Yum.
I missed cooking. Working part-time at the dinnertime hour has taken time away from the kitchen lately. Now that my work is ending (tonight is my last night!), I am cooking a bit more.
I expect this to continue as we’re going through a belt-tightening-super-strict month. I’ll be cooking every meal, and we’ll be making more from scratch.
I also blame the kitchen which was remodeled very poorly and is literally falling apart. I’ve lost 4 drawers to date, and several doors are on their last legs. I know that sounds lame, but the kitchen is laid out very poorly, poorly lit, and well, ugly. But, I digress.
Last night we had very little food in the house and it was not grocery shopping time yet, so I had to improvise. I made rice noodles at the eldest daughter’s request, and then opted to cook green beans (which everyone eats-hallelujah!), and chicken which was in the freezer already cooked (just needed warming up). 3 things, and enough for everyone to have something they liked, and at least 2 things on their plate.
I decided on the spur of the moment to make a peanut sauce for me since I love peanut sauce, and I had some peanut butter and soyaki to use up. I added Trader Joe’s sweet chili sauce for spice and a bit of sweet, and the cooked green beans for a veggie. It was divine and so simple!
When reheating (as in the above picture) I added some chopped peanuts which toasted while I warmed it up. We use a toaster oven to heat things up (no more microwave!), which takes a bit longer but everything comes out warmer and in this case it worked beautifully to toast the nuts.
I admit I had this for dinner last night, breakfast this morning, and I’m eating it for dinner now. I have a tendency to do that, whether we’re talking about cake, rice noodles, or squash soup.
You may also notice this has several of the same ingredients as my chicken chile soup. The leftover sauces I used for that recipe have been sitting waiting for me to make something with them. I thought it was time to use them up. 
Have you made anything interesting lately?
Kelly
Recipe for Peanut Rice Noodles
- 1 package rice noodles (follow directions to cook)
- 1/2 c. peanut butter (no fillers, just peanuts and salt)
- approx. 1/2 c. (I emptied the bottle) of Trader Joe’s Soyaki or your fav soy sauce and some sesame seeds
- 1/4 c. Trader Joe’s sweet chile sauce
- cooked green beans
- chopped peanuts
Top warm, cooked noodles with green beans and sauce, add peanuts to top and enjoy!
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