The Noodle Need

About two weeks ago, Little Weed #4 approached me in the kitchen while I was making lunch.  We had been talking earlier about differences between the way things were done in China and the way they are done in our family, so China was fresh on his mind.  He wrapped his arms around me and said, "Mom, you want to know something?  I miss the good food in China.  I really, really no like food here.  I eat China food since I was little.  I like China food better."  I returned his hug and promised that we would keep working on finding food he liked. 

Unfortunately, it just so happened that the next two nights didn't hold much promise in the dinner department (chili one night and pizza the next.)  Knowing that he'd been a trooper through both those meals, I decided to make a known favorite - chicken noodle soup.  I had a busy afternoon, so I decided to throw it in the crock pot earlier in the day.  At dinner time, #4 came inside from playing, took one look at the crock pot, and said, "Awww, I have to eat THAT?" 

In one of my less-than-stellar-mom moments, I took that comment very personally. I took the stack of bowls that were in my hand ready to be filled with the not-so-obviously-delicious soup and loudly slammed them on the counter. 

"You don't want it?  Fine. Eat whatever you want.  I'm done for the night." 

Yes, immature and somewhat resembling a tantrum, but that's reality sometimes in this house with this imperfect mom.  I went to my room, closed the door, and took a few moments to cool off.

Not surprisingly, it wasn't long before I heard little feet running up the stairs followed by a door being slammed shut.  I waited a few minutes (partly to make a point and partly to make sure I had my mind in a sane place that could create a productive conversation) and then went to his room.  #4 was laying on his floor just crying his little eyes out. 

"I'm sorry I slammed the bowls down.  That wasn't nice."
"Mama, I just don't like the food."
"#4, I understand that, but you didn't even look to see what the food was!  Mama made that especially for you because I knew you would like it."
"I not know that."
"I know."
"I sorry."
"I forgive you.  I know it is so hard to eat food you don't like.  I'm trying to find things, but you need to try what I make so you can tell me if it is something you like or don't like.  Can you at least try something before you say, 'yuck'?" 
"Yes.  I try."
"And I will try harder to find some foods that are more like what you had in China."
"I like noodle."
"Okay, I'll try some more different noodle foods and see if you like any of them."
"Okay."

The next morning, I emailed a friend of mine and asked her if she had any easy (Melissa-proof) Chinese noodle or rice recipes that she could pass along.  She so kindly responded with a list of foods, complete with photos of the packaging,  to try from the local Asian market.  Wow.  The kindness of people just floors me sometimes.  I resolved to make a trip there in the near future and made a list of the first few things I would try.

In the meantime, dinner rolled around again.  I hadn't been to the store yet, but wanted to make a good-faith effort to provide something resembling a noodle as part of the meal.  I hunted through the pantry and found an old package of ramen noodles I had left over from a salad recipe I had made months and months before.  I have never in my life actually cooked ramen noodles, but decided this would be the perfect quick side for that night's meal. 

I called the kids down when dinner was ready, #4 took one look at his plate, sniffed carefully, and looked at me with wide eyes.  "This is it!  This what I like in China.! This so yummy.  I eat it every day in China."

You. Are. Kidding. Me. 

My kid has been "longing" for over five months and a 17 cent pack of soup would have fulfilled is his noodle needs?  Really?

When I later related the story to Sticks, he said, "Well, I guess it makes sense that they would serve the most inexpensive foods to all those mouths.  It's not like they're going to be making gourmet Chinese dishes for the orphans."  Yup, I guess that makes sense.

So it's now been about a week since we made our ramen noodle discovery.  #4 has enjoyed noodles for breakfast nearly every single day (with only half the seasoning packet included in a vain attempt to reduce the sodium content) and has thanked me countless times for finding his noodles for him. 

My next task is to find a healthier version that has some hint of nutritional value.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be grateful for some direction.

And I'll be sure to remember that even if I've been struggling with something for a very long time, seemingly leaving no stone unturned in an attempt to find a solution, it is possible that the solution has been sitting right in front of my eyes the whole time.  Or maybe in the back of my pantry.