Day 4 - Kung Fu Ramen

They didn't have enough room to finish the directions

I started the day with some Kung Fu! I karate chopped the package open and stuffed my own veggies and tofu into it and filled it with water. This Ramen holds no bones about the MSG and it even calls it a "Flavor Enhancer." I chose to only use half a packet to limit the salt and MSG intake.

Flavor Enhancers up close

The flavor packet had little balls in it that I still can't put a name to. They were tiny and could possibly represent fried tofu but I don't really know. The sauce was tasty and the noodles were good. This is a nice option for when you're on the road and only have a microwave. After filling it with water and veggies though it did overflow and I had to clean up the inside of my microwave.

Baby boc choy, tofu, and green onions for breakfast

While it cooked in the microwave I prepped my lunch vegetables and set them in my lunch box. I have found that when I'm prepared it's very easy to chop up some veggies and fill a couple bags to bring to work. I will have to remember this when I finish this diet. It always seems like a pain in the ass to prep food for a good lunch at work instead of just running to the border and buying some food. When you actually do it though I found that it's really only 2-3 minutes of chopping and packing up. No excuses for eating poorly other than laziness I guess.

Hiiiiiiiiiii-YA!

I always thought Oriental was offensive to Asian people but it's on almost all of the authentic Ramen bags I bought at the 99 Ranch market. The lunch item today is another Kung Fu product. It tasted pretty standard and since I don't add a ton of the seasoning it was more vegetable broth taste than anything. I like the loaded up soup full of veggies and it lasts until dinner very well. I have yet to feel too hungry after eating where I used to snack every day.

The packet of flavored oil that came in this package went straight in the trash. It looked weird and after squeezing it for a while just got worse so I decided I wasn't going to chance whatever it was, or was supposed to be.

Seasoning and Weird Flavored Oil packet

Oil after squeezing a little bit

My friend stopped me on the way to the break room to express his concerns. He said his wife and he had discussed at home and they are concerned for my health. I too am concerned and do not want to damage myself too bad during this experiment so I have been researching and doing some digging. I will soon have an article on my findings on MSG so look for that. I am not too concerned about salt since I use very little of the seasoning packs. Also I plan to buy less of the cheap Ramen and more of the expensive ones with natural ingredients. I am also planning on making my own from scratch which will be even better for me. I am glad that I have friends that care about me enough to mention their concerns.

One thing I have found is that all the noodles are wheat based so far. None of them are using rice based noodles. My wife has an issue with gluten and it's been a hot topic in nutrition over the past few years. I am going to look into some packs of rice noodles for when I make my own from scratch. Also I plan to stop by the local vegan grocery store, Viva La Vegan, to see if they have some healthy Ramen alternatives. I will of course report back what or if I find anything.

Dinner cooking on the stove

I didn't get home today until past my usual dinner time. It was over two hours of traffic today and I was not in the mood to make Ramen. I did anyway. It was very bland but I didn't try to make it more tasty. I used a more healthy Ramen that I got at Sprouts. The noodles were the same as always but the seasoning packet had no flavor. It could be the flavor was lost in my veggies and tofu, but I think it was most likely that it was more water than called for.

Didn't taste like anything

Healthy ingredients with very little flavor

 I had to stop and get food for the family. I had planned to make dinner but traffic screwed that up so I stopped and got Mexican food for everyone. I sooooo wanted to eat a burrito. I am glad I didn't and that I am full from healthier alternatives but I felt like saying fuck it. In my hectic schedule I still haven't found time to exercise but hopefully things will calm down after this weekend. Thanks for checking in and let me know what you do when you're stuck in traffic.