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:
- 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.
- Having a big jar of hummus and fresh veggies at the ready makes a quick, nutritious lunch or snack.
- 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.
- Granola freezes and travels well – I’m making a double batch for Joe’s lunches and some traveling we’ll do this month.
- 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.
