0

Comments

Wondering what OCI FAD is? I thought so. It’s an acronym for…Oh Crap I Forgot About Dinner!

Sometimes this happens to the best of u; we get carried away with playing or a chore and all of a sudden it’s 5:30. Not such a big deal unless you have a gang of boy offspring (yes, I have three and love testosterone) who are starving and could melt down any moment. They might look fine now watching PBS kids, but at any moment a “girl show” might come on or they might just loose interest. That’s when Mom can come under attack…fighting, crying fits, and general annoying behavior is the weapon of choice for hungry kids.

I try to resist the old standbys like mac and cheese, canned soup, or heaven forbid some kind of instant rice and sauce in a bag. Here is a recent recipe that worked perfectly to solve an OCI FAD crisis last week. Now the ingredients will be on my shopping list as staples…everyone loved it.

Souper Soba Noodle Soup

A couple of handfuls of mushrooms (shitake is yummy but use whatever you have)
A big bunch of fresh spinach
A few stalks of green onion
Chicken broth (a big full pot for a family, smaller amounts for smaller groups, maybe 2 1/2 cups per person)

One package of dry soba noodles
Soy sauce, pepper

How To Make It This Soup

Saute the sliced mushrooms in the dinner pot with the sliced-up white portion of the green onions (save the greens for later) and olive oil.

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Add the Soba noodles and cook until tender.

A couple of minutes before serving, load in all the chopped spinach and cook until it’s wilted.

Season with a bit of soy, pepper, and finely chopped green onions.

Serve it in big bowls with chopsticks right away…the noodles get a tad goopy if they sit too long. I adore my Buddha Bowls; the picture is the baby Buddha size…they are great for drinks and food and very chip resistant. I get great joy out of the colors and coziness of them.

Extra OCI FAD Ideas

Not convinced? What if I told you this recipe is easy enough to get your kids to help? Keeping them engaged in dinner preparation is a huge defense against melt-downs.

Feeling poor? Knowing that you can feed five people two meals for under $25 might bring a smile to your frugal face. Try this…

Meal One: a grocery store roasted chicken, brown rice and broccoli.

Then, right after dinner make a quick stock with that chicken carcass. Throw in celery greens and some onion for flavor, boil until nice and golden then strain the stock through a colander.

Meal Two: Use that yummy broth to make the next nights meal of Soba Noodle Soup!

[Photo by author]