Frugal Lunch

A frugal lunch is easy. But a frugal appetizing lunch, that takes a little more effort. Unfortunately, when you’ve spent all day doing something crazy like canning you may be hungry but you probably don’t feel like whipping up something totally from scratch.

In a situation like this I always find myself turning to that salty yet trustworthy friend: ramen. For me this was an especially frugal choice today since I somehow came into possession of a whole case of the chicken variety at no cost to me. My solution to jazz it up: besides the noodles I threw in a few raw shrimp and some frozen peas. Conveniently the noodles, shrimp and peas all cook in about the same amount of time. When it is ready and I have added the terrifying packet of flavoring I also add some sambal oeleck (chili paste) for added kick.

And here’s the real secret to making ramen more gourmet: eat it with chopsticks. I swear this makes it so much better. Or maybe this is psychological trick that only works on me.

Either way for a lunch that only took three minutes I can’t complain.


(P.S. You can save shrimp shells or tails for flavoring stock. Just throw them in a baggy in the freezer until you need them.)