onions to steam cook in the oil until clear, around 15 minutes).

Stir in a good squeeze of tomato puree and a couple of generous pinches of the dried herbs. Now add your other veg, stir it through well, turn the heat down to medium-low, and allow to fry for ten to fifteen minutes, stirring once to stop it sticking.

Add all the chopped tomatoes, your stock pots or crumbled stock cubes and wine. Fill your empty tomato tins with water and add that (i.e. 800ml water). Now they’re nice and clean and ready to be recycled. Put the lid on and allow to stew for half an hour, but check on it every ten minutes if you can. You want a fairly dry mixture as the spinach & courgette will release liquid, but it burns easily, so if you need to take half an hour to just sit, add another tin of water. Keep the kitchen door open so you’ll smell if it burns. (If it does catch, be careful not to stir the burnt bits into the mix. As long as they’re stuck to the pan, the food won’t taste burnt and you can scoop out the good bits). The lentil mix will keep for 3 or 4 days in the fridge.

While that’s stewing (or at another convenient time) prepare your ‘lasagna’ and topping. Cut the woody bits of the top and bottom of your courgettes, then using a vegetable peeler, peel the courgettes into strips lengthways. You’ll be left with a thicker strip eventually. Depending on your peeler this might be thin enough that it doesn’t matter, but if it’s a lot thicker than the others, just dice it and add it to the lentil mix.

Roughly chop your spinach (it’s easiest to do this a handful at a time), or if you’re not using knifes, just tear it up. Put it in your bowl, and add the soft cheese and cream. Finely chop the cloves of garlic you set aside earlier, and add those. Crack one of your eggs into the cup (tap it firmly on the side of the cup to make a decent size crack in the shell then use your fingers to carefully prize the shell open over the cup. If you get shell in it, just pick it out with your fingers or a spoon) and add it, then do the other. (We do them one at a time into a cup to make sure none of them are bad. It’s much cheaper to throw out a bag egg than it is all your spinach and cheese. You can tell an egg is bad from the smell - if it smells rotten, it’s rotten, simple). Remember to wash your hands at this point if you’ve touched the raw egg, and wipe up any spills with disinfectant. Stir your cheesy, eggy spinachy mix, and add a pinch of mixed herbs and a little salt and pepper (if you’re using parmesan, you only want a tiny bit of salt, because the cheese is salty). If you’re stopping at this point, remember to cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge. It’ll keep happily for a day as long as you keep it chilled.

When you’re ready, you can begin assembling. Lightly grease the bottom of your baking dish or tin. (You can use an oil spray if you’ve got one, you can rub kitchen paper or grease proof paper on butter, or you can hold a folded up piece of paper over the opening of a bottle of oil and turn it upside down for a second, like you would with nail varnish remover. Then rub your oil or butter over the bottom of the pan. You only need a tiny bit, just to stop it sticking.) Arrange a single layer of courgette slices in the bottom of the pan. Spoon over half your lentil mix (or as much as half fills the pan if you’ve got too much). Top that with half your remaining courgette slices, arranged to create an even covering, then spoon over half your eggy cheesy spinach mix. Add the remaining lentil mix (or fill your pan to about a centimeter from the top). Top with the remaining courgette slices, and cover with the spinach mix. Sprinkle over grated parmesan or cheddar. If you need to, you can now cover this and put it in the fridge for a day, but all that’s left is to bake it.

Turn your oven to a medium heat (about half way round the dial is how I do it). Don’t worry about preheating it. Put your lasange on a sturdy shelf, or on the bottom of the oven. If your dish is very full, put some oven-safe foil underneath it to catch any liquid that boils over. Leave to bake for 40 minutes. It’s done when the topping is starting to brown and you can easily stick a knife through the layers of courgette.

Nutrition per serving: 262 cal, 7.9g fat, 32g carbs, 14.2g naturally occurring sugar, 17.5g protein, 0.66g salt

Let me know if you like this, and if you’d like more of these. Feel free to ask about adapting this to any particular diet & I’ll do my best to help!

#recipe #lasagna recipe #depression #self care #vegetarian

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brokeboogiefoodie · 5 years

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Low Spoons DIY Ramen

So today is actually a really bad combination mental health/chronic pain day for me so I figured I'd pull out one of my laziest recipes. And fill you all in on some tips and tricks while I'm at it.

Full disclaimer. I didn't do the math for the budget on this one but I do plan on doing an updated one with actual pricing soon.

Necessary tools: quart- sized Mason Jar or other such food container.

Ingredients:

Bouillon cube/better than bouillon/other flavor type situation.

