The Movers Diet – When the Pantry is Empty

After living in the same Bronx apartment for four years, I picked up and moved to Astoria, Queens. No easy feat – half the battle came in finding a roommate. I spammed my friends, updated my facebook, and search through craigslist. For the last two months, I dedicated a large chunk of time for arranging my current living situation – part of the reason for my absence.

For all you New Yorkers looking for housing – I feel your pain! In the end, I found my current roommate through a friend. I got lucky, but can’t always bank on luck. I admire my friend and a fellow food blogger, Jeff Orlick for addressing this issue by co-creating Roommates Wanted NYC. Jeff saw a problem and is providing a great service.

Jeff and James founders of Roommates Wanted – picture from NYTimes

In my final week of packing, I have boxed my pots and pans up, and stopped buying groceries in effort to polish off the mystery items in my freezer. My diet consisted of either PB&J or bodega sandwiches. With the cost of moving and eating out adding up, I knew I needed to cook – but with what?

Fortuitously, the first box unpacked in my new kitchen contained noodles. I put together a minimalist meal – consisting of noodles and my staples sauces. I love the versatility of my Asian sauces – in various combination the variety of flavors are limitless.

The noodles were glorious! So surprisingly good that upon the first bite, my roommate – with noodles still in mouth – raised his brow with a smile and said: How did you do that! The noodles would be even better accompanied with fresh ingredients like scallions, cilantro, and cucumbers (which I didn’t have at the time).

Behind the scenes: Tofu being a rather naughty girl during the photo shoot.