Cooking 4 Life: Making To-Go At Home In Under 5 Minutes

You have less than 30 minutes to make dinner, there’s a takeout menu on the counter that’s screaming your name, what do you do?  The answers simple, throw together a few quick ingredients you probably have sitting around your house, save some hard earned money, and treat your family to a dish that contains ingredients you can easily pronounce.

Most homes have several ingredients sitting around, whether it’s some meat sitting in the refrigerator, a jar of peanuts in the pantry or just a few odd vegetables floating around the refrigerator.  Why not use some of these loose ends to create something tasty and healthy?  If you need other ideas, check out our other recipes in our Cooking 4 Life series

Udon Noodles Make A Simple Meal

In most grocery stores, sometimes in the refrigerated section by the vegetables, there are bags of “udon” or “yakisoba” noodles.  You should keep a bag or two around your house, for these types of situations.  They’re great when you have a few spare ingredients and want to tie them together in a simple way.  In most cases, they come either pre-cooked or you need to only throw them into a stir-fry. 

So am I saying throw in a hodgepodge of whatever is in your house?  Yes, yes I am.  You know what flavors you like, you know what textures you enjoy, why do you need a recipe to measure yourself against?  Use the basics, a little salt, a little pepper, some soy sauce (or fish sauce or teriyaki sauce), throw in some spice (perhaps sombal or Siracha sauce?), chop up your veggies and let your meal meld together.  Add a few peanuts for a little crunch, but experiment, make a few different versions for your family and try to make a new family favorite. 

This is also a great way to involve the younger members of the family.  They noodles take very little work, and are hard to burn.  You can crisp them in some oil (crunchy chow mein anyone?), but for most of us, we add a little olive oil just to coat the wok. 

It might not be the prettiest dinner you’ve created, but it will be delicious. All of this, in less time than it’d take to grab takeout.  Want to take this to another level?  Find out how to make these noodles from scratch: