#makes leftovers

[no-more-ramen]

Mushroom Soup

This recipe makes around 6-8 servings and freezes well. You will need a large pot to cook it in and a blender. If making it dairy free I recommend using a dairy free spread rather than oil if possible as it does add to the flavour.

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter (or vegan alternative)

1 yellow onion

approx 450g mushrooms (I like chestnut mushrooms but use whatever type you want)

2 cloves of garlic

1 can of coconut milk

700ml of stock

1 tsp of nutmeg

1/2 tsp of paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Melt the butter in a large pot, chop the onion and garlic and add to the pot.

Either chop or just break up the mushrooms, adding the to the pot as you go. Size doesn't matter because it'll all be blended. Stir everything in the pot occasionally so it doesn't burn.

Once the mushrooms are added make the stock and pour it over. Bring to the boil and then simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the coconut milk and blend using a hand-held blender. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a spoon to ensure you get all the large chunks.

Add the nutmeg, paprika, salt and pepper. Adjust quantities to suit your tastes. 

[no-more-ramen]

Calzones

If you've never had calzones, they're like giant folded pizzas, or giant pizza pops. They're delicious and easy.

Preheat your oven to around 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

You will need:

- 1 premade pizza dough (not precooked - use gluten free if you want!)

- Cheese (use pre-grated if you want, I use my food processor to grate mine - we like mozzarella, but use what you like)

- Pizza sauce 

- Whatever toppings you want, like olives, mushrooms, pepperoni, anything your little heart can think of

What you do:

1. Roll the dough out fairly thin. Use some flour if needed to keep it from sticking. You want kind of an oval shape.

2. Spread a very light layer of pizza sauce over the whole thing, leaving about a half inch to an inch border free.

3. Add toppings. I like to do a couple layers of toppings and cheese starting with cheese at the bottom, and ending with cheese on the top for even distribution. 

4. Lightly oil a large cookie pan (I cover mine in tinfoil because easy clean-up) or use something like semolina flour if you wanna get fancy, and get that thing on there as best you can. (I suggest spatulas and being as quick as possible.

5. Cook for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on the bottom to prevent burning.

LET IT COOL FOR A MINUTE BEFORE EATING SO YOU DON'T BURN YOUR FACE OFF. 

[no-more-ramen]

Easy Orange Chicken

I saw this as a Facebook post and tried it out today. It’s delicious and incredibly easy! Ingredients 1. Pack of raw chicken breasts 2. Jar of sweet orange jam or marmalade 3. 1 cup bbq sauce 4. 2 TBSP soy sauce 5. (Optional) regular or instant rice Instructions: 1. Cube or thinly slice the chicken breasts. 2. Sauté with the orange jam and sauces until thoroughly cooked. 3. Serve over rice if you have any. 4. Enjoy! 🤤 (If you are only cooking for yourself or even two people this can also make leftovers)

[no-more-ramen]

Mushroom chicken

Pretty good copycat of Panda Express mushroom chicken, pretty cheap and tasty. Made enough for 3-4 servings with rice. Ingredients: -1lb Chicken thighs boneless and skinless, cut into small cubes (abt 3-4 thighs) -2 cups white mushrooms sliced into pieces (abt 8-10 large mushrooms) -2 cups zucchini or yellow squash, sliced and cut in half moon shapes (1 large zucchini) -1 tablespoon oil for cooking (I used vegetable oil bc it was a little hot and olive oil doesn’t do as well at high heat) -optional: 1 cup carrots, cut into matchstick size pieces. You could add other veg too -optional: 3 cloves chopped garlic (I really love garlic but there’s some in the sauce so up to you) For sauce/marinade: -2 tablespoons soy sauce -1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (rice wine vinegar would be better but I used what I had) -1 tablespoon sugar -2 tablespoons garlic powder -1 tsp black pepper -1 tsp ginger powder -1/2 tsp chili powder Step 1: Make sauce. Mix together the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder, ginger, pepper and chili powder. Step 2: Marinate. Put the chicken in a bowl or ziploc bag and cover with the sauce. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours—I left mine overnight and cooked it the next day but even 30 mins should be ok. Step 3: Heat a large frying pan or skillet on high heat. You want the pan to be pretty hot. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil to the pan. Step 4: Once the oil is hot, use a spoon to add your chicken to the pan. Leave most of the sauce in the bowl if you can do the sugar doesn’t burn. Spread it in a thin layer and let it cook, stirring occasionally so the pieces cook on all sides. Step 5: Once the chicken looks almost cooked, add the mushrooms. Let them cook for about a minute, stirring. Then add the rest of the veggies you are using. Step 6: Pour in the rest of the sauce left over from marinating the chicken. Add chopped garlic now if you are using it. Stir everything until it is coated lightly with the sauce. Step 7: Cover the pan to help the veggies cook, check on it occasionally but maybe 3-5 minutes. Once the squash has started to soften remove the lid and cook uncovered for a minute or two until everything is cooked. Step 8: Serve over rice and enjoy! This recipe is a little more work but it definitely felt worth it as a healthy alternative to fast food. You can cut and prep everything the night before, or buy precut produce, then throw it together the next day in 15-20minutes. I had the spices and things on hand, so I only spent ~$5 for the chicken and veg. Pretty cheap for 4 meals and it felt like a treat!

[no-more-ramen]

Tuna and White Bean Salad

This recipe from Budget Bytes is very easy and yummy, and decently healthy too! If you leave out the green onions or find them pre-sliced, it could easily be made a no-chopping recipe as well.

Ingredients:

1 5oz can of tuna

1 15oz can of white beans

1 Tbsp olive oil

juice of one lemon

2 whole green onions

salt and pepper to taste

optional: dash of hot sauce

Instructions:

1. Drain the tuna and beans

2. Put the tuna and beans into a mixing bowl

3. Chop the green onions

4. Add the green onions, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the mixing bowl. Mix to combine.

That's it! Very quick. This recipe makes two meal-sized servings for me, and could easily be doubled for meal prep.

It's great by itself, but also work on top of fresh greens or some toast if you're feeling it. I top it with some hot sauce to serve, but that's super optional. Enjoy!

[no-more-ramen]

The "Really Fancy" Spaghetti Sauce

I've been cooking this recipe for a very long time. I learned it from a friend, who learned it from a friend, whose mom taught him. This is the sauce you bust out to impress someone, but it's not hard at all. It's full of veggies and it's really chunky and looks as amazing as it tastes. This recipe calls for a lot of chopping of vegetables, so you should be able to handle a knife. It's vegan, and if you water saute and buy the salt free versions of the canned tomatoes, it is SOS (salt, oil, sugar) free. And you can use a gluten free pasta, as well.

Ingredients:

1 tall pot for the sauce, 1 pot for the pasta, a strainer for the pasta, a sharp knife and cutting board

1 pound (0.5 kg) box pasta of your choice (you don't have to cook all of it, depends on how many people are eating. About a quarter of the box per person)

1 29 ounce (822 grams) can of tomato sauce (you can get salt free versions of all of these)

1 15 ounce (425 grams) can of diced tomatoes

1 8 ounce (226 grams) can of tomato paste

2 tablespoons (10mL) oil for sauteing (or water saute)

1 medium to large yellow or white onion

2-3 cloves of garlic (I love garlic so feel free to add more)

1 green bell pepper (capsicum)

1 yellow or orange bell pepper

1 red bell pepper (some stores sell a package with all three colors together)

1 8 ounce (226 grams) box of mushrooms (sliced or whole)

Seasoning: A jar of Italian herbs (or basil and oregano and rosemary and thyme)

Salt to taste

Directions:

Chop all your vegetables first! The French have this thing called "mise en place" which means get all your prepwork done first and things will go a million times faster. 

The onion and garlic are going in first, so dice them and set those aside. Clean and chop the bell peppers into fairly large pieces (about an inch square). Clean and slice the mushrooms (if you bought them whole). Open up all your cans and set those aside.

Turn the stove onto medium high (8) and heat the oil. When it's hot, add the onion and garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes, then add the peppers and mushrooms (your pot is going to pretty full). Stir those around for a couple of minutes, getting them hot and softening them just a little. They're going to cook in the sauce for a while and get soft anyway.

Add the three cans of tomatoes. The paste is really thick and you'll have to stir it to get it to mix in.

Add the Italian seasonings, about 3 tablespoons of the blend or 1 tablespoon of each)

Bring the sauce back up to a bubble and then lower the heat to about a (4) and simmer for a while. Twenty minutes is a good number. Keep an eye on it and stir it every few minutes so it doesn't stick to the bottom.

Once it's simmering, start the pasta according to the directions on the box. When it's done, drain the pasta and you can eat!

[no-more-ramen]

Chickpea and Tomato Curry

I got this recipe here on YouTube and it's called five minute curry, because they timed it, lol. It's definitely easy, but they made it look a little dangerous, too. Best to take your time. But it is simple and it's really good. I gave you bare bones and I added some extras, too. This is vegan and you can make it SOS free (no salt, oil or sugar).

1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed) (no/low salt if you prefer)

1 can diced tomatoes (no salt if you prefer)

1 can coconut milk (low fat if you prefer)

2 tablespoons oil to saute (or water saute if you're oil free)

1 onion, diced

2-3 cloves of Garlic (or add 2 tsp powdered to the Cumin and Curry)

1 tablespoon Cumin powder

1 tablespoon Curry powder

salt to taste (or omit and/or salt when serving)

1 teaspoon black pepper

Saute the diced onion and chopped garlic in the oil or water in a pan. Add the cumin and curry (and garlic powder) and black pepper to the pan and stir, to warm up the spices. Then add the three cans, and the salt and you're done!

fBut! If you want to get fancy, add the following spices when you add the cumin and curry:

1 teaspoon ginger powder (or a thumb of chopped ginger when you saute the onion)

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon paprika

and then if you want:

throw in a handful of greens (kale or spinach or parsley or cilantro)

This can be served with rice or couscous or quinoa, so get that going before you start this. If you measure out all your spices before you begin it's super quick, but if you have time, let the whole thing simmer for about 20 minutes (or until your grain is done.)

[no-more-ramen]

Super easy chicken curry (Indian Style)

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

1 green chilly (finely chopped)

2-3 medium tomatoes

Ginger garlic paste (or 5 large cloves of garlic and a thumb sized piece of ginger minced)

¼ kg (½ lb) chicken cut into chunks

2 medium (1 large) potato

2 Tbsp oil

Chilly powder

Salt

Tumeric

Garam masala (optional)

Cilantro (optional)

METHOD: 1. Dice the onion and tomatoes as fine as you can 2. Heat the oil in a pot on a medium flame and add the onion, ginger-garlic and green chilly. Stir till onions become translucent and the ginger and garlic no longer smell raw. 3. Add the tomato and stir for 2-5 minutes. 4. Add 1 tsp tumeric,½ tsp of garam masala, and salt and chilly powder to taste. 5. Add the chicken and cook until the outside turns white. Meanwhile wash, peel, and dice the potato. 6. When chicken is partially cooked add the potato, mix well. 7. Add one cup cup of water and let the whole thing simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

Best served with rice and a little bit of yoghurt. If you accidentally make it to spicy you can add a bit of sugar to even it out.