With summer here as of this week, the PNW suddenly snapped from 57° days to the upper 60’s. I wasn’t going to waste a day like this. We got up early and went to Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island. It was this amazing morning….all the volcanoes were visible. All the mountain ridges and peaks soared high. It’s hard to be down on a day like this.
We walked up to the top of the area, where the fort sits far below. The ferry to the Olympic Peninsula was pulling out and Tahoma (Mt. Rainier) was massive in the sky, looming above where the island runs into the Salish Sea.
Flowers popping in the sun.
Sometimes you sit in a place so long the ferry returns back to the island. And Tahoma doesn’t get any smaller. And this is just a tiny blissful part of life, surrounded by my boys. They were climbing trees and rolling down hills. The kind of moment you want to remember for as long as you can.
Even the wild native Nootka Roses agreed and were in full bloom, with native bees buzzing everywhere. We saw Bald Eagles, Hawks and so much more.
Today’s lunch was Spicy Chicken Spaghetti.
It’s a one pot meal, but doesn’t require a lot of water. If you have a stove where the flame is adjustable, you will be good to go. You need to be able to simmer this recipe.
I was using one of my smaller pots (I think it’s a 1.3 Liter). A 2 Liter might have been better for this recipe, but we did fine. I just fine tuned the flame so we had no boil overs, and stirred often.
Spicy Chicken Spaghetti
Pack in a quart freezer bag or a FoodVac bag*:
- 8 ounces mini spaghetti, or broken up spaghetti
- ½ cup freeze-dried chicken
- 6 Tbsp crumbled freeze-dried mushrooms
- 2 Tbsp dried diced carrots
- 2 Tbsp dried onion
- 3 tsp no sodium chicken broth powder
- 1 tsp freeze-dried garlic
- ¼-½ tsp red pepper flakes
Also Take:
- 4 packets coconut aminos or soy sauce/Tamari
- Shelf stable Parmesan cheese, if desired (2 Tablespoons or a couple packets)
One Pot Method:
Add 3½ cups water, and the soy sauce to your pot.
Bring to a boil. Add in the pasta and vegetables. Return to a boil, then turn your flame down to a simmer, covering the pot, but stirring often. Cook for time indicated on pasta package (ours was 8 minutes).
Turn off the stove, cover tightly and let sit for 5 minutes.
Stir well and dish up.
Serves 2 adults, or an adult and 2 hungry children.
*Notes:
When prepping recipes using freeze-dried ingredients (versus dehydrated) you want to ensure the bag is well sealed. Particularly with freeze-dried meat. If you are making the meal to use that weekend, a plastic bag will work great. If longer, I highly suggest using a FoodVac sealer and precut quart size bags.
I used no salt added broth powder and used coconut aminos to control the salt in the recipe. If you don’t care, use what you like. Full sodium broth powder or broth concentrate sticks will work. Use soy sauce, lower sodium soy sauce and similar.
Walking along the beach, with the Olympic Mountains in the distance.
A random set of flowers I encountered growing in rocks. I will take the pretty views!
~Sarah
FTC Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links that give us commissions on products purchased. These items are what we used in the recipes. This includes both Amazon and Thrive Life.