Corn Sugar: As tasty as it is healthy!

[voodoolily]

Cooked rice is only good for about 4 or 5 days in the fridge, I think. It gets nasty pretty quickly after that. I cook large batches of brown rice (since it takes forever) and freeze it in portions for quick use later.

[RhyssaFireheart]

About how long can rice be kept frozen though?  Thinking about it, maybe if we start cooking more I won't have to worry about how long the rice will last in the fridge.

As for the dressing - I only put a thin stream of it over the top and then tossed everything together so it would be spread out over the romaine.  I cannot stand salads drenched in dressing or sandwiches with too much of a condiment on it.  I'm not eating the food to taste the condiment or the dressing.

[Samwise]

Salads are all about the dressing for me, but then I always craft my own by drizzling the ingredients over the salad and tossing it all together.  I suspect this ends up being healthier (most prepared dressings seem to overdo it on the oil for some reason), and it definitely tastes better.

[brellium]

About how long can rice be kept frozen though?  Thinking about it, maybe if we start cooking more I won't have to worry about how long the rice will last in the fridge.

As for the dressing - I only put a thin stream of it over the top and then tossed everything together so it would be spread out over the romaine.  I cannot stand salads drenched in dressing or sandwiches with too much of a condiment on it.  I'm not eating the food to taste the condiment or the dressing.

You should only keep cooked rice in the fridge/freezer for a day or two and only if you plan on eating it the next day or making fried rice with it.  It's not as if it really takes that long to make rice, and with a rice cooker you can just set the thing while you take a shower or something.

[CmdrSlack]

I am very disappointed today. I ordered some yellow eyed beans from Rancho Gordo on Monday. They won't arrive till Tuesday. I was hoping to make a soup/stew this weekend involving yellow eyed beans.

Good thing I'm working from home half of this week.

So, I've never had issues making rice on the stove. How does a rice cooker really do it better? Is this one of those, "try it and see" things or are most people shite at making rice?

[bhodi]

So, I've never had issues making rice on the stove. How does a rice cooker really do it better? Is this one of those, "try it and see" things or are most people shite at making rice?

You get the convenience of adding rice and water then walking away, a "keep warm" function, and perfect rice every time. It's worth it.

[Samwise]

Once you have some practice cooking rice on the stove, it is pretty much just a matter of adding rice and water and walking away and getting perfect rice every time.  The catch is that for perfectly repeatable results you need to measure the rice and water and set a timer (so when you walk away, make sure you're still in earshot).  The plus side is that you don't end up with yet another gadget cluttering your counter that's dedicated to cooking only one thing.

[Furiously]

Once you have some practice cooking rice on the stove, it is pretty much just a matter of adding rice and water and walking away and getting perfect rice every time.  The catch is that for perfectly repeatable results you need to measure the rice and water and set a timer (so when you walk away, make sure you're still in earshot).  The plus side is that you don't end up with yet another gadget cluttering your counter that's dedicated to cooking only one thing.

Samwise is Alton Brown!!!!

[Lantyssa]

More like Julianna Mauriello.

[voodoolily]

About how long can rice be kept frozen though?  Thinking about it, maybe if we start cooking more I won't have to worry about how long the rice will last in the fridge.

As for the dressing - I only put a thin stream of it over the top and then tossed everything together so it would be spread out over the romaine.  I cannot stand salads drenched in dressing or sandwiches with too much of a condiment on it.  I'm not eating the food to taste the condiment or the dressing.

You should only keep cooked rice in the fridge/freezer for a day or two and only if you plan on eating it the next day or making fried rice with it.  It's not as if it really takes that long to make rice, and with a rice cooker you can just set the thing while you take a shower or something.

Not true! Rice can be frozen for several months (I'd call it at like 3 or 4, though 6 is fine). Also, brown rice takes 45 minutes to an hour to cook.  That's long enough to me to warrant batch-cooking.

[Sky]

Defeating unitaskerianism is why VL's pressure cooker idea is so awesome.

[Bunk]

I'm not a big green salad eater, but I do like making pasta based salads. My dressing for those is usually a "lets see what's in the fridge" adventure. Typically some mix of:

Olive Oil
Balsalmic
Soya Sauce
Mustard of some sort
Sriracha (sp?) sauce
Worschtershire maybe?
whatver random herbs I have

Salad Dressings are fun.

