Quick and Easy Pad Thai Rice Noodle Suggestions for One

Annie Chun's Pad Thai Noodles, 8-Ounce Packages (Pack of 6)

I was in a situation yesterday, once again, about needing a quick meal I hadn't planned for. Life's been like that for a few weeks now, with things going on in the family and a recent hand injury. Until my hand heals, driving and shopping are out of the question.

Since I went through all of my frozen emergency supplies last week, I had to come up with something clever for yesterday. Ordering out Chinese or Italian would be the easy thing, but also the more expensive.

So, I settled on my stash of Pad Thai rice noodles and organic vegetable stock. I cooked up an ounce of the noodles, heated up a cup of vegetable stock and a small can of cooked, drained black beans, poured the stock and beans over the noodles, and added a generous dose of Parmesan cheese and chopped scallions, and a pinch of salt and pepper. The resulting dish was filling and also healthy. I followed it up with two clementine oranges fresh from South America which my daughter had brought me the day before.

The Pad Thai noodles I buy come in an 8-ounce package, and they are the flatter noodles that look like

Keep Your Freezer Stocked with Single Servings for Emergencies

I've been distracted this last week with an illness in our family. My normal routine is disrupted, and frankly, meal planning, shopping, and cooking have been the last things on my mind. But that doesn't mean that I haven't been hungry, just that I don't want to plan anything, and I really don't want to put the effort into cooking anything, either, not even the effort it takes to cut up greens for a fresh salad.

This week, I was grateful that I had a well-stocked freezer.