(Matsunaga) Family Fried Rice

Do you ever have left overs, or trouble getting your kids to eat veggies?  If you answered yes to either one, or just want a great easy to please dish that works at least in an Asian household ( and I don't see why not any other one) as your choice of a breakfast, lunch or dinner, main dish, side dish or snack...then THIS is the recipe for you.

I have made this for over 23 years, it is never quite the same two times and it just keeps getting better, I will save you 23 years of improving and just take you to where we are now....

Family Fried Rice-

Ingredients-

1-2 Table spoons of bacon drippings
1 onion chopped
3 large broccoli stems chopped ( no florets)
2-3 carrots cut into tiny cubes or into coins or matchsticks- ( your choose)
2 small or 1 med zucchini cut into small pieces-half or 1/4 coins or cubes or matchsticks
1/2-1 cup frozen peas
1 small yellow squash cut same as zucchini
1/4 of a small red/purple cabbage
1/2 red bell pepper
Sea salt to taste, a small amount
Bragg's liquid aminos or Chinese soy sauce - again a small amount, start with a teaspoon or less
Long grain cooked brown rice between 2-3 cups
Your choice of meats already cooked and cubed unless it's small shrimp
2-3 eggs
butter or olive oil for cooking eggs
fresh pepper

To Make-

Start the night before you will make this by soaking 1.5-2 cups of brown long grain rice in 1 and a half times as much purified water. 

The next day pour water into rice cooker ( or if you don't have one drive to the nearest grocery store and purchase a cheap one, unless of course you are Asian and eat rice for pretty much breakfast, lunch and dinner in that case buy one that is a couple hundred dollars at least, but if this is the case you already HAVE one, there are also brown rice cookers that make it so you do not need to soak your brown rice prior to cooking to get good results, I just have not splurged yet!)  Cook the rice until done, then mix it up to finish with it's steaming and unplug the cooker and allow to cool, better yet if you have time, put it in the fridge so it is all the way cooled.

Then when you are ready to make the rest of the dish....go to your fridge, find any and all left over meat, ( steak, pork chops, chicken, shrimp, turkey, even hot dogs or lunch meat will do, but don't let the "authentic ethinic food police" find out.....) Chop this meat into small cubes.  If you do not have any left overs you can cook some up, but half the purpose of this dish is to use the left overs so....I think you should make it when you have them, it is part of what makes the recipe good too since you get the flavors of how ever you made the meat before in it, and the mix of several meats. The one I made last week had chicken, steak, porkchop and bacon in it.

Once you have cut these up, set them aside and cut up your veggies, just open your fridge and see what you have, if you have preplanned you can have any or all of the veggies I listed in the recipe, but if not use what you have.  The amounts do not have to exact.  When you are almost done chopping, heat a cast iron skillet up with either the bacon drippings or instead for better health use the same amount of olive or safflower oil with a bit of old hickory smoke salt, or just sea salt.  Then add the chopped veggies and pan fry until tender, start with the harder to cook up veggies like the carrots and broccoli stems and add things like peas that cook fast at the end.  While you are doing that also heat up your omlet pan and cook up your eggs after scrambling them in a dish flat on a preheated pre oiled/buttered pan.  When both are done add meat to veggies and cut up eggs and add them too. 

Last but not least add the rice and mix everything up.

Then when it is all mixed up and coated taste, add the braggs or soy sauce and sea salt very very slowly as needed.  Hint asian dishes only use soy sauce as a tiny bit of seasoning, not as a main flavoring....if in doubt skip it!  Top with a little fresh ground pepper, again taste as you go.

I love this dish because it helps my daughter who will hardly touch veggies eat them and it uses left overs and it is WAY more veggies than rice....


Other possible ingredients--

Scallops
green peppers
green onions
green cabbage
leeks
shallots
spinach stems
califlower
sausage

Ingredients are really only limited by your imagination and common sense and good taste...have fun and let me know how you like it!  I never make it exactly the same twice...no reason you should either!

P.S. Lee this is for you, I know you miss this dish lots....now you can make it and eat it for a week!

This week's menu choices

One of the things I do to make it so I can do mostly home cooked meals and to save money is I plan our family meals ahead of time.  I inventory on Friday, shop early on Saturday and cook Sat and Sunday.

The meals for this week are-

Sea Food Pancakes with Corn Relish

Split Pea Soup and Biscuits

Wild Rice Stuffed Pork Chops

Corn Breaded Chicken Tenders

Sashmi- Miso Soup-Edemame and Stir Fried Marinaded Beef

Tacos

Hot Dogs on whole grain buns

Angus Burgers on whole grain buns

Fried Rice

Mexican Casserole


Each week my goal is to prep all I can before Monday so that the week is smoother. 

This week I am a little behind the ball as of Monday morning.  I ended up showing homes on Sunday during the time I would normally be cooking AND had to drop my husband off @ the train station AND I am still not used to having our Bible meeting @ 4pm instead of 10am. ( a change that happened @ the beginnning of the year) 

I did manage to finish the fried rice this morning while making breakfast and schooling with the kids and I think I can finish the Mexican Casserole tonight while I make our other dinnner and then I will be caught up since I prepped everything else over the weekend.

I already made and served the Fish Pancakes on Saturday evening.  I loved them, Karl loved them, the kids would not touch them....oh well, gourmet meals don't always go over well with kids, but it was fun to make, will share the recipe this week.

I will also do my best to share one of my best family recipes for Fried Rice this week, this one is really good for you and also uses money wisely with use of left overs, one of the only ways my oldest daughter Chlo'e will eat veggies!  A great make ahead dish that is easy to do in stages, that you can eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, this makes it ideal for both families and for those who are cooking for just one or two since it actually IMPROVES when it sits over night in the fridge....

