SS&GF: Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

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The humble fruits of my labor for this month’s freezer cooking day.

There is nothing more valuable than good health, eating well, and saving time – things I’m constantly striving for.  Last month’s baking day – which is now called Once A Month Cooking – absolutely helped me to save time in the kitchen and eat healthier.

So, I did it again.  Here’s what I did over the last day and a half:

• cleaned garage refrigerator
• 10 quarts of stock (4 turkey, 6 chicken)
• 4 quarts of applesauce  canned in a water bath canner
• 2 recipes of granola bars (24 bars)
• 12 Triple Berry Oat Muffins
• 1 recipe of ketchup (about 4 cups total)
• 2 recipes of vanilla bean ice cream (about 4 quarts)
• 1 recipe of Spicy ‘n Sweet Turkey Pinto Bean Chili using leftover turkey from Thanksgiving
• 2 dinners of ginger marinated pork
• 1 recipe of hummus
• clean a week’s worth of fresh veggies for snacks and smoothies
• 1 Chicken, Mushroom & Brown Rice with Leek Casserole using Oven Baked Brown Rice
• make bread crumbs from leftover bread
• Cook & freeze a pound of chickpeas using my pressure cooker – for hummus and meals throughout the month.
• One quart of almond milk for baking & drinking

Still left to do for tomorrow and this weekend:

• 1 jar of curry powder (I’ll probably need to quadruple this recipe.)
• marinate 2 dinners worth of  tuscan lemon chickens, and 2 dinners worth of herbs de provence chicken
• 4 batches of dog treats
• clean out kitchen refrigerator

What  I learned from last  month:

1. Marinating meats and throwing them in the freezer until you need them – marinade and all – works beautifully.  Joe and I are both pretty picky about our foods.  I only made two batches last month in case it was a flop.  We couldn’t tell the difference – the meats were flavorful and tender.
2. Having a big jar of hummus and fresh veggies at the ready makes a quick, nutritious lunch or snack.
3. My Chicken, Mushroom, & Brown Rice Casserole freezes beautifully.  We didn’t eat it until last night – I almost threw it out just because I thought it would taste funky.  It was just as good as if I’d baked it the same day.  It’s a favorite of Joe’s so we’re doing it again this month.
4. Granola freezes and travels well – I’m making a double batch for Joe’s lunches and some traveling we’ll do this month.
5. You can never have too much homemade stock in your freezer.  I ran out last month and, of course, made more.  We’ll see if this will hold me through December.

I need your help! I am still learning about what freezes and what doesn’t – I’d love to hear about what works for you.  I am going to post a big round-up to help people get ideas about what they can do to save time and still eat healthy.  This is especially important for anyone on a special diet – so send your links to me and I’ll post them later this month – amy2804 at gmail dot com.

Reminders:

Holiday Food Fest is Thursday right here!  Link your Cocktails, Mocktails, and Appetizers.  There’s two great give-aways from Honeyville Grains – almond flour and a gourmet gift assortment of flax seed, cocoa, and dried apples.

Looking for Slightly Indulgent Tuesday?  It’s here.

Check out other gluten-free recipes at What Can I Eat That’s Gluten-Free.