[Sky]

We should probably move this back into the VL Snackgasm thread :P

I really have to take up fishing again, had steelhead trout fillets last night. Pan fried in butter with garlic butter ladled over, s&p, finished with lemon juice. Just such an amazing flavor. Green beans and brown & wild rice.

Getting the lemon squeezinator and garlic press was a great day in my kitchen.

[Samwise]

I'm not a big green salad eater, but I do like making pasta based salads. My dressing for those is usually a "lets see what's in the fridge" adventure.

 

My standard dressing these days (for green or bean salad) is:

Olive oil
Red wine vinegar (lots)
Dijon mustard
Garlic salt
Lemon pepper

With avocado oil sometimes swapped in for olive oil, and balsamic sometimes swapped in for red wine vinegar.  For pasta salads it's similar except I always use balsamic for those.

[TripleDES]

ANYWAY...

If HFCS' ostensibly the same as regular sugar, why does US Coke taste like shit? I didn't believe it until a friend brought some over from vacation over there.

[Malakili]

ANYWAY...

If HFCS' ostensibly the same as regular sugar, why does US Coke taste like shit? I didn't believe it until a friend brought some over from vacation over there.

I don't think it ostensibly tastes exactly the same? 

I think its similar in calories, and I think its similar in that it sweetens things.  Frankly, I stopped drinking soda all together before ever having soda with real sugar so I can't compare them even from memory, but my guess would be they are just plain different tasting things, especially when you are used to having one or the other extremely regularly.

[Paelos]

Everything I drink now is sweetened with aspartame anyway.

[Lantyssa]

I think its similar in calories, and I think its similar in that it sweetens things.  Frankly, I stopped drinking soda all together before ever having soda with real sugar so I can't compare them even from memory, but my guess would be they are just plain different tasting things, especially when you are used to having one or the other extremely regularly.

They taste a lot different to me, and HFCS soda doesn't quench my thirst/cravings anywhere near as much as one with cane sugar.

[Grimwell]

They taste plenty different no matter the science. I see more and more stores in Cali stocking Cocca-Cola in glass bottles with real sugar; made in Mexico.

It sells enough to warrant it.

Pepsi Throwback is using the old real sugar recipe but I didn't try it, I didn't like Pepsi back in the day so there is no motive for me now.

[CmdrSlack]

They taste plenty different no matter the science. I see more and more stores in Cali stocking Cocca-Cola in glass bottles with real sugar; made in Mexico.

It sells enough to warrant it.

Pepsi Throwback is using the old real sugar recipe but I didn't try it, I didn't like Pepsi back in the day so there is no motive for me now.

There was a Mountain Dew Throwback as well. We only had it in plastic around here, tho. In glass, it would have been doubleplus good.

[Lantyssa]

The Pepsi was good, for Pepsi, but I was never able to finish a can.  Which is a good thing.

[Morat20]

They taste a lot different to me, and HFCS soda doesn't quench my thirst/cravings anywhere near as much as one with cane sugar.

HFCS is chemically different from cane sugar, right? I was under the impression -- I mgiht be mistaken, though -- that HCFS is not only not 'as sweet' as cane sugar, but that it also doesn't trigger identical body reactions.

I think the total result of that is you need greater quantities of HFCS than cane sugar for a given result (whether taste or physical response to sugar). Since your body does, however, process it just as efficiently as cane sugar, you end up adding a lot of 'extra' calories by using HFCS over sugar.

But it keeps the American corn lobby happy.

[Samwise]

From what Nebu posted earlier, I got the impression that HFCS is actually sweeter than normal sugar.  I also remember something from some previous thread on the subject about it doing funny things to your blood sugar when compared to similar amounts of regular sugar, but I don't remember if that was posted by someone who knew what they were talking about or not.

[proudft]

Yeah, the people who can't tell the difference between USA Corn Coke and Mexican Sugar Coke have horrible senses of taste.  And/or are paid off by the corn lobby.  I wouldn't say one is sweeter than the other though, it's just... different.

