Back to the Grind

Ah, back to reality: rising at 6:20, showering, trying to figure out what to put in the kids' lunches while listening to NPR, drinking tea, and watching the sunrise redden the eastern sky. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't so damn relentless.

I didn't go to the grocery store full-on. Had 15 minutes between picking the kids up so I stopped at a Brazilian/international food market that used to be a Japanese supermarket. It seems to be true that small markets sometimes have better and cheaper produce than supermarkets. I got two really nice looking white onions, two avocadoes, a head (is that what it's called?) of broccoli, a can of baby corn, and a small package of tapioca flour (not sure why) for $6.75.

I didn't use any of it tonight, though. I was already cooking while out, in the slow cooker! A great invention. Before I left to bring (loudly protesting) older son to his piano lesson, I made some General Tsao's Drumsticks, to be served with rice and frozen green beans (again!).

By the way, for all you convenience food freaks out there, did you know you can freeze cooked rice? Well, you can. I thought you might be able to do it after trying those frozen rice-and-whatever dinners, and I was right. I also trick my family into eating brown rice by mixing it half and half with white. See the magic behind the mystery below.

GENERAL TSAO'S CROCKPOT DRUMSTICKS

8 chicken drumsticks
2 large carrots, sliced
2 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of General Tsao's stir-fry sauce (available at Trader Joe's) or other marinade-y type sauce

Place carrots, scallions, orange juice, and 1/4 cup of stir-fry sauce in slow-cooker pot. Turn on to high. If feeling ambitious, brown drumsticks in a little olive oil. Arrange on top of carrots and cover with remaining stir-fry sauce. Cook on high for about 2 hours or low for 3 hours. Right before serving, remove drumsticks and vegetables to warm plate and thicken sauce with 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.

MIXED RICE TO EAT NOW OR FREEZE FOR LATER

1-1/2 cups of jasmine rice
1-1/2 cups of short-grain brown rice
4 cups of water
salt to taste

Rinse brown rice in cold water and drain well. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add brown rice, turn heat to low, and cook, covered, for 30 - 35 minutes. While brown rice is cooking, rinse jasmine rice in cold water 4-5 times. Drain well. Remove cover and test brown rice; it should be still a bit firm, and there should be a little water still unabsorbed.

Add remaining cup of water and jasmine rice. Return to boil, cover, then lower heat and cook for 10-12 minutes more. Turn off heat and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

TIPS: To prevent rice from getting soggy but to keep warm if you're not serving immediately, cover the pot with a clean, dry dish towel and then put the lid back. The towel will absorb the steam instead of having it condense back down into the pot.

To prepare the rice to freeze, cool completely (uncovered) then put into portion-sized containers. Reheat in microwave for a few minutes from frozen.