The Macaroni Improv: Food For Kids, Ideas for Moms, Fun For All

Simple Soup Idea: Chicken Bits, Sausage, Noodles

2012-04-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

On a cold day, soup is wonderful, and this was a sudden inspiration using little scraps from the freezer.

When we grill chicken, hubby like the bits of fat to be cut away from chicken breasts. We usually slice the breasts into tenderloins, but some pieces end up being too small for the grill. Those go into the freezer for soups, fried rice, etc.

Saute a chopped onion in a little olive oil. Get the chicken bits in there and cook them up. Add water, get the mixture boiling. A smidge of celery seed and white pepper, along with enough chicken bouillon to give your mix a good flavor (to your taste). Once the water is boiling well, add egg noodles...my 12 qt. stockpot took nearly 2 full pounds of wide egg noodles. Meanwhile, cook up a pound of ground sausage, drain, then add to your pot.

Yum!

Do You Need a Simple, Hot Side to Fill The Kiddos Up? Tortillas!

2011-06-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Tear or cut your stale tortillas into bite size pieces, or just a bit smaller. Melt one or two sticks of butter or margarine in the skillet, on medium. Add the tortilla pieces, all at once, and turn to coat thoroughly. Raise the temp to high, and continue stirring periodically, until pieces are coated with butter, and slightly browned, to your satisfaction.

Serve on the side, along with refried beans, and red rice, for a low key dinner, or with scrambled eggs on the side, for a breakfast, or breakfast for dinner solution. Use this recipe for a tortilla skillet dish which incorporates the eggs.

Breakfast for Dinner

2011-05-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

If you need inspiration for dinner, and the supplies on hand are limited, I can honestly say that a hearty breakfast for dinner is a great choice. My children seem to think it's a treat to be served their favorites in the evening, and for me, the prep is much easier at the end of the day, than first thing in the morning!

Some favorites:
Pancakes
French Toast
Waffles
Bacon and Eggs
Egg Sandwiches
Tortilla Egg Skillet Dishes
Breakfast Burritos
Eggs and Potatoes
Omelets

I'm sure there are many other such breakfasts that you can brainstorm, but the nice thing is that, along with being hearty, these are all pretty cost effective (excluding the bacon, of course...I can't believe the prices these days!).

Top Ramen Creativity

2011-05-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

Top Ramen isn't known for any great nutritional value. However, as a time saver, it's one of the tops. I have a couple of slick tricks for making a Top Ramen meal a little more satisfying, and for cutting some of the sodium in the process.

Tip #1: Poach Eggs in Your Ramen

I know it sounds a little weird. I actually discovered this trick when I was in the home of an Asian friend. Not only were eggs included in the soup, but interesting vegetables, as well. The broth was prepared, with vegetables. Eggs were slipped into the pot, where they poached. Noodles were added last, to keep them from getting too mushy.

I don't worry as much about the noodles. The kids (except for my most picky eater) love the eggs in the soup. My challenge is keeping them whole, and not putting in too many. I boil my water, add the seasoning packets and noodles, and get the pot back to a boil. Then, I shut the burner off, and work quickly to break the eggs, and get them into the soup. Cover tightly, and leave it for a few minutes. If any of the eggs hasn't poached well, I spoon hot broth over, to finish up.

***Note on the seasoning packets that come with your Top Ramen...I use a ratio of 1 packet seasoning to 2 packages of Ramen Noodles...there's still plenty of flavor, not as much of the sodium.

Tip #2: Ramen in a Stir Fry

I enjoy stir-fried veggies, and Ramen Noodles can be a nice companion to a stir fry. Boil the water, lightly cook the noodles, until just tender. Don't over cook. Drain the noodles. Transfer to a skillet or wok, in which olive oil has been heated, preferably with a little crushed garlic, and diced onion. Lightly fry the noodles, add a few dashes of soy sauce, toss well, and remove from heat. Serve as is, or serve stir-fried veggies over your noodles.

