Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Instant Noodles Dinner - who says it isn't nutrition balanced? hehe

These past few weeks my work schedule has been 10am to 8-9pm and some weekends :-( I wish I could get up early and start my work day earlier, but once I've stayed late a couple nights at work it's becoming hard to get up early the next day and then the pattern has formed for the whole rest of the week. It gets dark earlier nowadays as well, making it tiring and depressing getting off work.

So last week I was too lazy to cook dinners, and decided to made myself some instant noodles. Quick and tasty, a hot soupy dinner after a tiring day at work, hmm....yum.... And it only took me less than 15 minutes, yes that's right, even quicker than driving myself to a burger drive-through :-)




I usually boil the noodles first and drain with cold water. Here's my little trick to save time: I wash the eggs (the egg shells often times aren't clean!) and boil it along with the noodles. Drop the egg(s) into the water pot at the beginning luke warm temperature, if you put the egg in while the water is already too hot it'll crack the egg. Wait until the water boils, drop the dried instant ramen noodles to the water pot to cook 3-4 minutes. I like my ramens neither overcooked nor undercook, so I find with this brand, boiling it for 3-4 minutes and let sit another 30 seconds would do it :-) Can you tell? I'm very particular about my noodles :-) hehee Drain the noodles with cold water, and put aside into a serving bowl.
Then I boil a second pot of water for the actual soup broth. Here's a second time saving trick for you: while waiting for this water pot to boild, I peel the eggs, prep the green onion, tofu (or whatever else that I find in my fridge that would go nicely with my quick meal). I also have 1/2 can of whole kernel corn left over from previous cookings, so I decided to add some into my soup. I wanted some green veg but ran out, didn't find any in my fridge...hehee...so corn would do it for this dinner.

Then I'd drop the tofu and vegetables into the pot and let it cook for 1-2 minutes before adding the favor pack (I usually use only 1/2 pack, and add a little bit of salt or soysauce into the soup if needed). Let the soup boils up again, then pour over the ramen.....and voilla !!!


Slurping away while watching this TVB series called "Last One Standing". Anyone else watching this series? I tell ya, its pretty good, somewhat intense.


Saturday, October 18, 2008

My kitchen essentials

Eventhough alot of my cookings are quick and easy, I still try to keep a balanced nutrition. Here are a few things that I usually keep stocked up around my kitchen

1. Fresh eggs

2. Some easy vegies (cabbage, tomato, green onion)

3. Canned vegetables (whole kernel corn, sweet pea, baby corn, mushroom)


4. Tomato paste, Tomato chunks


5. Luncheon Meat or Spam


6. Tofu (either the fried cubes or the soft silken white tofu)

7. Kimchi



*Pictures are linked from other sites.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Welcome to My College Kitchen

My College Kitchen is a place for me to share my easy cooking tips and recipes. Reality is, I am no chef, and I have no time. While in college, I was studying full time and worked part time. After graduation, I worked full time and attended grad school part time. The usual fast foods is not the long term solution for me. I am still an Asian at heart who *needs* her comfort food and, at the end of the day, a hot meal from her own kitchen. With My College Kitchen, my hope is to share some of my ideas and tips for easy cooking, while encouraging busy young people like myself to continue cooking and eating healthy.