Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Instant-Not-So-Gratifying-Soup

I consider myself an instant noodle soup connoisseur, and when I was at Par Avion today I picked up this udon soup made by Annie Chun's. It looked pretty good, and I was pleased that it had the fresh style noodles and all you added was boiling water to the flavor base and dry veggie "brick". I was even happy that it came with a good sturdy bowl that was made from biodegradable materials. Once the cooking commenced, my hopes had diminished.

I'm not sure if Annie Chung is a real person, but obviously she does not know what flavor is. Let alone Asian flavor so the package boasts. The soup was easy to make, but after the 2 minutes were up with the steeping I found that the soup had gone cold. A biodegradable bowl does not offer much insulation as it seems. I nuked it a few minutes to put the heat back into it and started eating with a side of roasted kim (Korean seaweed). The broth was bland, the veggies were tasteless and chewy. The noodles stayed a nice consistency, but woman can not survive on noodles alone with no flavor. I nearly threw in more soy just to kick it up a bit, but did not. I thought maybe the subtle flavors would soon reveal themselves. Nope. In fact I still have a strange aftertaste lingering.

So, I downed the soup, slurped the noodles, and even threw in all of my kim, but I am still wanting something. A quick lunch is one thing, but feeling like you need more satiation is another. I would give this instant soup a 2 on a scale of 1-10. It was $3.99 and well, didn't really taste anymore than the package it came in.

Gourmet On The Go

I'm heading off to Virginia for two months tomorrow. The drive will be long, but not too bad. Last time I drove to Alabama I ate a lot of crap. Junk from gas stations and whatnot. So, when I would fill up on petro I would also fill up on "bad-for-you" stuff like pizza, fast food burgers, Lunchables, and the like. Not very nutritious and it really left me feeling a bit logy. Not a good feeling while you're driving!

So, this time I'm packing my own sandwiches and homemade "Lunchables". I made two scrumptious looking sandwiches that I can't wait to tear into. One is with rosemary ham and the other pastrami, both with super creamy Havarti cheese, yellow mustard, and white onion. Lots of onions. I made them ahead of time because I am a quirky sort of person and kind of like the sandwiches a day old. I grilled the buns so they shouldn't be too soggy, and there is no green stuff to wilt and get...well, something that I would be sure to pick off later!

I also put together a spicy salami and cheese "Lunchable" with some crusty bread. I can munch on that when I get a bit sleepy. Eating always seems to perk me up a bit. Must be the chewing motion, and since I don't smoke anymore I need to be kept alert for as long as I can! I've also got a ton of gummis. Love those, and they are great road trip candy.

Now, all I need is some fresh Fuji apples, a juice, and I'm good! Oh, and I need to download a new book onto my iPod.