A Relaxing Evening

Tonight Ben is attending the annual fundraiser at the Milwaukee Public Museum "Food and Froth"-- more appropriately named "Froth" or at least "Froth and Food."  My point is there's far more beer than fingerfoods at this shindig, therefore he and his buddies headed out to dinner beforehand.  So I am left to fend for myself dinnerwise.  The many years that I lived alone I enjoyed preparing meals for myself, but since co-habitating began I have not looked forward to cooking for one.  When Ben's away for dinner and I don't have any leftovers to warm up, I always joke "I'm just going to eat a handful of flour and a stick of butter and maybe have a couple raisins for dessert."  I do often end up eating something random, although it's not usually as odd as baking ingredients (still, I won't deny sneaking the occasional handful of chocolate chips in the evening).  Tonight I had a better idea.  To backup a little, I was moved to clean out the fridge this afternoon, a task that I honestly love.  I find it tremendously therapeutic.  It involves removing, wiping down, reorganizing, and composting.  We throw out very little food in the this house.  Regular cleaning of the fridge definitely helps because I have a good idea at any minute what's on hand.  The only things lingering in the depths of our Frigidaire are some rendered pork fat (lard) and a container of hog casings (yes, swine intestines) that I use for sausagemaking.  In a brine, these will get used before they go bad.  Anyway, noting the leftover rice from Wednesday's Samosas, a bag of local carrots, green onions, and those mushrooms we're still working on, I came up with fried rice.  This dish always reminds me of my short-run cooking at a Japanese restaurant when Kiyoko-san, who barely reached my armpit wearing 2-inch platform sneakers, would step up to the stove and prepare it for staff meal.  I can't say my version is as authentic as hers, but it's an easy meal that can be made with various fridge staples.

Annie's Fried Rice
Serves 2

2 T. grapeseed or coconut oil
1/4 c. diced carrots
1/4 c. sliced mushrooms
1/4 c. sliced scallions
1/4 c. frozen thawed green peas
1-2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 c. leftover rice (I like to use brown rice, but any kind will do)
ground pepper, to taste
soy sauce, to taste

Heat the oil in a large saute pan.  When hot, add the carrots and mushrooms and saute 1-2 min.  Add the scallions and peas and saute another minute.  Move the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the egg.  Scramble until done then mix with vegetables.  Add the rice and toss to combine.  Season with pepper and soy sauce as desired.

Note:  Preparing it all in one pan makes for easy cleanup so you can enjoy the rest of your evening.

Mommy is now the only one in the house without any Facebook friends.  Believe it or not, I've resisted.  Today I made Vera's Facebook--a binder of magazine-clipped kid and baby faces on photo pages.  She appears to enjoy her books that have pictures of real humans so I thought she'd have fun with this.  So far I don't know what she enjoys more, flipping the pages or staring at what's on the pages.    At any rate, its cheap entertainment.