Three songs that wrap up my last year as a teen:
- Vacation – Griffin House
- Wildest Dreams – Taylor Swift
- House Party – Sam Hunt
Essentially I’m a worn out student, a hopeless romantic, and a homebody.
My intention of self-initiating a house lock down is to study, but then I manage to accomplish everything but school. The time I was supposed to decode integrals, I proceeded to vacuum the whole apartment and wash the toilet bowl. The later job is usually left for mom to do…which just shows how much I really really really didn’t want to be doing math.
Sometimes I convince myself I can afford to leave the house for a few hours and meet up with Jaimie for an evening ice cream run. This girl needs her pumpkin spice ice cream and a friend to brainstorm Christmas party and summer getaway ideas with. Reuniting with our best friends at Christmas always ends up being an epic house party with the 24 hour Christmas radio on, lots of loud singing, White Elephant gift fighting, ugly selfies, and non-stop eating.
There’s no down time in the middle of the semester; I’m trudging through the mud puddle of exams and work reaching for the promise of Christmas and my family’s annual Portland road trip.
Recently, I was supposed to read a research paper on NKX2-2 and Ewing sarcoma (pardon, wut?), but ended up jamming to Chew’s country playlist while making a pan of pineapple fried rice. The rest of the night was spent romanticizing about our weddings and shoveling every grain of rice into our mouths.
I miss the days when mom would make fried rice for dinner. To satisfy the cravings for Asian food, I’ve learned to make it myself. And thank goodness it’s essentially foolproof and only needs one pan. Vegan? Leave the eggs out and bulk it up with more veggies or tofu pieces. Gluten free? Just make sure your soy sauce or tamari is gluten free and you’re golden. No fresh pineapple? Look for frozen pineapple or canned. Made too much rice? Freeze extra and defrost before using it in this recipe.
Sweet pineapple chunks (and the juice that seeps out!), lots of pan fried garlic, a splash of tamari and sesame oil gives this fried rice big flavour. Serve with some sriracha if you like your fried rice spicy. Leftovers make great packed lunches too!
Forgetful ol’ me has forgotten to include the college-student-friendly cost of the recipes in our college series after the coconut and berries oatmeal. I’ve updated them all (hello $1.36 pasta dinner and the best vegan cookies for $0.76 or pumpkin cookie dough bites for $0.58) and included the breakdown for this fried rice below:
*estimates given in Canadian Dollars
1 tsp coconut oil = $0.09
2 cloves garlic = $0.14
1 cup pineapple = $1.50
1 cup frozen peas = $0.50
2 cups cooked rice = $0.04
2 tsp tamari = $0.04
1 egg = $0.16
A drizzle of sesame oil = $0.02
1/3 cup tofu = $1.00
Price Per Batch = $3.49
Price Per Serving (1/4 batch) = $0.87
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- 1 cup frozen peas, carrot, corn or a mix
- 2 cups cooked rice, we used a mixture of white and brown
- 2 to 3 tsp tamari, to taste
- 1 to 2 eggs, omit if vegan
- A drizzle of sesame oil
- Optional ingredients: Freshly ground black pepper, Sriracha sauce, sliced or cubed firm tofu
- In a large frying pan, heat up coconut oil over medium heat. Lower the heat to medium-low, add the minced garlic and fry until golden brown. Add the pineapple chunks, frozen vegetables, and tofu (if using) and heat through.
- Turn the heat back up to medium, add the rice and break up any chunks. Once the rice is heated through, add the tamari and mix until evenly distributed.
- Make a well in the middle of the pan and add in the egg(s), if using. Using your spatula, scramble the eggs. Once they are almost cooked through, incorporate the scrambled eggs into the rest of the rice.
- Turn off the heat, add a drizzle of sesame oil, and serve right away.
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