One pot peanut noodles

Veggie pasta, peanut butter and frozen veggies make a one pot noodle dish

For this dish I like to use veggie pasta (not spiralized veggie noodles – I do love those but here I’m referring to a dry pasta that contains vegetables in the ingredients.

I boil a two-serving size amount of the noodles. We actually use a scale and match the nutrition information on the back of the package for this. Pasta, even with veggies in it, is high in carbs and that is a number with work diligently around for meals since we are a Type 2 Diabetes family. I’ve learned that if I make a whole box of spaghetti, we will eat a whole box of spaghetti, no matter what the suggested serving size is.

When the noodles are close to being done, I add in about a half package of frozen mixed vegetables to the pot and cook until they are tender (usually doesn’t take very long).

I use a measuring cup to remove about a cup of pasta water and then drain the rest of the water from the pasta and veggies, and return the pot to the stove. Turn the burner off – we are just using the residiual heat here (if you somehow have a stove that is instantaneously cool to the touch after turning it off, you might need low heat).

I add about 1/3 cup of good peanut butter to the noodle and vegetable mixture. By “good” I mean not full of sugar. By “about” I mean measuring peanut butter is ridiculously messy, so I just use a knife and carve out a blob that appears to be around 1/3 cup. Add about a tablespoon of soy sauce (we use low sodium) and half that amount of cider vinegar. Stir pretty vigorously to get the peanut butter melting and then add in that reserved pasta water to create a sauce. I like to add a good dash of red chili flake at this point because we like it spicy.

Keep stirring until the sauce is the correct consistency. If it’s too thick, you can add a little more water. If it’s too thin, you might consider being OK with it as the pasta will absorb some sauce as it sits. And it’s slurpy good fun to eat with a thin sauce, and next time you’ll be able to guess better on how much water to put back in.

I dish this out into bowls and add a sprinkle of peanuts on top before serving.

This dish is best served fresh – it kind of keeps, but the noodles nearly completely absorb the sauce so it will be dry if served as leftovers.

One Pot Peanut Sauce Noodles


Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 2

Ingredients

  • Veggie Spaghetti two servings according to package directions

  • 8 oz mixed frozen vegetables
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce Low Sodium
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar
  • Dash Dried Red Chili Flakes Optional
  • Dry Roasted Peanuts For Topping

Instructions

  1. In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions.

  2. Add frozen vegetables to boiling pasta when pasta is nearly cooked.

  3. Continuing cooking pasta until veggies are cooked through.

  4. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, drain pasta and veggies.

  5. Return pasta and veggies to pot, add peanut butter, soy sauce, cider vinegar. Stir to combine.

  6. Add reserved pasta water as needed to thin sauce to desired consistency
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Show and Tell: Pocket Pack Tissue Cover

Pocket Tissue Cover from Sum of their Stories

My mom is great seamstress. She makes clothes, some complete with matching doll outfits. Her quilts are just amazing.

Me? I never really got beyond the one-yard skirt with an elastic waistband. Although honestly, that pattern served me very well my first year in an adult job.

I’m more of a utility stitcher. As a short person, I’ve got a very good grasp of how to hem. And take in waistbands. But I know my limits (topstitching/zippers/buttonholes).

And I’m going to tell you something that will make anyone who sews for a hobby cringe. About three years ago I decided to rearrange the office/exercise room and I moved my sewing machine into the basement. Which of course means …  I haven’t used my sewing machine in more than three years.

So when I saw this little project for sewing Pocket Pack Tissue Covers, I knew I had a decision to make. Drag the machine upstairs and set it all up, or do it by hand.

After looking at the pictures and the technique involved, I knew that I could attempt this one by hand. All of the stitching is hidden.

Does mine look like Julie’s at Sum of their Stories? Nope.

Is my stitching so crooked that the ends are uneven? Yup.

Did I check three times to make sure I had the right sides in where they were supposed to be but still somehow get the back on inside out? It’s like you know me 🙂 .

I really like this little craft. The measurements are easy, the stitching technique is super simple. It would be way faster and much straighter if I used a machine, and when I get brave enough to see if it’s in working order, I will definitely put this one on the top of my list. Until then, my little wonky version is going straight into my backpack to be used with pride!

Crafty Crab Water Level Marker

Removable vinyl creatures helps me find the right level of water for the coffee maker

This cute little guy makes coffee making a little easier in the morning.

This post contains affiliate links.

I didn’t have a real solid plan for using my Silhouette Cameo when I bought it. I knew it would be a helpful tool for all my paper crafting, and it would be great boost for holiday crafting (banners, garlands, gift tags, cards).

But I wasn’t sure about the off-season.

Turns out it is helpful around the house as well.

Continue reading…

Sunday Scrolling: March 5, 2017

  • While looking for a good way to display my collection of Westie pins, I found this amazing shadowbox craft.
  • Shrinky-dink plastic crafts are on my to do list; this one is cute and practical.
  • In an effort to thin down our home made pizza technique, we’ve been using flatbread as our crust. I was inspired by this recipe. I’ll admit I was a little dubious that the broccoli-on-a-pizza idea would hold up, but it is really good.

None of the links in this post are affiliate links – they are just things I found interesting this week.

I want to ride my bicycle

Silhouette Studio's print and cut feature is a great tool for making a bike garland.

I’ve mentioned that I didn’t realize the Silhouette Cameo could cut more than just silhouettes. I’ve posted a couple of projects that use the Print & Cut feature of the Silhouette Studio software, and I’m really hooked on the technique.

Suddenly last week I realized that the “printed” part of a print and cut could be anything, including photos. Why it too me so long, I’ll never know. But now it’s like another door of crafting just opened.

My first use of this trick is a garland for my back window. Mr. SuzerSpace and I ride bicycles outdoors for three seasons of the year (we don’t ride in Winter). I want Spring to come soon, so I’ve made a string of bicycles to dream.

Click the red arrow below to see how I made this.

How SuzerSpace created this