Chilli con carne recipe & questions

Mrs_Chip

Rice is supposed to be a bit dodgy, but in truth as long as it has not been hanging around in a warm environment for hours and hours, it is unlikely to cause a problem. I reheat chilled rice for cooking the next day and it was fine (so were we!), done this for years, I would have though we would have been made ill by now if this was a problem.

poodledoodledoo

I'm thinking that if it was taken to work from frozen, unless it was a particularly hot day it probably wouldn't be sitting at room temperature for all that long if at all? I'm thinking put both tubs in a cool bag where they will defrost slowly but still be very cool?

lizzyb1812

I've done the 2 frozen tubs in a cool bag thing loads of times and I'm still here. Just make sure he knows to reheat it all until it's piping hot all the way through - ie heat a bit, stir well, heat some more.

You could also just give him a larger portion of chilli - made with extra beans, veg, etc and a bag of tortilla chips for starch instead of rice, that's VG too.

Danni-R

I've just started to do this!

I make chilli and nachos and rice on a monday. Whilst hot (cos I'm lazy) I put it into tupperware boxes/ tubs. I like half rice and half chilli done side by side. Leave it to cool as I eat mine. When cool I pop the lids on and stick in the freezer. The night before I get it to defrost and as long as I've engaged my brain I take it to work the next day. I ping it til its piping and then eat.

I dont put beans in as OH doesnt like them but I use mince, sweetcorn and HM pasta sauce with chilli mix. Works out ok for me. I costed it up one lunch time and ingredients made it work out at about 58p a portion.

And I have a super super sensitive tummy.

poodledoodledoo

Like the nachos idea - not something I'd thought of. I guess I could always give him tortilla wraps with it too instead of rice. Bit messy though
I guess as long as the rice is cooled quickly, not left loitering about at room temperature and is reheated thoroughly, all should be OK. I'm really paranoid with food poisoning and stuff. Probably because I'm not a very good cook (although I've not killed anyone JUST yet ).

eamon

I've been doing something similar for years now. Mainly with soup but also with veg curries & veg chillis (don't do the meat variants for lunch as am trying to be consistent with the 5 a day). The night before remove the soup/chilli/curry from freezer and put in the fridge. At work don't put it back in the fridge but leave it out (obviously not somewhere hot but at room temp) to finish thawing. At lunch time transfer to micro dish, give a good stir and nuke on high for min of 4 mins, ideally it should be stirred half way through. When time is up give it another good stir and the journey to your desk or table is enough to allow for the standing time. I can't be bothered faffing about with rice so will use pitta bread warmed up in the toaster or micro.

annie123

Chilli and rice is one of the things my hubby takes to work for lunch in the autumn and winter.

Use a plastic microwave tub, put the cooked chili in, then when cooled add the cooked rice on top, let it go cold and freeze.

He then takes in a frozen container which could be sitting in his van for 6 hours or an office drawer (no fridge) by which time it is mainly defrosted.

He microwaves it on 50% for 3 mins then on high for 2 mins.

It is then hot all the way through and when tipped out of the container, the rice is on the bottom and the chilli on top.

He's done this for 10 years or so with no ill effects.
hth

scheming_gypsy

I make a big pot of chilli and freeze most of it in takeaway tubs. I'll take it out to defrost the day before I take it to work, because to be honest I'd rather eat the plastic tub than defrost something in the microwave. I'm not a big fan of freezing rice so i'll just get a microwave pack, as they're not that expensive for a decent portion.
Although it's not exactly moneysaving as it costs me a fortune to make a chilli!!

A chilli tip, straight from my kitchen..... A sub roll, layer of chilli, couple of hot dogs, layer of chilli, grated cheese and jalepenos...

poodledoodledoo

Freezing rice seems to be one of 'those' that some people are comfortable with but others not...I wonder how high the ACTUAL risk to health is from improperly stored/reheated rice? My stepmum is from the Philippines and all members of her family cook big batches of rice in a rice cooker which are then stored in the same cooker at room temperature for people to help themselves to and reheat throughout the day or even the next day. AFAIK no-one has ever had any ill effects? I'm not that brave though, I've never reheated rice or frozen it but I figure that if I cool it quickly and reheat it thoroughly then the risk probably isn't too great?

scheming_gypsy

I don't think there's a risk from freezing rice unless it's bad rice to start with, but lets be honest...... microwave rice is already precooked anyway.