A’s Phing/ Glass Noodle Stir fry Recipe

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Quick, weeknight gluten free recipe for phing/glass noodles stir fry. 

Phing/ Glass Noodle Stir Fry

The other day A and I spent a good part of the morning peeling garlic to make homemade ginger-garlic paste. I do not know why the skin was so tightly stuck to the garlic that it took us a while to peel all the garlic cloves. Next time I am going to try the shaking in a utensil trick that I have seen before more seriously- I tried doing it but since I wasn’t having too much luck (or maybe I wasn’t doing it correctly) I gave up. Also, I do feel the garlic peel this time was actually quite sticky- and now while typing this I probably know the reason why. These days thanks to Covid-19 we are washing all the produce we get from the market, including garlic. I mean we used to wash all our veggies before we used it in a particular recipe but now we wash them before even getting them inside the house. I make sure everything is dried completely before storing it but maybe the soaking had something to do with the garlic peels beings super clingy this time. Go figure.

Since we are talking about the cleaning process- anyone else dreading grocery days? Its a task- I feel I need the better part of the day to just wash/sanitize everything, then finding utensils to keep them so that they can dry and then finally storing them. Since we limit grocery shopping to once in 8-10 days, organizing everything while optimizing space also takes time. And while I hate the organizing days, I honestly love all the planning that is happening. I plan all the meals- make an excel sheet of the menu items, then figure what all we have in our pantry and what all needs to be bought based on those meals. I also note what all I want to reshoot, or do a blog post on. I have always been a planner. Its a different story that sometimes I don’t do anything about those plans, but I love making those tables and having a planner to put sticky notes on. Since I don’t want to spoil my styling kit planner diary, I have taken to excel to do all the planning. Part of last week’s menu excel sheet was this glass noodle stir fry recipe.

Today Anubhav makes a debut on the blog with a page dedicated to his own recipe. He makes these phing/glass noodles stir fry and since we had a packet in our pantry stocked before the lockdown he decided he will cook his glass noodle stir fry for us.

Generally, A makes it with chicken but since we were out of non vegetarian food in the refrigerator (that situation has changed now), he made his glass noodles stir fry with eggs and mushrooms. Traditionally he uses dried black mushrooms, but our INA delivery guy sent us another dried mushrooms variety which also worked pretty well. You can leave the dried mushrooms in case you don’t have them on hand. You can also use whatever veggies you have on hand.

I have used glass noodles here since I had those in my pantry. Glass or cellophane noodles (or Phing as Anubhav calls it) are noodles made from mung bean, potato, sweet potato, or tapioca starch. You could also make this with regular noodles or rice vermicelli, but glass noodles has its own charm, and honestly if you replace that this will not be the same recipe. In case you can’t make this recipe because you don’t have glass noodles in your pantry, do save it for later when you can. Its a fairly easy quick weeknight dinner and I would love for you to try it. Since the noodles are gluten free, this glass noodles stir fry is also a great gluten free meal.

You can make the recipe vegan by not adding egg. And in case you want a non vegan option, as mentioned earlier, A generally makes it with chicken so in case you do have chicken in your refrigerator, cut the chicken in strips and marinate in salt, pepper and soy for 10-15 minutes. Then cook the chicken in a little oil. And add it when you add the egg.

Hope you get to try this recipe. In case you cant now, do pin it for later. Would love to see your creations so feel free to tag me on instagram, facebook or leave a comment here.

P.S: Another glass noodles recipe that you can try from the blog is this thai glass noodle salad.

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Overnight Chia seed pudding

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Overnight chia seed pudding- a great healthy way to start the day as breakfast or to eat as a mid day snack. Requires only 3 main ingredients and is easily customizable, vegan and gluten free.

vernight chia seed pudding

My daily routine these days is that I wake up anywhere between 6.30-7.30am. Freshen up and then try to get an hour’s worth of exercise in. There are many online resources for home workouts but the ones that I am following are Cure.fit’s classes, Alo moves and MadFit’s youtube channel along with my pinterest board. I would one day like to tune in for Matt’s live zumba classes on zoom but due to the time difference have not been able to. I have also heard great reviews about Fitness Blender from friends, so you can probably check that too. What does your home workout look like, and what sites are you tuned into for your daily routine?

Exercise is followed by the sweeping and mopping of the kitchen and living room area on alternate days. The other days Anubhav vacuums the entire house and I take rest. The entire house is not mopped on a regular basis (although it is vacuumed) and I have made my peace with it. Post cleaning session, either Anubhav or I (depending on whether he has woken up) makes tea and then we watch the news/ catch up on mails/talk to parents.

Then I get down to making breakfast. We have a system where I cook, and Anubhav does the dishes. Sometimes he cooks and also does the dishes 🙂 .

Post breakfast, we have coffee sometimes and then either do some work, or chill watching something on TV. Rest of the day then goes either in cooking, eating or doing the dishes, and so far it has been pretty okay. I have finally gotten back to blogging- trying new recipes, styling and shooting them with no client approval lurking on my head. And I am thankful for that.

