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My neighbor's $2 rice trick made me rethink my whole meal prep | Budget Friendly Meals - Vivisector

My neighbor's $2 rice trick made me rethink my whole meal prep

I was talking to my neighbor Carol last week while we were both getting mail. She said she spends $6 a week feeding her family of 4 by building every meal around a bag of rice from the Asian market. I always thought rice was just a side dish, but she showed me how she does fried rice with frozen veggies and eggs for dinner then uses the leftover rice for breakfast porridge with cinnamon. It hit me that I was spending $12 on quinoa packs when rice costs practically nothing. Has anyone else switched to rice as your main base instead of pricier grains?

3 comments

3 Comments

stellat462mo ago

Oh man, the whole "I was spending $12 on quinoa packs" part really hit home for me. I was doing the same thing, buying those overpriced grain blends from the fancy grocery store, thinking I was being healthy or whatever. Then my friend showed me her giant 20lb bag of jasmine rice from the Asian market that cost like 15 bucks total, and I felt kind of stupid honestly. The fried rice with frozen veggies and eggs thing is legit, I make that like twice a week now and it feeds me for days. Good for your neighbor Carol for figuring out what actually works, sometimes the simplest stuff is the smartest.

rileyprice1mo ago

I gotta ask though, how long does that 20lb bag of rice last you before it goes bad or gets bugs in it? I've always been scared to buy in bulk like that because I live alone and I swear I'd have to eat rice every single meal for like 4 months straight to get through it. My pantry is also really small and I don't have a good sealed container big enough for that much grain. I WANT to do what Carol does and just stock up on the cheap stuff but I always talk myself out of it at the store. Do you just repackage it into smaller bags or what? Because the math on that price difference is honestly kind of insane and I feel like I'm leaving money on the table.

jordan_hill1mo ago

That 20lb bag thing gets me too, I live alone and had the same worry about bugs. But here's the pattern I noticed in my own kitchen - we all buy those tiny expensive bags because we're scared of committing to the big ones, but somehow we'll drop $8 on a tiny box of fancy crackers without blinking. I started keeping my rice in old plastic peanut butter jars and it's been fine for months, no bugs or anything. The real trick is just using different containers, I've got one in the pantry and one in the fridge. It's funny how we'll overthink something simple like rice storage but won't think twice about buying five different types of pasta that all cost more per pound. Carol figured out that the hardest part is just starting, and after that it's just regular cooking with way less money wasted.