I finally got around to making the salad in a jar I’ve had saved in my Pinterest, so I get to say I crafted another pin!
I also finally got around to doing some extra meal prep so we can just pull stuff out of the freezer on hectic days/weeks, etc. I’m really hoping to make this a habit once a month, at least… we shall see.
The original recipe is from this website. Not a big fan of the name of the website… (we’re still encouraging people to “get skinny?” oof. But the recipe is good and saves time on busy days.
Lots of Brazilian rice, some to have this week and some to freeze:
And I didn’t take a picture, but the bowl in the first picture was the beginning of making a giant batch of pão de queijo, some to eat this week and some to freeze.
Yummy!
I often try to cook ahead for more than one day. But it seems with two teenage boys there are hardly any leftovers no matter how much I increase the recipe.
Also I didn’t know you could freeze rice.
Now over to your other post, checking out the cheese balls.
I miss having enough fridge space to do food prep for the week. We have a small fridge in the bus, bigger than a “dorm fridge” but still small emough to be frustrating. (Actively looking for a bigger fridge to keep at the bike shop though!) The salad in a jar looks like a great idea! I also saved your cheese ball recipe (my husband loves potato recipes and its gluten free!). What makes rice Brazilian though? I love rice dishes of many countries so now I am curious about this!
Congratulations on getting all this done and completing a pin! TheMisterT has been prepping tossed salads in jars since I got him a mason jar vacuum sealer for Christmas and it’s been a wonder. With just the two of us, it’s not so much about saving time and such, but more about keeping the veg from going bad before we can finish it.
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AIMR
(Linda -In the year 2025, I am happy to be alive! :us:)
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This all looks AMAZING! I just bookmarked your recipe for the cheesy bread balls. I love those and the frozen grocery store ones can’t hold a candle to homemade ones. Frankly, they don’t even taste as good as the Brazilian chain restaurant ones.
The trick to freezing rice and have it reheat as if you had made it fresh is to undercook it just a tiny bit, then spread it out on a cookie sheet so it cools down fast. Then freeze in small portions. It reheats well in the microwave, or if you want it to taste like you really just cooked it, you can also reheat it on the stove top by putting just a tiny bit of water so it won’t clump up or burn to the bottom. I’ve only ever frozen rice that I make the Brazilian way, where the grains are meant to not stick together, so I’m not sure how well “sticky rice” would freeze, but it’s worth a shot
Both in Canada and the U.S. (at least where I lived), most people who eat rice are more familiar with rice that clumps together, as made in many Asian cuisines. This makes it easier to eat with chopsticks.
In Brazil, we make rice in a way specifically so it will not clump together. The ultimate delicious rice for most Brazilians is “arroz soltinho,” which roughly translates to “loose rice,” meaning the rice stays as much as possible as individual grains. I’ll try to post a recipe later on
Cool! I didn’t even know that was a thing! That’s great for keeping things fresh longer.
I’ve been reusing the jam jars from Costco because they have really wide mouths and it makes it so much easier to get stuff out. Because there’s 5 of us, we get through whatever I made in them within the week, so it’s not as important to have it sealed. Having said that, putting the salad in a jar with the lettuce on top is a game-changer for keeping the salad nice and crisp until we dump it out
Although homemade is almost always better, I must say I’m slightly jealous that you have these available at the grocery store and that there are Brazilian chain restaurants where you live, lol!! There’s nothing here. If I want Brazilian stuff I have to pay to have it delivered from Toronto. I’ve done it once as a treat, because it was soooooo expensive lol
Believe me, you’re not missing anything by not having the frozen grocery store ones. They are called Brazi Bites. And the ones at the restaurant were pretty tasty, but it is a churrascaria, so really more of a meat focus than Brazilian food as a whole.