Instant noodles

Frozen or dried veggies I like corn, mushrooms and spinach but whatever floats your boat.

Boiling water.

This is the best 3 step recipe ever.

Step 1: put water on to boil

Step 2: put everything into Mason jar

Step 3: pour boiling water into Mason jar and let sit until noodles are fully cooked.

Eat.

That's it.

This recipe is great though because really you can make the jars way way ahead of time and then you just need to add the water when you want to eat.

Everything is optional and customizable. Don't like noodles? Do put any in. Want to make it fancy? At the very end add in an egg yolk. You can use fresh veggies instead of frozen or freeze dried although you then can't make them to store ahead of time. You can also just throw some fresh veggies on top to make it extra. Sometimes I'll treat myself and add avocado.

You can also add beef or turkey jerky and dried seaweed sheets.

If you don't want to use bouillon you can use soysauce or a stir fry sauce.

Also top it with some sriracha. Yum!!!

Now on to how to store these so that they last.

If you're using dried ingredients (bouillon cubes, dried veggies etc) you can literally just leave these on the shelf. But if your using non-dried ingredients like better than bouillon and frozen or fresh veggies keep this in your freezer it'll be good for about 2 months in there then just take it out and add the boiling water. (It might take a little extra time to cook because of being frozen but not much).

These are a great grab and go option or a filling and healthy meal when eating can be a chore.

As always let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas. And let me know if this was helpful!!

