Last month during OAMC, I decided to try to par-boil some rice. I had come up with our monthly meal plan and decided I could make "meal kits" using pre-cooked chicken and pre-cooked rice. Only thing was, I didn't know if it would work.
Guess what?
It did!
I followed the directions found at eHow.
After I cooked the rice, I spread it onto a cookie sheet and let it come to room temperature. Then I bagged it in 2 cup portions and put them into the freezer. I made up 8 cups of rice for 4 meal kits. To reheat it, microwave for 3 minutes on high, opening the zip top about an 1" for steam. Let it sit in the microwave for 1 minute and then it's ready to use. It was that easy.
I usually use 1-1/2 cups of pre-cooked chicken per recipe, which works out to about 1 large chicken breast. This helps stretch our protein and combining it with the rice and veggies leaves us feeling full.
I intended using the kits for Stacy's Southwestern Chicken and Rice (an absolutely delicious and easy meal made even easier using pre-cooked main ingredients) and Chicken Fried Rice (the recipe calls for 6 cups of rice, but since there are only 2 adults and 2 small children in our house right now, I only use 2 cups of rice). I had to rework the entry of ingredients to the meal, but it still came out tasting like I made everything the same day.
What a huge time saver! I can't wait to try this with brown rice. I had a bunch of bags of free white rice so I'm still working on those, but eventually I'd like to start using all brown rice. And it's easily disguised in the meals since you are adding seasonings and flavorings. So my picky hubby will eat it without so much as a second glance!
This works for me and I hope you'll try it soon. Don't forget OAMC is coming up next week!
3 comments:
I never thought of batch cooking rice and freezing it, thanks for the tip!
That's awesome!! It never occurred to me to freeze cooked rice!!
I only just heard about this recently myself and gave it a try. I cooked half white and half brown and then after that dinner, I froze the leftovers in 1/2 cup portions. When I needed to use one, I microwaved it to thaw it and it came out great. The taste and texture were just like when it was cooked. I'll never throw out extra rice again!
Post a Comment