New Michelle Blog: Filling 19 Hungry Bellies on a Road Trip

[browngrl]

It kills me to agree with Michelle but I too love ramen. I would eat it all the time if I had not concerns about fat/salt/ chemicals. It is the hotdogs of my life - you know it's bad for you but you still love it.

[BlondeAgent007]

Even though I am in school to be a dietician, Ramen is one of my secret trashy loves. I melt a tablespoon(probably less, guesstimate) of peanut butter into the broth when I make it. I LOVE the flavor that way, makes it taste almost like thai food. It makes the broth thicker and covers some of the salt flavor as well. Also adds protein and "good" fats, so it's a win win!! :). Adding some chopped veggies (small enough to need only a few minutes to cook, or leftover cooked) also adds nutrition and doesn't ruin ramen's "fast and easy" appeal

[PhoenixFeathers]

I miss ramen, since I discovered I was gluten intolerant I haven't been able to eat it. I know is full of junk, but sometimes I crave it.

Simply Asian makes a rice noodle soup bowl that has less salt and bad for you stuff then ramen. It helps when I crave the ramen.

[ladypuglover]

Growing up protien was a huge deal in our house do to many of us having medical reasons. Same with my children and protien in some form is served at all meals and encouraged at snack times. I rather my sons eat a natural plant or meat protien than one filled with additives that is commonly found in ramen. My kids would rather eat the ramen. :roll:

when we travel cross country by car it is still easy to have fresh/canned veggies or fruit and make meals without relying on junk as a meal or snack. We have a cooler that is meant for food just at a cool temp and one that is meant to keep foods very cold. So using 2 coolers, our kids can have a full meal that would please any dietician that would travel with us. And yes, if you know what to do you can easily travel with milk, cheeses and so forth for sometime before you need to replace if it wasn't eaten all up. ;)

[doe]

Even though I am in school to be a dietician, Ramen is one of my secret trashy loves. I melt a tablespoon(probably less, guesstimate) of peanut butter into the broth when I make it. I LOVE the flavor that way, makes it taste almost like thai food. It makes the broth thicker and covers some of the salt flavor as well. Also adds protein and "good" fats, so it's a win win!! :). Adding some chopped veggies (small enough to need only a few minutes to cook, or leftover cooked) also adds nutrition and doesn't ruin ramen's "fast and easy" appeal

Thank you for renewing my faith in ramen. I grew up loving it but in recent years I have only tolerated it. Sometimes I've made thai style ramen by draining them and cooking them in a skillet with carrots and drizzling with homemade peanut dressing. But eating them the way they are supposed to be eaten pretty much sucks.

So a few minutes ago I made some and added some pb and garlic powder. I can now make peace with ramen during the lean times!

[Buzzard]

I eat ramen raw... no flavor packet for me. Its gross, I know, but yummy! I'm going to have to try that PB trick!

I never understood the duggar obsession with processed foods. They have the land to grow good stuff, even have some chickens and cows. You would think that their "frugal" lifestyle would lead them towards this path.

As for the snacks, also, not really frugal. Homemade stuff is always the cheapest. It is also the best for you.

[Guest Anonymous]

What are the ramen noodles J'chelle is talking about. Is it like Pot Noodle in the UK - a plastic cup of dried noodles, flavouring and fat, that you pour boiling water over to make a snack meal?

The list of snacks she gives just seems like an extension of the crap they eat on paper plates at home. I don't think there is anything wrong with the foods individually but there seems to be no healthy balance in their diet. They must pass shops when on tour - how difficult would it be to cut up a block of cheese into cubes and pass it round, along with a bag of apples and carrots? They are not a family who enjoy good healthy food, on the whole, and it seems to stem from Jimbob and J'chelle having no imagination or culinary skill.

I'm with the many others who enjoy occasional junky snacks, but I also enoy well prepared meals, served on china plates, and snacks of fresh fruit and home baked treats. And I live on a frugal budget too.

[Rosa]

You can get ramen like pot noodle, but it's even cheaper if you buy it in a plastic wrapper and cook it in a real pot (or microwave it in a casserole dish) - it's dry fried noodles & seasoning packet. Before he got worried about salt & blood pressure my partner ate ramen all the time, and now for a treat I get him the super fancy ramen from the import store. Price ranges from about 12 cents a package up to $1.50/package.

Ramen cooked with half the seasoning packet, a big handful of frozen veggies, and a swirled up egg or a spoonful of nut butter is a totally decent meal and costs about $1/person.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

I can haz recipe?

Sure! I don't have the recipe in front of me, but I'm not a strict follower anyway. I've probably never made it the same twice.

1 lb of shredded cabbage (I buy the bags meant for coleslaw.)

2-4 green onions, finely chopped (I'm an onion freak so I use a ton)

1 cup of cooked, cubed chicken

1 pack of ramen noodles, chicken flavor

3 T white vinegar

2 T sugar

2 T oil

chicken flavor packet

Bring a med saucepan of water to a boil and pour over noodles in colander, and then slice them up some. Mix up the dressing, mix everything else, and add dressing. Refrigerate overnight or for several hours.

I make a double batch of the salad with a triple batch of the dressing. The LittleSquirrel and I like it dripping with dressing.

[almostfundylyte]

I like Ramen, so do the hubs and son. Sometimes, we have Ramen when I really don't feel like cooking. For the 3 of us, I cook 2 packages, add a small bag of frozen veggies, and if I have some chicken already cooked in the freezer, I throw that in, too. It's a satisfying meal that way.

I also occassionally buy fruit in a can. My husband loves mandarin oranges (why, I can't understand, oranges should not be mushy), and we all love pineapple. The rest of our fruits I either grow (apples, peaches, pears, cherries, berries) or purchase on sale in season, and can/freeze myself. I do the same with veggies. Store-bought canned veggies are not good IMO.

[gustava]

I'm guessing that she has a bunch of picky eaters on the bus and ramen may be one of the few foods -- other than pizza -- on which they agree.

[bananacat]

I'm guessing that she has a bunch of picky eaters on the bus and ramen may be one of the few foods -- other than pizza -- on which they agree.

Many fundies will not tolerate picky eaters. Part of it is practicality because you can't cook a dozen different meals 3 times a day, but a bigger part of it is stifling all trace of disobedience. If Mom tells you to eat something, you eat it or you get punished. The Duggars might be more lenient now, but I would be surprised if they actually care about the preferences of their children.

[BlondeAgent007]

So many lovely ramen recipes! And so cheap too!

Well aware that canned vegetables/fruits are nutritionally not as good as fresh or frozen (retains nutrients, no added salt content/sugars), but if the choice is between canned veg or NO veggies/fruit, which the case seems to be with the duggars, I'm at least grateful they recognize that other food groups exist besides cream of-soups, frozen potatoes, pasta, and ground turkey. Knowing the duggars, they would probably ruin fresh vegetables anyways by cooking them to death at a raging boil for 10-15 minutes, which unless u are making soup and retain the water, leaches a lot of the nutrients out of the food anyway. I don't know, I'm just glad to see their kids know that the food pyramid has 6 food groups (fat is a group!), not just 2 or 3

[galaxygirl]

I love canned fruit. Canned peaches are my main pregnancy craving and I can only eat canned pineapple because unfortunately I'm allergic to fresh pineapple.