I saved one for my lunch today, thinking I would get some marinara from the spaghetti line and be done with it.  But low and behold-It was Chicken Marinara day!  I asked the ladies to give me the goods minus the chicken patty.  They didn’t think I was nuts because they know about my current vegetarian status.  I microwaved my little pizza burger and voila!  It was seriously better–mainly because it also tasted like pizza AND chicken marinara.  I do believe I have a new favorite thing.

I give these sweet Morning Star Farms Tomato & Basil Pizza Burger babies a 5 out of 5 because they taste like pizza, they are vegetarian, and they make a mean "chicken marinara!"

If you were curious about my “french fries” that I mentioned above, this is how I make them:

In a small bowl, mix the following:

• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1 (or 2) tsp of paprika, I really just eyeball it until the color is nice and red
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• salt
• pepper

1. Wash, peel, and cut up your potatoes into the size of “fry” you want.  I usually use white, but I only had red last nighy.  They worked fine.
2. Spray large baking pan (I use it for cookies) with Pam, spread your fries out, and drizzle the above oil mixture on them.
3. Move them around with your spatula until all coated.  You could do this in a separate bowl, but I try to conserve the dishes.
4. Cook on 375 until crispy on both sides, turning with a spatula when you start to smell the flavors wafting around.

Easy Cafe Style “Chicken” Marinara at Home

Layer the following:

• Spaghetti Noodles
• Pizza burger
• Slice of cheese
• Hot marinara sauce
• Grated Parmesan

On a separate note, you can instantly play “Food, Inc.” on Netflix.  We watched the whole thing yesterday, and it is really astounding and informative.  I highly recommend that you watch it.

I then decided to try them as a Ramen noodle replacement. Don’t judge me–we only keep Ramen in the house for the occasional crunch in salads and the like, so I have all these left over sauce packets. I tried the noodles with the packets, and they were like Ramen noodles–except with way less carbs. And I didn’t feel weighed down like I often did in college after eating these. A little (almost) guilt-free treat! I’m sure I soaked up enough sodium, though.

I really want to try these little noodles with marinara and Morning Star Farms “meat” balls (which I have just discovered). I also discovered that there are WAY more noodles in that little water-filled bag than I originally thought. At Whole Foods, they are $1.79 per package. It’s really not that expensive because one pouch fed two people. And since I’m not into leftovers, that is just fine with me.

I was toying with the idea of ordering them online, but shipping ranges from $9.00 to $13.00 because of the refrigerated nature of the noodles. This would be worth it if I lived where they aren’t sold or I wanted to buy in bulk. I’ve tried to find them as a dry product to no avail. I’m going to look for an Asian grocery a little closer to home today.

Next on my list of noodle dishes: rice noodles. They’re not low in carbs like the shirataki noodles, but they are hella afforable. I’m thinking lemon grass and chili.