Recipe: Crab Fried Rice

Here's the recipe for the crab fried rice that I made today.

Crab Fried Rice (serves 4)

Ingredients: small variations in amounts are acceptable - this isn't rocket science!
- 15 oz rice (I used 9 oz brown rice and 6 oz white rice in order to keep the TFP whole/non-whole grain ratio, but it is not required)
- 5 oz carrots
- 6 oz dark greens (I used half Bok Choy and half spinach, but any will do)
- 8 oz crab (real crab meat in shreds (sometimes labeled "special") - don't use imitation (see post here for why)
- 4 oz eggs (should be 2 large eggs)
- 2 oz cooking oil
- soy sauce to taste

Tools:
- 1 rice cooker (or a pot, if you're going to make rice on the stovetop)
- 1 wok (or a frying pan)
- 1 small bowl (for the eggs)
- 1 large bowl

Preparation:
1 - Cook the rice in the rice cooker or pot (follow the instructions on the rice bag if you don't know how).
2 - Chop up all the vegetables into bite-sized pieces.
3 - Crack the eggs into a small bowl. Do NOT beat the eggs!
4 - Portion out the crab meat and set it aside.

5 - Once the rice is done, use a rice paddle or spatula to break up the rice so it is loose and not sticking to the  pot.

Cooking:
1 - Put 1 oz of oil into the wok and put it on high heat.
2 - When the oil is hot, dump in the carrots and stir-fry for 5 minutes (less if you want crunchy carrots).
3 - Dump in the rest of the veggies, the crab, and the soy sauce (if any) and keep stir-frying for another 5 minutes.

4 - Dump everything in the wok into the large bowl and set it aside.
5 - Put 1 oz of oil into the wok and put it on high heat again.
6 - When the oil is hot, dump in the eggs.
7 - When the egg whites are done but while the yolks are still runny, dump in all of the rice and stir-fry until the yolks are no longer runny (they should be coating the rice grains and turning them yellow if you got the timing right).

8 - Dump everything in the large bowl back into the wok and mix thoroughly.
9 - Turn off the stovetop and serve!

Seafood Sunday (and Eggs, lots of them)

Today is the first day that I actually cooked something while trying to follow the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). It was interesting to try and cook like I normally would, while also trying to keep in mind the weekly limits for the different categories. For example, I have already pretty much used up my weekly limit for eggs (4) today.

Breakfast:

Cereal in milk: 2 oz cereal, 13 oz milk (cost - $0.49)

Eggs over easy (2): 3 oz (cost - $0.23)

Lunch:

Crab fried rice: 3 oz brown rice, 2 oz white rice, 1.7 oz carrots, 1 oz Bok Choy, 1 oz spinach, 2.7 oz crab, 1.4 oz egg, 0.7 oz oil (cost - $1.79)

Dinner:

Roasted Vegetables and Stir-Fry (for the whole family, not just what I ate!)

Rice: 2 oz brown rice, 1 oz white rice (cost - $0.21)

Roasted vegetables: 8.5 oz squash, 5.7 oz potatoes, 2.8 oz onions, 0.4 oz olive oil (cost - $0.84)

Stir-fry imitation crab and greens: 1.2 oz Bok Choy, 1.2 oz spinach, 1.6 oz imitation crab (cost - $0.81)

Fruits:

Clementines: 15 oz (cost - $1.13)

Orange juice: 4 oz (cost - $0.12)

Milk: 13 oz (cost - $0.17)

Tea: 4 oz (cost - you don't want to know)

Summary:

Total cost of food: $5.79 ignoring tea

Total eaten / Total daily allowance:  91.9 oz / 91.1 oz

Grains eaten / Grains daily allowance: 10 oz / 10.4 oz

Vegetables eaten / Vegetable daily allowance: 23.1 oz / 21.2 oz

Fruits eaten / Fruits daily allowance: 19 oz / 19.2 oz

Milk Products eaten / Milk Products daily allowance: 26 oz / 26 oz

Meat and Beans eaten / Meat and Beans daily allowance: 8.7 oz / 9.1 oz

Other eaten / Other daily allowance: 5.1 oz / 5.2 oz

Lessons learned:

- Planning meals is HARD! I had no idea what to make today - my wife "suggested" that I make what I made today.

