Stay Connected

Monday, June 15, 2015

Homemade hot rice cereal (and a math tweak)



So, I realize that practically no one here is making their own rice milk. Not a problem to me. But I thought I'd show you what the home-cooked hot rice cereal looks like, and how I make it.

If you're a fan of cream of wheat, hot rice cereal is most like that cereal. I personally prefer the rice cereal to oatmeal. For me, in addition to a texture thing, rice cereal is so much easier on my tummy.

This is how I'm currently making this hot rice cereal.

I use the leftover rice pulp from making a batch of rice milk. When I make rice milk, I put the pulp in the freezer, to cook up whenever I have some time, and need the rice cereal for a breakfast option for the family.

To cook:

Eyeball-measure the rice pulp. I use an amount of water that is roughly 3 times the rice pulp. This is usually about 3 cups of water to 1 cup of rice pulp. I bring the water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the rice pulp and stir. I also add a few drops of maple extract and a couple of tablespoons of sugar, plus 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt. I stir this from time to time as it cooks. Once it comes to a boil, I reduce heat and simmer until thick, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. At the very end of cooking, I swirl in a tablespoon of butter. The cooking process is very much like making polenta, and takes about 20 minutes.

Some days, we eat it right away. Other days, I let it cool then keep in the fridge to reheat as we want.

Rice is one of the few grains that my stomach can tolerate all of the time. Breakfasts are a bit limited, as a result. So this cereal is a blessing for me.


Now, that math tweak.

I had previously thought of my cost of making rice milk to be about 30 cents per quart (before adding the cost of the calcium supplements). Well, I completely forgot that the rice pulp is valuable to me as a food, too. I would say that the milk is roughly half of the value and the cereal the other half. So . . . my "real" cost to make my own rice milk is about 15 cents for the milk alone, and 12 cents for the supplements, for a total of 27 cents per quart. That's about 1/4 of what I pay for cheapo soy milk at Dollar Tree. Yep! Definitely continuing to make my own rice milk.

As a bonus, homemade rice milk makes a great coffee latte, when I add a bit of almond extract and some sugar to my coffee/rice milk. I do this as decaf after lunch, and this satisfies my cravings for dessert.

9 comments:

  1. I did try making it. The thing about me is that I don't have that much milk in a day or cook with much milk. My husband has about 1 cup a month.
    We freeze the milk in pint containers and use it that way. Of course I buy the milk in a 4 L container which is more than a US quart.
    This will last us about a month. Extending it with the rice milk made it longer than I want to keep it frozen. It is a great idea for a family. We don't get reduce milk. I think this is due to our Milk Marketing Board.

    My husband told me it was 14 dozen peewee eggs not 10 as I told you. So it was an even bigger bargain than I thought.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did try making it. The thing about me is that I don't have that much milk in a day or cook with much milk. My husband has about 1 cup a month.
    We freeze the milk in pint containers and use it that way. Of course I buy the milk in a 4 L container which is more than a US quart.
    This will last us about a month. Extending it with the rice milk made it longer than I want to keep it frozen. It is a great idea for a family. We don't get reduce milk. I think this is due to our Milk Marketing Board.

    My husband told me it was 14 dozen peewee eggs not 10 as I told you. So it was an even bigger bargain than I thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Deb,
      I'm glad to hear that freezing milk works so well for you! I freeze a lot of milk, too, and probably always will. Instead of buying small-size containers of milk at nearly double the cost, you probably save a lot of money buying the 4L size, and freezing in usable portions.

      Oh, and even better deal on those pee wee eggs! Those will last a while, for certain!

      Delete
  3. One day soon, I hope I will remember (lol) to make rice milk...I wondered if I read correctly that you DON'T cook the rice first, but grind and extract the uncooked rice. This confirms that you do the latter.