Its difficult to turn a blind eye to whats happening across the world though, so when I feel that I am bored or when things might be a little overwhelming I try to remind myself- I am so lucky to treat my problems as “problems”. That these “problems” are the only ones I have at the moment. That in spite of everything, we are still able to eat the food we enjoy eating- there might be some changes but not much- nothing absolutely nothing to crib about there. Yes cleaning the house, cooking meals, and then doing dishes are taking so much time these days and can be tiring but at least we can make ends meet and do so much more.

I do have my reservations using the words lucky or privileged, given that we have put in hard work to be here and the idea is not to undermine any one else’s efforts by calling them lucky or privileged, but I am grateful that whatever we have worked towards has put us in a comfortable position during this lockdown. Of course this year and probably the next we will have to make a lot of lifestyle changes and think about all unnecessary expenses that earlier we never gave a second thought to. We will also have to put a pause on some of our plans – a house of our own, a new car, and even going on those vacations. We never went on our honeymoon thinking we will go for it in March. I think that plan too might not see the light of the day till next year, given travel abroad might be challenging not only financially but due to health concerns. Again, I remind myself that I am lucky to call these as “problems”. And in time this too shall pass.

overnight chia seed pudding

Coming to today’s recipe- I think chia puddings are just so delicious and convenient to make. You mix the chia seed with choice of milk, sweetener and flavorings at night, chop fruits in the morning, layer and serve. They are so easily customizable. Basically you need three ingredients- chia seeds, a sweetener, and choice of milk. You could leave out the sweetener in case you are topping with sweet fruits. Rest everything is optional and just adds to an already great breakfast/dessert option. You can use whatever fruits you have on hand to top. You can opt to add another layer of granola or not. You could choose to use toasted nuts instead.

In this recipe I have used a mix of coconut milk and yogurt. I added yogurt because I wanted to reduce the amount of coconut milk since coconut milk is generally more fat enriched and this was going to be breakfast, but feel free to use only coconut milk or almond milk or even regular cow’s milk. Just keep in mind if making with a more fatty milk, then to limit your serving size as only 1/2 cup of this pudding to make this count as a healthy breakfast, any more and it becomes an indulgent breakfast. You can add cocoa powder and make it a chocolate chia seed pudding- banana, raspberries, walnuts or almonds would make a lovely topping with a chocolate chia seed pudding. You can also add your protein powder to give it an additional nutrition boost.

This overnight chia seed pudding while great as breakfast, can also be a lovely mid day snack or a delicious post meal dessert. And since it is easily customizable to be vegan and gluten free, a perfect option for those with dietary restrictions.

In case you do not have chia seeds, and it is not easily available where you are- you could use basil /sabja seeds as well. I have a mango coconut basil seed pudding recipe lined up which makes a great substitute for chia seed based puddings. Like chia seeds, sabja/basil seeds too have many health benefits to them. Plus, if you are using basil seeds, since they swell up quicker you do not have to do the overnight chill and could just let them soak in the coconut milk for 30 minutes.

Let me know if you have any questions about any of the ingredients, will be happy to help. And in case you make this tag me in your creations on instagram, facebook or leave a comment here.

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Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

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An easy weeknight dinner recipe for creamy pumpkin soup, where the slow cooker does most of the work. This pumpkin soup is healthy, vegan and gluten free. Stove top version included.

I first made this recipe of pumpkin soup for a styling project. Before that, I had never used pumpkin in a soup. I had made sweet breads out of pumpkin- check out the vegan pumpkin bread recipe in the blog archives. I had also made kaddu/pumpkin halwa, pumpkin donut muffins, pumpkin pasta and pumpkin swirl cheesecake. But pumpkin soup. Nope. Never. And then I made it for the styling project. And then I made it again. And again. And again.

You guessed it. This soup is a staple in the house now. I made it once when we had people over- and everyone loved it. I also made it for my father-in-law when he was visiting and he too loved it and commented that he never knew a soup out of pumpkin could taste this good. And why not- its creamy thanks to the pumpkin and cashews, the flavors are plenty- the sesame oil drizzle is Ah-mazing! And you do not feel that guilty when you go for seconds of this pumpkin soup.

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin is considered a nutrient dense food, and is low in calories and is being packed with nutrients. Pumpkin is a good source of potassium, vitamin C and E, fiber and antioxidants, which have been linked to heart health benefits. Its nutrients and antioxidants may boost your immune system, protect your eyesight, lower your risk of certain cancers and promote heart and skin health. source here

Pumpkin, once sliced and cut, can be easily roasted, puréed into soup or baked into pies. You can use the seeds too– and they are highly nutritious.

I have made the pumpkin soup in a slow cooker, and on the stove top by roasting the pumpkins first to maximize flavor. I think both of the ways work, and its just a matter of convenience and available equipments. I am listing all the different methods, along with the variations that you can use. See what works for you with what you have at the moment. Either ways save this recipe to try later.

I have used the yellow pumpkin/kaddu that is available easily locally in India, any eating pumpkin would do, so would butternut squash.

In case you get to try this easy pumpkin soup recipe, do tag me with your pictures on instagram, facebook or comment here.

Stay safe, stay home, stay healthy.

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