Ann Kroeker hosts “Make Do Mondays” where she challenges us to use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.
Since my “mega-shop” two weeks ago, I have attempted to stay out of the grocery, and except for a few unforeseen necessities (like bread!) I have been successful.
This means I have had to be a little creative as I near the end of our fresh foods and have to rely on what we have available to create meals.
One of the staples in our house is rice. Ismael would happily eat it three times a day for a week if it is all that we had. As long as I have it, then I know I can create a meal that he will like. We both tolerate the fact that brown rice is healthier, but trust me, everything is better with white Jasmine rice. The only decent brown rice we have found is Uncle Ben’s.
On Saturday, I made a whole chicken that I bought at Aldi for $4 and we had left over spinach rice from the night before. With some fresh broccoli, it made a great meal.
That night, out of sheer boredom with summer programming, I watched a Paula Deen show in which she prepared Chicken Divan. I realized that Saturday night’s left overs were about to become Sunday’s dinner with a few “make-do” adjustments.
1. I never have white wine, so that was OUT.
2. I didn’t have 6 cups of chicken, so I’d make 1/2 the recipe.
3. I needed to use up some red onion and peppers so I would add those to the recipe.
4. I was short on bread crumbs, so the topping wouldn’t be as delightfully crunchy.
5. And it would go great with the rest of the rice from Friday.
The result?
A fairly fancy dinner for a Sunday night!
How do you make do with leftovers?
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I wish I were as creative as you are in the kitchen–how clever to adapt a “professional” recipe to what you have on hand.
I don’t know if this will be helpful for your kiddoes, but my kids transitioned to brown rice more happily when I cooked a little of both and served half white/half brown rice. Also, I found some nice Jasmine brown rice from Trader Joe’s (but I’ll bet health food stores like Whole Foods would have it in the bulk containers). It’s very tasty–better than the stubby brown rice that comes in the mainstream supermarkets.
Thanks for participating (and inspiring)!
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Awesome post! I love to make-do with food. I love experimenting in the kitchen. It doesn’t always work out like I hope it will. But usually things are still edible, one time and never again. LOL…
I like Ann’s idea about mixing the different rice together. I am going to try this with my clan. Even though they are fine with brown rice. I have a huge bag of white and if I mix it in, maybe I can use it up faster and still have some of the benefits of the healthier brown rice at the same time.
Great post, it has got me to thinking about my own storage and how to use Make-Do in my rice situation. THANKS!!!!!