Category Archives: Home Cooking

Building A Better Ramen

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I love Ramen Noodle soup. I have since I was a kid. It’s cheap, delicious, and (except during the height of the pandemic) pretty easy to find.

That being said, overs the years I have gravitated towards the Maruchan Creamy Chicken flavor being the best. I don’t eat at a frequency I get sick of it, so it’s all I buy. However, sometimes I feel a little bad that I’m basically eating a boiled salt slick, so I have started to find ways to “healthy” it up a little bit. I think I have it perfected.

First, in the pan/pot in which you are going to cook it, sauté some Mirepoix in a little butter. I just use the frozen stuff. Second, add the water to get it boiling, then add the noodles per the instructions. Once the noodles start get soft I add the creamy chicken seasoning but also a little chili oil for some heat. I find mine from a local restaurant (Umi) at Baesler’s back home, but you should be able to find some version of it at most grocery stores.

My final step is adding in an egg and diced cooked white meat chicken as I turn off the heat. Stirring it up, so the egg breaks apart while it cooks, and the chicken reaches temperature without over cooking. The wife is good about having cooked diced chicken breast prepared for us to use in salads, quesadillas, etc… but in a pinch a packet of this works.

The mirepoix was my idea, but everything came from talking to old fraternity brothers and/or facebook comments. This is the end result:

Sure, I still get all the sodium, but it’s a little more filling and flavorful and makes for a pretty good lunch. No snacks required (usually) before dinner.

The BLT That About Ruined Me

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The wife had something come up within the last few weeks, so I was on my own for lunch. A few times a year I get a craving for a BLT, and knowing we had the stuff to make one, I decided to treat myself.

First, here is my ingredient list:
Indiana Kitchen Bacon (Regular Cut)
Stan’s San Francisco Sour Dough Bread
Duke’s Mayo
Sliced Tomato
Red Leaf Lettuce

I cooked the whole package of bacon in the oven – aluminum foil lined baking sheet at 400F for around 20 minutes. Easiest way to do it. Bread in the Ninja air fryer/oven/toaster just enough to get it lightly toasted. I still like it pliable. I assembled the sandwich using about 2/3rd (ten pieces) of the bacon with mayo on each side of the bread as a binder. Here is the end result.

I added a few Lays plain chips (yellow bag) for the side.

It was very good, but too rich. A little heavy on the mayo, as you can see it oozing through the hole in the bread above. And overall, just too much food. The quality of the bacon, the mayo, and the bread just amounted in a sandwich that kicked my ass. While I was finishing it off (I rarely waste food), I was thinking, yeah, I don’t need a BLT for a while.

The aftermath. Let me start this by saying I felt great that day. It’s why I decided to make a full lunch as opposed to just a salad or some soup (ramen). I ate this slightly before noon, and by about 1:30 pm I was practically knocked out – woozy and swaying in my office chair. At this point I really expected someone to yell “FINISH HIM!” I mean I felt terrible. Not sure if it was the sodium, the bulk (picture don’t do it justice), the carbs from the chips and bread. I have no idea, but I was not being productive. I could barely keep my eyes open, so I took a break to get the sauna going, and did some yoga while I waited for it to steam up. Yes I do yoga, and yes it makes me feel better.

During all this grogginess, I kept thinking – what the hell happened? Long gone are my younger days of hitting the Chicago’s pizza buffet with my old coworkers. Taking down a large salad followed by about 4-5 pieces of pizza and breadsticks with cheese sauce. Going back to work and still being productive followed by class sometimes at night. No adverse effects! Sigh. Getting old hits you sometimes in different ways – realizing you can no longer eat like you’re going to get rewarded with a championship belt from Nathan’s Famous just happened to be how it hit on this particular day. The days of Five Brat Nate* are long gone.

*One Carb Day during my early twenties at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway I ate five bratwursts in buns in about two hours. They were just going down so good with the beer I couldn’t help it.

The BLT did me in, so it was a salad for dinner, and I skipped lunch the next day.

TLDR: Heavy lunch (BLT) made me sick; younger me used to love gorging on pizza and bratwurst; salad for dinner.

Food & Booze

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This blog will feature posts about food and booze, because I tend to enjoy both. Everything from home cooked meals to dining out, and when dining out, an amateur review.

When it comes to food, I’m not one of those look at food as fuel types. I look at it as pleasure. Honestly, I love to eat – everything from expensive eateries (fine dining) down to breakfast at the Waffle House (also fine dining from a certain point of view). One of my old coworkers once told a story about me that sums it up. Nate rolls in about 8 am with coffee, and is hitting up everyone by about 8:30 to plan lunch. Truth. I look forward to every meal.

I also like to cook, but so does my wife, and she’s territorial, so I took it outside. If I am sharing something I made, it will probably be from the grill or smoker. I love to cook and/or experiment with both, and am not bad at either.