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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A variety of instant noodles from different countries How to mash-up, deconstruct, and altogether upgrade the versatile staple of dorm room dining As a semi-professional noodle slurper and collector, I’ve eaten hundreds of noodles in my life, but I have a particular soft spot for one type, specifically: the instant kind. You know, those hard squiggly bricks of dried, fried noodles with accompanying seasoning packets that have long been the foundation of the American collegiate diet. Since the pandemic started, I’ve been showing off my impressive collection of instant noodles to my friends on FaceTime like a YouTube beauty guru flaunting their makeup stash. I love instant noodles for many reasons: They have a nearly indefinite shelf life; they are an easy breakfast, snack, or — with the right bolstering — a full meal; and, they come in a panoply of shapes, textures, flavors, and colorful packaging styles. But while there is nothing wrong with eating instant noodles according to the instructions, it’s their versatility that’s made me a devoted fan. Here’s how to mash-up, deconstruct, and upgrade the dorm room staple. 1. Load up on protein Yes, many instant noodles come with their own packets of dehydrated vegetable or meat flavoring, but they rarely provide much real taste and add zero in the way of texture. Supplementing your own additional proteins will do a lot to make your instant noodles more satisfying and nutrition-rich. Try simple items like ground meat, sausage, tofu, and leftover fried chicken — or my personal favorite ramen topping, pork char siu. Meat shortage got ya down? Just crack an egg. You can stir it right in to create an egg-drop soup effect, or poach the egg gently in the soup broth to enjoy breaking the creamy yolk. Chicken-flavored ramen with garlicky sautéed kale, roasted chicken legs, and carrots. 2. Go big with toppings Going nuts with the add-ons at ramen restaurants can mean spending $30 on a bowl of noodles (toppings normally cost between $1 and $3 each.) But at home, you can have as many toppings as the inventory of your fridge’s produce drawer allows: scallions, corn, mushrooms, kale, you name it. Not sure about what to do with all those weird greens in your CSA farm box? Add them to your instant noodles! Fact: There is no such thing as a lousy topping for instant noodles. 3. Deconstruct everything Each element of the instant noodle package is a multi-purpose cooking superstar. The seasoning packets add a pop to stir-fried vegetables. Broken into bits, the uncooked noodles are an excellent crunchy topping for a salad or even another non-instant pasta dish. Do yourself a favor and add some ramen seasoning to mac and cheese, or how about using those instant noodles to make buns for an at-home ramen burger? 4. Switch up the liquid To deepen the character of the soup, try cooking the noodles in vegetable or chicken broth instead of plain water. There are plenty of wilder recipes out there, including this one I’m skeptical of that uses milk, but homemade stock is a safe jumping off point. 5. Mash-up different styles Mixing different instant noodle styles and seasoning packets is a culinary art form in itself, and can have big payoff. Jjapaguri (also called ram-don), the famous dish from the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, is actually just a hybrid of two different kinds of instant noodles — Neoguri and Jjappaghetti — and has become one of Korea’s national dishes. The magic comes from the mixing of Neguri’s spicy seafood powder with Jjappaghetti’s savory black bean powder, which ignites a lethal umami bomb. But jjapaguri is just the start. Try mixing Neoguri and curry noodles to create an exuberant, spicy curry broth. Combining super spicy noodles with something cheesy is also 100 percent never a bad idea. Jjapaghetti goes well with fried egg The Ones to Know Here, then, are some of the best instant noodles to stock up on, categorized by whether or not they’re “brothy” (the noodle soup kind) or “saucy” (brothless noodles with a separate sauce). BROTHY MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle If you love Penang curry, try adding this noodle to your cart. These wildly popular Malaysian instant noodles are considered some of the best in the world on this heavily opinionated ranking. Three whole flavor pouches — one of them is a paste — make for a deep, coconut-y taste and hearty portion size that you rarely get from instant noodles. Add toppings like fried tofu or prawns. Neoguri, Spicy Seafood Udon Noodles Neoguri, a Korean word for raccoon dog (neither a raccoon nor a dog; discuss), has been my top choice for ramen since I started slurping noodles at the age of three. This beloved Korean instant noodle is known for two things: thick udon-like noodles and a spicy seafood broth with actual dried seafood. It’s fantastic with any fishy topping or add-ins. Nongshim Shin Ramyun Noodle Soup Shin Ramyun might be the very first Korean instant noodle brand, as well as one of the easiest to find internationally: I still remember the exciting moment when I found Shin Ramyun in a random gas station in Alabama. It’s known for its spicy broth, and doubles as an excellent noodle for Korean ramen beginners. Top this with a slice of American cheese to tone down the spice and pump up the greatness. Prima Taste Laksa Coconut Curry Lamian Noodles This Singaporean instant noodle inspired by traditional laksa has a paste sachet that can and should be used for stir-frying vegetables, too. The noodles are rounder and less wavy than others, and the white powder adds the signature creaminess. Mama Noodles Thai cooking doesn’t shy away from acid, and neither do these Thai instant noodles, with just the right balance of acidic and salty flavors. The wavy noodles and the powdery seasonings make a great snack — though it may not be hearty enough to be a standalone meal. Beef it up with a hard-boiled egg and other vegetable toppings, like scallions. Sapporo Ichiban Tokyo Chicken Momosan Ramen Think Japanese shoyu ramen, in instant form: salty, slightly smokey, and clean tasting. It’s great with plain old white-meat chicken breast — which is hard to say about anything, really. Paldo Gomtang Oriental Style Noodles with Beef Soup Base Not all Korean instant noodles are spicy! This mild, creamy Korean noodle soup is inspired by gomtang, or beef bone broth. It has an intense beefiness and is excellent with hearty greens like cabbage or scallions. Add some ground beef to make it more filling. Tseng noodles with black sesame sauce SAUCY Nongshim, Jjapaghetti (Noodle Pasta with jjajang Sauce) “On Sundays, I’m the chef for Jjapaghetti” has been a Korean catchphrase for more than a decade. A combination of two dishes — jajangmyun (black bean noodles) and spaghetti— this saucy Korean instant noodle is also what spurred the ram-don trend after its crucial role in Parasite. The accompanying savory black bean sauce is all it really needs, though I highly recommend a luxe drizzle of truffle oil, too. Indomie Mi Goreng Instant Stir Fry Noodles If you haven’t tried this Indonesian instant noodle, stop what you’re doing and fix that immediately. The package comes with a liquid seasoning mix of savory onion-flavored oil, sweet-spicy chili sauce, and sweet soy sauce, creating a salty-and-sweet coating for the wavy noodles. Any optional toppings like grilled steak or boiled eggs are just gravy. Samyang Extra Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen Are you up for #FireNoodleChallenge? Join the leagues of people who’ve filmed themselves slurping these dangerously spicy noodles. There are multiple flavor options available, from carbonara to curry, and all of them equally fiery. Cover this with lots of mozzarella cheese to tone down the heat to the point where you might actually enjoy it. Tseng Noodles Scallion With Sichuan Pepper Flavor This Taiwanese instant noodle is all about texture. Its curling, knife-cut-like strands are a perfect match for the sauce. There are many different flavors, besides this scallion one, such as black sesame and shallots. Depending on the sauce, the noodles textures vary. Think of this as gourmet-tier, since it costs slightly more than other noodles, but it’s totally worth the splurge. Paldo Bibim Myun Cold Noodle The spicy, tangy, sweet sauce of these Korean noodles will wake up even the dullest of palates. Cook the noodles until they’re just al dente, or still a little firm, then rinse them under cold water to get rid of any residual starch and achieve peak bounce and chew. The sauce packet is an excellent salad dressing, too. Add some chopped cucumber and hard-boiled egg for a clutch midnight snack, or add some ice cubes for a cooling summer treat. Mom’s Dry Noodle Sichuan Spicy The Taiwanese knife cut-style noodles cling to the oily, spicy sauce for maximum slurpability. Top with a fried egg or fried cubed tofu and you can almost pretend you’re at a restaurant. Mom’s Dry Noodle has dried ribbon noodles which have ideal textures for the sauce from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2NkSTkS

http://easyfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/06/the-ultimate-guide-to-instant-noodles.html

