Another Lunch @ Noodles & Company

So Noodles is my go to lunch spot these days. It's quick and sorta cheap and I don't feel uncomfortable eating there by myself. With my hour lunch/dinner break I have plenty of time to eat and usually some extra minutes for errands. I posted about Noodles & Company back in '08 but since I still eat there pretty much once a week, I figure a recap wouldn't hurt. Plus I've got some pictures to post!

Spicy Peanut Noodles

These yummy noodles are a bit addictive. My mom used to make them for our family when I was younger. Then in high school it was one of the first (and only!) recipes I cooked myself. The noodles are based on a recipe from one of my mom's old Moosewood cookbooks. I tried to find the exact recipe online, but the one I found on the Moosewood website was a little different than I remembered, it doesn't have garlic or ginger. So I improvised a little, adding the minced garlic and ginger as well as some honey to balance out the salty/spicy flavors.

Pumpkin Bread with Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

It's fall, my favorite time of year! And Fall means pumpkin in all forms. A few weeks ago I made Molly's Banana Bread from "A Homemade Life" and liked it a lot. I couldn't help but wonder how a pumpkin version would taste. So I modified the recipe, substituting pumpkin for banana, removing the crystallized ginger but adding a bit of powdered ground ginger, as well as cinnamon and nutmeg. I also stole a bit from another of Molly's Banana Bread recipes from Orangette, and added a bit of cinnamon sugar on top of the bread.

Molly Wizenberg's Banana Bread

I have very limited kitchen space and even less cooking equipment, so I don't cook or bake that often. But lately I've been really trying to make more of my meals from scratch. I've had some success so far, with various soups and pasta dishes. But this weekend I got the urge to bake! I'm reading A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, creator of Orangette, and basically all of the recipes in the book sound amazing and delicious.