Madhouse recipe : One Pot Sweet & Sticky Noodles

One Pot Sweet & Sticky Noodles - also known as how to get the kids to gobble down their veggies without even noticing !

This started off with the question "what shall I do with the leftovers from Sunday's barbecue?". A couple of chicken skewers, some spicy sausages and a few pork chops.

It followed on with a glance in the kitchen cupboard and the realisation that I had quite a collection of instant noodles, from various Degustaboxes and a competition win. It's also a great way of clearing out the veg box of the fridge. I made a big potful, thinking there were would be plenty for the whole family, but the kids polished off the whole lot and I had to make more for me and Madhouse Daddy ! This is so quick and simple that it's perfect for a midweek meal after a long day at work or maybe a Monday lunchtime, to use up the leftovers from the Sunday roast.

One Pot Sweet & Sticky Noodles

ingredients :

a drizzle of olive oil

2 carrots

3 mushrooms

1/2 red pepper

1/2 green pepper

2 onions

3 packs of instant noodles

leftover cooked meat

a generous squeeze of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

Slice the veggies and use a potato peeler to shave thin slices off the carrots.

Add boiling water to the instant noodles and leave to soak for a couple of minutes.

Heat the oil and stirfry the veggies for five minutes. You want them to be soft but retain some crunch. Add the meat and cook for a few more minutes until totally heated through.

Drain the noodles and add to the pot. Drizzle over the kecap manis. (If you don't have kecap manis, you could use regular dark soy sauce and a drizzle of black treacle -thanks Jane from Onions & Paper ! -  but I suggest giving it a try because it's gorgeous stuff !)

Give it all a good mix so that the veggies and meat are evenly distributed throughout the noodles. Serve, with an extra drizzle of kecap manis on top if you like.

The kids had great fun eating this with chopsticks (the kids' ones that are held together at the ends !)

Adding to this month's #KitchenClearout linky.