- Not everyone likes eggs over easy with runny yolks.

- Remember to turn on the ventilation hood when frying at high heat, or suffer the wrath of your wife (rumor is that Chinese, Japanese, and Korean housewives are particularly wrathful).

- Splash guards are your friend when frying at high heat (see above).

- Crab fried rice is good.

- Carrots need to go into the pot (or pan) first, since they take longer to cook.

- No one cares if carrots are a little undercooked, because crunchy carrots are awesome, while mushy ones are not.

- "Basting oil" = olive oil.

- Onions don't do well in the oven when everything else is in chunks, because onions peel off into smaller layers and burn up before the other chunks are done.

- Imitation crab meat (which comes in a lump) does not stir-fry well, while real crab meat (which comes in shreds) does.

- Winter squash (which are like pumpkins) has high wastage by weight, since you can't eat the skin.

Grocery Shopping and Unit Prices

Now that I FINALLY finished the leftovers, I did the grocery shopping for the week. I tried to buy the cheapest items in each Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) category:

Here's the receipt:

The unit prices for the groceries today:
Eggs: $1.20 per pound
Cereal: $2.59 per pound
Canned green beans: $0.43 per pound
Canned sweet peas: $0.52 per pound
Pork shoulder: $1.29 per pound
Chicken quarters (wings and thighs): $0.49 per pound
Imitation crab meat: $3.49 per pound
Squash: $0.99 per pound
Carrots: $0.99 per pound

I also bought 20 pounds of rice (5 pounds brown rice, 15 pounds white rice):

The unit prices for the rice was:
Brown rice: $1.20 per pound
White rice: $0.99 per pound

I bought more than usual today because my wife is in town for the week, so I'm buying for two people. The TFP calls for 73.37 pounds for the two of us this week. I didn't buy any dark green vegetables, potatoes, fruit, juice, or milk because I still have some in the fridge.

The current unit prices for these items (thank you, wegmans.com!) are:
Dark green vegetables:
- Baby bok choy: $2.99 per pound
- Spinach $3.20 per pound
Potatoes: $0.40 per pound
Onions: $1.00 per pound
Fruit:
- Apples: $1.99 per pound
- Clementines: $1.20 per pound
Milk: $1.79 per gallon (about $0.21 per pound)
Orange Juice: $3.98 per gallon (about $0.47 per pound)
Apple Juice: $3.98 per gallon (about $0.47 per pound)

There's also a 1-lb container of crab meat ($4.99 per pound) in the fridge.

Some things I noticed today:
- Some items cost a lot less when frozen or canned instead of fresh. Fresh green beans were selling at $2.99 per pound, while the canned ones were only $0.43 per pound.
- Some items cost a lot less FRESH. Fresh milk is $1.79 per gallon, but a box of powdered milk (not baby formula!) that makes 2 gallons is $6.99, or $3.50 a gallon.
- Cereal (even the store brands) is a rip-off. Just get oatmeal ($1.48 per pound) or make rice porridge (yum!)

Some other thoughts:
- It's a waste of money to buy something that you don't like and will never eat. Flour sells for $0.20 per pound ($0.66 per pound for whole grain flour), but I don't bake (yet!), so it doesn't make sense for me to buy flour when I won't eat it. Rice is more expensive, but I love the stuff, so I'm willing to spend a little more for it. The same goes for the imitation crab meat (which is made out of fish); I could get canned tuna for less, but I don't like the stuff, so why buy it when I won't eat it?
-- On the other hand, if it's all you can afford, then I guess you don't have a choice... but that will be for another blog post.

I start cooking tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Cleaning Out The Larder: Day 3

Mabo Tofu Massacre!

Cereal in Milk:

Weight: 15 oz (2 oz cereal, 13 oz milk).

Ham and Radish Soup:

Weight: 4 oz (3 oz radish, 1 oz ham) + 12 oz of water in soup.

