Friday, March 30, 2012

Easy Noodles and other cooking ideas . . .

My college daughters do a lot of their own cooking at school. Cafeteria food helped them make this decision. Keeping this in mind, I have been passing on hints and ideas as I think of them and they felt I should share them with the world! Okay, for starving students and harried  mothers, here are a few of my ideas for staying full and productive while away from mom's home cooking.

Easy Noodles
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs

Beat up the eggs a bit and mix them into the flour. If the dough is too sticky or waterly, gradually add more flour, a tablespoon at a time. You want a workable dough not a lump that will last a lifetime! If the dough is too dry, use another egg and add it just a bit at a time.

Flour a surface and knead the dough until it is workable. Roll out as thin as you can get it, cut into strips and place on waxed paper. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add 2 teaspoons of salt, and one tablespoon of cooking oil. Add the noodles and keep stirring until the water comes back to a boil. Cook about six minutes, drain, and add to soup, broth, spaghetti sauce, etc. The noodles have lots of protein, are cheap to make, and taste good.

Side note: You can also deep fry these noodles for a tasty, crispy snack. Again, very inexpensive but impressive!

Chicken Soup
Several pieces of chicken, whatever is on sale.
One onion (the ends cut off and sliced in quarters. Don't worry about the skin)
Salt and pepper to taste.
16 ounce package frozen, mixed vegetables

Fry the chicken pieces in the bottom of a large pot until a bit browned. Add about six cups water, onion, salt, and pepper. Simmer for a couple of hours or in a crock pot for six hour until chicken is falling off the bones. Separate the meat from the bone and pull out the onion solids. Taste for more seasoning, add the vegetables, heat through, and eat. Hint: Homemade noodles taste very good with it.

Fast Apple Scrapple Dessert
4 green apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
Cinnamon & sugar

Melt the butter in a large pan and add apples. Stir and cook until apples start to get tender. Mix the flour and milk. You want a runny but not too thin a batter. Pour over the apples and continue cooking and stirring until the batter starts to brown. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and sugar and cook a few minutes more to get the sugar to start melting in a bit. Eat!

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