Saturday, August 31, 2019

Last Week of Holidays & Udon Noodle Recipe

I went back to work on Monday, which went well.  It doesn't take long to get back into the swing of things, and I feel prepared and excited for the new school year. 

Buuuuuut the week before I made the most of my last week of holidays.  I spent plenty of time outside and went for a walk around the lake each day.


One day I met up with my sister and nephew for lunch at Roots.


This was our first time visiting this restaurant, and we were impressed with the food.  The menu was big and had many things that sounded good, so I am sure we'll be back.  I want to try their breakfast next time.

Giovanni had the spicy shrimp tacos and thought they were great, and my sweet potato fries were perfect.


We stopped for a coffee at Perk & Taps after lunch.


Another day I met up with Christopher for lunch at Western Pizza.


In the afternoons I usually sat outside with iced tea, Spitz, and a book.


We BBQd bison sausage with mushrooms and potato one evening:


The leftovers were good for breakfast the next day:


I am feeling non-traditional breakfasts lately.

Another evening we had Korean chicken with halloumi stuffed bell pepper:


On cooler evenings we ate beetnicks and beet risotto:


On the Friday night we had Chinese food at Christopher's parents' house:


Then we went back there the next day for an early birthday celebration for our niece Charlotte.


Last Sunday I had my friend Fanta's baby shower which was fun!

Later in the day, we started to get some food ready for the week.  We made coconut braised chickpeas with spinach and roasted sweet potatoes for my breakfasts:

Enough for a few days, and SO filling.
And Udon pork noodles for our lunches:


Udon Pork Noodles

Ingredients:

- 1-2 T sesame oil
- 3 T ginger, minced (or more to taste)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (or more to taste)
- 1 pkg. ground pork (about 1 lb.)
- 2-3 cups bok choy, thinly sliced
- 4 packages udon noodles
- sriracha to serve

Sauce:

- 4 T soy sauce
- 4 T sesame oil
- 4 T brown sugar
- 2 T oyster sauce
- 2 T sake or white cooking wine
- pepper to taste
- 2 T cornstarch dissolved in about 1/4 cup cold water

Heat sesame oil in a wok over medium.  Add half of the garlic and ginger, and cook for a minute.  Add the pork, and cook until done.  Drain some fat if it's fatty.  Add the bok choy, and rest of the garlic and ginger, and cook for a few minutes. 

 * Meanwhile, mix up the sauce, combining everything except the cornstarch slurry. 

Add the sauce and noodles to the wok, separating the noodles with your hands as you add them.  Stir and cook a few minutes, until the noodles are softened.  Add the slurry, and cook another couple minutes.  Serve with loads of sriracha.  Reheats really well.

How was your week?  
What are you up to this Labour Day long weekend?

We're going out on the town tonight!

1 comment:

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

Still can't believe you are back in school already but it's good that you are excited to be back!

We had a really nice long weekend. We had no plans which was nice. Phil went out to his mom's one afternoon and brought paul along. I stayed back and ran a bunch of errands so that was nice! We had some good simple meals on the grill, like burgers and brats, and Phil grilled some chicken for the greek salads I'm eating for lunch this week. Phil's mom came over on Monday afternoon and we went to a park and out for ice cream. paul loved this park last time we were there but this time it was packed with lots of bigger kids and i think it intimidated him so he didn't enjoy it as much. So I guess we need to stick with going there early in the morning before it's busy!