Vegetables and Egg Fried Rice

Going Green is not easy isn't? The Sunday magazine had this really interesting article Can One Small Household Help Save the Planet?. If you are trying to go green and finding it hard, this article is sure to give you a sense of deja vu. The article made me think of changes that I have imposed on myself and the family to do our part to reduce the carbon footprint. What are they?

Use cloth bags 90% of the time. The 10% I get plastic bags to use as liners for the trash cans around the house. It tooks us a while to remember carrying these bags while grocery shopping till we devised a method that has worked well so far (thanks to DH). We alwasy keep the bags in the car and when we bring them indoors after a shopping trip, the minute they are emptied they are hung on the door knob as a reminder to be carried to the car.

I compost all kitchen waste (besides when it is full and on cold winter days a running argument on who is going to empty it, has been going smooth)

Recycle as much as possible, switching of lights

I try to hyper mile on my vehicle and use public transportation whenever I(other members of the household still rely solely on the car) can

use only cloth napkins and vastly reduce the use of paper towels

Pack steel cutlery in lunch boxes to avoid using plastic ones (makes economic sense as well)

We have tried to use CFL(compact fluorescent lamp) as much as we can

I use a power strip on to which I plug in my rechargeables and switch off every night (there are days I forget to do it). I have still not attempted plugging out the microwave, TV etc

I would love to have an energy audit done on the house, though it is not that old, but it was built in the go go 90s when energy scarcity and global warming had not made their presence felt, my appliances and windows and insulation do not carry the highest energy star rating

It took us a while but now we are all in the same page with most of the things but we could still do more. I get frustrated when I see people all around not paying the minimum regard to what they can actually accomplish without major changes to their lifestyle. I also begin to have doubts if at all the small changes I do are going to have any postive effects and the strains I have put on my family is worth it. But these are nothing compared to what people of this Japanese village have been doing. Watch the video on this article Japan as ground zero for no-wast lifestyle, it is amazing what people can accomplish if they put their minds and hearts to it. Sorting the recyclables into 34 different categories? Can we get a whole village in the US or India to do something like this?

Well anyway there cannot be two differing opinions regarding fried rice, be it egg, chicken or shrimp. I have not met anyone who does not like fried rice. Fried rice also gave me a good opportunity to use some of the brown rice that I have been hoarding for a while now. I saw this recipe for Indonesian Vegetable Fried Rice on a food blog that I discovered recently and having been following regularly with mouth watering results. I did not have day old rice. I had about 4 tbsp of white rice from the previous day, not enough. So cooked 1 1/4 cups of brown basmati rice in a electric rice cooker and let it cool.

Egg Fried Rice
Ingredients
1. 2 Cups of Cooked preferably day old rice
2. 3 eggs, salt and a pinch of red chili powder
3. 1 Cup of chopped vegetables, thinly sliced carrots, peas, thinly sliced capsicum (red would be good, I used green)
4. 1 bunch green onions chopped into small rounds
5. 4 tsp soy sauce
6. 2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
7. 2 tsp harissa (moroccon hot chili paste)
8. 2 tsp chili garlic sauce (optional)
9. salt to taste
10. 2-3 tsp of oil
Method
1. Beat the eggs together with salt and chili powder
2. Heat the wok, add a bit of oil and make 2 omlettes and set aside
3. Now heat the rest of the oil add the green onions and saute for a bit, now add the rest of the vegetables and let them cook for about 4-8 minutes or cooked
4. Add the sauces and mix well.
5. Now add the rice and mix it well.
6. Cook for a minute or two and add salt and more seasonings if required
7. Switch off the heat.
8. Roll the omelette and cut into thin strips.
9. Mix the omelette pieces and serve