Easy Noodle Lunchtime Recipe Please!

[GeorginaA]

After a menu planning cock up this week, we had a few packet and jar type meals after a few months of having fresh food. We weren't missing anything - our tastebuds must have changed because they taste REVOLTING now!

Anyway, one of ds1's favourite lunches was Bachelors Supernoodles (yes, I know... there's probably not a nutrient in the packet) - but now we not only hate the taste but they seem WAY too salty.

So, I was thinking. Has anyone got some good quick noodle in a bowl type recipes that are feasible for a quick lunch? I've got a few noodle recipes but they all seem to involve lots of chopping, way too many ingredients and too much faff for a lunchtime quickie. Anyone got some good ones?

[florenceuk]

As long as you have a good stock substitute (Marigold?) then you can use the noodles, just chuck out the flavour packet. What I do if I am feeling lazy (and also when I was pregnant and couldn't face cooking) was to do something along the following:

For one (or two small ones): gently stirfy a thinly sliced courgette, add stock. Add your choice of peas, corn and/or sliced up iceberg lettuce (actually add this one right at the end otherwise it will boil to nothing). Add noodles, simmer until almost cooked. Then add a whisked up egg, stir until it is cooked. Almost like real chinese! You can also add BBQ pork, cold chicken etc. The egg I guess is optional but my mum always added egg to everything, even porridge...

You can also do a simple stirfry with cooked noodles - cook and drain the noodles (I tend to use "real" egg noodles for this). Then whisk an egg, use it to make a flat omelette in the wok/fry pan. Lift it out, cut into shreds. Then quickly fry your choice of veg (for DS I stick to a mixture of beans, peas or corn) or you could start with onion if your child will stand it, then other veg. Add thinly sliced courgette, red pepper, beansprouts - anything that cooks quickly. Fry till cooked, add noodles, your choice of cooked meat eg cold chicken, BBQ pork, even ham, and then the egg. Sprinkle with soy sauce. There you are! Not authentic but quick. Hoisin and oyster sauce are good things to shake into the noodles.

[littleredhen]

Try gently frying bit of onion, pepper, courgette - whatever veg you have lying round. If any spare cooked meat, bung that in - cook the noodles and stir it all together with bit of reduced-salt soy sauce (Sainsbury's sell it) and sesame. my children all love it.

[GeorginaA]

Yum, they sound nice - will try those, thanks

[Prufrock]

I normally do Chicken noodle soup, but with v. little liquid so it's not to messy for the kids.

1 leftover chicken breast from previous days roast chicken, Chop up small, put into boiling water, add spoonful of Marigold and half tin of sweetcorn, after couple of minutes add 2 sticks of rice noodles (Sharwoods - they are v. thin white ones) and simmer for 4 mins.

Today I didn't have any leftover chicken, so made pork meatballs with a bit of spare minced pork (leftover from Saturdays pie!), some Thai 7 spice, spring onion, breadcrumbs and an egg and boiled the mini-meatballs in the water for 10 minutes before adding sweetcorn and noodles

[colditz]

Plain noodles with ham and frozen veg chucked in - very easy and quick. My ds loves it.