By First week of classes. Five courses is not a course load — it's a lifestyle choice made by someone who thinks sleep is optional and anxiety is a personality trait. Special Education Law on Monday mornings, Classroom Management on Tuesday afternoons, two methods courses back to back on Wednesday that leave my brain feeling like wrung-out laundry, and an elective on child development Thursday that I actually love because the professor talks about kids like they're people, which you'd think would be the baseline but apparently is revolutionary in higher education.
I bought textbooks. I don't want to talk about what textbooks cost. I will say that the special education law textbook was eighty-seven dollars used and is the size and weight of a cinder block, and if the law itself is as dense as the book that describes it, I understand why nothing in special education works the way it should.
Wednesday night I made fried rice because I had leftover rice from Tuesday — the trick to fried rice is cold rice, day-old, straight from the fridge. Fresh rice is too wet and you get mush. Cold rice fries up separate and crispy. I scrambled an egg in the skillet first, set it aside, then fried the rice with soy sauce, garlic powder, frozen peas, and a little sesame oil that I'm rationing like it's precious because the bottle was $3.49 and I plan to make it last until Thanksgiving. Added the egg back in at the end. The whole thing cost less than a dollar and tasted like something that should cost more than a dollar, which is the highest praise I know how to give.
Jess texted Thursday. A photo of a sunset from her backyard with no caption. I sent back a heart emoji. I didn't call. I'm trying to respect the thing she said about duty versus want. It's hard. Every instinct I have says call, check, confirm she's okay, verify the data points. But Jess asked me to stop treating her like a case file and start treating her like a friend, and friends send heart emojis at sunsets and trust that the silence between texts is peaceful, not dangerous.
I called Babcia Rose on Sunday. She asked if I was eating. I told her about the fried rice. She said, "That's not food, that's leftovers with ambition." I love her so much it makes my chest hurt. She's eighty-six and her voice on the phone is the same voice that taught me to roll pierogi dough three weeks ago. I hold onto the sound of it like a recipe I haven't finished writing down.
Babcia Rose called it “leftovers with ambition,” and honestly, that’s exactly what I needed to hear this week—permission to make something real out of whatever I had left over. The fried rice I’d been eating all week felt like the right recipe to finally write down: fast, forgiving, made entirely from things that had been sitting quietly in the fridge waiting to be useful. Here’s how I make it.
Easy Egg and Pea Fried Rice
Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 1
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked white rice, day-old and cold from the fridge
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil (vegetable or canola), for the pan
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Scramble the egg first. Heat the neutral oil in a skillet or nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Crack the egg in, scramble it quickly until just set — about 60 seconds — then slide it onto a plate and set aside. Don’t overcook it; it’ll finish in the rice.
- Fry the cold rice. In the same pan, add the cold rice directly from the fridge. Press it flat against the pan and let it sit undisturbed for 90 seconds so it picks up a little color and crispiness on the bottom. Then stir and repeat once.
- Season and add the peas. Add the soy sauce and garlic powder to the rice and stir everything together to coat. Add the frozen peas and stir-fry for another 2 minutes until the peas are warmed through and bright green.
- Finish with egg and sesame oil. Return the scrambled egg to the pan and break it up as you fold it into the rice. Remove from heat and drizzle the sesame oil over the top. Stir once more. Taste and add a pinch of salt or a small splash more soy sauce if needed.
- Serve immediately. Eat straight from the pan if you’re conserving dishes. You have five courses. You’ve earned it.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 320 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 48g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 820mg