The Windy City

For six months, I planned my trip to Chicago for November. My husband would be in meetings for 3 days. I would sleep, read, eat, photograph, and shop. It would be three entire, glorious days to do whatever whenever. I was mostly excited to dine like an adult. No leftover bread crusts, no worries about allergens, no spilled milk.

Flashback to Halloween.... Dex gets a horrendous case of the stomach flu. It lasts for 6 days! Followed by Maddie. Then, Millie. I managed to escape the dreaded disease... Or, did I?

Oh no, I did not! Twelve, yes 12, days later, while on my long-awaited sabbatical, the symptoms manifested themselves violently. There was no dining, no reading, no photography, and very little shopping (much to my husband's pleasure.) However, there was plenty of sleeping.

I did manage to take 4 random photos with my phone which don't really even resemble the vacation.

I do have to admit that it was better than the trip I took to San Francisco a few years ago when I had the swine flu. And, the saving grace of the trip was the restaurant we visited just before we flew home. Slurping Turtle was delicious. Since I was still adjusting to consuming food, I ordered "Slurping Noodles" which turned out to be perfect.

I tried to recreate the dish and came pretty close. It was a quick and easy dinner and all the kids like it. 

Slurping Noodles

Copy Cat from Slurping Turtle, Chicago

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup carrots, match stick or thinly sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 cup napa cabbage, shredded

½ cup broccoli florets

8 ozs straight cut rice noodles or vermicelli

Shrimp, use your preferred size

3-4 green onions, greens only slice on diagonal

¼ cup cilantro,

French Fried Onion, garnish

In coconut oil, sauté carrots, mushrooms, and cabbage for 3-4 minutes over med-hi heat.

Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add shrimp, broccoli, and rice noodles. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until noodles are soft. Stir in green onions and cilantro.

Garnish individual servings with french fried onions. Slurp away.