No, it’s not the end of the project; it’s the end of the protein. Animal protein, that is. I am now officially out of chicken, tuna and beef. I still have peanut butter and pistachio nuts (both good sources of protein), but mixing those in with rice or pasta doesn’t sound particularly appetizing. All fresh foods are long gone, and I just finished up the last of the cheddar cheese. I still have crackers, pasta noodles, tomato sauce, and rice. Loads and loads of rice.
I’ve been thinking about why I have so much rice and pasta, and it’s pretty simple: it’s sold in bulk. You can also buy chicken and beef in bulk, but pound for pound you get far more rice than meat out of an equivalent sized package. Both rice and pasta are small and get bigger as they are cooked, while meat starts large but doesn’t really shrink all that much. I don’t even remember what size bag of rice I got, but it must have been 10 pounds – it’s the largest size I’ve seen in the stores (although I think 25 lbs is available in some locales). I know I immediately cracked it open and poured it into several plastic containers to help preserve it, but…ten pounds?? I don’t think I’ve ever bought that much pasta at one time in my whole life – even the large packages at BJ’s tops out at six one-pound packages. Off the top of my head, I’d probably need ten times that amount in meat to equal the same amount of cooked rice that ten pounds of dry rice will create.
Eating all this rice is going to take forever. I think that was one of the main reasons I got it in the first place, so that I’d have something in the cupboard, even if I was short on cash. Okay, fine. That’s all well and good, but I’m past the age where I can eat one bland item, day after day after day. As I said, this is going to take forever, and rice by itself is not only unappealing, it doesn’t have enough nutrients; I need something else to go with it. I still have my spices, and my basil-pesto sauce, but that’s not enough. I’ve been noticing that I’m extremely tired lately – every friggin’ day, in fact. Even when I get plenty of sleep, I’m listless and have a hard time getting energized to do anything. My diet is clearly lacking a few things.
However, before I ran out of chicken, I did manage to come up with a somewhat brilliant idea. I have a mostly-full bag of flour in the freezer – why not make flour tortillas? I found a recipe online that included items I already have (flour, baking powder, salt, vegetable oil, and water) and tried it out the same night. It turned out better than even I expected. They’re ridiculously simple to make, although a bit time consuming for someone like me who prefers the method of nuke-it-in-the-microwave-in-under-five-minutes. But they turned out quite well, so I pulled out the single can of chili I had, mixed that with some rice, and voila! Chili-rice burritos! It was a bit of a weird combination, but it worked really well. But I only had the one can of chili, and now all the rest of the chicken and beef is gone. A flour tortilla with nothing but rice in it puts me back where I started: a whole lot of side dishes with no main course. This leads me to one inescapable conclusion: I have to go to the grocery store.
Yes, that’s correct; I’m altering the plan a bit and buying a few groceries. And, sounding every bit like the carnivore I am, I am going to buy some meat, and ONLY meat. I’ll even expand the choices a bit beyond chicken and beef to include turkey, pork and shrimp – if they’re not too expensive. Maybe even get some bacon for breakfast. BUT NOTHING ELSE. This should help me get through the last five pounds or so of rice. I’ll let you know what I get. J
I’ve been thinking about why I have so much rice and pasta, and it’s pretty simple: it’s sold in bulk. You can also buy chicken and beef in bulk, but pound for pound you get far more rice than meat out of an equivalent sized package. Both rice and pasta are small and get bigger as they are cooked, while meat starts large but doesn’t really shrink all that much. I don’t even remember what size bag of rice I got, but it must have been 10 pounds – it’s the largest size I’ve seen in the stores (although I think 25 lbs is available in some locales). I know I immediately cracked it open and poured it into several plastic containers to help preserve it, but…ten pounds?? I don’t think I’ve ever bought that much pasta at one time in my whole life – even the large packages at BJ’s tops out at six one-pound packages. Off the top of my head, I’d probably need ten times that amount in meat to equal the same amount of cooked rice that ten pounds of dry rice will create.
Eating all this rice is going to take forever. I think that was one of the main reasons I got it in the first place, so that I’d have something in the cupboard, even if I was short on cash. Okay, fine. That’s all well and good, but I’m past the age where I can eat one bland item, day after day after day. As I said, this is going to take forever, and rice by itself is not only unappealing, it doesn’t have enough nutrients; I need something else to go with it. I still have my spices, and my basil-pesto sauce, but that’s not enough. I’ve been noticing that I’m extremely tired lately – every friggin’ day, in fact. Even when I get plenty of sleep, I’m listless and have a hard time getting energized to do anything. My diet is clearly lacking a few things.
However, before I ran out of chicken, I did manage to come up with a somewhat brilliant idea. I have a mostly-full bag of flour in the freezer – why not make flour tortillas? I found a recipe online that included items I already have (flour, baking powder, salt, vegetable oil, and water) and tried it out the same night. It turned out better than even I expected. They’re ridiculously simple to make, although a bit time consuming for someone like me who prefers the method of nuke-it-in-the-microwave-in-under-five-minutes. But they turned out quite well, so I pulled out the single can of chili I had, mixed that with some rice, and voila! Chili-rice burritos! It was a bit of a weird combination, but it worked really well. But I only had the one can of chili, and now all the rest of the chicken and beef is gone. A flour tortilla with nothing but rice in it puts me back where I started: a whole lot of side dishes with no main course. This leads me to one inescapable conclusion: I have to go to the grocery store.
Yes, that’s correct; I’m altering the plan a bit and buying a few groceries. And, sounding every bit like the carnivore I am, I am going to buy some meat, and ONLY meat. I’ll even expand the choices a bit beyond chicken and beef to include turkey, pork and shrimp – if they’re not too expensive. Maybe even get some bacon for breakfast. BUT NOTHING ELSE. This should help me get through the last five pounds or so of rice. I’ll let you know what I get. J