Copycat Shamrock Shakes

Here's a fun fact about me: I love McDonald's Shamrock Shakes.  They are one of my favorite things.  Unfortunately, moving to Japan meant "bye bye, beloved Shamrock Shake" (though it also meant "hello, Sakura McFlurrie", but that is getting off topic).  You can then imagine my joy and excitement this year as Shamrock Shake season rolled in.  The first day that they were available, I drove myself right to one of my local Mickey D's.  After waiting in the drive-through for a while, I finally pulled up to order and, tragedy of tragedies, they didn't have the Shamrock Shake.  I was so sad and ended up buying food that I really didn't want/need but enjoyed none the less since I had already waited so long.  Flash forward several days.  I decided that my local McDonald's should have had enough to get my shake in stock.  But thinking ahead this time, I called before going and low and behold, they didn't have my shake.  So, I called a different McDonald's and they didn't have my shake either.  I finally asked if there was any McDonald's in the area that did carry the Shamrock Shake.  And now I'm sad because all of the McDonald's in my area are owned by the same guy and so they carry the same items and my area apparently doesn't believe in the magic of the Shamrock Shake.

So, after going through the five stages of grief, I finally decided I'd just have to make my own.  I'd done it in the past and so I'd do it again.  And as I was preparing my shake(s), I figured this would be something to share with you all in case someone else out there in the world of the internet has to live their life without the Shamrock Shake (or else is in withdrawals since Shamrock Shake season is over for the year).

The shakes are really easy to make.  They are basically a mint milkshake, but I like to think of them as a mint-chocolate milkshake.  Here are the ingredients you will need: mint chocolate chip ice cream, milk, green food coloring, and whipped cream (you can totally make your own, but I'm all about the simple).

For making one serving, I used 3 scoops of the ice cream, about 1/4 c milk, and four drops of the food coloring.  And make sure you use the liquid food coloring, not the gel.  The gel is great for things like frosting, but it does mix well when added to liquids.  Blend them all together well (using a good blender is important: I love my Ninja blender, but I don't think it's the best for things like smoothies and such because of how the blade moves it doesn't get all the pieces as tiny as I'd like [in the case of this milkshake, it won't get your chocolate chips really small to suck through a regular size straw]; since I was making a single serving today, I used my Nutribullet and it crushed all of the chocolate chips really well.  However, this isn't an endorsement of either, so use what you have and like).  Once, you get them to your desired consistency, pour into your serving cup, add a nice dollop of whipped cream, and enjoy!

Yakisoba (Japanese Fried Noodles)

So, I've been working on a few new blog posts, but last week was Spring Break and we had family in town, so nothing went live.

Anyway, one of my favorite Japanese dishes is Yakisoba, which are fried noodles.  They are Japanese equivalent of cook-out food.  When we'd go to the beach, we'd see the locals using the provided grills to fry their noodles.  No hot dogs and hamburgers for them.

Yakisoba is made with the protein of your choice (I usually go for beef because when I first learned out to make it, that's the meat I used), precooked soba (buckwheat) noodles, and fresh veggies.  There is also a yakisoba sauce used to bring it all together.  And it is often served with pickled ginger on top (I usually skip this because I forget to buy it).

When I lived in Okinawa, I could buy bags of refrigerated soba noodles at my local American grocery store.  Alas, that is not an option here in South Texas.  If you have an Asian grocer in your area, you may be able to find some there.  Again, that isn't an option for me here.  Fortunately, my local grocery store has frozen soba noodles in it's freezer section.  I'll admit, they aren't as good as the ones I'd get in Okinawa, but they do their job.  Don't worry if you can't find soba/yakisoba noodles where you live.  When I first moved here, I couldn't find any, but I really had a craving for yakisoba, so I used some noodle pasta.  You could easily use spaghetti or linguine to make this dish (though the noodles will have a different taste since they aren't made from buckwheat).

Another item that may be difficult to find is your yakisoba sauce.  This is a much easier fix.  I found some on Amazon and had it shipped straight to my house.  If, however, that isn't your thing, you could easily substitute soy sauce.  Just know that yakisoba sauce has a thicker consistency than soy sauce.  In fact, my husband and oldest daughter like their noodles saucier than I make them (they really shouldn't be that saucy), so they always add soy sauce to their servings before eating.