Mabo Tofu Rice Bowl #1:

Weight: 14 oz (3 oz mixed veggies, 4 oz tofu, 3 oz ground beef, 4 oz brown rice) + 4 oz water in rice.

Mabo Tofu Rice Bowl #2:

Weight: 18 oz (5 oz mixed veggies, 5 oz tofu, 5 oz ground beef, 3 oz brown rice) + 3 oz water in rice.

Clementines: 10 oz

Apple Juice: 9 oz

Milk: 13 oz

Summary:

Total eaten / Total daily allowance: 83 oz / 91.1 oz

Grains eaten / Grains daily allowance: 9 oz / 10.4 oz

Vegetables eaten / Vegetable daily allowance: 20 oz / 21.2 oz

Fruits eaten / Fruits daily allowance: 19 oz / 19.2 oz

Milk Products eaten / Milk Products daily allowance: 26 oz / 26 oz

Meat and Beans eaten / Meat and Beans daily allowance: 9 oz / 9.1 oz

Other eaten / Other daily allowance: 0 oz / 5.2 oz

Some thoughts:

Not very hungry today. I'm glad that I finally finished off the Mabo Tofu and the leftover rice.

According to this calorie calculator, I should be eating anywhere from 2100 to 3400 kcal per day, depending on activity level. I haven't been doing too much lately, so I guess I shouldn't be eating so much anyway.

Cleaning Out The Larder: Day 2

Still cleaning out the leftovers, but there are a few new items today.

Breakfast: Cereal in Milk:

Weight: 17 oz (2 oz cereal, 15 oz milk).

Lunch: Mabo Tofu (with some rice underneath):

Weight: 15 oz (3 oz mixed veggies, 4 oz tofu, 3 oz ground beef, 5 oz brown rice) + 5 oz water in rice.

Dinner:

Ham and Radish Soup:

Weight: 4 oz (3 oz radish, 1 oz ham) + 12 oz of water in soup.

More Mabo Tofu (with some rice underneath):

Weight: 13 oz (3 oz mixed veggies, 4 oz tofu, 3 oz ground beef, 3 oz brown rice) + 3 oz water in rice.

Oven-Baked Mixed Veggies with Beef Roast:

Weight: 10 oz (7 oz mixed veggies, 3 oz beef)

Other:

Apples:

Weight: 10 oz 

Orange Juice: 9 oz

Milk: 11 oz

Summary:

Total eaten / Total daily allowance: 89 oz / 91.1 oz

Grains eaten / Grains daily allowance: 10 oz / 10.4 oz

Vegetables eaten / Vegetable daily allowance: 24 oz / 21.2 oz

Fruits eaten / Fruits daily allowance: 19 oz / 19.2 oz

Milk Products eaten / Milk Products daily allowance: 26 oz / 26 oz

Meat and Beans eaten / Meat and Beans daily allowance: 10 oz / 9.1 oz

Other eaten / Other daily allowance: 0 oz / 5.2 oz

Some thoughts:

Made up the veggie deficit today, but ate a bit too much meat. Oh well.

Breakfast helped a lot with the milk requirement. It's a lot easier on my stomach to take milk in smaller doses, as one lactase pill sometimes doesn't cut it when you drink too much at once, and you never realize it until it's too late to correct the problem.

I feel a lot more full than I usually do after dinner. I should pack more for lunch so I'm not trying to get all my allowances in at dinner.

Not sure what I should do about the "Other" category. It already feels like I'm eating too much.

I also wonder how many calories are in all of this food... I should also look up how many calories is appropriate for my height, weight, and activity level. My wife mentioned that she only needs about 1200 kcal a day because she's only about 5'2" and slim, but the MyPyramid breakdown for females in her age group in the Thrifty Food Plan recommends almost 2000 kcal a day, so if she ate what was recommended then she would gain around 0.2 pounds a day (assuming all excess calories are metabolized, then saved as fat).

Would I actually gain weight under the Thrifty Food Plan? I'll look that up later.

Cleaning Out The Larder: Day 1 Dinner

Hi all!

