Vegetable Fried Rice in a Jar (52 Method Continues)

Okay...It's really not fried rice. I don't fry it. It's a lot healthier that way and my family hasn't noticed a difference. However, I can say that all eight cups of cooked food looked like this before cooking: 

Vegetable Fried Rice in a Jar

If you are new... 
 my series on homemade convenience meals you will want to read the Introduction to the 52 Method It's a very fun way of preparing meals ahead of time for emergencies or everyday use.  It's a basic menu planning method for food storage based on meals that your family will eat, having all the ingredients in one-quart size jar. ONE jar...easy to find. Easy to plan.  I think it's an idea that's been a long time coming and this is yet another recipe.  You will be using a method called "vacuum pack canning". No liquid or pressure canning is necessary. If you opt to use the freeze dried meat in the recipes, please note NOTE: The repacking of Freeze Dried Meat must be done within 24-48 hours of opening the can and must be done in a dry environment. Once repacked you must use an oxygen absorber to make sure there is a vacuum oxygen free environment. Mylar bags can also be used instead of jars, but it is not recommended to use Ziploc bags as the sole source of storage if you are including meat. 

This week's recipe is one that I converted from one of my favorite food storage meals, Ham Fried Rice. Originally it was for a cooking class on how to use freeze-dried and dehydrated eggs . It's been a long-time favorite at our house without the ham because of my husband's vegetarian preferences. This one got added to the food storage meals-in-a-jar with the advent of   Soy Sauce Powder into my life. I used Chef Tess Thrive Life for the food in this post. 

In the can, they are cooked and freeze-dried pieces of scrambled egg. They are different than egg powder or egg crystals. They can only be used for meals where it calls for cooked eggs. Fried rice is a perfect fit for this!

 We enjoy them in breakfast burritos and skillet meals. 

 Chef Tess Vegetable Fried Rice In A Jar

Ingredients in the jar:
1 cup freeze dried scrambled eggs
1 cup long grain rice
1 cup freeze dried Vegetable Mix of your choice (corn, peas, carrots)
1/4 cup freeze dried onion
1/4 cup freeze dried celery
1/4 cup freeze dried bell peppers
1/4 cup freeze dried mushrooms
1T Haco vegetarian ham base or 1T chicken bullion (chicken won't have a smoky flavor)
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp garlic granules (or powder)
1/2 cup Soy Sauce Powder  (shake it down into the vegetables when you add them)

Put all ingredients in a jar. I use a funnel. In order to get it all in, you will need to shake the soy sauce powder into the vegetables. Top with a 300 cc oxygen absorber to make the meal shelf stable.  This is good 5-7 years. I't great for emergency food storage or to use for dinner during a busy week. 

To Prepare:
Bring 4 cups of water to a rolling boil in a gallon size pot with a tight-fitting lid. Combine contents of the jar with the boiling water. Stir. Reduce heat to very low. Cover and simmer very low 20-25 minutes until all the rice is cooked and the vegetables are tender. Serve hot. Yield 8 cups of cooked Vegetable Fried Rice.

There you go! Have fun with this one! 

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Freezer Meal Friday Hawaiian Hay Stacks

I have a lot of Polynesian friends. This is not one of their recipes. Not even close. Now I preface this post on that note because many of you have probably seen the segment from Fox 10 Arizona morning with me and Sione Fa from The Biggest Loser making freezer meals. To call this freezer meal today a "Hawaiian" haystack, is like well...American Sweet and Sour Chicken... "Chinese" food...both are very far from the real cuisine of the land. However, slang that it is, it is a well loved dish around my home. One that makes a great freezer meal because I can make the homemade chicken sauce in advance and freeze it in a quart size freezer bag. On the day of the dinner I just have to heat the sauce and make the rice. Usually my biggest challenge with this freezer meal, is keeping these dang fried chow mien noodles around my house! My kids love them! Love!

My solution has been hiding the canister behind the cans of black eyed peas. It works like a charm.