Step 1: Prepare your meat and veggies.  I usually just buy stir fry meat from the grocery store because it means I don't have to cut up my meat myself.  However, if you aren't lazy like me, you'll need to cut your meat into strips or bite size pieces.  Cut your onion into thin strips.  For the rest of my veggies, I prefer to use carrots and cabbage.  Again, showing my laziness, I buy a small bag of julienned carrots.  If choosing carrots, you'll need to cut them into very thin strips.  For the cabbage, I only use a 1/4th to a 1/2 of the head.  You won't need to cut it into super thin pieces.  Occasionally, I'll just buy a bag of cabbage prepared for coleslaw because it is once again already prepped for you, however, I like my cabbage to be larger, so I usually don't do this.  If you choose to use different veggies, make sure they are cut into thin pieces because they aren't going to cook for very long.

Step 2: Heat oil in a large frying pan (I will often use a dutch oven instead because the depth of the pot makes it easier to blend the noodles and sauce in at the end).  Don't worry if you don't have sesame oil, vegetable oil will work fine.  The sesame oil will give it a slightly different taste and smell but the end results will be very similar.  Sauté your meat and onion in the pan until your onion is becoming translucent and meat is almost completely cooked through (as we add the other ingredients, the meat will continue to cook, so if it is already fully cooked at this point, it will get tough).

Step 3: Add the remainder of your vegetables and stir to combine.

Step 4: Add noodles and stir well (if you use the frozen noodles like me, let them thaw first).

Step 5: Stir in your yakisoba sauce until all of the noodles are evenly coated.

Step 6: Enjoy as is and/or with pickled ginger and added soy sauce.

Yakisoba (Japanese Fried Noodles)

Serves: 6-8 Ingredients: 2 tsp sesame oil 1 lb lean meat, cut into bite-size pieces or strips 1 medium onion, cut into thin strips 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced         or 1/2 - 3/4 small package of julienned carrots 1/4 - 1/2 head of cabbage, cut into strips 2 pkgs Soba Noodles (thawed, if using frozen) 1/3 C Yakisoba Sauce Optional toppings: pickled ginger, soy sauce Directions: 1. Prepare your meat and veggies.  2. Heat oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven.   Sauté your meat and onion in the pan until your onion is becoming translucent and meat is almost completely cooked through. 3. Add the remainder of your vegetables and stir to combine. 4. Add noodles and stir well. 5. Stir in your yakisoba sauce until all of the noodles are evenly coated. 6. Enjoy as is and/or with pickled ginger and added soy sauce.

*This is my very first printable recipe, just click above to print (and please forgive my photography; I'm just getting back into blogging and photography is not my forte).

Back in the Saddle

Hello Bloggerverse.

Long time no see!

The last few years have been a crazy whirl wind.  As in 2 and 1/2 years ago, my husband and I packed up our four kids and the majority of our stuff and moved them all across the ocean to Japan.  We spent our two years in Japan site-seeing and learning as much as we could about the local culture.  It was a great adventure, but it wasn't the most conducive life-style to creating and blogging.  However, I did learn several fun things that I may just share with you as we go along.

When I first started this blog, it was as a way to advertise my sewing creations (mainly car seat canopies), hence the name ("seamed" is intentionally spelled that way, in reference to sewing seams).  It progressed to recipes and other crafts.  I hope that it continues to evolve.  I still plan on posting creations, tutorials, and recipes here.  I'm not sure yet if my sisters will also jump back in the saddle of blogging with me; we'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, last summer, we packed back up most of our stuff and our four kids and moved back to the United States, ending up in south Texas (this is a whole new experience for us).  My husband and I spent about a week house hunting with no luck, so we ended up signing a contract to build a new house in a brand new community.  A month ago, our house was finally finished and we got the keys.  Three weeks ago, our household goods that had crossed the Pacific Ocean and had been sitting in storage arrived.  And just this weekend, our stuff that had been in storage since before our move to Japan was delivered.  For the first time in 2 and 1/2 years, we have all of our stuff again under one roof.  It is so exciting to finally be able to settle down and know that we won't have to pick up and move again in two years.

I have lots of ideas for our brand spanking new house and I'm excited to share them with you.  To help with said sharing, I set up an Instagram account to go along with this blog.  If you want to follow us (assuming it's an us and not just me situation), our IG username is: itseamedgoodtome.  I look forward to interacting with you all again.

And in closing, I thought I'd leave you with a picture from my dreamy Japanese life.  This is a picture of Elephant Rock in Okinawa: