Ramen alternative ?

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The noodles themselves are not "unhealthy" its just the packet of sodium the comes with them You can try whole grain pasta or orzo pasta

There's like 700 something milligrams of sodium in one package.
I consider that unhealthy.

Use just half the packet and add in bok choy or other seasonings

Mom piping in here.
If it were me I just wouldn't buy them for a while. Remove them from the house.
Not that you would never ever eat them, just so that you can start a new habit now.
Hunger+creativity= a different meal/snack.
Bake a potato and steam a veggie. If he's hungry, that sure will smell awesome!!:)

Ramen noodles are a perfectly fine food.*






* If you're in college. Otherwise, no. No no no.

Yum!
I don't know how old this son is, but if he's very young, he'll do the classic thing kids do.....
You'll go to all the trouble to prepare this amazing meal, and......he'll only eat the noodles.
Oh, and the juice, if you served it.
LOL
Feeding little ones can sometimes resemble an art form.

LOL! I made a similar comment to my sister on my comment wall about 30 mins ago, about how children tend to prefer their noodles 'clean' or straight.

EDIT: Acg67's attached noodles soup looks delicious though. He always has the most fabulous delicious looking meals.

There IS an alternative! There is a product (found at Nob Hill/Raleys or I get mine at Sprouts) or in asian markets I'm sure, called Shiritaki noodles. They are packaged in little pouches like tofu, but can be found in the cold section (by tofu) at Sprouts, or on the shelf by the pastas at Nob Hill.
Anyhow- they have the same exact consistency, smoothness, etc as ramen, but they have 15 cals for the pack. And nothing else. They are made from soy or flour-- they take on the flavor of whatever you add to them. They come in 2 'sizes' thin vermicelli type and a wider fettucini type. BUT- like other posters have said-- it's the seasoning packet in ramen that is so bad. You'd have to season these with something as well-- but you can certainly come up with better flavors than that weird little salt packet! Here's what shiritaki noodles look like:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=shiritaki+noodles&qpvt=shiritaki+noodles&FORM=IGRE

You could try rice noodles - vermicelli? Just buy the plain noodles and make your own seasoning. Maybe get your son involved in mixing flavours he likes. That way it's more fun and he can experiment.

like everyone else has said, ditch the packet. The fat can still be high though. So... if you have a big asian market around, ask if they have any frozen saimin noodles. LOVE them. 0 fat, the ones I get (though it's been awhile) are frozen in single serve packets, just under 200 calories.

If you want a 'no thought' sauce for a kid, at the same store I also get a 'squeeze' bottle of miso. Looks like a ketchup bottle. a little squeeze in some water usually is perfect, toss in some veggies, voila! no skill needed.

The frozen saimin takes about 2 minutes to thaw / 'cook' in boiling water. I've never used the micro for them (I toss water and frozen veggies in a wok, boil, then toss the noodles in), but it should work fine in a big bowl in the micro.

Otherwise, packaged 'fresh' noodles are usually in abundance at the same type of store. Udon, ramen, soba, etc. They basically just need to be reheated. Last 1 lb pack I bought, I just parsed it out to single serve in snack baggies, froze some, kept some in fridge. Very fast.

Oh - something that's VERY tasty with them - some peanut flour mixed with a bit of soy sauce. Peanuty goodness. I usually use protein plus peanut flour. I've tried some darker roast ones and didn't like the flavor as well. This noodle / peanut / soy combo is good hot OR cold. I like to add hot sauce to it when it's cold so it's spicy.

Not only does Ramen pack a lot of sodium they are also deep fried before being dehydrated.. that's why they taste so good!

I like using Udon noodles.

Or low carb brands of "angel hair pasta"-Dreamfield's brand is good.

I have tried "bean thread noodles" that you can get in the Asian grocery. They're pretty good.. they're the little vermicelli type noodles you see in spring rolls. They're bland on their own so you really have to sauce them up.

I've been hearing good things about shiritaki noodles but I haven't tried those.

It's pretty easy to make your own peanut sauce which can help flavor any of these.

Good luck!

There's like 700 something milligrams of sodium in one package.
I consider that unhealthy.

And those packets are usually pre-fried noodles. You have to be really careful when looking. I have seen steamed noodles in the refridgerator section, by the tofu. They look really similar to the ramen. You could try those out, and then just make your own sauce to toss in. Years ago I used to be able to find steamed, dried - but haven't found those in a while. Good luck!

I'm a mom and we eat ramen all the time! We only use about a third of the packet per pack of noodles, and add eg g and veggies to it, sometimes chicken. Super yummy, and not that bad for you. We also drain the water and add the seasoning directly to the noodles, the flavor goes waaay farther that way.