recipe of the week: ramen on the run.

I'm running a week behind (I wouldn't say I was the most consistent blogger!) but am trying to catch up. So many ideas, not enough time. I'm hoping to write more and share my life and thoughts with you more but I can't promise anything... and find it hard when I often feel like I'm talking to a blank wall.

Anyway, as requested, I'm going to try and share a recipe each week which I've made which is easy and will hopefully encourage you to eat just a little bit healthier.

This week, Ramen on the Run.

We don't watch much TV anymore, but Friday nights, when I'm home alone, I often do some craft and watch a show: my embarrassing favourites are either The Living Room or Better Homes and Gardens (cringe), and I flick to the footy because #melbourne. Anyway, on The Living Room the other week, Miguel shared this recipe for a healthy and delicious work lunch: Ramen on the Run. I prepared a few in advance and they were delicious and healthy!

We eat quite a bit of soup in autumn and winter but I don't often think of making Ramen, and it was great!

Get the recipe here.

I made a few changes to make it slightly healthier (see below), I couldn't be bothered doing any cooking so I didn't include the chicken or the egg (and they're not necessary as it's big and filling enough as is!), and I swapped around some of the veggies, but I used the recipe as a base and it's a winner!

Give it a go, let me know what you think!

To make it even better, I'd highly recommend these changes:

1. swap the two-minute noodles for rice noodles (vermicelli). There's no need to pre-cook them, they're super cheap and healthy and they work well in this soup, 
2. use organic (see point 3) gluten-free soy (or tamari) as they generally have less ingredients in them, and
3. consider your choice of miso. Not all misos are created equal! I usually steer clear of soy products, as most are GMO, so look out for this, but miso is great for many reasons but mostly because it is fermented (post on me getting back into fermented food coming soon – and by soon I mean, hopefully soon, see top of post!) which means it has lots of prebiotics and probiotics and is easy to digest. However, a lot of miso is made shelf-stable by either heating it or by adding alcohol... both methods kill the beneficial bacteria hence losing all the goodness of the miso. I'd recommend splashing out and getting a better quality miso so you get the extra goodness! 

This is a great lunch or dinner. But I especially like it because all you have to do is add hot water so makes work lunches healthy, cheap and easy and can be prepared in advance. Always a winner for me!

you drink what!?

My body has some interesting stuff going on... I'm not great at science – so I don't understand all the details – but I am very practical, so I know what to do: cut some foods from my diet, replace with others. Sounds easy, except if you've never heard of the foods you need to start eating.

So I've entered the land of sauerkraut, kombucha and kimchi. If you don't know what they are, you aren't alone, I didn't either until 2 weeks ago... but now I'm pretty much an expert.*

These fermented foods are good for many reasons, but particularly good for the gut. There are two types of guys living in your gut: good guys (nothing to do with the home appliances company) and bad guys. You want lots of happy good guys and less of the bad guys. Fermented foods make the good guys living down there happy!*

Because I want a happy gut (who doesn't!?), I've been eating (and drinking) lots of these types of foods. They've been around for thousands of years, but as my doctor said, I grew up a good Aussie girl so I've never heard of any them. I think he was saying it as a negative, but I'm happy that I grew up as a good Aussie girl!

So, I've done lots of research and started making them myself.

In my cupboard, I have kombucha and kimchi fermenting away. Yes, they have live cultures in them. Kombucha is a fermented tea drink, which is a bit fizzy and a bit sweet and can be flavoured with whatever you like. Kimchi is a Korean dish of fermented veggies. I haven't tried it yet but I hope it's nice as I've made a large jar of it! I'm really hoping my experiments are working!

The steps of making kombucha (clockwise from top left): make some tea, cool it down with a few more cups of filtered water, get your SCOBY and starter, add it to the tea, cover with a tight weave cloth and leave to ferment.

I could explain more but I'm not really an expert.* If you want to know more about kombucha check out The Whole Daily – she has a free ebook called Love Your Guts, or Wellness Mama, or I Quit Sugar's article: 17 Reasons You Should Drink Kombucha (and it even contains sugar, so it must be good!).

If you're in Sydney and want to have a go at making kombucha yourself and get some more info, head along to this WORK-SHOP event on Thursday night (2 days time).

There is heaps more information on the internet about fermented foods and easy ways to make them. Keep an eye on my Instagram feed (@thearlegirl) to see if my kombucha and kimchi work... fingers crossed!


* Does googling a topic make you can expert?
* If you ever need me to simplify any complex topics for you, happy to help out ;)
* I think the answer to my previous question is no.