True confessions: I don't like cream of chicken soup from a can. I don't. I've never made a sauce for Hawaiian hay stacks using a can of cream of bla-bla-bla. In a pinch I've used my condensed soup mix which is very cheap to make. However for this one today I like a nice homemade sauce. It's quick and a lot less expensive than several cans of soup needed to feed a growing family. I like the flavor better. If I want more seasonings...I add them. I know exactly what is in this stuff. No MSG or preservatives either. Nice isn't it? This one is what I call, "middle of the road" meaning it appeals to a lot of different people. It's home style. I'm home style most of the time. I can do gourmet if I have to. I can. Today however, it doesn't hurt to learn a new basic skill right?

Hawaiian Haystack Sauce:

4 cups low fat milk (or soy milk-unflavored)

2 cups light coconut milk ( or just 1 15 oz can)

1/2 cup flour

2 tsp granulated onion

1 tsp granulated garlic

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

Directions:

In a soup bowl, combine the flour and 1 cup milk with a whisk. In a one gallon heavy bottom pot, combine the remaining 3 cups milk, coconut milk seasoning and chicken. Bring to a boil. With a whisk, slowly stir in the milk/flour combination and stir until well incorporated. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Some like more...some like less.
This will make about 8 cups of sauce. Allow sauce to cool 10 minutes. I divide it between 2 quart size freezer bags, labeled "Hawaiian Haystack sauce". Lay flat in the fridge to chill quickly. When cool, transfer to the freezer. Do not stack warm gravy on top of each other. We want it to cool and freeze quickly to avoid food born illness.

I put the frozen bag of sauce in a larger gallon size bag along with several sandwich size freezer bags full of toppings for the hay stacks that we like. It just makes it easier on the night of the dinner to have everything together. Topping ideas: pineapple, corn, shredded cheese, shredded coconut, slivered almonds, hot peanuts, Mandarin oranges, peas. We also have fresh topping that my kids chop on the day of the dinner: we include chopped celery, green onions, and bell peppers depending on what we have in the fridge. Isn't that nice?

To serve: Defrost sauce 24 hours in fridge, or in microwave safe 2 quart bowl (out of the bag) on defrost setting 5-7 minutes. Sauce will appear curdled. Don't be alarmed. It will return to it's nice smooth consistency when heated on the stove in a pan for 5-7 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Cook 2 cups of rice. This is enough for my family of six for haystacks. Mind you, my boys are not yet teenagers.

I did a tutorial on How to cook rice on the stove 101 . I know there are more than a few who have never cooked rice without a rice cooker or instant rice. It's a good skill to have. For brown rice, allow that it will take 45 minutes to cook and more water, as opposed to white rice which is right around 20 minutes.

To serve: Put 3/4 cup rice on a plate and top with a scoop of chicken sauce.

Put toppings in bowls and allow family to pick whatever they want most on their own haystacks.
This also works really well for larger family gatherings.

To each his own.

There you go.

Homemade Horchata (Mexican rice drink) mix

Happy Birthday Face! This is one of my son's favorite drinks. It seems like a perfect post for his birthday and for Mix Monday.
Sometimes, as a kid, we had to drink re-hydrated milk. I don't know if it was the fact that my brother the Professor went through a good two gallons a day as a teenage boy and threw off the family food budget with his baby cow-like ability to suck down the moo-juice, or what. I just know that usually by the end of the week, we had a couple of days of the dry stuff...until pay day. It is what it is, right folks? You do what you have to do to make it work. That is why, I thought I would bring you something kind of cool that I have learned down here in Arizona. It's a delightful drink that helps us stretch the food budget a little.

Admittedly, before I lived in the Arizona surrounded by wonderful Hispanic friends and neighbors, I had never heard of this drink. If today is the first time you've ever seen it...don't feel badly. It's a wonderfully fresh and light tasting drink that reminds me of all the comforting cinnamon-vanilla flavors of joy in rice pudding...except not thick, and not lumpy. It also doesn't take 3 hours to bake in a slow oven. In fact...it's pretty much instant. I like to keep a good supply of the mix in my food storage area. Why? Well, my kids love it. Ace, my husband, drinks it by the gallon (and it saves my food budget since he'll drink it instead of gallons of milk). The perk...I can also make it without milk by using soy milk in place of the milk powder, so it's a nice all around family pleaser. Now I can't drink milk...it makes my eyes puff up like I stuffed marshmallows under my eyelids. We've talked about that lovely picture before. The nice hot Arizona thing about this drink is that it is served chilled over ice...and it's fantastic.

