There was a lot to get used to when Ben and I found ourselves newly married and moving into a house together three years ago.
We lived separately until the day we said ‘I do’ and really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
I quickly found out that Ben has a fondness for throwing t-shirts on the bathroom floor, while I prefer to put them in the hamper. I hang my robe and belts on hooks on the back of our bedroom door, but he…well you know what, I still don’t know where he keeps that stuff, but he hates a cluttered doorway!
Our solution? The hooks moved onto the back of the guest room door, and we rock separate bathrooms.
Separate bathrooms is my #1 secret to a happy marriage. I PROMISE you this!
The other thing we had to get used to? Each other’s cooking. Sure, we cooked for each other when we were dating. Quite often actually. But it’s different when it’s every. single. night.
In the first year of of our marriage (pre blog,) Ben came to find that I made a lot of chicken. A lot of chicken. Baked, sautéed, grilled, stuffed – you name it. If it was chicken, I’d cook it.
I also made a ton – A TON – of peanut noodles. And not well, I might add. My peanut noodles were sticky and gloopy with thick peanut butter and too much soy sauce. If Ben hadn’t thrown a peanut noodle intervention that first year, this blog might have been named “Iowa Girl Eats Bad Peanut Noodles While Husband Goes Hungry.”
Thankfully, it is not. Thankfully I found the perfect Thai Peanut Noodle sauce, which I’m going to share with you! Smooth, salty & a little sweet, this sauce penetrates, rather than coats, the noodles for an unbelievably tasty dish.
Thai Peanut Noodles
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4oz cooked fettuccini or rice noodles
3 teaspoons peanut oil, divided
1 large chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt & pepper
1 cup tofu, cubed
1/2 cup shelled frozen edamame
2 green onions, sliced
1 cup coleslaw mix
1/2 cup snap peas
1/2 cup asparagus
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 egg
dash of sesame oil
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
For the sauce:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
4 teaspoons natural peanut butter
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons chili garlic paste
Directions:
- Add all sauce ingredients into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds, then stir until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat an electric wok to 375 degrees (or heat a large skillet on high) and add 1 teaspoon oil. Season chicken with salt & pepper, then add into the wok and cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through. Remove to a plate.
- Add another teaspoon of oil to the wok and add in tofu. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Remove to the plate with the chicken.
- Add the final teaspoon of oil to the wok then add in edamame, green onions, coleslaw mix, snap peas, asparagus and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until vegetables are tender and coleslaw is wilted, ~3-4 minutes. Remove to the plate with the chicken and tofu.
- In a small dish, whisk together the egg and a dash of sesame oil. Add to the wok and stir constantly until soft scrambled.
- Add cooked chicken, tofu and vegetables back into the wok, as well as the cooked noodles. Pour sauce into wok and toss all ingredients to combine.
- Serve garnished with chopped peanuts and extra sliced green onions, if desired.
NO GLOOP! Just silky, chewy noodles packed with yummy flavor.
The peanutty taste is bold with peanut oil, natural peanut butter and chopped peanuts in the recipe, but it’s balanced out by salty soy sauce and the bite of rice vinegar. It is SO good.
The best part is that you can totally customize the recipe to use whatever’s in your fridge. All veggies and proteins are welcome here! 
These days, after nearly three years of marriage, Ben and I are in the acceptance phase of each other’s weird quirks.
He accepts the fact that I can’t stand to see cups on the ledge of the sink, and I accept his obsession with keeping things in milk crates.
It’s love, I think. 
~~~~~
What have you had to get used to living with a new roomie/hubby/wifey?
HAHA, your blog title is hilarious! Mine would have been “Girl makes way too much Velveeta Shells and Cheese, boyfriend goes hungry”
I had to get used to living with my husband too! We had a long distance relationship before we got married, so we only saw each other a little bit here and there when we dated.
I had to also get used to different cleaning styles and learn how to cook as well. OK, I knew how to cook most things, but there were things I still didn’t know how to do.
We also had to learn how to communicate! And I think we’re still working on that (and probably always will be) even after 13.5 years. Whew!
But he’s the love of my life and that’s why my email handle is emandvanforever (awww).
Thanks for sharing those beautiful pics!
Beautiful wedding picture! I used to cook chicken 100 different ways as well. My husband is such a meat and potatoes kind of guy so he was disappointed in the beginning. We’ve gotten used to each other’s cooking styles over the years. The biggest thing to get used to has been my version of clean and his version of clean. They are NOT the same. He never had to do a thing around the house when he was growing up so I am teaching my boys (and girl) to pick up after themselves. It’s essential!