You can also incorporate the DRY Ramen Noodles into your stir fry, adding a little liquid, if needed, for the noodles to cook in.

Many people use Top Ramen as a budget stretching food, and others keep this item on hand just for the sake of convenience. These are just a couple of ways to put the noodles to work for you.

Flop: Hamburger Helper is Meant for Hamburger!

2011-03-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

DD discovered that Hamburger Helper is not a glorified Mac and Cheese dish, unless there is hamburger. There is a taste of a strong seasoning, probably similar to Accent, which is meant to bring out flavor in the meat. Not so good, in a non-meat attempt.

For the teen who wants a quick pasta dish, the best recommendation I can make is (drumroll)...plain pasta. You can cook your pasta, and season it as simply, or as eloquently, as you like. Some pasta-bilities?

Butter and cheese, tossed in with the drained pasta...any shredded cheese, or Parmesan, will do. No cheese? Use some crushed garlic, or even a hint of garlic salt. MMM!!

Ketchup! Really! My aunt would occasionally put ketchup on plain macaroni, and it wasn't terrible. Yes, it's different. But if your cupboard is really, really bare, might be worth a shot.

Soy sauce...heat a little olive oil in a fry pan, and stir fry your cooked spaghetti, with just a hint of soy sauce. Almost as good as chow mein! Toss in some veggies, for good measure. My teen loves stir-fried veggies, so this would be well received!

Tomato soup...sounds almost as weird as the ketchup, right? Not really. Spaghetti O's remind me more of tomato soup, than of spaghetti.

Chicken stock...a basic chicken noodle, or a hearty version of Top Ramen.

Get creative!

Quick Stir Fry

2011-03-30T05:48:00.000-07:00

Stir Fry is delicious, but the really nice thing is that it doesn't really require a recipe. Chop up some veggies, an onion, heat a little oil, add a bit of soy sauce and seasonings (I like white pepper, black pepper, and ground ginger), and you can have a quick, delicious vegetarian dish. If you have older children, who are capable of cooking, they can learn to do this, as well.

Try shredding some cabbage, thinly slicing some carrots and celery, and fixing this easy stir fry, next time you are at a loss for something simple. Make plain white rice (minute rice, if you are pressed for time, but if not, basic white rice is cheaper), and serve your veggies over the rice.

On my busier days, I often leave the older kids to fix their own quick dinners. Ages 12 and up are fairly capable in the kitchen in my home. The younger set, I handle. Equip your kids in the kitchen, so that they don't grow up as fast food junkies, but rather, as capable cooks, who can whip up something out of seemingly nothing, at a moment's notice.

Quick Deals on The Go

2011-03-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Besides the value menu of the drive through, there's one other handy helper in my small town, when it comes to needing an inexpensive, fast meal while out and about.

Try Sonic's SMS messaging. Next time you drive through at your local Sonic, look for, or ask for, the location specific number to text, and enroll in their deal updates. Many times, my Sonic has sent out a daily deal, perfect for the time of day when I'm shuttling kids to and from sports.

An alternative to the typical dollar burger, there have been chili-cheese burrito deals, cheap junior sundaes, corn dogs...all kinds of menu options. Additionally, our Sonic has a weekly Wednesday kids' deal, with Wacky Pack meals at $1.50...that's a sandwich, tots or fries, a snack, and a drink!

A recent monthly deal also included 50 cent junior cheeseburgers on Thursdays. Make sure you check with your specific store for special deals, and verify start times...many dinner deals begin at 5 PM. Don't miss happy hour at Sonic, either!

Rotisserie Chicken Tacos

2011-03-01T04:55:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places in Mexico for a quick, fast-food style meal is a "Pollos Rostizados" type of restaurant...basically, rotisserie chicken. The chicken is split into halves, after being cooked on the rotisserie. It's served with an assortment of condiments, including chopped onion, chopped cilantro, tomato and lettuce, and limes to squeeze over the top. Ketchup, and various salsas, are offered, as well, and a huge portion of papas fritas, or French fries. A huge stack of corn tortillas, and you've got a great meal. Pull chicken from the bones, fill your tortillas, and Yum! Bien Rico!