Here's the deal...if you don't live in the Southwest, it may be hard to find the pre-made mix. If that is the case, you can still make the mix and try it out. If you have a grain mill, you will first need to make some rice flour. Instant rice flour can be made using uncooked still dry "minute rice". The rice starch is pretty much cooked so it will be nicer to your grain mill. If you don't have a grain mill or access to the instant rice flour, I have included a link that you can purchase it online. It's about two bucks. Two. Not bad. That makes a boat load of mix dude. If you want to get gourmet lookin' you can put 1/2 of a vanilla bean and a stick of cinnamon in the mix instead of using the vanilla/ground cinnamon. You'll need to remove the bean and stick when you mix up the drink to serve it. The advantage to that is that you will have a nicer flavor and be able to use that vanilla bean to flavor sugar later on. My only advice is to store the mix about 3 weeks before you use it in order to give the vanilla bean and cinnamon stick a chance to work their magic. If you use the ground cinnamon and regular vanilla, it's ready right away.

The Horchata mix:

For a 1/2 pint jar (one cup plus 1T) that will store and be yummy for about 2 years

yield 2 quarts of prepared drink:

3T dry nonfat milk powder (or dry soy milk powder)

2T rice flour

3/4 cup sugar (or spoonable natural xylitol/ or not natural...splenda)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Combine well in a bowl and put in a pint size mason jar. Seal with directions for long time storage, or just put in sandwich size bags for more "everyday" use. It will depend on your family needs.
Pint size mix (yield 1 gallon drink)

6T dry non-fat milk

1/4 cup instant rice flour

1 1/2 cup sugar (or "spoon able" natural calorie free xylitol/or not natural"spoon able" Splenda)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

To prepare 2 quarts:

Combine mix with 1-2 cups warm (not hot)water and a whisk in a 2 quart pitcher. When combined well, add cold water, enough to equal 2 quarts. You need to chill for about an hour, or serve over ice.

Rice Flour - Harina de Arroz Tres Estrellas 17.6 oz.
HORCHATA DRINK OR AGUA DE HORCHATA

The company recipe reads:

Blend a cup of milk mixed with 2 tbsp of Tres Estrellas Rice Flour, a cinnamon stick and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Straining all thru a fine colander, mix everything together in a 2 QTS pitcher with water; add ice and sugar to taste. Serve and enjoy! (You may substitute condensed milk instead of regular milk and sugar).

There is also this Certified Organic Horchata Mix by Maria Elena's Aguas Frescas that's about 4$ for a mix that makes 1 1/2 quarts of drink. I think if you make your own mix from organic ingredients...I'm just saying. It could probably be made much cheaper. You can use fructose instead of sugar. You can sweeten it with stevia or xylitol for a 100% natural alternative that is low in calorie. What do you think? I'm giving you some ammo here.
There you go.

Homemade rice-y-roni

Once there was a dishwasher I had to work with who was a bit cranky. Nobody else really got along with her. That's how ornery she was. One morning she was in the middle of a tirade about having to wash egg pans. I walked over to talk to her and noticed a piece of rice up her nose. Giggles started to ensue on my part, which made her even madder, as she didn't think I was taking her drama serious enough. When I stopped giggling, I told her my discovery. I don't know what that has to do with this blog post, except that every time I make rice I think of the dishwasher and wonder if she still has that single grain of rice in her nose. Not that I want anyone else to think of that when they go out to eat. Yikes.Mixes on Monday starts today. I have so many mix ideas that sometimes I forget how much I really do rely on these homemade convenience foods. I may not always have one up every Monday, but I will try my best to keep things interesting around here. Why do I make my own mixes? For one thing, they are way cheap. I'm kind of famous in my family for my um...frugality. I guess that's a good way of saying I'm cheap. Not that I don't know how to spend money or that we are totally broke but for all the times we were having problems it became a habit. Now I'd much rather spend the money other places besides my food budget. Plus, and this is a big plus, I know exactly what goes into my mixes. If I make them from all natural ingredients, then there is no question what I'm feeding my family. So today I thought I'd share my rice-y-roni. My mix makes 8 cups cooked rice, which is about right for the 6 people in my family. Ace is a big eater. A value size box of commercially made stuff makes 3 cups of cooked rice. For about 20 cents a mix, I make a bag that makes the 8 cups. Yes, like I say, I'm cheap. I'd rather buy new shoes than boxes of rice.


