Ramen lunch

This is pretty similar to the Ramen Fried Rice I posted a while back, just a bit more simple.

Ingredients

Ramen Noodles

Broccoli, steamed or pan fry

Eggs, scrambled

Again, like last time, very simple. Cook the noodles like you would for Top Ramen. Strain them if needed.  In the meantime, scramble your eggs and cook your broccoli however you prefer. Throw it all in together and add sauces of your choosing. We like to have a wide variety of asian sauces. Soy sauce, of course, but more exciting ones. Black Bean and Garlic, Hoison, General Tsao, and many others. They're not too expensive and they last a while. We think they're worth it because they can really spice up the meals and make them taste great!

 

You can easily spice this up with other ingredients that you like. I remember, this kind of reminded me of Chow Mein because it was noodle heavy, which I love. You could get very creative with any other ingredients to suit the tastes of your eaters. :)

Ramen Fried Rice

So this is one that we kinda made up when we were first married.  You can really add whatever floats your boat and change it however you want to. Here's the bare bones.

Ingredients

Top Ramen (no seasoning packet)

Chicken breasts

Eggs, scrambled

Carrots, grated

Any other vegetables you want

Cook the ramen by the directions. Scramble your eggs. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces, cook on the stove. You marinate the chicken beforehand if you want to. Combine all the ingredients in your large saucepan and heat through. I don't remember how we seasoned this one. It might've been a marinade. But in the past we've just used some soy sauce or something simple. Or if you use a marinade, you can use the leftovers to season the dish, just heating it all thoroughly.

Sheila Salad

This salad is named for our good friend Sheila who used to make this for us all the time in Missoula. After living in Kalispell for a while, she came up here to visit her sister and we all had lunch together and she made her classic salad. We realized how much we missed it and started making it for our family too!

Ingredients
Lettuce - I like using spinach and a spring mix. But you can use Romaine, or even Iceberg if that's your thing.
Tomatoes, chopped - If I could, I'd always use cherry tomatoes, quartered.
Cucumbers, chopped
Bell peppers, chopped
Colby Jack Cheese, cubed
Carrots, chopped
Optional: bacon bits, green onions, croutons, cubed ham, hard boiled eggs, etc.

This is a real, make it how you like it salad. What we love most about it is the variety of things to put in it, and we make it quite chunky. This way the flavors are a lot stronger. We're also fans of the colby cubes. We just had this for a birthday dinner with a medium-sized group of family and had everything in separate containers so everyone could literally create their own salad with the fixings they like best. This salad's a big hit with our family, and we just love it.

Rolled Eggs

I was a picky eater as a child (to which I'm sure my mom will agree) and I did not experience anything outside of scrambled eggs or rolled eggs until I was married. That includes omelettes or fried eggs. Rolled eggs were my favorite. Anyway, I don't know where my mom came up with this, but it's still one of my favorite ways to eat eggs. And now my kids like it too.

Ingredients
1 Egg
butter
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan cheese

Scramble egg in a bowl. While scrambling, heat small skillet over medium heat and add about 1 tbsp butter, or enough to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. When all melted, add the egg. Roll pan to ensure egg coats the bottom. Sprinkle egg with salt and pepper. When the bottom is cooked and the top isn’t too jiggly, flip over. Cook the other side until golden brown. Remove to plate, sprinkle inside with parmesan cheese and then fold. Serve while warm.

It's basically a plain omelette. For me, the butter and parmesan cheese add a lot of the flavor. Most of it, I guess, since there really isn't much else to it. The skillet I use is not the larger size, but a small one. I have one from my parents house. I don't know if most people have small ones. If you only have a large skillet, I'd scramble at least 2 eggs versus one. You don't want it too thick, like an omelette, but not as thin as a crepe.