Jazz Up Them Noodles

One of my favorite things to buy is the packs of pasta, you know, the flavored ones that come in a variety of flavors.  My local grocery store usually has the name brand or the store brand on sale for $1, sometimes less!  So when I get a chance, I stock up.  Now, eating the same pasta side dish can get old pretty quickly.  So to "jazz" them up, we add lots of different ingredients like fresh/frozen veggies, meat, seafood, cheese, and spices/herbs.  For dinner last night, we had a pack of chicken flavored noodles in the pantry.  So I went to the fridge, grabbed out my Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and a bag of frozen peas.  Now I love peas.  especially frozen ones.  You can toss them into any dish at the last minute and add flavor, texture, and nutrients.  I made my noodles just like the package said to, but after I was finished, I tossed in my peas, gave it a stir, and let them sit while I finished up my pan gravy for my chicken (chicken drippings, Dijon mustard, white wine, butter, flour, and lemon juice....you know the drill!).  Right before I poured them into my serving bowl, I added about 5 tbsp. of mozzarella cheese, poured it, then sprinkled it with my Parmesan!  This may be one of the only ways my kids will eat peas.

Here is a list of items we like to toss into our noodles:

Frozen veggies ~ our favorites are peas, carrots, spinach, and broccoli.

Fresh veggies~ you can use almost any vegetable you'd like, but our favorites include onions, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, fresh spinach, leeks, and broccoli.

Cheese

Garlic

Basil

Red pepper flakes

Tuna

Shrimp

Chicken

Any store bought item can be turned into something completely different and unique.  Get creative!