Try Something New Tuesday # 9

Noodle Box Dinner

 

Welcome to another Try Something New Tuesday. This week I decided to trick the children into believing that I'd gone out and purchased a noodle stir-fry meal from our local Noodle Box. The main reason for doing this was because I wanted them to reach their daily limit of 5 vegetables and 2 fruits. Now in our house getting to eat 2 pieces of fruit a day is the easy part, it's trying to get them to eat 5 vegetables that's causing me problems. Why is it difficult, I hear you ask. The answer is easy, each child likes different vegetables and remembering which vegetables to leave out can sometimes mean that no vegetables would ever get eaten.

 

So it was because of this reason that I decided to lie to my children. I went out with the two girls one afternoon and while we were window shopping I stopped into the dollar store (which never has anything for a dollar). They had a six packet of decorative Noodle boxes for sale for $2.50 and they also had the white ones you'd find if you were getting take away, these were smaller, came in a six pack and they were selling for $2.00. I went with the decorative noodle box because with two big eaters in the house (Mr Opoes and Caelan) I didn't want to reuse the container. Mackenna and Viveca both love purple so I was guaranteed that they would at least open the box to see what was inside.

 

Sweet Soy Meatball Stir Fry.

Ingredients:

750g premium mince

4 shallots (spring onions), thinly sliced

2 covers garlic, crushed

1 egg, lightly beaten

450g thin hokkien noodles

1 tablespoon oil

600g fresh or frozen vegetables (I used mushroom, carrot, broccoli, yellow capsicum, baby corn, celery and beans)

 

Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup water

 

Method:

1. Combine mince, onion, garlic and egg in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well.  Roll the mixture into bit size balls and place on a large plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

2. Crop up all the vegetables and place them in small piles ready to cook.

3. In a separate bowl mix together the soy sauce, brown sugar and water. When this is well combined use a warm spoon to add the honey and mix well.

4. Place the noodles in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Stand for 2 to 3 minutes or until they are tender. Using a fork try to separate the noodles and then drain.

5. Heat a wok over a medium heat and add about a teaspoon of oil. Cook the meatballs in small batches for about 5 minutes or until they are browned. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs.

6. Add the remaining oil to the wok and stir fry the vegetables. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until they are tender. Add the noodles and meatballs and heat through. Add the sauces and mix well you want to try and coat the noodles with the sauce. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Serve.

stir fry for

 

Now I placed a serve into each of the noodle boxes (I gave more to Mr Opoes and Caelan), you don't have to fill the box for younger children as it could cause a problem when eating. I was lucky to get 7 serves from this but that because I gave Quinlan, Mackenna and Viveca smaller amounts as I knew they had issues with one or more of the things in the box. That was dinner and I'm pleased to say that everyone at their dinner and I was even asked for seconds.

 

This was what was waiting for them at
the dinner table.



A few meatballs on top to grab the
children's attention.

 

This was a fairly easy meal to make and the hardest thing for me was getting the meal into the noodle box without making it look to messy and unprofessional. I did lie to the children and they all thought I'd gone out and bought dinner. Please don't judge me, this works in our house at the moment BUT give it a year or more and I'm sure the elder two will inform the younger kids that mummy in indeed lying to them. Hope to see you all tomorrow.





Megan