This is so funny you posted this…one of the few things I kept from an ex boyfriend was his AWESOME peanut sauce recipe. Yum!!! You have to get the amounts just right otherwise you end up with something you could use to put a hut together…my husband is the easiest person on the planet to live with. I got so lucky! He even does the dishes! Woo-hoo. I used to have to remind Mr. Peanut-Sauce that I was not his mom… Grrrr! <3
I made your Thai Peanut Noodles for supper tonight.
We like it. The only thing I did different was, I add a little corn starch to thicken up the sauce a little.
Thanks for sharing.
Sherry from Cedar Falls, Ia
Separate bathrooms rock! Probably kept us together for the last few years. Mine = big bathtub, beautiful shower and brightly lit mirrors. His = sink, shower, toilet. Perfect!
Ooh,there’s so much to get used to when living together,it’s crazy.But I think the biggest thing is that I am quite upbeat in the morning,and when my boyfriend and I moved in together,I realised he is really grumpy first thing in the morning.Also,he doesn’t EVER want to do dishes.EVER.He’ll only do it if I’m going to be away for more than a day
Your recipe sounds delish. Do you have any advice/recommendations on how to cook the rice noodles properly? I love rice noodles, but it seems like everytime I make them they end up to be gooey and gloppy (not necessarily because of the sauce).
The best way to ‘cook’ them is to not actually cook them (well kinda.) As I have been experimenting with many different authentic Thailand recipes over the year I’ve learned a few things I’m willing to share.
Rice noodles: First off I’ll admit I am not expert, and I’ve managed to get by without a wok so far [only because my place has electric
]
Anyway, I don’t cook them in the traditional method that you would a wheat noodle. Instead I heat 2-3 gallons to just below a boil. There is no specific temperature you have to measure out, but I liken it to something you would use for a good green tea. Say 170-190 degrees. Fairly hot, but something that you could still drink in a minute or two of cooling. (Much like tea) In other wards if you can stick your finger in it, and not burn it. It’s ready.
The water will start to form small bubbles, as if it’s about to simmer. When it does this you are ready. Take this water and pour it over your rice noodles that you have sitting in a large glass dish, or something equivalent. I typically cover it with a lid.
Let them soak in the hot water for 10-15 minutes until they are completely soft. For stir fries you can soak them to al dente (this is preferred or they will get mushy when they finish cooking in the stir fry.)
Lastly once they are ready, drain away the water and rinse them under cold water. Be careful not to stir it around too much or they may become sticky. Rinsing rice noodles even when they are going to get sauced is key to a non mushy, non sticky noodle. You want to wash away the excess starch on the noodle, which is what makes them sticky.
Also, if you follow this method and DO NOT boil the noodles. They will still be ready to soak up any delicious sauce you throw at them.
Other notes: The soaking time generally depends on the thickness of the rice sticks. The thinnest threads will only take a minute, will the thickest ones will take upwards of 15 minutes.
Thanks so much for the advice! I’m going to give your methods a try when I make this recipe this week!
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Just had to comment that I made this recipe a little while ago – it was wonderful! It had that restaurant taste that is so hard to get! I’m definitely adding it to my repetoire!!! And I made the teeny tiny potatoes last weekend….and ate entirely too many! Thanks!
I saw this recipe on your blog a few weeks ago and I knew I had to try it. I made it last night and it is a-maz-ing! This will definitely become a go to dish in my house. Thank you!
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You know, I make this all the time and I’m too lazy to print it out so when I need to find it I just google “Iowa Girl Eats Bad Peanut Noodles.” So if you were wondering who was finding you with that seach term and why – it’s me!
And I love this recipe. “Restuarant quality” my husband says. Good stuff!
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Give that man a giant kiss from me for the intervention! This is absolutely deelish, and rivals the authentic Thai restaurants I’ve been to. I dare say this was better! A lot of ingredients, but well worth the work. Luckily I found some rice noodles – which I think are key to getting this really right.
Thanks for sharing! This is definitely one of my new favorites.
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bahahaha I just found this post and it is SO true I have been married for 5 years and I swear. Cooking is the hardest part to get together on! My poor children, my husband made a frozen pizza tonight and cooked it on the cardboard it came on! Ewwww… ah but I love him!
I’ve been looking for a really good Peanutty Thai noodle recipe…I have yours on the list to try this week! I totally agree with you about seperate bathrooms! My husband and I are blessed with having our own bathrooms and I’ve already told him that this is an expectation now for every house we ever live in:)
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