Food Waste Friday-Le Sigh.
Every week, I post a picture of the food that has gone bad over the last seven days. I started doing this in March of 2008 to help motivate myself to use up my food instead of wasting it and it's been very effective. Since it helped me so much, I invited other bloggers to join me in posting their food waste photos, and Food Waste Friday was born.
I have here two calzones of unknown date. I really should have eaten these right away, as they get dried out in the fridge, but alas, I did not.
And the green thing in the front is a mushy zucchinni. It came in a pack of about 8, so I feel pretty good about how well we did at eating them up.
Now I need some advice from all of you. I have a small container of rice that needs to be used, or it's going to be food waste.
It came with some Chinese takeout we had last week (yup, occasionally we order takeout! I wasn't feeling very good that day, and so I opted out of cooking.). Next time we order Chinese, I'll ask them not to include the rice, as we always have a problem eating it. I don't particularly like white rice (I prefer brown), and I don't see a lot of point in eating a refined carbohydrate unless I really enjoy it!
Alas, I didn't remember to say "no rice!" when I ordered this time, so I am stuck with this container. I'm not sure what to do with it, and I thought you all might have some creative ideas for me.
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I would make rice pudding with the leftover rice. Or serve it with a stir fry...oh, or make those little deep fried Italian rice ball things! They've got a name and I can't remember it. Hold on a minute...
Arancini di Riso
Ingredients
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
2 cups Risotto with Mushrooms and Peas, recipe follows, cooled (JUST USE YOUR LEFTOVER RICE AND ADD THESE VEGGIES, OR REALLY WHICHEVER ONES YOU WANT).
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups dried Italian-style bread crumbs
2 ounces mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Salt
Pour enough oil in a heavy large saucepan to reach the depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.
Stir the eggs, risotto, Parmesan, and 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs in a large bowl to combine. Place the remaining breadcrumbs in a medium bowl. Using about 2 tablespoons of the risotto mixture for each, form the risotto mixture into 1 3/4-inch-diameter balls. Insert 1 cube of mozzarella into the center of each ball. Roll the balls in the bread crumbs to coat.
Working in batches, add the rice balls to the hot ail and cook until brown and heated through, turning them as necessary, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the rice balls to paper towels to drain. Season with salt. Let rest 2 minutes. Serve hot.
Whatever you make, it's gonna be great! I love your blog and look forward to reading it every day.
Monica 🙂
As for the zucchini, the only way anyone eats it around here is shredded in chocolate cake, blueberry zucchini bread, or the usual zucchini bread. I shred a bunch in the summer and measure it into bags for the recipes I know I will make and freeze.
Michelle, we actually eat zucchini in a lot of ways (grilled, stir-fried, sauteed, in zucchini patties), but this one manage to slip by me. Oh well.
Monica, I know how to make rice pudding with uncooked rice, but I've never done it with cooked rice. How do you go about doing that?
I'm with you on preferring brown rice. Much better. For these leftovers, putting them into soup would work nicely. Actually, Kristen, you can freeze rice for later if you want to. Then it can go into whatever you already have planned. Move it to a different container, of course. Also consider freezing to later mix with brown rice. You won't taste the "whiteness" of it so much then.
The easiest thing to do with left over white rice is to make fried rice with it. Fried rice is much yummier than plain old white rice. Just sautee some shallots or onions with garlic in some olive or canola oil. Add some curry powder or garam masala. Add cutup carrots and some frozen peas, stirring to get everything coated. Then add the leftover rice and and keep stirring for a couple more minutes. You could even make a meal out of it by adding some scrambled eggs or chicken. Yummy!
You can make a little bit of fried rice - just let the rice come up to room temperature, then put a little oil and a skillet. When the skillet gets hot, just crack and egg into it, after the egg cooks a little, break it up, and then put the rice in there with some soy sauce and maybe some green onions if you have them. You can also use up cooked carrots or peas by putting them in there too. A little pepper and you have a tasty snack!
I use leftover rice when I make an omelet -- you could have put the zucchini in that also. Any little bits of left overs work good in an omelet -- though I don't like corn or peas in it. I've put in left over mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, carrots, broccoli, spinach, etc. This along with onions, mushrooms and peppers that I have pre-cooked iinto small batches.
I am going to try Jessie's fried rice.
Another idea -- if you have a steamer -- you can make another meal out of it by just letting it steam a bit.
Add it to vegetable soup. Its a nice way to add a little more substance to soup.
i usually make fried rice with leftover rice. or i add it to soup or mexican dishes. if i have little bits of leftover chinese food from getting takeout (not enough for another meal)i chop that up and add it to the fried rice also. fried rice is a great way to clean out the fridge since you can use those little bits of veggies that might go bad too!
i was just wondering this about your food waste so i thought i'd ask: do you throw away food from your families plates if they don't finish? or do you have an "eat everything on your plate" policy?
