Life Snapshot: Pick Your Own Ramen Night

The other night I called everyone to the table and realized I'd completely forgotten to steam the bok choy. I'd bought a Costco-sized amount of it four days before and figured the simplest and best way to use it would be a simple Ramen supper and didn't want to put it off any longer. With the addition of bok choy to the routine I'd always steamed it but the kids were coming up the stairs... I was out of time.

So I pulled out my deep frying pan, poured some sesame oil in, and started adding bok choy to the pan. There was so much I could only do half and wait for it to get smaller before carefully adding more. But it worked! And by the time the kettle had come to a boil our bowls were prepped! We poured the water in, moved the bok choy to the table, and food was served!

It worked out better than original the plan would have.

Wait What?

We've been doing pick your own ramen night for a while now and it's one of those meals that just keeps delivering. Everyone picks their package, we add whatever makes sense that's in the house, it comes together in maybe ten minutes, and potentially (depending how you do it) no or less dishes that whatever else I would've made.

The girls love it. Additionally my eldest now has a microwave at school and loved the microwavable bowl containers so we ended up getting her a microwave-safe glass container so she can choose whichever kind of ramen she felt like. Making the packets (and add-ins) simpler to do.

Customizations

My contribution to the protein requirement is usually soft boiled eggs... it used to be hard boiled but a friend gifted us a Dash egg cooker which makes it much simpler. The kids tolerate this with varying enthusiasm.

Sometimes I require adding some frozen corn or peas for some vegetable content and sometimes I turn a blind eye to it. For me... I normally load mine with frozen veggies before adding the boiling water and then pivot to the microwave when the noodles aren't cooked enough.

Depending on how we feel or which kind we chose cheese is then added. We normally add cheddar or pepper jack cheese... or both. The other day it was just me that added cheese.

If you want a bit more gourmet sometime in the last year or so I bought a steamer basket from Costco... we we can steam potstickers and other frozen foods... and discovered that steaming bok choy or mushrooms is fantastic! Or you can cook it in oil and it's quicker. Either way it tastes great, changes it up, and... this time... there's leftover in the fridge I might fry up with eggs for breakfast later.

That's kind of how this meal has always gone, honestly. It just keeps adapting.

And if you want a batch version that's quick... my kids loved the gluten free ramen rice noodles from Costco in my Ramen and Egg Chicken Soup. It was our go to toddler quick meal though made way less often lately... and also amazing with cheese.