This activity fits perfectly fine into a weekday and often has to be done a few times. The goal is to have the heavy carbs prepared so that meals are quicker to put together and more filling. So I would generally aim to end this around supper time. Having base carbohydrates prepared ahead allows time to spend with the main course.
On Day 1 I mentioned that quinoa and rice are staples for me. I don’t care for potatoes much but potatoes can fit in here as well. On this shopping trip, I spontaneously decided I wanted New Potatoes so I’ll have to figure out something to eat with them still. Perhaps the fish will end up with potatoes rather than with the packaged couscous. I don’t find fish very filling but typically I’ll eat it when I don’t want a lot of food.
Cooking rice and quinoa together
In the past, I have cooked 1 cup of rice on one day and 1 cup of quinoa on another. However, in this series I discovered that my quinoa and rice were both moldy, so even though I did use them it was too much inventory. So this time I cooked 1/4 cup of white rice with the 1/4 cup quinoa. In the end, I probably turned the heat down too much since it took closer to 20 minutes to get rid of all the moisture.
Oops. I just realized I forgot to add any salt or seasoning to my rice and quinoa this time. I don’t add much but I do typically add salt. You can add garlic or other aromatics while cooking and it helps add some flavor base that’s harder to build up later. The beef and broccoli recipe uses beef stock to season the broccoli and it can be added to the rice as well. Here’s the link to Cooking with Claudia’s beef and broccoli recipe.
Just a note on this broccoli recipe, when I tried it I wasn’t able to get the broccoli as cooked as I prefer so an option might be to pre-steam it before adding it to the pan.
Other things that can be prepped while cooking rice:
While the rice is cooking, it’s a great time to cut up vegetables for snacks or prepare a meal. This time could also be used to roast vegetables or even prep up some granola.
Here’s a great resource for making granola from Pro Home Cook’s channel. I really like his approach to using what you have around.
This time I did nothing while making the rice/quinoa but made tacos after. I’ve moved the rice/quinoa to the fridge while still warm which would have been better if cooled first. I made sure to label it.
What I use as my carb/starch base and why:
You’ll see in Day 4: Making the meals (which combines many meals as if they were made on the same day), that I like to add cauliflower rice to my white rice/quinoa mixture. Let me explain why I use these for my base carbs. White rice is notorious for not being filling but it absorbs flavor ideally. Quinoa solves this problem. It has higher protein content and is more filling. However, quinoa does not absorb flavor…like at all. That’s only a slight exaggeration. It also has a deeper flavor that can be masked but isn’t so great alone.
Cauliflower rice is no substitute for rice. I personally don’t care whether I use brown or white rice but with the quinoa, the white rice is a more absorbent pair. Cauliflower absorbs liquid flavor too much and also adds a cauliflower hint to water content, so this can mess with a recipe.
This is why I like to mix all three together. I also add cauliflower rice to my egg bake in low quantity. It fluffs it up nicely so it acts similar to adding milk to a scramble. In my not-so-skilled opinion.
Rice and quinoa keep on hand well for at least a week if you get all the moisture cooked out from the beginning. They make a very easy to prep base for many meals making it a great carb to have on hand. Especially, if you are trying to avoid wheat or soy products as most bread contains both wheat and soy. They season well in advance or later if desired so you can modify them to match other meals.
How and when to add cauliflower rice:
It’s important that you remember that cauliflower cannot be prepared or prepped with white rice or quinoa. So even if you are prepping some other vegetables here, do not add the cauliflower until you’re at the stage of warming everything and mixing flavors to eat. It will rapidly decrease the lifespan of your leftovers to be added as well. Though if I remember correctly it did store for a day or two okay.
Other starchy vegetables:
If you make a roasted vegetable or potato the lifespan will be days. They get mushy rapidly. I’ve roasted cheese-covered Brussel sprouts. I was very impressed with it when it was fresh and extremely disappointing when it was reheated in a microwave from frozen. The good news is that this day is so light that it would be easy to time it to your meal for the day and still have some time to prep snack veggies.
Plan for low energy prep
At this point by Day 3, I’ve built up the foundation of all my meals. I may have prepped dry seasoning packets within my spare time though this is such a fast process it’s easy enough to do the day I eat the meals. If you start from scratch, just plan easy meals like sandwiches, cheese, and crackers, tacos, frozen food, etc. for Days 1 & 2. You can add Day 3 or just run Day 3 and 4 together to have meals that day.
I know there are many people who can do a full day of cooking. I don’t find that’s true for most of us, so I spread these out. It is also important to note that as of this point I still eat out a lot. This is only 4-5 different dinners across about two weeks. I’ll do this series again as I build into my menu but it’s important to start with a small number of favorite meals that you can master easily.
My greatest obstacle has been finding meals that are completely safe for me with my mast cell disorder, so it’s been a lot of trial and error. I’m also trying to find meals that can adapt easily so I can better use up my food before it becomes dangerous to me. So far, I’ve had no issues with these foods if made and eaten within a reasonable window of time. It’s when I forget how old something is and eat it that issues arise.
In Day 4, I’ll discuss meal modifications and enhancement ideas, as well as how to keep getting better.