Last evening, my daughter was craving chicken noodle soup.
Oh we can easily make that I said as I reached for my 8qt. Presto Pressure Cooker.
I added one boneless chicken breast to the pressure cooker with three garlic cloves and about one inch of ginger. My daughter prepared her ramen noodles. After the noodles were done I showed her how to rinse them off thoroughly and I told her to toss the included flavoring packet.
Daughter: “Really mom, why?”
Me: “Oh we can make much better seasonings then the pre-packaged junk that accompanies those noodles. Let me show you…”
Into my 3 cup granite mortar and pestle, I added a few grains of sea salt, whole cumin, peppercorns, and cardamom I proceeded to grind them all together. I must admit, I really love the simple pleasure of manually grinding things together.
The mortar and pestle have been around for thousands of years. My daughter got caught up with my obvious enjoyment of the process and asked if she could try grinding manually. I her try it out, she’s hooked too. In no time, everything was ground to a fine powder. Which worked our nicely since the ramen noodles and chicken breast were finished cooking.
The boneless chicken breast was extremely tender and took about ten minutes to prepare in the pressure cooker.

Since my daughter just wanted chicken, noodles and spice blend I didn’t add any vegetables. She eats plenty of vegetables and fruit throughout the day, so one meal without isn’t an issue. My daughter added the chicken breast with the noodles and spices, mixed and promptly ate everything. It was a one bowl meal, made specifically for her and there were no leftovers. She did tell me that our season blend tasted much better than the packet that was included with the noodles.
I really enjoy preparing meals for those I love. I’m sure my daughter will have many fond memories of her mom taking time to make meals extra special.
I know what you mean! All of those additives and chemicals in those packets! Eeeek!
I haven’t had those noodles in forever! There was a brand years ago that were vegetarian that I tried and liked ‘ok’ but haven’t seen them around much lately.
Jennifer recently posted..Bunnies & Birds
@Jennifer, I purchase them for my daughter. It’s a quick meal for her that makes her think she’s cooking. Well, she prepares more elaborate meals but she likes stirring the noodles in a little pot. 🙂
Aynaria recently posted..Cooking adventures; Garlicky beans with tomatoes, garlic and ginger
Definitely!!! Those in packets – maybe for convenience…or for people who can’t cook! Wink! Wink! 😀
suituapui recently posted..Love having you around…
@suituapui, Yes convenience for sure and extremely unhealthy which is a trade-off that I won’t do. I rarely purchase ramen noodles, but my daughter likes them since it’s something she can make quickly. I never use those packets so now I am training my daughter that she doesn’t need them either.
Aynaria recently posted..Cooking adventures: Mushroom Bruschetta w/pesto sauce