Repurposing Leftover Rice

It seems that every time we order Chinese take out we get more white rice than we can eat. I hate to throw it out and often freeze it to use later when I make broccoli quiche. Other times I use it to make fried rice.

This is a very quick an easy way to put together this meal in a snap. You will need

About 2 cups of cooked rice
1/2 bag frozen mixed veggies
2 eggs
2 tbs of oil (sesame oil makes it very aromatic)
low sodium soy sauce

I first put the vegetables to cook in the microwave, until tender not too soft. Meanwhile, in a wok I heat up one tbsp of oil and scramble the two eggs. When the eggs are done I put them aside in a plate. Then in the same wok I add the second tablespoon of oil and the cooked rice and cooked vegetables. I stir fry this for maybe 4-5 minutes. Then I add the scrambled eggs and add about 5 dashes of soy sauce. How many dashes of soy sauce you add will depend on how salty you want to make the rice. I have found five dashes work for me. Toss everything around, make sure it is all heated through and serve.

If you want to make this into a meal you can cook cubed chicken and add to the mix. To cook chicken, in a wok I add one tbsp of oil, one clove of garlic minced, red pepper flakes and some grated ginger and let infuse for two minutes over medium high flame. Then add the cubed chicken and cook. You may want to add maybe one or two tablespoons of Hoisin sauce, or Teriyaki (if that's what you have) to give the chicken some extra Asian flavor. Once it is cooked set aside and add to the rice before you serve it.

Approx cost: Free rice, 25 cents for two eggs, half bag of frozen veggies for 25 cents, the rest is from the pantry, for a total cost of $0.50 for fried rice for four. If you add chicken consider adding 2/3 lbs chicken breast @1.99/lb approx.

For more frugal ideas check out Crystal's blog.