You Can Lead a Girl to the Whole Foods Bulk Bin, but You Can't Make Her Cook All Those Bags of Grains She Bought . . .

As I've mentioned before, I'm a teacher in real life, and my mornings and evenings have no real "down time."  Here's an example of my weekday schedule:

 

Morning

 

5:00 am:  Wake up and get ready

5:30 am:  Wake the 3 kids, and get them washed up and wrangled into the car

5:45 am: Pile into the car with kids for the 40-minute commute to our respective schools

 

Evening

 

4:00 pm: Head home from school

4:40 pm: Homework time while I get dinner on the table

5:00 pm:  Dinner

5:30 to 6:30 pm: A random hour that gets wasted before I realize how late it got

6:30- 7:00 pm: Bath, book and bedtime for my littlest guy

7:00-8:00 pm:  Bath, books, bedtime for my big kids

8:05 pm: Passing-out-on-the-couch-time for me

 

 

So you can imagine how I love a snow day.  To me, a snow day is like a gift you open in your pajamas; I don't get dressed and I try to use the time to do the little projects I always put off.  

 

 

 

So when this month's "Snowpocalypse" hit, I pulled out all the bags of grains I bought months ago.   I collected them with the best of intentions but never used them because they take too long to cook in time for a weekday dinner.  A few days earlier I was disgusted with myself as I bought 6 packages of "Ready Rice" at $2.00 each, knowing damn well I had about 10 pounds of all manner of rice lurking in the deep dark recesses of my pantry.  So when I was blessed with a snowday this Friday, I planned a morning of making up packs of rice and other grains for the freezer.



 

(I also pre-cooked a lot of the dried beans I've been hoarding.  The process is the same:  soak overnight, cook until about 5-10 minutes shy of perfection, then freeze.  The only difference is that most people, myself included, add some of the cooking liquid to the freezer bag before sealing it up)

 

There is no real "recipe" to pre-cooking rice and grains and then freezing them, but I thought I'd post it just to show how a lazy morning spent in the kitchen can make it much easier for you to add healthy whole grains to your diet. It is also a fraction of the cost of packaged cooked rice at the store.

 

Step one: prepare your grains as you normally would, but "undercook" them by about 5 minutes.  For today's monster batch I made quinoa, barley, wheat berries, jasmine rice, Spanish rice, bulgar wheat, and a rice mix I threw together of wild rice, brown rice and forbidden rice.

 

 



 

 

 Step two: Spread cooked grains out in cookie sheets and/or baking dishes and cool until lukewarm.

 

 

Step three: portion out grains into freezer bags.  I did 1-cup portions.  I use a Foodsaver and the special bags for this.  Lots of people just use regular Zip-loc freezer bags.  Whatever you use, make sure you are getting all the air out, and flattening the contents as much as possible before freezing.

 

 

 

Step four: Freeze bags for up to 3 months.  When you're ready to use them, cut a small slit on both sides of the top on each bag and microwave for 90 seconds.  If your grains are a little "mushy" for your taste, try undercooking them a bit more next time before freezing them.

 

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Stuffed Pumpkins with Grains and "Chicken"

My friend, Michele, is my favorite guinea pig when I try out a new recipe. Not only is she guaranteed to try everything, she also washes every dish. Who could ask for more?



She came over for this little pumpkin experiment. I'm working on ideas for Thanksgiving and I thought the flavors and presentation would make this a beautiful side dish.



Stuffed Pumpkins with Grains and "Chicken"

4 small pumpkins
1 quart Imagine No-Chicken Broth
1 tablespoon Earth Balance
¼ cup long-grain brown rice
¼ cup forbidden rice
½ cup wheat berries
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ pound ground Match "Chicken" meat
½ cup dried cranberries (optional)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon coarsley-ground black pepper
Salt to taste



1. Cut pumpkin tops off and scoop out the seeds (save those seeds! Roast them later!). Place pumpkins face-down in a baking dish. Add ½" of water to dish. Bake at 450º until you can pierce the skin with a fork (about 45 minutes to an hour).

2. Scoop flesh out of shells with a spoon (make sure to reserve the shells; you'll be using them as serving dishes). Put cooked pumpkin in a food processor and pulse until it is the consistency of a thick purée. Keep shells warm and set aside 1 cup of the purée until the rest of the recipe is prepared (go ahead and freeze the rest of the purée if you have more than a cup to use another time).

3. In a small pot, warm broth over low heat.

4. In a large skillet, melt the Earth's Balance over medium heat, then add the rice and barley and toast for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season the grains with the nutmeg and stir in half of the warm broth. Cook until broth bubbles, about 5 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, cook the Match "chicken" in a little olive oil over medium-high heat. Season with cinnamon, ginger and pepper as it cooks. Add the cranberries if using, and stir until heated through. Set aside.

6. Stir remaining broth into the grains, ½ cup at a time, allowing the broth to be absorbed before adding more. Cook until the barley is tender, about 18 minutes.

7. When grains are tender, stir in the pumpkin. Cook over medium heat until just heated through, about 1 minute more. Add the cooked Match "chicken" and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning and add salt if needed. Scoop mixture into warm pumpkin shells and serve.

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