Quicker than Take Out Thai Peanut Butter Turkey Ramen

 
My fella loves Thanksgiving. As do I (of course guilt free fatty food, comfy gear, and football are REALLY my bag); Plus we really do have SO much to be thankful for, even though sometimes we neglect to recognize that on a daily basis! Anyways, he especially loves the heavy amount of high carbs in over-abundance on that glorious day/following week lol! The puddles of gravy atop mounds of buttery potatoes alongside globs of stuffing and of course the prized TURKEY. He is TRULY a meat and potatoes guy with a cup of gravy to wash it all down sort of dude! He barely touches the other veggies unless I sneak them onto his plate (no mercy lol)!

Enough meat for the furry family members too, HINT* dog/cat friendly recipe soon to come

Well, this year he decided to buy a 13+lb turkey for JUST US 2!!?! THAT'S A MIGHTY BIG BIRD for just two people, bless his mixed up heart, but that is like 7lbs of meat for each of us! I've never made a bird that big, just rinsing that beast off was a challenge lol. NO JOKE, it was about the size of my freaking puggle! Needless to say.... we have had leftovers for DAYS.  It's OFFICIALLY, time to revive, revamp, and morph this turkey into something way nontraditional. Time to take back my fridge and move on :)  Best part of it all was him seeing me cleaning off the rest of the turkey carcass and saying on day 5 of eating turkey leftovers.....

 "NO MORE TURKEY." (LOL) Hey buddy, FYI: I didn't get the 14 pound beast of a bird!?! Waste not, want not right ;)

(AND MORE MEAT 5 DAYS LATER lol)

 Honestly, I was WAY over the turkey too, so I decided to make something that tasted like anything BUT traditional turkey with the last night of dinner concoctions for this glorious bird (at least for now). I STILL have 2 sandwich bags (one for my critters) worth of meat leftover after eating turkey for 5 DAYS!! It's gonna chill in the freezer for later consumption because I'm burnt out on this bird lol! Anyhow, I always try to keep certain items in my pantry and fridge that can be used in a variety of ways. Noodles, peanut butter, & soy sauce are just a few of those staples I try always remain stocked up on because A. they are delicious, B. they are cheap and easy to work with, & C. they are versatile. That being said, I decided to go Chinese for our last day with this turkey and smother it in soy sauce and peanut butter :) You could smother a rat in peanut butter and it'd probably be delicious in my book, not that the turkey tasted like rat, but I didn't want it to taste like Thanksgiving Turkey anymore. This concoction definitely did the trick. It was easy, delicious, and cheap aka a THRIFTY TRIPLE THREAT type of dinner!

 Whatcha' Need:

1.5 -2 cups leftover (precooked) semi-shredded turkey (leftover chicken or pork would work well too)
1/4 cup Soy Sauce (a little soy sauce packs a strong flavor punch so it is MUCH better to add less to start with and add more later; adding too much will over power all the other flavors and can ruin the dish)
1 TBSP Brown Sugar
1 TBSP Butter or Margarine
4 TBSP Peanut Butter (smooth or chunky)
1 cup frozen Peas and Carrots (broccoli would be good too)
1 package chicken flavored Ramen Noodles
2.5 cups water
A Splash of Lime Juice (opt)


Other seasonings:
Chili powder, lemon pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder (about a teaspoon of each depending on your taste preferences.)
(I like things a little spicy so I add a bit more chili powder and red pepper flakes, but these things could be omitted if you don't do the heat thing well)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts (if you use chunky pb you could omit the peanuts, but they add nice texture/tang)
Chopped Green Onions for garnish (opt)

In a medium sized mixing bowl combine meat, soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, seasonings, and a splash of lime juice. Mix to combine, cover, and put in fridge for 1/2 hour to marinate.

Doesn't look like Thanksgiving turkey anymo' :)

 Next, pour all contents of the bowl into a medium sized sauce pan, along with the peanut butter, brown sugar, and butter. Heat on low, stirring frequently.

 Meanwhile, in another small sauce pan place 2 1/4 cups water and 1 cup frozen veggies on medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil for about three minutes or until veggies are tender and rise to the surface of the water.

you can even see the steam in the picture ( I love my new camera)

 Add Ramen noodles and seasoning packet and continue to boil 2-3 more minutes or until noodles are done, but NOT MUSHY.

 Then carefully combine the contents of the small sauce pan ie noodles, veggies, and broth into the larger sauce pan with the peanut butter meat sauce and stir to combine all ingredients.
 

Its not the prettiest pic I've ever taken, but I'm still getting use to this camera and I promise it tastes YUMMY lol!

Turn off burners... and fold in green onions (opt) and chopped peanuts. 

BAM! You now have a delicious little dish to consume that tastes like take out and is done in about the same amount of time it would take you to order and get Chinese food. If you live in a small town like me... the nearest Chinese food place is like 30 minutes away (bummer) so this is def a recipe to keep in your easy, cheap and yummy meal archives. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Chow for now :)