I'll do my best to post my menu choices each week and if you want the recipe for any of them, please comment or email me a_matsunaga@hotmail.com, and let me know that you want the recipe, I will do my best to post i with in the week.

White Bean Chicken Chili-

Notes-

This is one of my favorites, measurements are approximate. This is healthy and tasty...if you manage your diabetes using protein and "slow" or complex carbs this is for you. If you manage it with a low carb diet, likely too many carbs as beans are high carb. This is likely a great recipe if you have hypoglycemia and for anyone who wants to eat lots of veggies.





Ingredients for White Bean Chicken Chili-



1 lb or so organic chicken breast in small bite sized pieces



2-3 T olive oil.



2 cans of organic white beans ( do not drain)



1 can quartered artichoke hearts in water ( do not drain)



1 Shallot diced small



1 zucchini chopped up small ( med sized)



1 med sized yellow squash chopped up small



1.5 large fresh tomatoes chopped or 4 handfuls of cherry tomatoes quartered



6 or so small cloves of fresh garlic pressed



1/2 bunch celantro, chopped and divided ( see directions)



Jalapinos (optional)



1/2 red pepper chopped



1/2 orange pepper chopped



Seasonings



Paprika



Sea Salt or Braggs liquid aminos



chili powder



Cumin



Tumeric



Garlic powder



Onion powder



1 T lemon juice ( or juice from half a lemon)



Purified Water as needed.









Toppings-



Avacado



celantro



green onion



Shallots



grated cheese of your choice



Chips







Ok Sounds like lots of ingredients, but it is fast and easy to make!







Directions-



Heat a large stock pot over a med heat.



While it is heating cut up the chicken and add to a med sized bowl and add seasonings and mix around to cover. I use lots of paprika, a bit of sea salt, a generous amt of garlic powder, a little onion powder, a fair amount of cumin and a little tumeric and a the amount of chili powder depends on how much "heat" you like. Mix together well.



Add olive oil to pot ( be generous ) and then add the seasoned meat. Cook until none of it is pink in the middle.



Then add the canned ingredients with all the contents of the can. Let cook for a while while you chop up the veggies for this dish.



Chop Veggies-With the celantro be sure to wash well ( do that with all of them) and chopp up the stems really fine before you add the stems. Add the veggies as you go.



Turn burner down to simmer once you have all the veggies in. Allow to cook for an hour or more until it begins to thicken and flavors marry.



Taste and add sea salt or Bragg's liquid aminos to taste. Also if you like it spicy, this is the time to add Jalapinos, but add with care and be sure to taste as you do. If you use canned you can use some of the liquid from the can too. Also add some purified water to thin down so that you can cook a while longer with out it being too thick.



Add a bit more celantro.



Cook a little longer.



Serve-
This is great just as is, or add fresh toppings to taste @ the table. (see toppings for ideas, but be sure to try other things if you like as well.



*****Notes Instead of shallots you can use onions, but they are higher carb. If you are not worried about carbs then also add a cup of frozen or fresh corn for color and flavor, also add 1/2 a med carrot grated. This also works vegetarian, just omit the chicken and increase the beans by a can or so and stir fry the zucchini and yellow squash instead of the meat in the seasonings. If you are limiting carbs do not serve with chips. If you don't care about carbs this is great with corn bread as a side.



Copy right- Anna Matsunaga



--Would love to hear how you like it! This freezes well and keeps well in the fridge. Do what we do, make a big pot of soup on the weekend and have "fast" food all week ready for sides, snacks and lunch!

Crepes! Yum!

I love to make a hot breakfast for the family, but often don't have time for something elaborate. This recipe is fast and is always a hit, plus, I can make it ahead of time as well and serve another day.

Crepes-

4 eggs
1.5 cups of milk ( I usually sour with a little lemon or apple cider vinegar)
4 pinches of sea salt
3/4 cup or so of whole grain flour of your choice
--butter or olive oil for the pan


--Optional-
If serving with something sweet add any of the following ( one or more your choice)
Several dashes of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon rum flavoring or almond flavoring.
A little bit of stevia
A little bit of real maple syrup
If serving with something savory-

Several dashes of coriander
Several dashes of chili powder
A couple of pinches of cumin and tumric

To Make-

Heat up a skillet over medium heat while you mix ingredients-

In a mixing bowl mix milk, eggs and any other liquid ingredients you are adding.
Once mixed well add in dry ingredients until everything is smooth ( be sure it is very thin batter) Check skillet to see if it is hot enough by dropping a little tiny bit of water from your fingers, the skillet is the proper heat when the droplets "dance".

Quickly add a little butter to the skillet and then use just under a 1/4 cup measure for a small skillet and a little over a 1/4 cup for a large one, quickly pour batter and immediately lift and rotate skillet so that the batter is very thin and covers the whole skillet. Wait a few moments while the crepe cooks through and then flip over for a moment and cook and then remove to a plate in your oven on warm while your cook the rest or to a waiting plate of a hungry friend, spouse or child. Continue until you have finished all the batter. ( Warning you may have to start over I usually do as everyone wants more)

They are great plain, but usually you will want to fill them with something and roll them up.

Things to serve them with....

yogurt of any sort
fruit of any sort ( soft, so either fresh fruit like strawberries or blueberries, or baked fruit like apples)
sour cream
steamed veggies
cheese sauce
cream sauce
syrup
apple sauce
use your imagination!
Also good rolled around sausages ( according to my son, I have not tried so cannot personally endorse)

I like to make these up ahead of time ( although this is hard to do since everyone wants them right off the stove) They make nice snacks and quick lunches and break fasts.

Hope you enjoy as much as we do!