Booze. I’m a known bourbon guy, but I don’t discriminate. Honestly, at this age, I like to have just one or two good pours, beers, glass of wine, or mixed drinks at home as opposed to going out. Having a bourbon on the back porch, maybe with a cigar, while working the grill is so relaxing (radio-n8 playing of course – shameless plug noted). Expect posts that maybe highlight when I do this – with notes and pictures on how everything turned out.

We live in a place that is pretty much inconvenient for all family and friends. That being said when we invite people over I want them to know when they show to expect great food and drink. It will be worth their trip. Hence, we are experimenting more with cocktails. We always have decent bourbon, beer wine, and other liquor, but sometimes a buddy might want to try a smoked maple old fashioned and his wife a martini. We’re both getting better at being able to provide and maximize this experience. I really believe in hospitality and being able to provide my friends and family with a good time. So… when they get the invite, it’s worth their time to accept and come out to the lake.

One of the other things I will be doing is traveling to try new restaurants and food. Being a shut-in through the cancer and covid has reignited my sense of adventure (and gluttony) a little bit. Also, being a member of various social media foodie groups has added fuel to the fire. We’ll be taking road trips to try new, and perhaps, out of the way places. For example, there’s a place in Evansville that serves a two pound taco. Just knowing that means I have to go down there eventually and fuck that thing up. I mean… it’s a moral imperative. Traveling to try new places on the weekends will be a good break, and getting out of the house to have a little fun is overdue. Might as well share those experiences.

That brings us to the “Foodie Hall of Fame” sidebar (see left side of blog). These are places I just love. Great food that I crave. Probably no little to real value to any of you rather than you might take note, and maybe try the places for yourself. I would recommend trying some of them, and the list will grow. This accolade will cover all price ranges and/or perceived quality and will be updated as necessary with accompanying blog post explaining reason for the selection. Current listed members will be explained when I make a return trip. Enjoy!

A Change in Lifestyle

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This past year my wife and I purchased a home in a private lake community far removed from any metropolis area – about 45 minutes or so out of Indianapolis. We had considered this for a few years, but when you know, you know, so we did it.

One of the things that has always bothered me is how little I can provide for us and in tandem how far I’ve always been removed from nature. When it comes to providing, I don’t mean earn a paycheck. We both work and are blessed with careers we both enjoy. What I mean is I have never really grown anything. I’ve never provided a meal that was entirely of my own volition. That eats at me for some reason.

Combine that with the allure and convenience of the city was degrading more and more into the feeling of being in a concrete jungle. Even living in the suburbs, more and more pavement, strip malls, and brick and mortar stores appearing taking the place of vacant green fields, and I just needed a change. There were some concerns that my wife would not like it out here, but it turns out she loves the peacefulness of a little bit of isolation as much as I do. That worked out.

As far as lifestyle change, I want to learn to fish. I want to garden. I definitely see buying a boat this year. It might just be a starter fishing boat, but it will be enough to take at least a friend or two out on who can help teach me to fish. I mean, anyone can throw a line, hook, and bobber off a dock, and I did some of that as a kid. I want more than that. I want to be able to actually catch enough to fill a cooler, learn to clean them, and eat them. Did you know you can smoke bluegill? And they actually are good? I sure as shit didn’t. But I’m going to learn to when I catch my own. Walleye, crappies, bluegill… some will be fried, smoked, pan seared, etc. This is what I’m talking about. I want to learn to do all that, and I will.

As for the garden, yes I would like us to grow our own fresh vegetables; and, I can see my wife enjoying getting into that. Now for the stereotypical and lame part of this, like a lot of dudes, I want to grow peppers and make my own hot sauce. I am kind of a hot sauce fanatic, so I might as well try my hand in it.

My property limits me in what we can do. We can’t have livestock nor can we have chickens for fresh eggs, but we have access to fresh fish and enough property to have a decent garden; and that was our goal.

Overall, and this is based just on pure opinion, I just think it is a little bit healthier if you can provide for yourself. If we’re doing that a couple meals a week I think that’s probably a good thing.

As for nature, We’ve already set up a basic feeding/watering station for the deer out back, and a game cam I intermittingly put out there to capture them eating. They get fresh carrots and greens (lettuce and brussel sprouts) on the reg too. If you knew Pat, my grandmother whom raised me, you knew she had the biggest heart for stray animals. Some of that was passed down to me. These are my strays. We love seeing them, and I have no problem buying them feed – particularly during these winter months. Also, the wife purchased from a local self-published photographer a picture book of a lot of the wild animals and birds that are around the lake. It’s fun to see a new bird, and be able to identify it. And I loved seeing an eagle in my tree my first month out here. In the spring, several bird feeders will be in place. If you didn’t know, I happen to be a bird lover, so that’s another benefit of moving out here.

Some of this might sound mid-life crisis-ish or maybe even douchey(sp?). I don’t know. But I can tell you this. I am so much happier than I was a year ago. I’m more settled, more at peace, and I finally feel home. I look forward to these challenges, and I love talking about it with family and friends. In my estimation, that outweighs any judgement or strange looks I might get from someone that just doesn’t get it.