#EasyFoodNetwork #ComfortFoodRecipes #EasyRecipes #GoodFood #BestComfortFoodRecipes #TastyFoodv

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toddlazarski · 7 years

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Milwaukee’s Top Soup Destinations

Shepherd Express

Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire, and king of foodie know-it-alls, suggests we’d do well to adopt the eating habits of our grandparents. Seeing the difficulty in maintaining social contact after so many liverwurst sandwiches and buttermilk, or the slippery slope nature of nightly Jim Beam with Virginia Slim Menthols, or the dance with the cholesterol test after adhering to daily scrambled eggs cooked with copious goops of sheeny Velveeta, sided by mounded bacon piles, rye toast with silver dollar dollops of shimmering Land o’ Lakes - all before the dessert donuts - for some of us, this advice is not so easy. Or wise.

But there are applicable, timeless, intergenerational universals: comforting coffee all day long, chicken wings and pizza with football viewing, and grandma’s answer for most of life’s calorie time quandaries: soup. Chicken noodle if you’re sick. Tomato if you’re pretending to be sick, playing hooky, and eating grilled cheese. Minestrone at the Italian place. Clam chowder before a fish fry. Any or all varietals if it’s cold outside, or rainy. But mostly, if you’re sick. Or were just sick. Or for strength to prevent becoming sick.

Had grandma been viable and stirring in the age of Yelp, in the days of iPhone-emboldened food journey’s, that nagging search for hearty throat assuagement may have led to a more worldly bouillon. Pho, ramen, menudo - Generation Food Channel’s options are endless for the hoary notion of getting “something warm on your stomach.” So as we enter the final throes - maybe, hopefully, probably not but maybe - of cold weather, of flu season, of needing to bundle up, wear your hat and mittens, it may be time for a quick, summary rundown of the city’s best hot bowls of slurpable, sinus-clearing comfort. These are not exactly your grandmother’s bowl of soup, but any can offer a sipping spoonful act to make her proud.

6. Red Light Ramen

In the days of Trump tax cuts, it can be tough to celebrate something so blatantly too rich. But that really seems to be the main pleasure point of the Milwaukee vanguard of the quite hip ramen movement. Salty, luxuriant, egg-bobbing, noodle-swimming, with pork aplenty, ripe for both a spoon and chopstick forays, it is ancient Eastern exotic and yet as intrinsically comforting as Campbell’s. Whatever your selection of the multitude types, or whether you stand on the too much or just right camp, there’s no arguing that no bowl is a better preface for a long winter’s nap.

5. Pho Viet

Rick Bayless once suggested the best taquerias are the ones attached to Mexican grocery stores. Following that logic, the best pho in town should likely come from the little shop next to Pacific Produce, the gargantuan emporium of all foods Asian on South 27th Street. It’s hard to dispute the argument while getting a hearty tongue bath: from the dozen pho options, liquid-housing the daunting gamut between steak, flank, tripe, tendon, brisket, maybe shrimp, possibly chicken, of course meatballs; to the handful of egg noodle bowls, starring quail eggs or duck legs, it's hard to do anything but keep going, slurping greedily and noisily, splashing and basting buds with flavors fresh and deep and peculiar, rife with star anise and black cardamom, other such items you’ve likely lost to the nether regions of your spice cabinet. The proper application of Thai chili garlic sauce along the fresh, seedy jalapenoes, reminds that even grandma at her most overbearing was negligent about at least one thing - a soup can, maybe should, hurt a little bit. It’s a visceral cleansing if done right. Really though, there’s no greater testament than the bahn mi here - suspiciously cheap, fresh-bunned, overstuffed, peppery and porky - being relegated to afterthought.

