Honey Sweet Noodles

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"This is a Five and Fifteen recipe - the goal is to do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in fifteen. Eat your noodles; then have ice cream.

If you ask Rick Oaks to describe his work environment, he'll tell you that he drives a big yellow truck that has a picture of a swan on the side.

He is called, he says 'the Schwan dude.'

Oaks is a route manager for Schwan's Fine Foods, a company that relies on positive people skills for home delivery of frozen foods.

'I enjoy contact with people. You become a real family member,' says Oaks, who averages 90 to 115 stops each day. His truck contains 250 frozen items including ice cream, pizzas, meats and casserole dishes.

He puts in a full day, going from 8:30 am until 9 or 9:30 pm. Oaks works North Spokane routes for eight days and Elk on the ninth day, and gets every other Friday off along with weekends.

'That's one of the nice things I like; I'm off weekends,' says Oaks, who was in restaurant management for 25 years before joining Schwan's a year ago.

Good ice cream is one of the things that has made Schwan's so popular. Oaks has a variety of choices on his truck, including one called Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Binge. Demand continues through the cold weather of fall and winter, he says.

Here's a quick noodle dinner to make and follow with, of course, a bowl of ice cream from your favorite Schwan dude."

Merri Lou Dobler

  • 4

Ingredients

  • 1 (8 ounce) package thin Oriental whole-wheat noodles or linguine
  • 2 tbsp creamy-style, no-added fat peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp very finely chopped dry roasted peanuts, unsalted (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain.

While noodles are cooking, place peanut butter in a small bowl. Gradually stir in soy sauce and then honey, stirring until the mixture is smooth.

Place drained noodles in a serving bowl. Drizzle sauce over noodles and mix well. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired. Serve right away.