I'll usually make 8-10 mixes at a time, this takes about 20 minutes but is well worth it. It takes us about a month to go through them since we don't eat it every night. In each quart size bag I put 2 cups of converted rice:

and 1 cup of broken spaghetti noodles or fideo noodles.

Then I put the flavoring ingredients in snack bags (one seasoning packet per mix)

2T bullion (I use msg free low sodium) Optional, you can prepare the mix with stock instead of water.

2T dry onion, 1T dry carrots (optional) 1/8th tsp celery seed 1T Chef Tess All Purpose Seasoning, 2tsp dry parsley, 1 tsp garlic powder.

Other flavor ideas:

Mexican: Use onion and carrot but for seasoning, use 1T taco seasoning, Or 1 tsp each: garlic, cumin, oregano and chile powder.
Oriental: Use onion carrot and celery seed, but also 1 tsp curry and 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice, 1/2 tsp ginger and 1T garlic powder.

Curry Chicken: Use chicken bullion, all the original seasoning plus 1tsp saffron 2tsp curry powder.

I write the name of the flavoring mix on the bag along with how much liquid to add to the mix to prepare it.
Simple right?

To prepare you will need:

2 T butter or oil

4 cups water (or stock if you omit the bullion in your seasoning)

Directions: In a 2 quart pan with a tight fitting lid, brown the rice and noodles in the oil until noodles are a nice deep brown, but not burned. Add the water and the contents of the seasoning mix. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to low for 20-25 minutes, until tender.

Last night we grabbed a bag of the curry chicken homemade stuff and cooked it up with one of my favorite freezer meals. Grilled herb chicken with blackberry sage sauce. It was awesome.

There you go.

Serving Size: 2.5 oz
Amount 1 cup cooked rice Per Serving
Calories 250
Calories from Fat 60
Total Fat 6g
Cholesterol 0mg
Total Carbohydrate 50g
Dietary Fiber 3g
Protein 7g

Granny's Slow Cooked Rice Pudding

I mentioned my sweet Mom-in-law that I lovingly refer to as Granny. She's feisty. I can say that because she knows it. I can also honestly say that I have never heard so much cussing from a little old gal until this week watching her go through the shingles. I didn't know she had it in her. Maybe I'm weird. Okay, let's be real...I'm weird. I have a whole new respect for the woman. Yes, I know, I should be appalled. I should be packing my bags because I'm going straight to...the hot place. You know I should be upset at hearing such cussing, but instead, I've been kind of giggling. Not laughing at her pain. I'm quite sympathetic. The cussing, it just doesn't fit her in any way so I've had the irony giggles. Yes. I know. It's totally lame. I realize I'm going straight to...the hot place. And if I do go there, I guess it will be good that I know how to make a slow cooked hot pudding. Since my cussing Granny will there with me and vastly in need of something comforting.

 This is a recipe we have used for a few years now. It's actually the recipe Thomas Jefferson's Granddaughter, Virginia Randolph Trist, used to make rice pudding. So, it's vintage. I found it in Jeff Smith's, "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American". It is sooo  creamy slow cooked. Like 3 hours. Granny's Granny used to cook it in the old farm stove while they where away to the church on Sunday in the small town in Southern Colorado. Go figure. For those who don't know...my church is still a 3 hour deal. So...we made pudding and went to church to repent for all the cussing. Ah...

You need:
1 cup long grain white rice, rinsed
6 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
dash of nutmeg
dash of cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
Combine all ingredients in an uncovered casserole. Bake at 300 for 2 hours 45 minutes. You may stir half way through baking time if desired. Pudding is ready when there is a caramel colored crust on the top and the pudding is thickened and creamy. Serve hot or cold. Please put left overs in the fridge.

No cussing. It is really good.
There you go.

