Saturday, December 29, 2012

Homemade Ramen Soup Recipe and Christmas Cheer

Hello Everyone!

How was everyone's Holiday?  We still have Christmas celebrations going on in our household and this morning we had another Christmas celebration with Meridyth's Mom, Sister, and Sister's husband and of course the new baby Caleb!  We had a wonderful morning and had a lot of fun drinking coffee, eating breakfast and opening presents.

We still have one more Christmas celebration to do with Mer's Father and his girlfriend Vicki.  Christmas this year is definitely being made to last at least another week but honestly I don't mind a bit!

Besides Christmas and getting in the holiday cheer I have had a horrible cold which has not only had me banished to the spare bedroom to sleep and cough/sneeze by myself but I have also been craving warm and salty soups.

I decided since I have some free time before school starts I would cook a little and maybe even be a little adventurous!

I have to say making a homemade Ramen soup especially when you are not feeling good is a perfect way to put you in a better mood and help that sore throat.  It is also so much healthier and less fattening than the packaged ramen.  I picked this recipe specifically because it called for angel hair pasta which I already had in my kitchen!

Here are my ingredients gathered on the counter ready to be transformed:
I found the recipe on Epicurious but changed it a bit to fit my ingredients.
Ingredients:
3 eggs hardboiled
1/2 box of angel hair pasta
3 large handfuls of kale
1 portobello mushroom (chopped) (I used a package and chopped them up finer)
1 clove garlic (chopped finely)
1 inch long piece of fresh ginger (peeled and chopped finely)
1/4 cup vegetable broth
2 splashes soy sauce (to taste)
chicken bouillon (not cubes, use either granules or paste)
salt and pepper to taste
sesame seeds

Instead of using fresh ginger I used ginger paste and I think it worked great.  I also didn't use sesame seeds but it probably would have added a little bit more flavor to the final soup.
I boiled my eggs while I was chopping the mushroom, garlic, and kale.

Directions:
In large pot, boil water for pasta. Break pasta in half and add to water. Cook according to box.
Pour out enough water to leave about 2 cups in pot with pasta. Do not drain. Return to medium heat.
(Note:  I dumped out too much water and then didn't have enough for soupy goodness, so I would keep more in that you think you need!)
Add chopped garlic and ginger. Add enough bouillon to season two cups of water and stir thoroughly. Add vegetable broth and soy sauce, continue stirring. (At this point I tasted the broth and almost died!  It tasted JUST LIKE RAMEN!)
Add chopped mushroom and kale. Allow to cook until both are tender.
Slice egg and add to ramen.
Season with salt and pepper, add sesame seeds and serve. ENJOY!
 
So the ramen was delicious but when I make it next time I will definitely leave more broth because my leftovers didn't have enough of the its goodness!

It was easy to make and I was extremely excited about the way it tasted.

Lots of Love,

Jess


Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!  I hope your day is filled with Family, Lots of Love, and maybe some presents!

Lots of Love,

Jess

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Office Pot Luck, A horrible cold, and Blog Reassessing

Hello All!

These past few weeks I have been doing some major thinking about this blog, my Etsy shop LoveUPaperly and so many other things!  I am hoping that all of these things I have been thinking about will start showing up as changes in the New Year!

I think that is one of the reasons that I love the Holidays, Christmas, and New Years so much.  I always feel like it is a time to reassess and figure out if I think I am going in the right direction.

Besides that, I finally finished school this semester and I have a break until the end of January which is badly needed.

As for this weekend, I have had a horrible cold all week and it has only been getting worse so I am going to bunker down the next two days and try to get rid of these germs.  Last year I had just had surgery so Christmas was rather miserable for both Meridyth and myself so this year, cold or no cold, I am determined to try and feel well!

Friday we had an office potluck which was full of all different types of food.  I decided to go for a rustic Italian dish and made roasted cauliflower and broccoli with garlic and olive oil with tomatoes and of course pasta.  I topped the whole thing off with some mozzarella cheese!


I think it tasted pretty good!

Second, I took some pictures of the final product for my Parent's Chanukah present.  They were absolutely thrilled!  My Mom keeps calling to say that she keeps trying the pictures in different places all over her house.


I'm off to take some Theraflu.

Lots of Love,

Jess

Friday, December 7, 2012

Hospital Visits and Some New Projects

Hello Everyone!

These last two weeks have been so crazy.  I am in the middle of finals, was admitted to the hospital for a short stay and had a few outpatient tests which required too many IV's.  I am happy to report that though tired I feel like I am finally on the mend and I only have one more final to take tomorrow!

In the midst of all of my medical mysteries, I have been feeling very inspired and creative.  I wanted to share a few things I am working on.  None of the projects are done yet, but I wanted to show you the beginnings.  After this post, I am back to studying for my A&P final and then looking forward to a month off.
My Mom was cleaning out their basement and found an old journal that I had only used a few pages in.  The journal is velvety and the pages are thick and can take all different types of medium.  This was certainly a find!
Lying in bed in the hospital I started to play with the idea of words and images using pen.  I love the Reindeer hiding in the J and O.  I think my next step might be watercolor.
Mer and I don't have a lot of money for holiday presents this year and since I am currently watching my parents dogs I thought I would draw them portraits, scan them, print them on nice paper, and frame them.

I will take pictures when the final product is done!

So that's it for now.  I am immersed in studying, drawing, and watching movies!

How is your holiday shopping going?

Lots of Love,

Jess