You have had a long hard day at work or a day taking care of the kids and family and just do not want to spend a lot of time preparing a meal. Your budget may be tight this week and you are wondering how to make a healthy meal for your family that is very affordable as well as easy and delicious. There are many ways you can take just simple foods and add other simple ingredients to make what would be a side dish into a main course meal for the family. And it does not require a lot of preparation work or time.

Rachel Ray has her “Rachel Ray’s 30 minute meals” and Sandra Lee has her “Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee” on the Food Network Channel. These ladies show you how to create a quick and easy meal, and you wonder if it really is possible. You can find books for easy and quick meals at any bookstore or online. You can create from your own kitchen. Use a little imagination with the foods and ingredients you have and begin to create.

I like to be creative with my own easy meal creations. There is no reason that cooking and preparing a meal should be hard or time consuming. You should be able to enjoy the time you use for your creations, whether a 4-course gourmet meal or something simple you can just throw together in a matter of minutes.

I like you use simple side dishes such as Knorr Sides (formerly Lipton) and by adding a few ingredients you can transform these into a family meal or even a personal meal for 1 or 2 persons with minimal effort.

I have taken the Asian Sides, Teriyaki Noodles (Lo Mein Noodles in a sweet Teriyaki sauce) and made a dish I thoroughly enjoy when eating alone, with left-over meals afterwards, or to share with family and guests. It is simple, easy and cheap to make. If you want more flavors, there are more additions you can make to this creation.

Teriyaki noodles are one of my favorites when I go to an Asian or Chinese restaurant for a buffet meal. You can find the noodles in several different dishes. You can make this at home for yourselves as well. Make it your own recipe with your personal taste. You be the chef. You surprise your family or guests.

All of the ingredients you can find at your local supermarket and they will not break your financial budget in any way. Just follow the easy instructions for cooking and preparing below and have an enjoyable meal on me.

2 Pkg. of Knorr Asian Sides Teriyaki Noodles (Lo Mein Noodles in a sweet Teriyaki sauce)

1 can of La Choy fancy mixed vegetables

1 sm. Jar of Baby Corn

1 sm. Can of mushrooms

3-4 chopped green onions

2 cups chopped Broccoli (can buy packaged and chopped)

2 cups sliced carrots (can buy packaged and sliced or in a can)

1 Green Bell Pepper ( sliced into strips)

Soy Sauce

Sriracha hot chili sauce (huy fong foods,inc)

3 cups water

vegetable oil

Step 1-Take your round sliced 2 cups of carrots and 2 cups of broccoli and steam until tender or if using the prepackaged (which I use here) and lightly boil these straight from the frozen packaged until they are tender.  You may choose to microwave as an alternative to boiling.

Step 2-On stove top, use a larger sauce pan and bring 3 cups of water and 2 tbsp. of vegetable oil (optional) to a boil.

Step 3-Stir in the contents of both the Asian Noodles packages. Stir until mixed well and then reduce the heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the noodles begin to become tender.

Step 4-Add the can of La Choy fancy mixed vegetables, baby corn (you can chop these in halves if preferred), mushrooms, green onions, sliced green bell pepper strips. Let dish continue to simmer for approximately another 3-5 minutes.

Step 5-When the noodles and vegetables in sauce pan are done, remove from heat. Add the carrots and broccoli to the dish. Let set for 2-3 minutes and then serve. The sauce will thicken as the meal sits. Makes 4-6 servings.

Additions:There are several additions you can add to this dish. I like to add chopped celery, brussels sprouts, snow peas, chicken slices, beef slices, pork or shrimp to make a fuller meal. This will take more time in the preparations and make a much larger main course. You can use these extras when you have more time for your meal preparation.

Substitutions: You can use a package of Asian or Chinese stir fry vegetable in place of individual vegetables used in the above ingredients.

For those who enjoy the Hot and Spicy flavor of Oriental foods, add carefully... Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce from Huy Fong Foods, Inc. This sauce is very “Hot” and you should add drops into taste bites and mix if you are not use to using this sauce. It will burn!

Sriracha Chili Sauce is made from sun ripened chiles and used in soups, sauces, pasta, pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, chow mein or on anything to add a delicious hot spicy taste.