I second (or third) all of these suggestions for fried rice! I do this all the time with leftover rice. Here's my method: First, I scramble about 2 or 3 eggs and then remove them from the pan. I turn up the heat, add some oil and saute whatever veggies I've got around, diced very small so they cook quickly. I usually use carrots, onion, celery, green pepper, broccoli, etc. Once they are cooked enough, I add the egg back in and dump in the leftover rice. Pour some soy sauce over everything and let it cook, on high heat for about 10 minutes or so. I like it when it gets a little crispy on the bottom. Oh, and sometimes I throw in frozen veggies, too, like peas or edamame. It's good and cheap and uses up a lot of leftovers.
You could add an egg and some cheese to it, push into a pie pan and make a "crust" for quiche.
Definitely go with the fried rice. I put curry powder in my fried rice to give it an extra kick.
If you don't like white rice, maybe you just aren't eating the right kind. Some nice Thai Jasmine rice or a Japanese style (though from the great state of California) Calrose rice can be quite tasty. I make up onigiri with Calrose all the time.
The other option is Chicken Soup with Rice. Anything that gets you to pull out a Maurice Sendak book is definitely work it.
I told you once, I told you twice
All seasons of the year are nice
For eating chicken soup with rice
If it is plain white rice. It can be used:
- rice pudding
-add to soups (tomato, chicken basically anything)
-create your own Fried rice by adding in your own seasonings & vegetables (depending on the amount you have you could even make some brown rice to mix with it)
- Add it to meatballs, meatloaf etc....
You guys dont like rice? Maybe its the puerto rican background but we have rice just about every day. We loooove it.
If you're not a fan of it... try throwing it in gumbo (it gets soggy and puffed up and you almost dont notice it).
Make some tacos and season the rice to throw in there....
and i agree with all of the above comments about rice pudding, soup and fried rice.. 🙂 YUM! (p.s. I have alot more foodwaste than you this week.. *sigh*)
I typically freeze leftover rice and use it in soups. But also, a little water will usually perk up slightly dried out rice.
Our way is "Chipotle At Home". My kids love their burritos with meat, rice, and beans wrapped up in a tortilla. We warm the rice (in a bowl with a damp paper towel in the micro), warm the tortillas, chop the meat, swirl it around the frying pan, toss in various odds and ends of things like onions or tomatoes, Put the warmed tortilla on a plate, sprinkle with cheese (a REQUIRED element), put on the rice, meat, beans, etc, roll up and eat. Best use of leftover rice in our household!
I love the idea of making it into a crust for quiche!
I like the question about the food left on the kid's plates. I would be interested to know your answer to that as well. 🙂
Here is a link to a recipe that I found to make rice pudding with leftover rice. (The untried recipe that I have is at home)
http://www.ehow.com/how_4933392_leftover-rice-easy-rice-pudding.html
Leftover rice becomes fried rice at our house.
Elizabeth, good question. It'll go into Monday's Q&A posts. 🙂
We eat leftover rice for breakfast. Heat it in some milk and add a pinch of cinnamon and some sugar. It's sort of like old-fashioned oatmeal.
All the suggestions are good. Another idea is to make the rice into a rice crust for a quiche or savory pie (like shepard's pie). Here's a link to a recipe I found but you can use the method described for any type of pie crust. http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1142014
Definitely use it for fried rice. Fried rice is best used with day-old cooked rice anyways. It's easy too. Just cook some scrambled eggs and put it on a plate. Then sautee some chopped onions, throw in the rice and cook until its softened. Throw back the scrambled eggs and some chopped ham of some sort. And a dash of salt and soy for flavouring. Easy.
My mom eats that leftover rice cereal! Kristen, if you don't like it, just compost it! White rice isn't even good for you...Don't force yourself to eat something, just because you don't want to waste it! That rice probably just came free with your meal. I wish I preferred brown rice.:(
No food waste for us this week, thanks to my dear readers who helped me salvage some lumpy white sauce I had made!
Regarding the rice, I would mix it with eggs and cottage cheese, sprinkle grated cheese over it and put it under the grill; it's delicious that way. Alternatively just add it to some soup - I even got rid of some old porridge in soup once; my two never knew it was in there until I told them the other night LOL!
I throw leftover rice in with the chicken and cheese and sauce when we make enchiladas.
I would definitely make fried rice. I like your "food waste Friday". I am big on not wasting, so that makes me big on freezing things before they go bad, even if it is just a piece of chicken or a 1/2 sauce. Whenever I do have to throw something away I get pretty frustrated. For me I just see the $dollar signs being thrown away. (that zuc in your photo would have been shredded and frozen) Thanks again for all the fun things posted on your blog. I am still reading through them. Emily in So. Tx
My daughter heats it up with cinnamon-sugar for breakfast.