I don't actually know if it's really the corn syrup vs. cane or the bottle vs. can or the different water sources or who knows what but they taste waaaaaay different to me.  I would say I generally prefer the sugar but every once in a while I could use a changeup.  Being 3x the cost kinda sucks, too.

[Teleku]

I can taste the difference between the two, but I've finally come to the conclusion I actually prefer the taste of the HFCS versions to the real sugar versions.  Not that I drink much soda anymore (though I use to drink a ton),

[Samwise]

Compared to sugar-sweetened soda, HFCS soda makes my teeth feel sticky, and the flavor has a sort of unpleasant sharpness to it.

[ghost]

Cooked rice is only good for about 4 or 5 days in the fridge, I think. It gets nasty pretty quickly after that. I cook large batches of brown rice (since it takes forever) and freeze it in portions for quick use later.

We use a Foodsaver for this.  It works great.  That way we make rice about once every 2 weeks or so.  


As for the HFCS thing-  I think there has been some decent evidence out there that it causes more obesity in rats than traditional sugars.  And this isn't an indicator for cause and effect, but there has been a rise in obesity in the USA that directly follows the rise in use of HFCS. Is it because we are eating more "processed foods"?  Maybe, but most processed foods have HFCS in them.  The rat study that I saw makes me very suspicious.  As for my personal experience, I can barely drink half a bottle of coke that has cane sugar in it, but can easily put away one or two HCFS Cokes.  I avoid HCFS as much as I can and would recommend to others to do the same.

[Teleku]

Compared to sugar-sweetened soda, HFCS soda makes my teeth feel sticky, and the flavor has a sort of unpleasant sharpness to it.

Actually, you managed to help pin it down for me.  I really like the sharpness of flavor is has (also, I just like sweater things).  The sugar stuff has a more level, dull taste.

[Tebonas]

Reads to me like nobody likes HFCS? Why is it still bought, shouldn't the free market take care of it and Cane Sugar products flood the market?

Artifical sweeteners over here taste like shit as well, but I'm starting to enjoy the taste of Stevia.

[Samwise]

Reads to me like nobody likes HFCS? Why is it still bought, shouldn't the free market take care of it and Cane Sugar products flood the market?

Why do you hate the honest hardworking American corn farmer and his billion-dollar lobbying arm?

[Tebonas]

The corn farmer lobby can only make HFCS subsidized and therefore cheaper. It can't force the consumers to buy HFCS products or soda manufacturers to make them. There obviously exists a Cane Sugar Coke. What hinders the Coca Cola company to sell those bottles in the US?

[Chimpy]

From wikipedia:

A system of sugar tariffs and sugar quotas imposed in 1977 in the United States significantly increased the cost of imported sugar and U.S. producers sought cheaper sources. High-fructose corn syrup, derived from corn, is more economical because the domestic U.S. and Canadian prices of sugar are twice the global price[28] and the price of corn is kept low through government subsidies paid to growers

The root cause of the use of HFCS all over the place is simple agricultural protectionism (in the form of cane sugar tariffs).

[Tebonas]

Ah, thanks for explaining. That is really retarded, though. US sugar market price was up to 7 times from everywhere else? WTF?

[Merusk]

Sugar Beets are primarily exported from the Ukraine and France according to Wiki.  I'd guess it was some sort of anti-soviet tariff.

[Sky]

I think there has been some decent evidence out there that it causes more obesity in rats than traditional sugars.  And this isn't an indicator for cause and effect, but there has been a rise in obesity in the USA that directly follows the rise in use of HFCS.

I just saw my first Corn Sugar ad last night. I don't see many commercials (yay DVR), so they may have been running for a while. By the time I see something, it's usually pervasive. Anyway, I was thinking at the time that there has also been a pretty drastic rise in diabetes, too.

From wikipedia:

A system of sugar tariffs and sugar quotas imposed in 1977 in the United States significantly increased the cost of imported sugar and U.S. producers sought cheaper sources. High-fructose corn syrup, derived from corn, is more economical because the domestic U.S. and Canadian prices of sugar are twice the global price[28] and the price of corn is kept low through government subsidies paid to growers

The root cause of the use of HFCS all over the place is simple agricultural protectionism (in the form of cane sugar tariffs).

Free market, amirite?