Hitting the Road

The reason (or excuse) that I've been MIA the past month is because I started traveling for work again.  Some of you may know of my pains from traveling in the past - but I know that God's timing for everything is perfect.  So, I'm rolling up my sleeves and am putting my hope in God once again - trusting Him that nothing we do in this world is for nothing when it's ultimately in worship for my King!  Please pray for me that I can stay positive and keep my eyes on the prize that I know God has in store for me!

With that said, life on the road means that my weekday life must be packed into a suitcase.  Unfortunately, it's difficult to pack a kitchen stove so my dinners recently have been served in plastic boxes and styrofoam plates.  That said, I do try to stay healthy best I can and stay away from Chinese takeout or the major chains you find in abundance out in the American 'burbs.  Lucky for me - there is a Wegman's on the way to the hotel from my client site!! 

For many years, I heard about the wonders of Wegmans.  I finally experienced the beauty of Wegmans first-hand and I must say, that place is wonderful.  It is wonderfully clean, wonderfully stocked, wonderfully staffed, and wonderfully delicious!  It was described to me as: Trader Joe's meets Whole Foods meets Jubilee - and I concur.  It's by far the best grocery store available for suburbanites.  Though my purchases have been mostly from the expansive beer and prepared foods section - this week I discovered a bulk loose leaf tea section.  Beautiful.

Anyway, I still try to find time to cook on the weekends to wind down.  Cooking is very therapeutic for me.  Some say the complete opposite - but I hope you too can find solace in cooking one day!  The 2 things I miss the most when I travel is fried egg (this is surprisingly difficult to find on the road) and just simple brothy noodle soups.  Here's one of my favorite Korean noodle soups: Mak Gooksoo ("Whatever Noodles" - Haha!).  It's healthy and has a clean taste - enjoy!

Cook-to-Eat-to-Be-Happy Time: 20 minutes (or less!)
Difficulty: 1 2 3 4

Ingredients

  

• 1 squash
• 2 large / 3 small carrots
• 1 medium onion
• Dried anchovies (maybe like 10 fish)
• Dashima (dried kelp)
• Kimchi

 

• Dried Mak Gooksoo ("Whatever Noodles") 

Alright, let's get cookin...

1. Throw some anchovies (~10), dried kelp ( ~5 pieces) and (I had some leftover onion) into a pot of water and bring to boil.  Salt to taste.  This is the soup base.

1a. Boil another pot of water for your noodles.

2. While soup base boils, chop up and slice (using mandolin) squash, carrots, and onions.

3. Scoop out the anchovies and kelp.

4. Throw in your veggies and simmer (don't over cook or you will eat mush).

 5, Cook your noodles & drain.

5. Make your magic kimchi mix:

• Chopped kimchi - 1 cup
• Sesame oil - 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon
• Sesame seeds - 2 teaspoons

6.  Ladle soup over noodles and top generously with your magic kimchi mix (I was not generous here for the sake of making the picture pretty haha).

7. Eat & Be happy!