Roasted Vegetables

Sorry, no picture. I wasn't expecting this to turn out so good, but here goes:

I picked up some pre-cut vegetables at Hy-Vee

Preheat oven to 425

• Zuccini (quartered, bite-size)
• Bell Peppers (Large bite-size squares)
• Onions (Large bite size squares)
• Mushrooms (halved or quartered)
• Broccoli (small crowns)
• Small potatoes (halved)

The seasoning:

• 1 regular package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 cup Olive oil
• 1 cup vinegar

In a large mixing bowl, add vegetables and pour on the oil and vinegar. Seal the top of the bowl with a lid or some Glad Press-n-Seal, then turn the bowl on it's side and tumble the vegetables in the bowl until they are completely coated with oil and vinegar, then add the seasonings and repeat tumbling until fully coated.

Dump the mixture in one or more casserole dishes and bake for 20 minutes. Stir the vegetables and then bake for another 20 minutes, or until the Broccoli or drippings begin to turn brown.

The potatoes seemed to absorb the flavors most effectively. next time I will probably add brussel sprouts, baby carrots, cauliflower 

Ramen with Vegetablles

The hard part is slicing and freezing your own choice of vegetables, or buying them frozen. The next hardest part is waiting for the two cups of water to boil.

I prefer to use a large sauce pan because the water boils faster and it's less likely to boil over. If your using a sauce pan with a non-stick coating, use a wooden spoon to stir so you don't scrape any of the coating off into your food.

Don't forget to remove the seasoning packet from the noodles.

Once the water starts boiling just add the noodles and vegetables and stir occasionally for about three minutes, then take it off the burner and add the seasoning. Stir until the seasoning is well-mixed.

Beyond that I sometimes add black pepper, curry powder, soy sauce or whatever.

Next time I'll probably strain off the water and chill it for a salad later.

Update 12/01/2016: I strained off the broth probably too soon while it was still hot, then chilled it overnight. It works okay with a little olive oil and vinegar. I'm going to try straining the water, then adding the seasoning.

Do I even need this?

You're probably thinking this is stupid because Yelp is around and you're probably right. I'm not even sure what I'm going to do here. I'm just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks for now. I'll most likely just collect media I find elsewhere on the web and post it here.