    I love brown rice gruel or "okayu", which is a white rice gruel. It's made with roughly the same ratio of uncooked rice to water, but without the sweetness added. I often make this gruel from leftover rice, and because the calories and carbs are diluted, I can eat more than one bowlful and be satiated. Plus it is nice and warm and great when I have a sore throat (because of the warm water and salt content of this gruel).

    Now that's more motivation...to make rice milk for about a quarter a quart. I would ignore the supplement cost of 12 cents too, and in fact think of rice milk as costing less than 15 cents per quart (putting equal or more value to the pulp, especially since I will use this part of the rice as filler in my bean patties). There are nutrients in brown rice, like the proteins, that are not in the supplement, so it is a wash IMHO.

    YHF

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi YHF,
      Yes, the rice softens enough to process in a blender, by soaking first.

      Gosh, this rice milk gets cheaper and cheaper to make, the more I think about it (and get input about it)! Makes me wonder why I think commercial alternative milks would be any sort of bargain, even at Dollar Tree. You're right, there are nutrients in the brown rice that count for something, and reduce my need for other supplements.

      Delete
  4. Do you get hungry soon after you eat rice cereal? I find if I eat rice or rice cereal in the morning, I have a crash an hour or so later because it digests so fast. Corn cereals and oatmeal last a little longer, and wheat cereals last the longest. On days I work and won't have a chance to snack, I can't have rice or corn cereals because of the crash I have from them. A bowl of any kind of cereal fills me up, so I don't have any room to eat any more with it, like some protein. Therefore I generally avoid rice cereals although I like the taste.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      I've never noticed with hot rice cereal. I'll have to pay attention and see. Mostly, I eat a lot throughout the day, so don't notice if something isn't as filling. The only times I ever eat cold cereal is when we're on a trip, and then I do notice being very hungry just 2 hours later. But that could also be because I'm used to snacking frequently when at home.

      One of the things that may help me with hot cereals is that I add other things to them, like butter and fruit, and those items keep me going longer. I like a sliced banana on hot cereal, so in essence I'm getting a bowl of grain plus a piece of fruit. Also, this particular breakfast is made with brown rice, so there's the whole grain there giving some staying power. I don't know, I'll have to pay attention and see how long it keeps me full.

      Delete
  5. Not sure why, but rice milk tends to give me migraines, so I'm not a big fan - It's curious though, because rice itself is fine for me. Is there some fermenting in the process of making the milk?

    Anyhow, I've never had rice cereal per se, but when I lived in Norway we'd sometimes have "risgrot" or rice porridge as a treat, and it was beyond delicious. Of course, it may have been all of the whole milk that made it so yummy!

    http://www.food.com/recipe/risgrot-hot-rice-pudding-155893

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cat,
      hmmm, no idea why rice milk would trigger migraines, but cooked rice would not. No, there's no fermenting to homemade rice milk, just an overnight soak in water. But i have no idea how they make rice milk in factories.

      Could it be an "extra" ingredient in the rice milk, causing the migraines?
      Here's the ingredients list from Rice Dream:
      filtered water, organic brown rice (partially milled), organic expeller pressed safflower and/or canola oil, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, vitamin B12.

      Well, anyway, when I personally have found a food that doesn't work for me, whether or not some expert says it should be safe, I simply avoid it totally. So for you, avoiding rice milk just sounds sensible.

      I'll go check that link now. I just love rice puddings (and tapiocas, too)!

      Delete

Thank you for joining the discussion today. Here at creative savv, we strive to maintain a respectful community centered around frugal living. Creative savv would like to continue to be a welcoming and safe place for discussion, and as such reserves the right to remove comments that are inappropriate for the conversation.

FOLLOW CREATIVE SAVV ON BLOGLOVIN'

Follow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be a voice that helps someone else on their frugal living journey

Are you interested in writing for creative savv?
What's your frugal story?

Do you have a favorite frugal recipe, special insight, DIY project, or tips that could make frugal living more do-able for someone else?

Creative savv is seeking new voices.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

share this post