Whole Wheat Spinach Noodles (aka HULK noodles)

I’ve been making homemade spinach whole wheat noodles for awhile now. They taste so much better to me than store bought whole wheat noodles. Store-bought whole wheat lasagna noodles tend to taste like cardboard to me. I’ve always made the noodles with fresh spinach until last fall I tried them with freeze-dried spinach. I was super nervous they would fail. It turns out they worked just fine and no one noticed a difference.

Well last week I thought I would take these noodles to the next level. I tried them with powdered eggs. I was shocked at the results. They turned out great. My almost 2 year old ate the lasagna right up. This is the boy who would prefer candy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Needless to say, I was thrilled.

With St-Patricks day coming up, give these a try. Use these noodles in your favorite lasagna recipe. We will be sharing a vegetarian one next week if you’re looking for a good one. If you have a house full of boys like I do, try calling them HULK noodles. The kids will be happy to try them. And you’ll see their muscles growing as they eat!

HOMEMADE SPINACH WHOLE WHEAT NOODLES

(USING SHELF STABLE INGREDIENTS)

Ingredients:
1 cup of Thrive Freeze-Dried Spinach
3 Tablespoons of Thrive Whole Egg Powder
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour (I used 1 cup semolina flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour)

Directions:
Place spinach eggs, water, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon of salt in blender container. Cover and blend until pureed, about 20 seconds. Make a well in center of flour, add spinach mixture. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Let stand 10 minutes. Divide dough into halves. Roll out each half, cut strips with pizza roller. Cook in boiling water until tender.

HOMEMADE SPINACH WHOLE WHEAT NOODLES

(USING FRESH INGREDIENTS)

Ingredients:
8 ounces of fresh spinach (1 package: 10 ounces frozen spinach can be substituted)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour (I used 1 cup semolina flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour)

Directions:
Wash spinach and cover and cook with just the water that clings to leaves until tender (3-10 minutes). Rinse spinach with cold water; drain. Place spinach eggs, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 teaspoon of salt in blender container. Cover and blend until pureed, about 20 seconds. Make a well in center of flour, add spinach mixture. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Let stand 10 minutes. Divide dough into halves. Roll out each half, cut strips with pizza roller. Cook in boiling water until tender.

Here’s a video I made a couple years ago doing it the fresh way. I didn’t show the finished product because I ended up taking the lasagna to my parents how to have my dad try it. He’s a big skeptic on all things healthy so I had to prove him wrong.

- Jodi Weiss Schroeder
http://yourthrivelife.com