4. Soup Bros.

Soup Bros is actually much like a grandmother itself - the service has attitude, the home is filled with miscellany knicknacks and doodads, you call, get an automated voice telling you the mailbox hasn’t been set up, you instinctively wonder if she’s still alive. There’s no website. And there’s many soups. The cheddar and Bermuda onion seems the paradigm - extra sharp cheddar melting along fresh crushed black pepper and green onion pieces, the whole achieving that ideal creaminess to wade through toward stomach coaty contentment. Similarly pleasing is the red pepper bisque - a cold antidote and elixir properly sworn by the whole town over. The key with both seems to be that salty svelteness, a certain intangible that makes for the rare occasion of going out to lunch and feeling somehow rejuvenated after. A fresh baked bread hunk, served warm and crusty and seedy, certainly helps too. Owner Richard Regner, brusque, terse, isn’t exactly the soup Nazi, but, having said that, the place does embody the somehow idiosyncratic nature that comes with precise, artistic cooking approaches to big vats of nourishing, communal stuff. And if an armoire of his ever became available, one would be smart to scoop it up, rifle through the drawers.

3. Thai Bar-B-Que

It seems hard to go wrong with most any dish, any pho or soup, in Silver City. In fact the only fault we came away noting from an afternoon was pointed out by our waiter: “capitalism.” After hearing him bemoan the over-rushed pace of American life, we acquiesced, realized this is as good a place as any to sit and savor, soup being a dish to smell and breathe deep, as much to get down. The Thai BBQ pork noodle varietal, supposedly the only such dish in town, serves as an ideal for what they do best here. It’s a dangerously velvety, rich broth, with multitude sunken pork treasures in varying shape and cooking doneness. The pork balls are the prize, sponging flavor, buoying between onion hunks, green onion chocks, cilantro, and a Medusa nest of glassy noodles. But any meat and broth would do well when supplanted by the accompanying death panel: a four jar tray of pickled jalapenos, the ubiquitous Thai chili garlic sauce, crushed dried chili peppers cooked to a deep viscous brown in oil, and the same chili peppers, simply ground and ready for battle with sinus and lips. Even in moderation, it can feel like a concoction just barely, pleasantly this side of hell. It’s okay to drip a little sweat right into the bowl - it can count as the day’s exercise. Better yet, forget such energetic American worries, sit back, and enjoy the otherworld pleasure all about National and 30th.

2. El Cabrito

The ‘little goat’ butters its bolillo by specializing in meats slow-cooked in sauces, blurring the line between stews and soft bits meant for stuffing into corn tortillas for makeshift juicy tacos. You can tell the specialty from what everybody is ordering, and from the neon sign shouting their wares rooted in the state of Jalisco - birria. It is celebratory, spicy, slow-cooked goat meat. It’s a tad gamey, and it’s game to go either way - slurp or fork. But it’s actually the heartening pozole that lands Cabrito here, as it leaves no doubt as to the spoon-forward nature. The stop sign-red broth comes with an oily sheen, equally salty and piquant, made more spicy by the dangerous ground arbol pepper canister placed on the table like a dare, one hard to turn away from. Floating below the surface are thumb-sized chunks of pork, al dente-texture hominy, both slow cooking as you focus on the broth, the meat getting speared and breaking up with each penetration, so that at the end you are left with shredded pig particles to spoon onto the accompanying tostadas, with chopped red onion and tomato for fresh bright balance, a squirt of the smoky chipotle table salsa to make sure every nook of the tongue is tended to. You’ll also likely be left fanning your mouth, dabbing sweat driblets from the forehead, and, given the bowl depth and deep provenance, wondering why you thought it was necessary to order an accompanying taco.

1. Guadalajara

Of the many elixir qualities of a hot bowl of salty broth, hangover helper may be the most underrated. Like all chili-peppered Mexican fare, all Mexican soups do the trick - the aforementioned birria is renowned, but nothing eases day after pain like menudo. It’s a take it, leave it proposition, long bypassing ‘gamey’ labels, the beef tripe yielding an intestinal - literally - deep flavor of bloody earthiness. It’s an acquired taste, but one that can come to resemble a gastrointestinal restart button. Still, even if the palate leans understandably more gabacho, there are two types of head-clearing pozole: verde, with chicken, or the briny, salty rojo. The latter is the way to go, offering a steaming bath with tender fatty pork wedges, big soft hominy bits, ploppable diced onion, and, really, not too much else. The soothing saltiness is kept as the main star, everything satisfyingly elemental, unless you want to be heroic and scoop in some upon-request-only arbol salsa.

It’s about halfway through any bowl, pleasantly sniffling, that you might realize, like most grandmotherly caloric pushes, it’s all too much - the bowl is comically overlarge, brimming with incalculable salt, sheeny fat, too much spice - again with the ground Arbol, even sugar - sure, yes, you will need another Jarritos to wash everything down. There’s even an undeserved, overabundant kindness about the shabby corner converted Walker’s Point abode. Maybe you can’t go home again, as they say, but from the taste of a bowl here, you can go to your, or a, Mexican grandma’s house.

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