The chicken isn't much different from Kenny Rogers Roasters, if you remember the numerous quantities of chickens on a rotiserrie. While you don't get that same experience at the grocery store, a rotisserie chicken from the deli section of the store can be served in much the same way. For the really quick meal solution, just get a chicken, and corn tortillas. Two rotisserie chickens, a large bag of corn tortillas, and my household of 10 is fed a simple, fast-food style dinner, at much less cost than eating out.

Stretching Out Leftover Soup

2010-12-21T14:43:00.000-08:00

There are many times in which I've made a pot of soup, and gotten down to the point where there isn't enough left for a full blown meal, but tossing it, or feeding to the goats seems wasteful. Here's my favorite tip for stretching that soup for one last meal. Make a batch of rice, or barley. Use a 2 to 1 ratio of water to grain, and cook it up separately from your soup. Meanwhile, heat your soup. When the rice/barley is cooked, serve it in a bowl, with a ladle of soup over it, and you've got a great winter warmer-upper, hot soup, hot rice, and hopefully, satisfied bellies in your household!

Easy as Cous Cous

2010-07-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

The cupboard was a tinge bare, the day before payday. There was enough summer squash from early picking, that it could go with some grain. Or, there's that bag of cous cous I completely forgot about. I opted for the cous cous.

I sauteed onions and garlic in butter, then added some tiny bell peppers from my garden, minced. Finely chopped summer squash, a teeny pinch of saffron, and a little white pepper. Meanwhile, bringing my water to a boil, and shutting it off, I added the cous cous, stirred, and covered while I finished cooking the veggies. Fluff the cous cous, and stir in the veggie mixture, and it's a great pinch hitting solution when the mainstay dinner items are low. Ratio of cous cous to water is 1 cup cous cous to 1 1/4 cup water. For my big bunch, I tripled this, and it was just enough.

WFMW: Dry Peanut Butter Sandwiches, HubPages Writing Contest

2010-05-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's "Works For Me Wednesday" at We Are That Family...be sure to check out the great ideas!

Quick Improv Tip, then I want to mention a food related writing contest over at HubPages.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches are a standby lunch in our house, particularly during busy days which involve outdoor work, garden care, and our latest project, getting a workout with our horse. Únfortunately, sometimes we don't realize that we are out of jelly, until the peanut butter is already spread on the bread. Honey is a great alternative to jelly, but if that's out, a plain peanut butter sandwich is a little dry. On a whim, yesterday, I used pancake syrup. I was pleasantly surprised that the flavors went together well. That's the improv tip for the week, Peanut Butter and Syrup. It spreads well, you don't need much, and it's just enough to take that dry edge off the sandwich, which works for me.

On to the HubPages Contest...

HubPages is a writing community that allows users to post articles on a multitude of subjects. Whereas blogging allows one to have a running theme based on a given area of interest, Hubs are independent articles, and need not be dependent on a reader's connection to the writer. Further, HubPages offers a means of incorporating Google Adsense, Amazon Affiliate, Ebay Affiliate, and Kontera accounts, allowing a writer to earn royalties based on these programs. It does take some research, and there is a learning curve, so don't expect overnight riches. However, if you enjoy writing, this is another interesting venue.

Periodically, HubPages hosts writing contests, and is advertising a food related contest for the month of June. Hubs must be written about the food related topic of the day, and submitted in the specified time frame. Weekly prizes of $100 for the best hub of the week, and $100 for the "People's Choice" for the week, will be awarded over the 4 week contest. Daily prizes of $50 will be awarded randomly to one of the individuals having published a hub in the given time frame. The grand prize of $1000 will be awarded at the end of the contest, to the best of the 4 weekly winners for best hub. Participation is open to members of HubPages, with some restrictions based on country of residence. Further details are available here...there's time to create a HubPages account and get your feet wet in the realm of hubbing before the contest gets underway.

