It used to be that white rice was so cheap, if you had a cup left over after a meal, it probably went in the garbage. With prices skyrocketing and some supplies limited, it makes sense now to stretch this pantry staple as far as it will go. Here are a few simple ideas to avoid waste.
1. Cover leftover rice with milk and heat through. Serve with sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon for breakfast or a treat. I have tried this with brown rice…but some healthier choices just can’t be converted. I didn’t like it.
2. Make an easy Chicken and Rice Soup with broth, veggies, chicken (canned if you don’t have any other) and stir in the rice at the end to heat through.
3. If I have brown rice left over, I make fried rice the next night. Or, we like Hawaiian Haystacks–rice with homemade chicken sauce over the top and then layered with your choice of toppings (cheese, celery, slivered almonds, pineapple tidbits, chow mein noodles, etc.)
It’s fun and frugal to share ideas on how to stretch our food dollars. I would love to hear your ideas too. Please post!
In response to a request, I am including directions for my easy Chicken Sauce for Hawaiian Haystacks. I’m sorry for the delay on responding. This is one of those recipes that varies a little each time. I start with a roux–melt about a cube of butter, and then whisk in flour to make a paste. Then slowly add chicken broth and one can evaporated milk to make a creamy sauce. I add the milk first and then add the broth until the sauce is the desired thickness. Then I just season the sauce to taste with cracked pepper, a little rosemary, maybe a little garlic powder, and salt. Finally, I stir in 1-2 cups cooked, shredded chicken. You can cheat and make this recipe with a can of cream of chicken soup thinned with milk, but we like the above version much better.
Some good ideas. My comment is a little off topic but not completely. I just want to tell people not to put rice down their disposals. My sister in law put quite a bit down her disposal once and it set up like cement in their pipes when it swelled with the water. They had to replace their pipes.
Boy does that sound good…and I just threw about 3/4 cup of rice away tonight. Darnit!
This is exactly stretching “food” dollars, but I have decided I need to make or buy some cloth napkins to use at mealtime. We go through way too many napkins and it would be so easy to just throw them in the washer after a meal. I have also been really aware of how much garbage our family generates each week so I am trying to cut back on waste.
I also really want to try making my own yogurt. I will let you know how it goes. I have been buying organic yogurt lately and it is pretty pricey and I have heard homemade yogurt is sooo good. I also have a child with pretty severe gastrointestinal problems and I hear it is really helpful for that.
Please share the recipe for your homemade chicken sauce!
Kim, Your site is awesome! I love the rice ideas. I also just threw some away the other night. The idea of warming it with milk and sugar sounded good. I like rice pudding.
I need to hang around you a little more and hope some cooking skills rub off. And I’ll have to remind myself not to be intimidated 🙂