True Love and Noodle Love

Happy Monday!!!

I am ending the night with some true love… The Bachelor finale.  Do you watch the Bachelor/Bachelorette?  I just can’t help myself.  I am a sucker for that show.  I can’t wait to see who Brad chooses! 

Today, I want to talk about convenience foods.  Lately, my life has been so busy that I am doing a terrible job of planning ahead and cooking meals for myself and my family.  I think that poor planning is one if the biggest pitfalls of getting (and staying) healthy.  Some nights I am coming home at 9 p.m. and I am starving… so I eat whatever is quickest. 

Sometimes it’s frozen convenience foods, like this lasagna we had last night. 

Good, yes.  Best ingredients?  Probably not.

But today I cooked two meals that only took a few minutes, but turned out pretty tasty!

Today, I had several meetings with teachers planned, so I decided to make chili. 

I planned to make this into chicken chili, but the grocery store was out of those convenient packages of grilled chicken strips.  Grrrrr…  So at the last minute, I added Morningstar Farms crumbles to the chili.  I love all the Morningstar Farms products.  This chili was delish with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream mixed in.  And it took me just FIVE minutes to prepare this in the slow cooker!  Now, these directions are to prepare the soup in a slow cooker for a lunchtime meal.  But you could definitely make this on the stovetop, too!  (Much quicker!)

Sorta Homemade Slow-Cooker Veggie Chili

• 1 pack Bear Creek “Darn Good Chili” Soup Mix
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 12-oz package Morningstar Farms “beef” crumbles

Preparation: Fill slow cooker with 7 cups of hot water.  Turn on high for an hour.  Add tomato paste and stir so that it breaks up.  Add the chili packet.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes.  Add crumbles and cook 2 more hours on high.  Serve with chips, cheese, and sour cream!

Then tonight, I decided to try something new.  My friend Diana over at The Chic Life is constantly making these Noodle Stir Fry dishes, like this one.  I’ve been wanting to try this!  So tonight I did! 

I cooked Udon Noodles, and then drained them and set them aside.  I stir-fried my broccoli and edamame in a skillet with a little canola and sesame oil, and some reduced-sodium soy sauce.  When everything was almost cooked through (to crisp-tender) I added the noodles to the skillet and added a sprinkling of sesame seeds. 

And wow… this was so good and took only a few minutes to prepare!  The longest part was cooking the noodles!  I will definitely make this again… SOON!  SO much better than getting takeout!

OK… the Bachelor is getting INTENSE!  I’m gonna have to give it my full attention…

Good night!