Cooked plain rice freezes well too. I cook a big batch and use a small bowl to split it into individual portions. I wrap those in a little plastic wrap, and freeze it. ~2 mins in the microwave (reusing the wrap as a cover for the bowl) and I’ve got almost-as-good-as-fresh rice.
Comment on YSK tricks for one of the cheapest meals: beans and rice
Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Fortified short grain white rice… hit up Costco or Sam’s, or your local Asian market, and you can score a 20 lb bag for like $15 which comes out to literally a few cents per meal. (well… pre-tariffs at least… nowadays idk)
From there, add beans, or eggs, or chicken broth, or literally almost anything else: shit off the clearance wrack, from the food pantry, w/e. If it’s a meat or veggie, it’ll go with rice. In the case of the pantry, if you’re not actually sure what it is, it’ll still probably go with rice. Got a bag of spicy cheetos you forgot to close and now it’s all stale? Don’t throw that shit away, smash it up and throw it in with your next batch of rice - now it’s spicy! (I’ve done it - texture’s a little weird, but otherwise came out better than expected). Rice is ridiculously versatile.
Disregard the hate for white rice being nutritionless junkfood - it is, but when money’s that tight, you don’t give a fuck. The fortified rice mitigates that a bit, and in my experience is usually cheaper. It’s a starting point: add what you can to make it less shit; and even if it’s a meal of just straight rice, that’s still better than an empty stomach.
e0qdk@reddthat.com 1 day ago
metoosalem@feddit.org 1 day ago
Careful with reheating rice. If you immediately freeze it or throw it in the fridge right after cooking you’ll be (probably) be fine but cooked rice that has been sitting at room temperature for a couple hours can become a breeding ground for bacteria.
AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today 1 day ago
Yes, and to be clear, a huge part of the risk is that even after heated, the bacteria will die but leave behind toxins that will make you very sick. This Chubbyemu video (a doctor that makes videos covering odd, scary, or “interesting” medical cases) is about the same bacteria and the resulting death from it. While death seems to be pretty rare, it will still make you very sick.
e0qdk@reddthat.com 1 day ago
Yeah, it’s not a great idea to leave it out for hours and hours; I usually portion and freeze a half hour or so after cooking – it’s usually cooled off enough that I can handle it by then.
cymbal_king@lemmy.world 1 day ago
To each their own. Brown rice comes in 20lbs bags too. The biggest benefit in my opinion is brown rice keeps me feeling fuller longer.
totally agree on chicken broth adding that extra something
rbos@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
Your basic rice jazzes up well, too. Scoop of soup stock, scoop of turmeric, scoop of cumin, can of peas, cook it all together in the instant pot or rice cooker. Soy sauce and a raw egg, whip it together.