Food Share: Pretzel Buns and Egg Drop Soup Wanna Be Ramen Noodles

Last weekend my kids and I were busy baking and cooking and one of the things that we made were some pretzel buns. I have never made pretzel buns before so Pinterest to the rescue (of course). After searching for a recipe, I came with one that I liked and we baked away! Thank goodness to my trusty old bread machine friend because it does all the dough making for me. And here is my own version! I see a lot of these buns at Safeway every time we go grocery shopping, but I didn't really want to buy it because I always thought I could make some homemade. These didn't last long and it was gone like lighting flash. It was good paired with homemade chicken soup that I made. Perfect for a cold winter day. 

We also love to buy instant Ramen noodles because they are cheap and quick to fix. Plus it is something that I am used to eating since I was a kid. Ramen noodles are versatile though because you can prepare it in different kinds of ways and not just the plain noodles. For my dish I decided to fake it a little bit and made sort of an egg drop soup type of ramen noodles. I am an egg drop soup kind of gal. I could have fancied it up by sprinkling chopped onion leeks or chives, but I didn't have anything on hand. Either way, it was so good and my kids enjoyed the soup. I also like adding tons of vegetables with my ramen or adding some onions in the water first and wait to boil as it adds up a lot of taste to the soup. How about you, how do you omph up your Ramen noodles? 

You can click on this link for the Bread Recipe.

With the egg drop soup part, I just mixed in a little bit of cornstarch, coconut milk (I am into coconut milk and coconut oil lately) and two eggs. Just mix them up together, then use a strainer and slowly pour the egg mixture through the strainer over the soup and you will see it start forming into like an egg drop soup. Easy as that! I have no particular recipe. 

Chicken, Veggies and Noodle Soup

I don't really know what to call this dish, but other than Chicken, Vegetable and Noodle soup because that's what's in it. Basically, I made a type of soup last night out of what we have left in our fridge and pantry. I looked at the remaining ingredients I have left and thought of making some soup. It so happened, my husband was wanting soup as well so I did. Soups are something comforting to have when the weather is cold and raining outside. It is also good when you are not feeling well and somehow chicken soup kind of lifts your spirit when you take a sip of the broth. Don't you think so? I guess my husband really did enjoy the soup last night because he not only went for seconds, but he had his third bowl. I know! There wasn't much left by the end of the night. My kids did enjoy the soup as well along with some rice. Here is how I cook the soup.

I don't have an exact recipe or measurements of the ingredients so if you want to make some, cook it according to your taste or like. It's your kitchen so do your own thing. This serves as a guide.

I like to gather and prep all my ingredients before I start cooking. In that way, I'll have a stress-free cooking in the kitchen. Here are my ingredients;

- Chicken

- Crushed or Minced Garlic

- Onions

- Pepper

- Grated Ginger

- Potato

- Chayote

- Cabbage

- Bok Choy (boy choy has the white stalk and the leafy part. I cook it separately because it has different cooking time)

- Noodles (I have some Philippine type of noodles left in my pantry so that's what I use. You can use whatever you like)

- Rosemary & Curly Parsley herbs

- First, I brown up my chicken in a pot where I cook my soup in a tablespoon of oil. Once brown, take it off the pan, set it aside, then pour the excess oil.

- In the same pan, sautee' your onions, garlic, and peppers. Next, the potatoes and chayote and put some water about 6 cups or more if you like. (I like soup so much and it tastes even better the next day so I like to  make a lot). Put the chicken back into the pot and add the grated ginger. Cover and let it boil.

 - Once boiling up, make sure to check if f the chicken's already cook. If not, just leave it uncovered and simmer for a few minutes or until the chicken's cooked. Once cooked, add the Bok Choy stalk, cabbage, and your noodles, cover. Let it cook. It doesn't take long to cook those. Make sure to season with salt and pepper at this point. Or if you have some fish sauce, add according to your taste. (Scoop some of those scums floating on top of the water too. You don't want that.)

- After the noodles, cabbage and Bok Choy stalk are cooked, it is now time to put the leafy part of the Bok Choy and turn off the heat. The heat will cook the leaf.

- Add your favorites herbs and serve while hot. Enjoy!

Oh yes! The soup was so good.

As a Filipino, I always love to have rice along with my soup. It's just comforting and very filling for me.

Even my kids enjoyed the soup and rice. Yaye!

Have a great weekend!

Note: You can also add two fresh bay leaves or one dried bay leaf to the pot. Adding some lemon grass would also be another Filipino way to cook some soup and add some aroma to the dish. Just take it out after cooking.