Goya rice bag bag

[asakiyume]

We eat rice almost every night, so I buy it in 20-pound bags--Goya medium-grain rice. For us, it's pretty much as good as Japanese short-grain rice and less expensive. (Sometimes we have different rice--basmati or jasmine or wild rice, or any style of brown rice, but generally it's white Goya medium-grain rice.)

I like the look of the bags, and I thought it would be fun to use an empty bag as a bag ... and finally I got round to making one:

Here's the front, with a fold-over flap



And here's the back



Might take it grocery shopping with me next time I go!

Comments

[raven]

That's adorable! I feel like it'll be even cuter when you have, like, your wallet, your phone, your compact just sort of hanging out in there. Maybe also with a 500g pack of rice so the bag doesn't feel lonely. 😂

[asakiyume]

Hahahaha, yeah the transparency does make it perfect for the surveillance state I live in but does give me pause--so the whole world gets to see my phone and wallet? Hmmmm. But yes, a 500 g, pack of rice will be just the thing to remind the bag of its roots.

[cmcmck]

The rice we get through most of is Carnarolo Risotto rice.

[asakiyume]

Nice!

[sovay]

I like the look of the bags, and I thought it would be fun to use an empty bag as a bag ... and finally I got round to making one

That's excellent. I hope it will take the weight of a smaller bag of rice.

[asakiyume]

I took it for a spin just now and can already understand flaws in my current design (how the straps are attached, etc. It carried a reusable shopping bag and my wallet over, but then ended up being carried, itself, in the reusable shopping bag on the way home. I think it could definitely support the weight, but it buckles in odd ways. Live and learn! The kid at the checkout register really liked it at least, so that was fun.

[light_of_summer]

Cool sustainability re-use idea—I hope the bag proves useful!

May I ask how you fastened it together?

Also, may ask why you generally prefer white rice?

My admittedly inexpert impression is that brown rices are healthier, so I try to mostly consume those.

Usually I eat Lundberg brand, which is organically grown in my state, though I have sometimes gone for Trader Joe's organic brown basmati, which at least used to be cheaper. I haven't cooked rice in quite a while, though—I've mostly been eating my rice as Lundberg's puffed brown rice cakes, for the convenience of them.

One of these days, I want to re-make a rice salad recipe for tomato season that I invented & am very proud and fond of: made from tomatoes & brown basmati rice & arugula & goat-or-sheep's-milk feta cheese & cucumbers, lightly dressed with extra-virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar—YUM! \😋/

Do you have any favorite rice-dish recipes that you'd be interested in sharing?

[asakiyume]

I sewed it!

Brown rice is definitely healthier and we should eat more of it, and I like it when I cook it with flavorings. I'm just very used to white rice--that's what they mainly eat in Japan, and that's where we picked up our habit of always eating it.

That rice salad sounds ~ awesome! ~

Re: rice dishes, most of our meals are something served on top of rice rather than featuring rice as an ingredient in the cooking. I do have one Sri Lankan (I think? Have to check) recipe that uses the rice as an ingredient--it's got good spices and coconut milk. And chirashi zushi is a type of sushi (meaning rice mixed with rice vinegar--the sort with raw fish on top is just one type) with vegetables mixed through it and ginger and shredded nori on top--that's always fun. I used to make a sort of half-hearted nod toward a paella, but haven't in quite a while.

[light_of_summer]

Oo, paella—I've never cooked that, myself, but I've sure enjoyed it when I've been able to buy it! There used to be a farmer's market vendor near my (then-)home who would occasionally make paella right in their street booth, in a big, shallow pan that was something like 3 feet wide!

I'm pretty sure I have not had or heard of chirashi zushi, before. It sounds interesting—thanks!

[light_of_summer]

P.S. Are you familiar with the Japanese-American artist Masami Teraoka?

I like a lot of his early work (circa 1970s), much of which involves humorous juxtapositions of traditional Floating-World style/imagery with elements of then-contemporay Western culture.

Most of his later work seems much more grim and gruesome—I can somewhat understand and respect his artistic intent with it, but I'd rather not look at it.

[asakiyume]

I am not, but I looked at some images of his work just now and see what you mean.

[asakiyume]

Wow, a 3-foot wide paella! Definitely cooking for all comers; how great!

[sabotabby]

Oooh this is super cool.

[asakiyume]

It doesn't work quiiiiite as well as I would like--I should have attached the straps differently--but it's fun for a first effort. And we eat a lot of rice, so I will be able to try again/try a different design.

[dark_phoenix54]

I've got a couple of burlap sacks basmati rice came in; need to line them so they don't leak. Not even sure where they are now but I'm glad to see someone else appreciates rice bag graphic!

[asakiyume]

I've liked the designs on some of those basmati burlap ones a lot too! High fives, fellow rice bag appreciator!

[sartorias]

That looks useful!

[asakiyume]

It deforms as soon as anything's in it, but it's a start!

[pameladean]

That is a nice bag, with the graceful seed head of the rice.

I'm amused because I buy Japanese short-grain rice because it's cheaper than arborio or bomba. But I only use it for a couple of specific dishes. Our staple rice is whatever's on sale.

[asakiyume]

I love the design of the rice seed head!

And I can believe that Japanese short-grain rice might be cheaper than arborio (and I'm embarrassed to say I don't even know bomba, but I'm going to look it up).

[wayfaringwordhack]

In Lebanon, there is a lot to be said for finding a favorite rice brand and sticking with it; I cannot tell you the number of times that we have bought rice that has a sewer smell, even after multiple rinsings and cooking. It happened enough that Farmer Boy almost never wants to try rice. :/. I see from the comments that you aren't quite pleased with this design and hope you find another soon. I have a rice bag (it feels and has a weave more like cotton than burlap with handles and zipper included) to carry jewelry-making or art supplies.

[asakiyume]

What accounts for the sewer smell? Is it that the rice hasn't been stored well and has started to go musty? Has it been washed in bad water?

Yeah, since it's just plastic, I should have something to help it hold its shape--maybe a rod or something.

Over here I've seen basmati rice bags with zippers, but they've been burlap--a cotton one would be better for carrying things in (they wouldn't poke through the weave.)

[mallorys_camera]

I like it!

People used to make dresses out of flour sacks. 😀

[asakiyume]

Yeah! Some of those old flour sacks were really pretty. (I realize making dresses from them was a poverty measure, not a style measure, but still: they were pretty.)

[osprey_archer]

What a fun bag!

[asakiyume]

Thank you! I'm having fun with it.

[f0rrest]

Great bag, excellent for tossing rice at weddings.

[asakiyume]

I'm thinking now of an earlier commenter saying I could carry small 100 g packages of rice in my rice bag. So then I could lob those bag at the newlyweds instead of, y'know, actual handfuls of rice. If I hit them, I get points, but if I hit others in the wedding party, I lose points.

[lokifan]

So cool!

[asakiyume]

It could do with some refinements, but I'm happy with it as a first attempt!