WFMW: Extending Leftovers For Lunch

2010-05-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family.

Stop by for the latest hints from across the net.

Lunch time arrives, and as you prepare to fix PB&J sandwiches for the troops, you discover that the jar is nearly empty. Egg sandwiches would work, but the eggs were used in a spinach-egg skillet breakfast prepared by your teenage future chef.

Fortunately, you have lots of cheap spinach in the fridge, along with leftovers of last night's quick macaroni improv meal. An extra can of spaghetti sauce, a few minutes in the microwave, and the saucy mac goes alongside the spinach salad....heavy on the salad, easy on the mac. All 8 kids, and Macaroni Mom, eat to their satisfaction! Salad anyone? Gotta hide the peanut butter better so it tides me over til payday this week! Spinach salad extends my leftovers, which works for the kids, and works for me!

WFMW: Knorr Chicken Bouillon is a Timesaver

2010-05-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

Check out Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family!

A standard ingredients for many quick and easy soups and pasta dishes at our Improv kitchen is chicken bouillon powder, particularly Knorr. Whether you are making Mexican Red Rice, Sopa Fideo, or Albondigas Style Soup, or just a simple chicken noodle soup with broth and angel hair pasta, Knorr's chicken bouillon is great to have on hand. As much as I use it, I stock up with a huge (35.3 oz.) jar from Costco, which lasts me for 5-6 months for about $4.00. Small jars, sold in the grocery store, run more than a dollar apiece, and don't last me more than a couple of weeks. It's definitely worthwhile to get a big jar if you do a lot of improv meals.

I find that the angel hair and chicken bouillon are a great alternative to Top Ramen, though, of course, it's not a regular meal in our home. Add a couple of beaten eggs, and its an easy egg drop soup. Or, drop whole raw eggs into the hot soup mixture, allow the eggs to poach, and serve the eggs in the chicken noodle soup mixture. This is a popular, easy dinner for the kids. There are also other varieties of Knorr Bouillon, including beef, tomato, and vegetable, which can be used for different flavors. However, I haven't seen these at the warehouse store.

Knorr Chicken Bouillon works for quick, tasty meals, which works for me.

On the Road...Cheap Lunch, Minimal Mess.

2010-05-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

We had a softball tournament in a small town this weekend. It was last minute that we were sure we could go, being that a baseball double header at home had been on the slate, but was cancelled at the last minute.

Quickly packing the ice chest, I tossed in granola bars, graham crackers, a jar of peanut butter, a package of flour tortillas, and a butter knife, along with a bunch of bananas, napkins, and water bottles. At the end of the first game, dh took it upon himself to make peanut butter wraps, surprising everyone with banana inside. The peels went nicely into the empty tortilla package, along with the knife, in order to avoid making a mess. Everyone loved the treat, and we were all well satisfied. An expected meal at a sandwich shop in the small town would have cost, easily, $50-75, but the $5 or so PB & B (Peanut Butter and Banana) tortillas were a hit!

The improve strikes again!

Works For Me Wednesday: Phony Phried Rice

2010-04-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

It's Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family; be sure to swing by and check out all the great tips!

I love the flavor of fried rice, but haven't ever achieved comparable taste and texture to that of a Chinese restaurant. As a young mom, however, it occurred to me that trying beef broth in cooking my rice might provide something reasonably close. By substituting a can of beef broth for part of the liquid, I achieved a brown color, and a great flavor. As I experimented over the years, I found that a dash, or two, of soy sauce also complemented the flavor. Further, frying up small diced pieces of my meat of choice (pork, chicken, whatever was on hand) and cooking a small bag of mixed veggies, then adding to the finished rice, makes a nice side, or in a pinch, main dish.

