OK... Maybe Im bored

Or Maybe I am strange....

I feel the need to share again... after cooking all afternoon I need to prove that I have... Food is one of those things that really annoy me.... I know we need it... and sometimes we just want it ... and sometimes it screams at us to eat it (as in Oi you... I'm in the cupboard... You know .. I'm the big chocolate bar... Oh come on just eat me... you know you want to... )
BUT what annoys me is that we spend all this time planning, shopping, chopping, cooking, plating up, and eating, and then of course the washing up.... But then its like it never existed... You can't prove it was there... because its in the tummy, digesting and making us what we are.

But yesterday when I went shopping I decided that I was going to go back to basics, and buy things that would end up with multiple meals and today was the start of the big cook and freeze.

I started off with Some bread ... which I have of course tasted and it is delicious.. I will definitely be buying that mix again... unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it before I broke it up into little buns.


Then I began the soup because I had a pumpkin from last fortnights shop that I didn't end up using. Unfortunately it has started going bad so I lost some of it but there was still enough to make some beautiful soup. So into the pot went the bacon bones (bought specially yesterday) to boil away while I cut up the pumpkin, grated the carrot and in they went. A few herbs and spices and simmer away for a couple of hours, I thought it was going to be way to thin and I didnt' have any skim milk powder which I usually use to thicken soups but then I realised I had arrowroot (tapioca flour) and a couple of teaspoons thickened it up beautifully, a bit more of a simmer to cook the flour and I ended up with 4 serves of smokey bacon and Pumpkin soup.

Next I was thinking about lunch.... so started on a Quiche.... Unfortunately I don't have a quiche pan so I had to multi-use my fry pan. I blind baked in a pizza plate but had to transfer to the fry pan after i had used it to cook the other ingredients which made a but of a mess of the pastry but it will still taste good.
I got GF pastry at Woolworths last fortnight and kept the rest in the freezer.. and it is basically as easy to use as any frozen pastry so that makes life much easier than trying to make pastry.
So into the blind baked pastry went my char-grilled capsicum which I had been keeping in oil in the fridge since I made it but forgot to put it in last weeks quiche, red onion, mushroom, zucchini and ham which had all been partially cooked, then covered with the egg, feta and milk mix and back into the oven till set.. and SO yummy looking.

At the same time as the Quiche was on the go I started on the mince and used the same saucepan because it had all those yummy vegie flavours in it. then the mince went into a saucepan with the sauces i bought yesterday to simmer for a couple of hours. I also added mushrooms and carrots in hope of adding some extra vegies to the diet and its a great place to hide them. Unfortunately I forgot to buy tin tomatoes yesterday so it is a bit thicker than I would normally make it but it still looks great.


I used about half this mix to make a lasagna so then next effort was making GF white sauce. I know that sounds easy really but since GF flour doesn't cook in the same way it takes a bit more careful watching and beating to make it smooth. I can't tell you the number of times I have ended up with lumpy white sauce... (oh and just so you know... never use soy flour for white sauce its gross). So that Will and I can both eat it I use soy milk (Will is lactose intolerant, and I can't eat his full cream lactose free milk), so since there is cheese in it I like using the soy to balance it out. .... In the end we had this.... cooked and ready to freeze... and there is enough white sauce left over and frozen to have with the Silverside one night this week.

In amongst this I ended up making simple pizza for Will and I for lunch.. (at 3pm ops)

so basically it all worked out .. the spag bol got a little burnt because it is so thick and because i can't turn the heat on the stove down low enough (only 2 of 4 burners work and so far the owner hasn't fixed but that's a while other story), and the Quiche stuck to the pan a little but over cooked pastry is definitely better than undercooked when it comes to GF.

Now I have enough food for 8 meals for me (will won't eat the soup or the quiche), and the lasagna and spag bol will do 3 meals each for Will and I. I do however remember in hindsight why i stopped doing big cook ups... I so need a bigger freezer!


Lastly I will share with you this beautiful pic...
See that red stripe on my forehead.... No i didn't burn my head... I did however forget to shut a cupboard door... man am I going to have a bruise tomorrow......