Reverse Meal Planning

rtandon27

@redofromstart - if you've not made the soup yet, I'm very fond of this one - how about a turkey lasagna or enchiladas for the leftover meat?  My OH is not a fan of tomato sauce but will eat both if we stick to a white cheesy sauce.

@JingsMyBucket - do you have a recipe for that veggie/sausage tart - it sounds like good winter fare. 

redofromstart

I got carried away with clearing clutter and made cheese and ham omelettes instead but one to try in the future thanks @rtandon27

kiss_me_now9

Evening all. In an effort to make my life easier, and fulfill a long term want, I am looking at buying a rice cooker. I'm looking to meal plan a lot more this year and create an easy roster of meals I can either prep in advance or start early and leave to go. We eat a lot of rice (and pasta, tbf) and I am an absolute monster for rice - when I was a toddler I would happily chow down on multiple bowls of rice alone and probably would still now if it was good rice! We eat rice probably twice a week if not more. We have a toddler now and as he's more mobile and curious it's tricky to keep him safe around pots on the hob etc. and to get the time to stand and supervise a pot of rice. 

We often end up going for a Chinese or Indian takeaway and a large part of that is because I really struggle to cook rice on the hob consistently (terrible I know). I'm also quite interested in cooking other meals in it, 

I've found one I quite fancy but it's a bit pricey (though would be used often, and is affordable at present) - I wondered if anyone here has one and if so what you do with it? Is there truly much difference between one that has a lot of functions (different types of rice, porridge, cake even!) and one that just has a timer and a cook/keep warm button?

MissRikkiC

Thanks @Suffolk_lass ill have a go at that. 

Suffolk_lass

kiss_me_now9 said:

Evening all. In an effort to make my life easier, and fulfill a long term want, I am looking at buying a rice cooker. I'm looking to meal plan a lot more this year and create an easy roster of meals I can either prep in advance or start early and leave to go. We eat a lot of rice (and pasta, tbf) and I am an absolute monster for rice - when I was a toddler I would happily chow down on multiple bowls of rice alone and probably would still now if it was good rice! We eat rice probably twice a week if not more. We have a toddler now and as he's more mobile and curious it's tricky to keep him safe around pots on the hob etc. and to get the time to stand and supervise a pot of rice. 

We often end up going for a Chinese or Indian takeaway and a large part of that is because I really struggle to cook rice on the hob consistently (terrible I know). I'm also quite interested in cooking other meals in it, 

I've found one I quite fancy but it's a bit pricey (though would be used often, and is affordable at present) - I wondered if anyone here has one and if so what you do with it? Is there truly much difference between one that has a lot of functions (different types of rice, porridge, cake even!) and one that just has a timer and a cook/keep warm button?

I can't comment on a rice cooker but my method of cooking rice always works well and is low energy. 

For 1 cup of long grain (basmati here), add two cups of cold water and a good pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then simmer for five minutes with the lid on (so the pan needs to be big enough to not boil over). Then turn off the heat and leave the rice to complete cooking in the steam, absorbing the water for 20 minutes. (I then freeze some in those rectangular take away boxes that stack well) If you do this on the back hotplate there is no danger to your toddler and you can save the cost of another thing that needs to be stashed and stored. You can add things when it boils for things like jasmine or other fragrant rice.

If I am doing short-grain it is often a pudding (slow cooker) or risotto which needs stirring and monitoring. 

As the reigning queen of the gadgets, I wish I did not have so many...

rtandon27

@kiss_me_now9 - I absolutely love my rice cooker and could not get along without it!  I adore rice and would eat it over bread and with every main meal given the chance!  I found that more rice got wasted then eaten when I used a pot on the stove.  Having recently replaced my very simple one button AinsleyHarriett branded rice cooker after 17 years, I spent a bit more this time and bought this one with multiple functions. (The old one was cheap and bought at a home show, so it earned it's keep & just died a death one day!)  I've used many of the functions on the new one, including cake baking, white rice, brown rice, sushi rice, congee & have used the extra tray supplied to steam veg over the cooking rice.  I absolutely adore the digital settings which let everything cook perfectly every time!  I have a very tiny kitchen and elected to replace this particular gadget over replacing my bread maker simply because of it's versatility.

zafiro1984

Back to normality now, tree etc taken down today, I've frozen what I can from the fridge and the rest will be used this week.

I'm heading into soup making territory again. The pea soup mentioned on here a couple of pages back sounds good. I may have a go at that as I usually make mine using frozen peas not yellow split peas so it will make a nice change. It looks quite chunky so considering the cold weather it may be nice as a supper if I add a few small dumplings, or crusty bread.
I've not made my usual leftover turkey soup yet as we were very busy over the holiday period. I did manage to make the turkey stock, and take off all the bits and bobs from the carcass so all is frozen, I just need a quiet day to do it. 

Tonight was pork roast, the crackling was a good success it never made to the table, followed by HM icecream. Tomorrow will be leftovers.

I don't make NY resolutions but my goal this year is to be more frugal with house keeping.

Primrose

Regarding random,s comment about  having a tiny kitchen I think this should be compulsory reading for every house designer especially those aspiring to build more homes in the future. It never ceases to maze me thatt most hiusehold activing (food preparing, cooking, freezing washing, fumble drying, not to mention equipment storage takes place in the kitchen yet it's often one of the smallest rooms in the house. 

We need more homes designed by women I think!
i started married life in the tiniest kitchen and yet despite at that time having minimal cooking equipment lack of working and storage space was still a daily nightmare

gsdloopy

kiss_me_now9 said:

Evening all. In an effort to make my life easier, and fulfill a long term want, I am looking at buying a rice cooker. I'm looking to meal plan a lot more this year and create an easy roster of meals I can either prep in advance or start early and leave to go. We eat a lot of rice (and pasta, tbf) and I am an absolute monster for rice - when I was a toddler I would happily chow down on multiple bowls of rice alone and probably would still now if it was good rice! We eat rice probably twice a week if not more. We have a toddler now and as he's more mobile and curious it's tricky to keep him safe around pots on the hob etc. and to get the time to stand and supervise a pot of rice. 

We often end up going for a Chinese or Indian takeaway and a large part of that is because I really struggle to cook rice on the hob consistently (terrible I know). I'm also quite interested in cooking other meals in it, 

I've found one I quite fancy but it's a bit pricey (though would be used often, and is affordable at present) - I wondered if anyone here has one and if so what you do with it? Is there truly much difference between one that has a lot of functions (different types of rice, porridge, cake even!) and one that just has a timer and a cook/keep warm button?

Hi @kiss_me_now9,

I bought Asda's £18 rice cooker in a sale for £10 late last year. I never wanted a rice cooker as I thought rice was easy enough to cook without one (and I have tons of gadgets ) but I love it! It makes things so simple - just bung everything in and forget it. I can't comment on whether the extra price for the fancy ones is worth it but don't think I'd use any extra features and since buying the rice cooker, I see people on youtube making all sorts in a standard one. The only thing I do find is that if you leave it on the keep warm for too long, it will start to cook the bottom layer of rice which gets toasty brown. HTH.

MissRikkiC

Now you’ve all made me want a rice cooker 🤣