Broth in the rice makes for great flavor, which works for me!

Works For Me Wednesday: Kid Pleasing Mac N' Cheese Variation

2010-04-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

It's Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family...be sure to check out the great tips!

This is a simple trick, and makes the difference between a "blah Mac N' Cheese from the box" night, and a "Mom, are there seconds?" Mac N' Cheese night.

My simple Navy Bean Crockpot Soup was on the menu plan. However, in the midst of Algebra, long division, and the like, along with an hour of garden watering in high winds, during which eldest, seeking more algebra help, inadvertently stepped into a hidden mud hole made of dampened poof dirt, losing her shoe in the murky mess, the crockpot soup slipped my mind. Never fear, I just loaded up on boxed Macaroni and Cheese, and Spaghetti sauce, during Kroger's semi-annual case lot sale. Dinner is saved!

Prepare your boxed macaroni and cheese according to instructions, but simply omit the milk, and in it's place, use a can of Spaghetti sauce. Simple. Yes, use butter or margarine. Or, if you have a finicky gall bladder, try olive oil. Of course, if you do have a finicky gall bladder, you probably shouldn't be eating the cheese.

My crew of 8 kiddos will easily go through 4 boxes of this dish, and be left begging for more. This time, I did 5 boxes, leaving some leftovers. The cost breakdown: $1.67 for Mac N' Cheese, .75 for Spaghetti sauce, and about .18 for the margarine.

8-10 servings @ $2.60, based on my case sale deals. Not many times will the kids be satisfied at less than .30/serving. No, the nutritional value isn't great, but in a pinch, during a busy garden-sports-end of school year time frame, a definite sanity saver. Keep it under $5.00 while amping up the heartiness, by adding a pound of ground beef, thoroughly cooked, or ground turkey.

That's time saving taste that doesn't waste: Works For Me!

Angel Hair...Don't Pull YOUR Hair Out!

2010-04-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

This was a big hit! Our Smith's stores had a great stocker upper sale, buy 8, get $4.00 off: the pastas were .49 per 1 lb. package, after the discount. I meant to get all spaghetti, but some Angel Hair found its way into the mix. A quick, cheap lunch, I boiled water, cooked 2 lbs. of the pasta. Added 3 small cans of tomato sauce, garlic salt to taste, and stirred. In retrospect, a little more tomato sauce and some parmesan would have been nice, but the cupboards were a little bare. The kids loved it! Not the healthiest meal, but definitely frugal, filling, and satisfying! Great for an improv moment when the hungries hit, it came in at $1.82 for the whole pot, just .91/meal, as it spanned two lunches. Further, it served 9 of us, working out to a grand total of approximately .10/serving. Thin the noodles to one package, add some chopped onion, chicken bouillion, and water, and that will drop to about .06/serving for a sopa fideo! ¡Delicioso!

Not so Improv...Rootbeer!

2010-03-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

For a summary and more info, see this article at Hubpages...we ran out of brown sugar, and weren't able to make the second batch, so on my list for the day, making rootbeer. Also on the list, Corned Beef and Cabbage, as our St. Patrick's Day is dh's b/day, and we serve tacos on his day! Also on the list, maybe, is to try our hands at homemade yogurt...maybe. Time may be the deciding factor. Some things lend themselves to an improv mindset; these do not! Happy Saturday!

Couscous...A Tasty Pasta For a Quick Treat

2010-03-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

I ordered a 5 lb. bag through a health food co-op recently, and have to say that this is an interesting pasta, and a potentially time saving soup filler in my kitchen. Walking through my warehouse store, I found some intriguing containers offered, with a colorful version as well as the plain. Prepared in a 1 to 1 ratio with liquid, either water or broth, this has a lovely texture and flavor. I'm thinking about preparing it with a sprinkling of cheese melted and stirred in, just to experiment. A worthwhile flavor and texture, I found that the price is comparable at Amazon Grocery, with some couscous products available at a 15% discount via the subscribe and save option.