My wife made dinner using stuff that was left in the fridge. Yum!

Ham and Radish Soup:

Weight: 3 oz (2 oz radish, 1 oz ham). 15 oz of water in the soup don't count!

Mabo Tofu (with some rice underneath):

Weight: 12 oz (3 oz mixed veggies, 4 oz tofu, 3 oz ground beef, ONLY 2 oz brown rice *cries*)

Keeping in mind that I still need to eat fruit today, some clementines for dessert:

Weight: 10 oz.

I also drank 2 full mugs of lowfat milk (26 oz) to get my milk allowance for the day.

So far today I have eaten:

Total eaten / Total daily allowance: 88 oz / 91.1 oz

Grains eaten / Grains daily allowance: 10 oz / 10.4 oz

Vegetables eaten / Vegetable daily allowance: 18 oz / 21.2 oz

Fruits eaten / Fruits daily allowance: 19 oz / 19.2 oz

Milk Products eaten / Milk Products daily allowance: 26 oz / 26 oz

Meat and Beans eaten / Meat and Beans daily allowance: 9 oz / 9.1 oz

Other eaten / Other daily allowance: 6 oz / 5.2 oz

Some thoughts:

I'm surprised how close I came to meeting the requirements "naturally". I guess I have to thank my parents and my wife for instilling good eating habits. The only things I had to consciously do was:

- Eat less rice. Boo.

- Eat more fruit.

- Drink more milk.

I'm 3 oz short on veggies. I just looked in the fridge, and the only things I found were bok choy and onions... nothing that can really be eaten raw. I guess I'll have to make up the difference tomorrow.

I'll have to remember to eat breakfast tomorrow - cereal in milk will take care of that pesky milk requirement.

I blew the "Other" limit with my cup of hot tea this morning. I'll have to ration it properly next time...

I just realized that I have been not measuring the amount of rice that I have been eating correctly. Rice absorbs about its own volume in water when it is cooked, so my rice weights so far probably are too high. I will have to remember to measure the rice weight before it is cooked.

...the fact that this allows me to eat more rice is pure coincidence, I assure you...

Cleaning Out The Larder: Day 1 Lunch

First real meal of the day (6 oz of tea this morning at breakfast)!

I had holiday leftovers for lunch.

First up is some Chinese sticky rice:

The box weighs in at 12 oz. I estimate that 8 oz is sticky rice (grains), with 2 oz of mixed vegetables (veggies) and 2 oz of Chinese sausage (meats and beans).

I also had some hotpot leftovers:

This one weighs about 10 oz. Estimate 4 oz daikon radishes (veggies), 3 oz tofu (veggies - soybeans are listed in Veggies instead of Meats and Beans), 3 oz lamb meat (meats and beans).

I also drank 9 oz of apple juice.

So far today I have eaten:

Total eaten / Total daily allowance: 37 oz / 91.1 oz

Grains eaten / Grains daily allowance: 8 oz / 10.4 oz

Vegetables eaten / Vegetable daily allowance: 9 oz / 21.2 oz

Fruits eaten / Fruits daily allowance: 9 oz / 19.2 oz

Milk Products eaten / Milk Products daily allowance: 0 oz / 26 oz

Meat and Beans eaten / Meat and Beans daily allowance: 5 oz / 9.1 oz

Other eaten / Other daily allowance: 6 oz / 5.2 oz

Some thoughts:

I have never given much thought to how much of each category I ate. Just from this lunch, it looks like I have been hitting the grains too hard. I guess it makes sense, since I am a big rice eater. I'll have to increase the amount of veggies I eat... I'll probably eat more potatoes to replace the rice.

The funny thing is that potatoes (starchy!) are listed under Vegetables (with their own subcategory - 1.5 pounds a day allowance!) while rice (also starchy!) is stuck under Grains. I would love to replace the potatoes with rice so I can keep wolfing down the rice, but I guess that would cheating. Boo.

I'll also have to drastically increase the amount of milk product I eat. The problem is that I am a little lactose-intolerant, so I'll have to pop some lactase pills to help digestion. Oh well.