On Brady’s last day of school, Nolan and I enjoyed our last little bit of one on one time together by heading downtown. We spent the morning exploring the Science Museum and hitting up the Farmer’s Market again.

Sometimes I have an ingredient in mind that I’m searching for when I go to a market, and other times I just go see what looks good and come up with a meal based around what I’ve found. This week I spotted some snow peas that looked tasty and decided to make some yummy Asian noodles- kind of a spin on Lo Mein.

Lots of goodies at the Hilltop Farm booth that day. The snow peas just spoke to me!

Brady helped me get our Snow Peas prepped for our Asian Noodles. He washed them up and then snapped the ends off each one (tasting a few along the way.) Even Nolan wanted to test them out! Slowly but surely I am getting that kid to try healthy foods…

Here’s how we made our “Asian Noodles.”

Ingredients:

1/2 box Spaghetti Noodles (we used whole wheat)
2 cups Snow Peas
1 cup shredded carrots
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 Scallions
1 Tb. Sesame Oil
3 Tb. Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Salt, Pepper, and Red Pepper Flakes(optional) to taste

Steps:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt liberally and cook noodles until they’re just tender.
2. In a large pan, begin to sautee mushrooms and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes.
3. Add carrots and snow peas to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes if you would like it a little spicy.
4. Drain noodles and add to veggie pan (once veggies are tender).
5. Add Sesame oil and Soy sauce to the large pan.
6. Toss all together with thinly sliced scallions.

You can always add a little more soy sauce if it seems to need it, so I recommend putting it in slowly and taste testing as you go. (You can’t take it out once it’s in!) Another option is to use Chili Oil in place of Sesame Oil if you (and your kiddos) can handle a little more heat.

We love this meal because you can use just about any vegetable you have on hand. The snow peas worked great because they were just a little sweet to help balance the salt of the soy sauce. And the scallions (also a market find!) brighten the whole the dish up.

Another perk of this meal, is that you can totally eat it cold too. It makes for a tasty side dish or can be substantial enough to be a meal!

I’m loving this Spring weather! We have had some gorgeous days with perfect temperatures and today was one of the best. Nolan and I took the opportunity to go downtown and check out the Raleigh Farmer’s Market. It just started back up recently and I couldn’t wait to get back down there to see what was new this year, eat some tasty food and let Nolan jam out to the music. (I should note that he also really enjoys the free samples.)

They close off a portion of Fayetteville St. and set up right between the buildings.

We got some gorgeous scallions from the Wild Onion Farms booth. (locally grown & organic!)

Nolan was pretty into testing out the different waffle and granola flavors.

And I couldn’t quite leave without stopping at La Farm Bakery for a baguette.

Mmm it’s carb heaven.

Our Farmer’s Market finds!

We decided to use some of our market goodies to make a snack. We also used some of our herbs we’ve been growing to make these yummy “Scallion and Herb Cream Cheese Cucumber Sandwiches.”

Brady helped cut up our scallions from the market while I chopped up some basil, thyme, and parsley. We mixed them all in a bowl of softened cream cheese and a little lemon zest and salt.

Here’s our bowl of creamy goodness!

We spread the Scallion Cream Cheese mixture onto some slices of our market baguette and topped each one with a thin slice of cucumber.

These were so light and refreshing. They’d make a delicious appetizer or finger food for a party.

The fact that some of our ingredients came straight from local farmers and bakers, made this snack that much tastier!

Crunchy, creamy, and satisfying!