Fix It Up Woman

Slow Cooker Japanese Pork and Ramen Noodle Soup

Posted at March 4, 2012 // Cook It Up

Serves	8
Cook time	6hours
From book	Slow Cooker Revolution

slow cooker Japanese pork and ramen noodle soup

Ingredients

2 onions (minced)
6 garlic cloves (minced)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger (minced or grated)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
12oz shitake mushrooms (stemmed and sliced thin)
1 1/2lb boneless country-style pork ribs (trimmed)
Salt and pepper
2 (3-ounce) packages of ramen noodles (flavoring packets discarded)
6oz baby spinach ((about 6 cups))
2 tablespoons white miso (plus extra for serving)
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce (plus extra for serving)
1 tablespoon mirin
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 scallions (sliced think)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (toasted)

Directions


6-8 hours on high setting and 4-6 hours on low.

photo of minced onions

STEP 1: Microwave onions, garlic, ginger, and oil in a bowl, stirring occasionally until onions are softened, about 5 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.

photo of thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms

STEP 2: Stir broth and shiitakes into slow cooker. Season Pork with salt and pepper and nestle into slow cooker. Cover and cook until pork is tender, 6 to 8 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.

salt and pepper on pork

STEP 3: Transfer pork to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces. Let soup settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon. Stir in noodles and spinach, cover, and cook on high until noodles are tender, 3 to 8 minutes.

adding ramen noodles

adding spinach

STEP 4: Stir in Shredded pork, miso, soy sauce, mirin, and sesame oil and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with additional miso and additional soy sauce to taste. Serve with scallions and sesame seeds.

Note: Toasted Sesame Seeds To toast the sesame seeds, put them in a dry skillet over medium heat. Shake the skillet occasionally to prevent burning and toast until they are lightly brown, 3 to 8 minutes.

Rainbow Play Foam

Posted at February 28, 2012 // Living It Up

My kids had a blast with this Rainbow Play foam we made at home. It’s just shaving cream with a drop or two of food coloring. I got some cool icing food coloring at Michael’s that made an array of bright neon play foam. I put it in a muffin pan. The colors get mixed together pretty quickly by little hands so it might be better to make one whole tray of one color. They can use it in the bath tub, outside in a water tray, in the yard with a hose, etc. I have to get a photo of them playing with it and post it here soon.

Junk Drawer Makeover

Posted at February 27, 2012 // Home, Living It Up

No matter what I do, our junk drawer in our kitchen is so chaotic that I can’t even locate the junk that I am looking for. So, I went through the drawer, threw a bunch of the junk away and put everything remaining into a kitchen utensils holder that I bought at TJ Max for six dollars.

JUNK DRAWER BEFORE:

JUNK DRAWER AFTER:

= JUNK DRAWER ORGANIZED!

15 Weeks Pregnant

Posted at February 19, 2012 // Home, Living It Up

At fifteen weeks, baby is about the size of an orange.

Baby is approximately:

Size: 4 inches
Weight: 2.5 ounces

You can also see me at 14 weeks, 13 weeks, 12 weeks, 11 weeks, 10 weeks, 9 weeks pregnant!

DIY Install Bamboo Wood Floor Hallway

Posted at February 19, 2012 // Fix It Up Projects, Home

The projects around our house have taken a step back on our agenda due to me being pregnant. I normally would be pushing things forward with much more enthusiasm but I am a little more tired than usual so we are moving at a slower pace but none the less, we are progressing! We also have to plan things out to do any work because we do have 5 kids: my two stepsons, ages 17 and 13 and then our daughter- age 7, our son- age 4, and our youngest daughter- age 1 (almost 2). So anytime we try to work on the floor, there are kids all over the place. So we have to keep them contained and entertained so they are not crawling, walking, jumping, etc. all over the place and trying to grab dangerous tools, like the air compressor staple gun. I think we are about half way done with the first floor and it is looking great.

Here are some photos of the dining room and living room that the flooring is completed in.

After we finished the dining room and living room, we found that when we moved into the hallway and kitchen, which was all covered in white linoleum, that there was a thin plywood subfloor under the linoleum that had to be sawed and ripped out.