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I bought a synthesizer so I'm going to be stuck eating like a hobo for a few days. Not as terrible as it sounds, and yes it involves ramen.

-Get your dried noodles.



-Boil about an inch and a half of boiling water in a small pot, about 500ml. I use less because I like it real spicy. Dump in the noodles, the little dehydrated vegetables and the powder. There just isn't enough of that stuff.

-Crack open an egg in there and give it a stir. Two if you're feeling macho.

-Add vegetables.


For variety:



And if you have meat kicking around, you can always add beef, pork, or seafood. The knock-out power of the spicy powder compliments them all.

What not to add? Asparagus, fiddleheads, spinach, cabbage, anything vaguely bitter.

This is a really good (and cheap) version of spicy peanut noodles that you might find useful. smile I usually make the sauce by itself and keep it stored in the fridge to use on small batches of noodles for myself.

Spicy Peanut Noodles

# 1 pound spaghetti
# 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
# 1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
# 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
# 6 tablespoons soy sauce
# 1/4 cup water
# 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
# 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
# One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
# 1 large garlic clove
# 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced
# 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
# Lime wedges, for serving
# (feel free to throw in any other veggie or meat you have on hand)

1. In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water until cooled. Drain well.
2. In a blender, puree the peanut butter with 6 tablespoons of the vinegar, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, crushed red pepper, ginger and garlic. Transfer 1/2 cup of the peanut dressing to a bowl and toss with the noodles.
3. In another bowl, toss the celery with the cilantro and the remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
4. Transfer the noodles to bowls and drizzle with the remaining peanut dressing. Top with the celery and serve with lime wedges.

I'll buy ramen purely for the noodles and disreguard the seasoning. This leaves me with 30 packages of 'chicken flavoring' but that can be used ... somehow.

My favorite recipe for using ramen noodles is ...

Ramen Shrimp Pouch
2 packages Ramen noodles
1/2 cup dried mushrooms, chopped
20 large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced scallions
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 quart vegetable broth
1/2 cup mirin
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 teaspoons sesame oil

Special equipment: 4 (18-inch) squares aluminum foil
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.


Divide ramen noodles evenly in center of each of the 4 pieces of aluminum foil. Stack the following ingredients on top of noodles, in this order: mushrooms, shrimp, onions, scallions, red pepper flakes, and salt. Pull sides and corners of pouch up to form a small basket shape leaving an opening at the top to pour in liquid.


In small bowl, combine vegetable broth, mirin, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Distribute liquid evenly among packs. Press foil together, leaving a small opening to allow steam to escape. Place on cookie sheet and bake in oven for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

I've used ramen flavor packets to cook something else before whee

Something that is always cheap is lentils, and they can be cooked in so many ways. My favourite is a very quick, very nice Mulligatawny:

Chop up an onion and some garlic, fry in saucepan with some oil. Rinse as much red lentils as needed (they swell a lot so don't do too much or you'll be eating this soup for the rest of the week) and add them and a lot of curry to the frying onions. Stir a lot or it will stick and don't fry the lentils for more than ½ min - 1 min. Add water, enough to cover the lentils and some more (you will probably have to add more water later.) Let the whole thing boil for at least 10 minutes, until the lentils are done. Add water if needed, boil longer if you want the lentils to dissolve so the soup is more smooth.

I usually put in a couple of bayleafs, maybe some other herb spices, and if I've got it at home one cube of vegetable buillion, which makes the taste richer. If you want the soup to be even more filling (lentils are already pretty filling) you can add some cubed potato, tomato, any vegetable you like really. And if you're not into spicy food you can mellow the taste out with some cream or créme fraiche.

Even though it's a bother you shouldn't skip rinsing the lentils or the starch or whatever it is will form a hard foam on top of your soup.

This is really cheap food and very filling. I imagine it's pretty nutritious too, since pods in general are full of proteins and stuff. Great food if your funds are running low.