Noodle Bowls

Today we finally had some sunshine. It was very windy so it was still cold but it was a welcome relief after many days of rain. Consequentially, we learned a very hard lesson! The reality of living at anchor, disconnected from shore power, was driven home when we ran low on electricity over the weekend. Prior to our stint back at the boat yard, we had only managed to spend one night at anchor. Finally cutting the cord, we have now realised that we need to be more aware of our input versus our output. It was a rude awakening! 

We spent a couple of nights playing cards by flashlight as our computers and phones had died and we didn’t even have enough electricity for lights, the fridge or the electric water pump.  We had been using electricity but hadn’t been recharging our batteries. We have solar panels, but it wasn’t sunny. We have a wind generator but there was no wind. We can charge the batteries by running the engine, but the engine was indisposed. Bryce was doing some maintenance on the engine but needed to get a part so we had to wait until Monday to go get it and then run the engine. We got the part and have been able to run the engine to charge up our batteries a bit.  I spent Monday at the library surrounded by all of our electronics attached to a power board, charging everything.

Bryce has also been sick. Apparently we don’t cope being in society anymore as he came down with a horrible cough and cold after our outing over the weekend. His illness combined with the weather put a bit of a damper on our spirits. We were looking for some pick me ups and as we were unable to run our fridge, we were also looking for ways to get through a lot of the veggies we had. One of our favourite meals is a noodle bowl and it fit the bill perfectly! You can use whatever noodles and vegetables you have and it will still be wonderful. My pan isn’t big enough, so I had to do everything in batches but if you have a large pan or wok then you can do it all together.

udon noodles with capsicum & tofu, garnished with pickled red onion

Noodle Bowl

Noodles of your choice 

(Ramen, Soba, Udon… - prepared as per instructions)

Extra-firm Tofu, cubed*

Vegetables of your choice (capsicum, mushrooms, broccoli, anything goes… - sliced)

Ginger – fresh minced or powder

Garlic – fresh minced or powder

Soy sauce

Crushed red pepper

1. Pan-fry the tofu. Set aside and cook remaining vegetables with garlic and garlic.
2. Mix with prepared noodles. Sprinkle crushed red pepper, drizzle with soy sauce and enjoy.

Soba noodles with tofu, broccoli & mushrooms

* I find that with the tofu I use I do not need to press it to get rid of the extra water. Depending on the type of tofu you use, it may be necessary to wrap it in paper towel and put it underneath weight (cutting board, frying pan…) for 10-60 min.