The KInd Life Community Forum

I don't know WHAT I am.....am I superhero? but I think I'm pretty freakin' close, don't eat sea veggies or soy, but about all I DO eat are greeens/veggies/brown rice and rice pasta so I think my meals may fit what you would eat.

I come home at night and HAVE to eat within ten minutes or I will hurt someone! I always have jars of food in the fridge - cook a pot of brown rice and a mess of rice pasta that I keep in the fridge, and always have cans of beans and veggies on hand. So In less than ten minutes I can fire up the steamer and throw in a scoop of brown rice that is already cooked and in the fridge, some beans from a can, and then whatever veg - usually collards or kale. This is cooked in the time it takes me to wash my face and feed the animals. I usually mix up some tahini with water and sometimes some chickpea miso to make a sauce for the greens. This all works to do in the morning and throw in a container for lunch later to and truly is quick.

another one I do is a scoop of rice pasta, white beans and a zuchinni. steam 'em up for a few minutes and then put olive oil and course sea salt on top.

and my breakfast this morning is another quicky - scoop of brown rice in the steamer, half an advocado mixed in, throw a handful of toasted pecans on top.

another quick meal - that does not travel though - is rice tortilla filled with brown rice or grain of some sort/black bean/half an advocado/steamed collards with some olive oil.

the trick for me is to just always have the "staples" cooked up in bulk in the fridge and then add the "extras" like the veggies or beans. And I would be lost without my amazing steamer to heat stuff up!

Ann- those are great suggestions. I like your candor...

manya - I have the steamer of all steamers - if my house caught on fire, its what I would grab - you can always replace old pictures and important legal documents....but a good steamer?

I have a Le Creuset - its a heavy duty pot with a lid, and the steamer is an extra piece that is also heavy duty but stainless steel and fits on top of the pot (and extends it up) and then the pot lid goes on top.

http://www.cookware.com/asp/superbrowse.asp?clid=781&caid=&sku=LEC1649&refid=GANk232270

My mom got it for me for my birthday - it wasn't cheap....but I have to say, well worth it! I honestly use it every day and had been plowing through crappy half-assed steamers that would fall apart for years before finding this one. If there were a bumper sticker that said "I love my steamer" I would be sporting in.....if I had a car!

I haven't steamed cooked rice and have often wondered how to reheat it. Doesn't it fall through the holes in the steamer? I haven't figured how to eat this way yet but am working on it. I have elminated the majority of the proccessed stuff and eat gluten free. Vegan was easy as I have done it more on than off for 20 years. But I would like to move much closer and friendly-like to Super Hero status aka macrobiotics. Just can't figure out where to jump in! I have been eating brown rice with umebohi plums for meals here and there. But alas, I am a chub so trying to figure this out as wel, sorry got sidetracked!

So back to steamers. Does the rice fall though?

a rice steamer doesn't have holes in it. it looks more like a kind of crock pot. I use mine a few times a weak and loooooove it! mine also has a separate steamer on top for veggies, best purchase ever. I use it mostly for brown rice, and I pretty much take that and any leftover bean dish/veggie saute and put it into a wrap. I love having alicia's tahini dressing in the fridge to put inside also. If I don't have premade beans/veggies, I'll just take the rice, and add lettuce/cucumbers whatever veggies and make into a salad wrap, maybe open a can of chickpeas and toss in there too. If no rice, just use the salad and some canned beans...