How to cook rice on the stove 101

I think we need a lesson for some of my beginner cooks. I love you so much. I want to help however I can. So this one today is for you. I get asked to come in and teach basic staple cooking on a regular basis. One of the reasons I started this blog was so that my students could have a great resouce long after my class with them was over. Some gals and guys never ever once learned how to cook something as basic as rice. I'm totally loving that some are willing to admit it! Hey, I never learned how to play the piano...but I recently started taking lessons. Does it bother me that I have the pre-school primer on how to play it? No. It is what it is. I can learn. So can anyone who wants to do so. Same with cooking. Not any reason on earth why it has to be scary or weird to admit you need to learn a new skill. I do it. I admit I don't know everything about food. There. I said it. I learn something new everyday! Now lets cook some rice. This is the rice tutorial...without a rice cooker/steamer gadget. Stove top in a pan. Can you do it? Perfectly every time? Let's see if this helps.

Basic Boiled White Rice

1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups water
salt to taste (I use about 1 tsp)

1. In a 1 and a half quart (6 cups) capacity heavy pot with a tight fitting lid, boil the water and the salt, that is when the bubbles don't stop even when you stir it. Add the rice, cover the pot, and turn the burner to the lowest setting. Set your timer for 17 minutes. Don't stir it. Just let it simmer. When the timer goes off, don't open the lid, just turn off the stove and let the rice continue to steam itself for an additional 5 minutes. This will produce perfect rice every time if you follow the instructions. Measure everything with "measuring cups". They are sold in the baking aisle. Some gals and guys don't know that. If you aren't sure if your pot is able to hold 6 cups, measure 6 cups of water into the pan first. If it works, you are in business. Be sure that the pan has a heavy bottom too. It the pan is thin, you will burn the rice. Must have good pans. Must have.

Now, if you feel pretty crazy and confident, try using chicken or vegetable broth in place of the water. It will add a lot of flavor. Some people don't like a flavor to their rice, besides the rice. I also like using coconut milk in place of the water in Hawaiian dinners, along with 1/4 cup minced onion.

There you go.

Rice Patties

I love to do the fancy stuff...but I am also a simple girl from simple roots. Working in the greenhouse lately has made me terribly homesick. I miss my dad. Have I mentioned my dad is a gardener by trade. I spent a lot of time at his feet watching him tend plants. Now he runs our church's greenhouse growing literally thousands of flowers a year. He is probably the reason why my soul is so creative. He is amazing. One of the most calm and gentle men on earth. What does this have to do with my food? When I was growing up, we had these little rice patties for breakfast all the time. Dinner too. In the giant world of culinary arts, I realize they aren't really high up there on the scale of difficulty...or complexity of flavor. They are however, one of my most cherished comfort foods. On any given day I can be instantly transported back to my childhood kitchen and see my dad smiling over a plate of fresh rice patties. Heaven on earth. I have more memories of my dad making this dish than any other food. Well, these and fried 'taers and onions with egg. Ironically, my mom was the one who first introduced my dad to this dish. My Grandma Dorothy used to make them. However they came into the family, they are still a part of me. So, in honor of my dear ol' Pappa (and Mama for showing dad the way)...here's how to make rice patties. They taste a lot like fried rice, but hold their shape and are a great way to use up leftover rice. I love them made with rice-a-roni too. Yes, very fancy-schmancy.

You will need:
cooked rice (chilled 3-4 hours in the fridge... so great for leftovers...see?)
eggs.
1 cup cooked rice (measure after cooking) to one egg.

I use 1/4 cup eggbeaters so it's heart healthy. Yes, you can use brown rice or pretty much any cooked grain. Barley is amazing. My mom uses cold cooked cracked wheat. Yea, those are good too.

Here's the difficult part...mix it up.

In a large skillet with a heavy bottom, cook over medium heat. Make sure you use a non-stick pan, or one you have oiled well. I scoop them into little patties like this little artistic dude. See how it looks like the sunshine. Yea, it is happy isn't it? Cook 3-4 minutes on one side and then carefully slide a spatula under the pattie and turn over gently. Cook 3-4 more minutes. We also like them with a slice of cheese on top...Top with butter while hot and season well with salt and pepper. Hello daddy.

There you go. Simple, comforting and easy. What a wonderful world.