Hi, my name is Allie and I suck at making fried rice. Burnt rice to a crisp. Left little imprints in the bottom of my pan. Little did I know that if you use the right oil or butter that doesn't happen.
No, I did not have a rice cooker. I do not eat rice on the regular because I would want all the bad things
that could go with rice. Spam. Sweet Sauces. If I am going to indulge for especially rice, it will be for risotto or PROFESSIONALLY made fried rice. I suck at making pancakes and rice...two for two of all things, white people should be able to make.
However when you are in a penny-pinching state of mind, it is easy to make this fried rice so you can stick with your budget goals.
Here are the ingredients you need to make Fried Rice:
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 cup bite size pieces of chicken thigh meat
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce
• 1/3 cup of minced green onion
• 1/2 cup of frozen carrot slices
• 1/2 cup frozen baby peas
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cup of cooked medium grained rice
• 2 tablespoons of sherry
• Cilantro for garnish
You got the ingredients for the fried rice now....here are the steps to make the perfect side dish to your entree.
1. Prep all the ingredients before beginning to cook
2. Cook chicken, add spices, and sprinkle seasonings: when done leave liquids at bottom of pan.
3. Cook vegetables: when done leave liquids at bottom of pan.
4. Boil Water: bring 8-10 cups to a boil.
5. Cook Egg
6. Fry Rice
7. Serve
Our Ratings
My Rating: To suffice my cravings, I would definitely make this recipe. Though, I cannot do the typical fried rice because I do not have the secrets of making fried rice. I would say as an American version I would rate this rice a 6 out of 10.
However, biased because I have Asian in-laws and family that makes their version of Fried Rice which I got accustomed to rather quickly.
Shayne’s Rating: Shayne criticized the rice upside down and sideways. However as mentioned, he has Asian culture engrained in his cooking. Honestly, this recipe was too Americanized for his liking. Also I legit suck at cooking rice. That definitely did not help the cause. He said he would teach me how to cook rice the Asian way. So far, he rated this rice a 4 out of 10.
Our Financials
Of course, I gathered the ingredients at Walmart and Sam’s Club. Because of the portions of Sam’s Club raw meat, I was able to use chicken for multiple recipes. So until that chicken or protein is used, I will be posting the cost as if you have to buy the chicken or protein for the first time.
• Butter-$2.98 for four sticks of butter or $1.98 for making your own butter. Both ingredients for Walmart
• Garlic cloves- $1.98 from Walmart
• Chicken thigh meat- $11.56 from Sam’s Club
• Black pepper- already had the pepper, but for those who do not have it...$3.18 from Walmart
• Soy sauce- $1.32 from Walmart
• Minced green onion- $0.50 from Walmart
• Frozen carrot slices}- save the hassle of buying separately...buy a bag of peas and carrots for $0.84 from Walmart
• Frozen baby peas}- save the hassle of buying separately...buy a bag of peas and carrots for $0.84 from Walmart
• Eggs- $5.99 for 60 eggs at Walmart
• Vegetable oil- $1.88 from Walmart (I used Canola)
• Cooked medium grained rice-$3.38 from Walmart, I bought Minute White Rice
• Sherry-$2.18 from Walmart
• Cilantro for garnish-$0.78 each from Walmart
SO if you never have bought any of these ingredients, the total range for these ingredients is 34-36 dollars. The reason why I gave a range is because if you decided to make your own butter. Me, I rather have my own butter. But with your own butter, you are closer to 34 dollars than 36. However, you can make this recipe over and over until the ingredients are gone. This makes about 5 cups of rice. To save money, you can portion this out.
There may be some variations, however these prices are from walmart.com if you wanted to do online shopping. You know with COVID-19, happening this year. Online businesses
are the way to go for some people.
Those Millennial Cash Back Earnings
I used my staple cash back applications. I used Ibotta, Fetch Rewards, Shopkick, and Coinout for this shopping trip.
For my in person shopping, this how I did... Ibotta was a miss, I actually struck out for the ingredients, there was no cash back available for the ingredients that I needed to make this recipe. Ibotta is specific when earning money back. From what I have heard, this application is run based on sponsored products posts. For the penny pincher in me, that sucks. I don't buy name brand products for the fact, it is more expensive.
Fetch Rewards was a better success. I earned 75 points from receipts. I earned 50 points from Walmart shopping trips and 25 points from Sam’s Club. An average amount of points earned for this trip. Not too shabby.
Shopkick I struck out for a trip and then struck luck for another trip. I reached my limit on Walmart Walk-In kicks for another 5 days for the first shopping trip. I needed more
ingredients, so I was able to go back to Walmart and earn 10 more kicks. Walmart is my primary grocery store. I had to go again so I got to make up for my striking out. In addition, Sam’s Club does not have walk-in kicks so I did not earn any walk in kicks. Second, the products that are promoted by Shopkick are not products I would buy.
For my penny rewards from Coinout, I earned a total of eight cents. For my two Walmart receipts, I earned two cents each and Sam’s Club earned me four more cents. Again done worse done better. Taking that claim of mediocrity in stride.
Outcomes and Recommendations
Now the ingredients used to make the fried rice are more or less the same of the Chicken in Brown Sauce. So I would recommend that when planning to make the fried rice, you make another protein dish to go with the rice. Just because of the bits of chicken in rice may not be satisfying enough.
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