Meal Planning S2: Carb Prep

So as mentioned in Meal Planning – Meat Prep post, I started a rice mix while I was deboning the rotisserie chicken.  The timing was pretty much perfect.

Rice Mixes:

I finally ate the Tilapia prepared in my original Meal Prep series.  To go with it, I made the Rice Pilaf mix that was going to expire in my cabinet.  This is one of those packages with a seasoning packet in it.  It was expired by a few months.

This particular packet made at least four servings so I put the leftovers in a rectangular container to freeze.  Later, I will have some with steak and veggies with the leftover rice.

During the last blog, I cooked the wild rice garlic and basil packaged rice that had just expired.  I portioned some out for that lunch and froze the rest same as the rice pilaf.

What I changed and why:

The last time, I prepped rice stored in the fridge the excess moisture from the heat caused the rice to develop mold within the week.  I ended up throwing it all out during the vacation fridge clean-out.

I later read about freezing rice.  This time I laid it flat in a plastic container to freeze.  I may need to remember to transfer these to bags so that I can store them in my freezer compartment containers and regain the top shelf for items to use and items being frozen. 

I would say that this method works with minimal impact on the rice.  The rice pilaf mix did get a bit of a starchy slime.  This sounds worse than it is. It seems that the rice starch may have stuck to the sides of the noodles in clumps, so the texture wasn’t as smooth as it was when first cooked.  It retained good flavor and it was a minor texture difference. Keep in mind that the package was past its Best By date.

This time I forgot I was making the quinoa for a specific recipe and again mixed it with rice while cooking.  It messed up the quinoa bites but I did remember to get the excess water off the quinoa and rice after rinsing this time, so there wasn’t excess water after cooking.  I did half and half rice and quinoa.

The benefit of cooking rice and quinoa ahead:

Personally, rice is my go-to carb right now.  I like to add quinoa for a slightly more filling feeling.  The only reason I used boxed rice is that I had them on hand and needed to use them.  For my mast cell disorder, I find that pre-mixed seasonings at least irritate my skin and at worst cause digestive issues.

Having these on hand makes putting together meals much faster.  Most importantly, I don’t have to worry so much about planning all the sides.  I can pull out frozen veggies and frozen rice and serve as sides whenever I need one.

In the next post, I’ll detail changes to past meal prep items and some cooking errors and adjustments.  I’ll also review how some of the previously frozen meals turned out.