The way that I make rice pudding is sort of by feel but here are general proportions:
2 cups leftover cooked white rice (I like the long grain style, but any works, including under or overcooked rice)
3 cups milk (use a touch more for dryer rice, and a touch less for overcooked rice)
1/4 cup sugar
dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*if you must adulterate the creaminess, you can add 1/2c raisins*
Put everything but the vanilla in a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low (to a simmer), stirring frequently to keep it from sticking. Cook about 30-40 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Try not to eat the whole batch at once.
It will thicken as it cools and is tasty both hot and cold.
I adapted this from a recipe that I snatched from http://www.slashfood.com/2006/09/10/rice-pudding-with-leftover-rice/ since I loved it, but tweaked it slightly for my tastes.
1. Soup. Just put it right in, a bit dried out and all.
2. Omlets/scrambled eggs. Refresh the rice by steaming it, or nuking it with some water. Then add it to the omlets either one, to the beaten eggs; or two, add the rice and any other fillings to the pan, heat through, then pour the beaten eggs on it.
3. Bread. There are recipes that call for rice, and I've added it to hearty breads without problem. It will weigh down the dough a bit. Refresh the rice by steaming or microwaving it, toss in the flour to keep it from sticking in one giant lump, then add with the flour.
4. Donburi, which is a liquidy Japanese egg dish. For each four eggs you use, make a sauce of 1/2 c. chicken stock, 1/4 c. soy sauce and 1/4 c. mirin (japanese cooking vinegar). Heat this sauce in a pan (doesn't have to be nonstick, since it's so liquidy). Add a thinly sliced onion, simmer till the onion is translucent. Reduce the heat to medium low, add four beaten eggs, stir it all together. Cook till the eggs are done. This doesn't look anything like Western omlet or scrambled eggs so you'll have to taste it to learn what it looks like when done.
OK, so that's basic donburi. I love this dish, it's a quick easy meal that doesn't require any advance prep. You can add lots of scraps and bits, by adding them at the same time as the onion. Most non-starchy veggies work well, so does old rice, bits of meat (as long as the flavoring is compatible), greens. Maybe even cilantro!
Speaking of advance prep, I made your suggested CI pizza crust recipe in anticipation of my friend and zir 5 yo kid visiting this weekend. I hope it works without a pizza stone.
Feel better!
I get your hesitation on the white rice. But having grown up on a primarily white rice diet, I heart white rice...a lot!! 🙂 A simple meal I make out of leftover white rice is fried rice - saute onions, add any root veggie on hand (i.e. potatoes and sweet potatoes are my favorites, carrots, et. al.), garlic, zucchini, green beans, sweet peas - the possibilities are endless. Season with salt and pepper (lately, I've also been adding paprika) add rice (usually, I mix it up with a little sprinkling of water to moisten 'em up a bit), and mix well. Should be ready as soon as the rice is warmed up, about 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!
This is the first week I've posted my food waste on my new blog!
When we have leftover rice I feed it to our chickens - they love it! But if I was eating it myself I would probably just go with frying it.
We eat white (usually Jasmine) and brown rice but don't usually care for the texture of rice found at most Chinese restaurants. If it came home with us, I'd probably use it in a soup. I might try rice pudding the next time though.
Just throw it into some soup, even if it's out of a can. I put just about anything into soup. My after Thanksgiving turkey soup had mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and the water I boiled the potatoes in all thrown in.
fried rice is my vote. you need leftover, not freshly cooked rice for this. so i usually ask for extra rice when ordering out b/c i love fried rice!!!
Around here most Chinese restaurants will substitute brown rice if you remember to ask.
Just curious, do you garden or grow plants? Do you compost? This food waste could be put to good use if made into compost. I little less waste and a little more value for this food.
Ben-Oh yes, I do compost! I just prefer to keep edible food out of the compost bin if I can help it. Egg shells, citrus peels, and all sort of other inedible food waste goes into my compost bin on a regular basis.
It is always my goal to eat as much of my food as possible, though, instead of composting it.
This might come too late for this bit of rice, but one idea I immediately thought of was to mix it into bread dough the way you would oatmeal. It might not really do much in terms of adding texture or taste, but it would be transformed into something you're more likely to eat!
Also, you can blend cooked rice into smoothies.
Hi Kristen,
One of our favorites when Becca was growing up is an italian dish that is super easy and frugal, called peas and rice. Now, one small container of leftover white won't go far, but it would be lunch for a couple folk, maybe hubby's work lunch?
Take a medium onion or half a large, and cut into small slivers.
Put a tiny bit of olive oil in bottom of sauce pan
Sautee onion until light brown,being careful not to burn
Add about a half bag of frozen petite peas
salt
barely cover with water.
Simmer about 20 mins or more until the water has cooked down to just the bottom of the pan.
Toss over white rice (we prefer brown for usual eats but it is too strong flavor for this combo and dwarfs the peas) or pasta (spaghetti, angel hair etc) Check to see if it needs more salt,and serve. This plus some nice crusty bread used to be a whole meal for us. Like most things I like this better the second day.