More about Amazon Grocery Subscribe and Save

Search Amazon.com for couscous

More Than Just Pasta, Baby!

2010-02-28T21:37:00.000-08:00

I started this little blog with the concept of dressing up leftovers, pasta, and other quick meal items. Just to clarify, I don't restrict myself to macaroni! The kids would get bored! Quickly! There are so many intriguing things to make for a quick meal, and I must say that discovering them is fun.

Barley has become one of my favorites! I order pearl barley through a buying club, which orders from Azure Standard . At less than .50/lb when purchased via my co-op, this is an interesting grain to work with. I toss it into homemade soups as a filler, and believe me, it makes a thin soup thick and hearty. For a very hearty soup, I go with about 4 measures of liquid to 1 measure of barley...in our household of 10, that measure is a cereal bowl. For a slightly thinner soup, perhaps 5-6 measures of liquid. I don't usually buy broth to use as the liquid, but opt for the more frugal flavoring, chicken bouillon powder, about 3-4 dollars for a big jar at our Costco.

Barley also works well with stir fry, in place of rice. Cook with a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part barley, just a tinge longer than you would cook rice. I haven't tried it in a Mexican rice type dish yet, but have used it with albondigas flavorings. I'm confident it would do quite well as a substitute in my Mexican rice dish.

One place I did not like the barley was in a sweet version, similar to arroz con leche. The flavors were not great. If I don't care for it, I'm probably not fixing it again...if the kiddos reject it completely, not gonna be on the menu again. Their feellings are mostly positive about the more savory barley meals, though one son has been very vocal about his displeasure. 9 out of 10 is a great approval rating, in my opinion, so barley gets a green light at the Macaroni Improv. This grain is sure to be on the menu for many meals to come, and I will be on the lookout for intriguing ways to dress it up! Be sure to give it a try before you invest in a 25 lb. bag, like I did!

Hiatus...

2010-01-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

I've been away from this one for a while...forgot it existed...uh, oh! But I think it's relevant and pertinent to make the most of one's kitchen resources, so I'm gonna play with this a bit! LOL! For those who may stumble across this site, patience, please! It's a work in progress, by all means!

Leftoverama

2007-06-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ever had one of those days where there doesn't seem to be anything to fix for dinner, and there are bits of many meals in the fridge? Nothing like noodles to tie it all together!

Most of the kids were a little skeptical. Except the toddlers. They're used to making unusual combinations. Leftover spaghetti noodles, leftover sauce, onion, garlic, a couple of chicken breasts cooked and cut into small pieces, leftover rice, leftover scrambled eggs, a little extra tomato sauce, and a couple of chopped up pieces of string cheese. Voila. Sounds awful, but the kids actually enjoyed it, I cleared my fridge a bit, and dinner came and went without too much trauma. Improv in action!

Infrequent Posts

2007-06-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

I'm trying this out...my main blog is Song of the Sagebrush. Just checking out some of the other blog options out here, and I do like blogger. As time permits, I'll try to do more over here!

Wrap it Up…Sloppy Joe Style

2007-05-17T04:10:00.000-07:00

Tortillas are great! Sloppy Joe’s are great. Combine the two for a different and yummy lunch or dinner!

My children turned their noses up at first, but I was out of bread, and I had tortillas. At my diner, there are two options on the menu: take it, or leave it! Most everyone enjoyed !

Mac ‘N Cheese…Cut the Cholesterol

2007-05-17T04:07:00.000-07:00

Here’s a tip for those of us who regularly use the cheapola boxes of Mac ‘n Cheese…
Use olive oil in place of the margarine. You may not have the healthiest meal, and the olive oil may be a little more pricey than the margarine, BUT, you will cut the cholesterol, and it’s pretty tasty, too.

And if you want to cut costs on that olive oil, buy in bulk at Costco or someplace similar. Much cheaper in the long run than picking up a small container at the grocery store!